[Xastir] Status of Xastir.org

[Tate B]

Curt,

I run 3 Mediawiki instances and have major empathies for what you're facing.

I managed to - for the moment - solve the issue by using this extension:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmAccount

It does add to the admin workload - but if you tell 'em to include a call
sign or something pertinent in the BIO, it's simple to add users. Been
running this on all 3 Wikis now for about 3 years and it's made a huge
difference.

73


On Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 10:32 PM, Curt, WE7U <curt.we7u at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> 633:  The number of new Wiki users created during the first four days the
> new Wiki was up, all via script-kiddie scripts.  There was an even larger
> number of new Wiki pages created, but thankfully they didn't modify ANY of
> the existing Wiki pages so I could just delete them.  I didn't delete the
> new users, but blocked them from further use.  Later I may try to delete
> them from the database but may also have to fix up the database references
> in that case.  The Wiki S/W doesn't appear to have a way to delete users,
> so it will have to be MySQL commands and/or scripts to get that
> accomplished.
>
> I'm considering blocking any Wiki accounts that don't have a callsign in
> the username or in the account's Wiki homepage.  There may be script-kiddie
> accounts still in there from previous years waiting to be activated.  If an
> account hasn't been used to edit any pages and shows no sign of being a ham
> login, it's fair game to block it.  It can be unblocked easily if someone
> complains.
>
> Today I backed up the existing Wiki and upgraded it to the latest S/W
> release.  I'll be attempting to get Captcha's going for it:  I know we all
> hate them, but it's one of the few ways we have to combat Wiki vandalism.
>  I may also set up the Wiki so an admin must personally OK each new Wiki
> login.  Seems like a good idea anyway.  Right now no new Wiki accounts can
> be created by users logging in for the first time.
>
> I need to upload or restore the few images we're missing on the Wiki.
>  Mostly the SAR page.
>
> The firewall is up protecting the few open ports on IPv4 and IPv6.  I
> should probably recheck the IPv6 firewall rules again though.
>
> I set up "fail2ban" against the SSH port today, giving it a timeout of 1
> day.  It's doing its job keeping the hackers at bay, at least slowing them
> down dramatically.  I may add static firewall rules later for some of the
> subnets it is finding.
>
> The mailing lists are up, but reverse DNS against the IP address points to
> the VM service provider's DNS name instead of the xastir.org machine
> names.  I submitted a trouble ticket to ask them to add records so that
> reverse DNS will work.  After that is done, the most restrictive mail
> servers which are currently rejecting the list mail may start accepting it.
>  Most of the list email is going out just fine though.
>
> The NWS Data changes can wait a bit, as can the new release and possible
> minor changes.  I'll get to them when the new server is secure and running
> well.
>
> Please test the Wiki and mailing list out and let me know of any problems
> you're seeing.  With solutions if possible!  I'll continue to work on the
> Postfix rules:  I started out with them very strict and relaxed them a bit
> last night.  I'll probably tighten them up again after the reverse DNS
> issues are fixed (not that the two issues have any real relation).
>
> For those of you who don't know, Chuck decided to pass the server baton
> after MANY YEARS of service to the Xastir project.  We should all thank him
> for the time and hard work he put in, as well as the funding for the domain
> and the server.  One never realizes how much work it actually is until one
> has to do it!
>
> --
> Curt, WE7U.        http://wetnet.net/~we7u
> APRS Client Capabilities:  http://wetnet.net/~we7u/aprs_capabilities.html
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>



-- 
Casper ARC - W7VNJ
www.casperarc.net <http://casperarc.net>
<http://wyominghamcon.org>