Thursday, March 18th, 2010
NOT a typo.. 30x is measurable, well-documented, and easily tested. This is what open-source is about. I haven’t had time to post much the past year, I’m always working! So I wanted to make up for that by publishing an article on a topic that would blow your mind and be something that you could actually start using and really get some benefit out of it. This is one of those articles that the majority of web hosting companies would love to see in paperback, so they could burn it.
Tags: Advanced, Apache, askapache, Backups, Bandwidth, Boot, Cache, chmod, console, devshm, DreamHost, File System, filesystem, grep, Hard Drive, HowTo, HTTPS SSL, ionice, Linux, memory bandwidth, mysql, Private Server, ram, rsync, Scripts, Security, server, servers, Shell, shell script, SLRAM, SPEED, speed improvements, SSI, stat, SymLinks, tmpfs, trick, Vulnerability, Web Hosting, webhosts, WordPress, WP-Super Cache
Posted in Apache, Cache, DNS, DreamHost, Featured, Hacking, Htaccess, Linux Unix BSD, Mod_Rewrite, PHP, Security, Server Administration, Shell Scripting, Web Design, Web Hosting, Web Tools, Webmaster, WiredTree, WordPress, WordPress Plugins | 7 Comments »
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
Ever wanted to execute commands on your server through php? Now you can. I’m calling this file (see below) shell.php and it allows you to run commands on your web server with the same permissions that your php executable has.
Tags: 302 Redirect, 403 Forbidden, Ajax, Apache, Apache Htaccess, askapache, Backups, bash, chmod, console, errordocument, Flash, GET, Hacking, Htaccess, htaccess tutorial, HTTP-EQUIV, Javascript, Linux, Login, Mod_Rewrite, password, PHP, Port, ram, Redirect, Rewrite Tricks, rewritecond, rewriterule, Scripts, Security, server, Shell, shell console, shell script, Shell Scripting, SSI, stat, tutorial
Posted in Ajax, DreamHost, Featured, Hacking, Htaccess, Javascript, Linux Unix BSD, Mod_Rewrite, PHP, Security, Server Administration, Shell Scripting, Web Hosting, Web Tools, Webmaster | 15 Comments »
Friday, April 10th, 2009
Sometimes there is an urgent need for creating an exact duplicate or “mirror” of a web site on a separate server. This could be needed for creating Round Robin Setups, Load-Balancing, Failovers, or for just plain vanilla backups. In the past I have used a lot of different methods to copy data from one server to another, including creating an archive of the whole directory and then using scp to send the file over, creating an archive and then encrypting it and then sending that file over using ftp, curl, etc., and my persistence at learning new ways to do things has paid off because now I use rsync to keep an exact replica of the entire directory on an external server, without having to use all the CPU and resources of other mirroring methods.
Tags: admin, Apache, askapache, Backups, Bandwidth, bash, chmod, compression, curl, debugging, DreamHost, Email, encryption, Forms, GET, Gmail, HostGator, HTTPS SSL, Linux, Login, Logs, password, PHP, Port, ram, Round Robin, rsync, Security, server, Shell, shell script, SPEED, SSH, SSH Tunnels, SSI, stat, WordPress
Posted in Apache, Featured, Linux Unix BSD, Security, Shell Scripting, Web Hosting | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
The story behind this plugin is sorta wack, but in a good way :). While doing tons of security research on permissions, authorization, access, etc.. for the Password Protection plugin (still being worked on), I needed to have unheard of debugging capabilities while working on the plugin on the various websites, webhosts, and test servers that I use to test in different environments. So I hacked together a bunch of php code that helped me debug, actually I pretty much went overkill and tried to get as much debugging info as programmatically possible, and it ended up being so much code that I took it out of my Password Protection code and made it its own plugin.
Tags: admin, Ajax, Apache, Apache Modules, askapache, authorization, Cache, chmod, Cookies, debugging, error log, fifo, File Permissions, GET, Htaccess, Login, Nice, password, password protection, PHP, php.ini, phpinfo, Port, post, ram, Rewrite Tricks, Security, server, servers, Socket, SSI, stat, umask, Username, WordPress, WordPress Development
Posted in WordPress, WordPress Plugins | 1 Comment »
Saturday, January 10th, 2009
Skip this – still under edit
I discovered these tips and tricks mostly while working as a network security penetration specialist hired to find security holes in web hosting environments. Shared hosting is the most common and cheapest form of web-hosting where multiple customers are placed on a single machine and “share” the resources (CPU/RAM/SPACE). The machines are configured to basically ONLY do HTTP and FTP. No shells or any interactive logins, no ssh, just FTP access. That is when I started examining htaccess files in great detail and learned about the incredible untapped power of htaccess. For 99% of the worlds best Apache admins, they don’t use .htaccess much, if AT ALL. It’s much easier, safer, and faster to configure Apache using the httpd.conf file instead. However, this file is almost never readable on shared-hosts, and I’ve never seen it writable. So the only avenue left for those on shared-hosting was and is the .htaccess file, and holy freaking fiber-optics.. it’s almost as powerful as httpd.conf itself!
Most all .htaccess code works in the httpd.conf file, but not all httpd.conf code works in .htaccess files, around 50%. So all the best Apache admins and programmers never used .htaccess files. There was no incentive for those with access to httpd.conf to use htaccess, and the gap grew. It’s common to see “computer gurus” on forums and mailing lists rail against all uses and users of .htaccess files, smugly announcing the well known problems with .htaccess files compared with httpd.conf – I wonder if these “gurus” know the history of the htaccess file, like it’s use in the earliest versions of the HTTP Server- NCSA’s HTTPd, which BTW, became known as Apache HTTP. So you could easily say that htaccess files predates Apache itself.
Once I discovered what .htaccess files could do towards helping me enumerate and exploit security vulnerabilities even on big shared-hosts I focused all my research into .htaccess files, meaning I was reading the venerable Apache HTTP Source code 24/7! I compiled every released version of the Apache Web Server, ever, even NCSA’s, and focused on enumerating the most powerful htaccess directives. Good times! Because my focus was on protocol/file/network vulnerabilites instead of web dev I built up a nice toolbox of htaccess tricks to do unusual things. When I switched over to webdev in 2005 I started using htaccess for websites, not research. I documented most of my favorites and rewrote the htaccess guide for webdevelopers. After some great encouragement on various forums and nets I decided to start a blog to share my work with everyone, AskApache.com was registered, I published my guide, and it was quickly plagiarized and scraped all over the net. Information is freedom, and freedom is information, so this blog has the least restrictive copyright for you. Feel free to modify, copy, republish, sell, or use anything on this site ;)
Tags: .htaccess examples, 301 Redirect, 302 Redirect, 401, 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, 500, 503, admin, Advanced, Apache, Apache Htaccess, apache ssl, askapache, ASP, authorization, Backups, Bandwidth, bash, Blocking, Boot, Cache, Cache-Control, caching, cheatsheet, chmod, code snippets, compression, Cookies, CSS, debugging, DreamHost, Email, error log, errordocument, Etags, Examples, experiments, feed, FeedBurner, File System, FilesMatch, filesystem, Firefox, Flash, Forms, GET, Google, Hacking, hotlinking, HowTo, Htaccess, htaccess files, htaccess guide, htaccess rewrite, htaccess tricks, htaccess tutorial, Htpasswd, HTTP Error, HTTP Headers, HTTP-EQUIV, httpd, httpd.conf, HTTPS SSL, hyper text transfer protocol, If-Modified-Since, Javascript, Last-Modified, Linux, Login, Logs, mad skills, mod_include, mod_python, Mod_Rewrite, Mod_Rewrite examples, Mod_Security, Mod_Setenvif, mysql, Nice, nsa, password, password protection, PDF, Performance, Perl, PHP, php.ini, phpinfo, Port, post, Powweb, Prompt, Python, ram, Redirect, Redirection, Request Method, Rewrite Tricks, rewritecond, rewriterule, Robot, robots, Sample .htaccess, Scripts, Security, SEO, seo secrets, server, server config, servers, SetEnvIf, Shell, Socket, Source Code, SPEED, SSH, SSI, stat, SymLinks, trick, tutorial, ultimate htaccess, Username, Web Hosting, WordPress
Posted in Apache, Apache Modules, Cache, DreamHost, Featured, Google, Hacking, Htaccess, Linux Unix BSD, Mod_Rewrite, SEO, Security, Web Design, Web Hosting, Web Tools, Webmaster, WordPress | 71 Comments »
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
Unix file permissions are one of the more difficult subjects to grasp.. Well, ok maybe “grasp” isn’t the word.. Master is the right word.. Unix file permissions is a hard topic to fully master, mainly I think because there aren’t many instances when a computer user encounters them. I’ve done a lot of research on it the past couple weeks… and now here’s everything I’ve learned so far.. cuz you guys AskApache Regs Rock!
Tags: 301 Redirect, 302 Redirect, 401, 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, 500, 503, Apache, askapache, ASP, Backups, bash, bash_profile, Cache, chmod, Dig, DreamHost, fifo, File Permissions, File System, filesystem, Fsockopen, GET, Hacking, Htaccess, httpd, Linux, Login, password, Perl, PHP, php.ini, Port, Python, ram, Scripts, Security, server, servers, Sessions, Shell, Socket, Source Code, SSH, SSI, stat, trick, umask, Web Hosting
Posted in Apache, Featured, Hacking, Linux Unix BSD, PHP, Security, Server Administration, Shell Scripting, Web Hosting, Webmaster | 5 Comments »
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
This simple unix shell script automatically creates backups of a specific folder at regular hourly, nightly, weekly, and monthly intervals. Instead of the usual method for copying directory trees using tar with fifo, pipes, rsync, or NFS methods this script uses cpio which is much much faster and has cool options like saving m/a/c times, symlinks, relative paths, and weird file names.
Tags: Apache, askapache, Backups, bash, chmod, DreamHost, fifo, GET, Hacking, Linux, Nice, Perl, Port, post, Private Server, Renice, rsync, Scripts, Security, server, servers, Shell, shell script, SymLinks, tutorial, Web Hosting
Posted in DreamHost, Linux Unix BSD, Shell Scripting, Web Hosting | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Host Google Analytics ga.js file locally for increased speed! Makes web pages load faster.
Tags: Advanced, Analytics, Apache, askapache, Cache, Cache-Control, caching, chmod, curl, Firefox, GET, Google, Google Analytics, Htaccess, HTTPS SSL, Javascript, Logs, Mod_Rewrite, Port, Rewrite Tricks, Scripts, server, Shell, shell script, SPEED, SSI, urchin.js, Web Hosting
Posted in Google, Linux Unix BSD | 8 Comments »
Saturday, August 18th, 2007
Apache Web Server users have problems getting Apache Authentication/password-protection in htaccess working, this is a troubleshooting guide to get Password Protection working!
Tags: Apache, Apache Htaccess, askapache, ASP, authorization, Cache, chmod, Dig, Elite, encryption, Examples, GET, HowTo, Htaccess, htaccess files, htaccess tutorial, Htpasswd, httpd, httpd.conf, HTTPS SSL, Linux, password, password protection, PHP, Port, post, Prompt, ram, Robot, robots, Security, server, Shell, Socket, SSH Tunnels, stat, tutorial, wp-config.php
Posted in Apache, Apache Modules, DreamHost, Htaccess, Linux Unix BSD, Mod_Rewrite, Security, Server Administration | 3 Comments »
Monday, February 5th, 2007
Describes in exhaustive detail how to change configuration settings and implement a custom php.ini file for use with the Apache Web Server.
View latest official php.ini
Sections:
- When php run as Apache Module (mod_php)
- When
…
Tags: admin, Apache, askapache, ASP, Cache, caching, chmod, CommandLine, compression, Cookies, curl, debugging, Dig, DreamHost, Email, error log, Examples, File Permissions, filesystem, GET, Htaccess, htaccess files, HTTP Headers, httpd, httpd.conf, HTTPS SSL, Javascript, Linux, Logs, Mod_Rewrite, mysql, Nice, nsa, password, Performance, PHP, php.ini, phpinfo, Port, post, Powweb, Prompt, ram, Redirect, Redirection, Rewrite Tricks, rewritecond, rewriterule, Scripts, Security, server, server config, servers, Sessions, SetEnvIf, Shell, shell script, Shell Scripting, Socket, SPEED, SSI, stat, trick, ultimate htaccess, umask, Username, Web Hosting, xargs
Posted in Apache, Htaccess, Linux Unix BSD, Mod_Rewrite, PHP, Security, Server Administration, Web Hosting, WiredTree | 13 Comments »
So my blog as been rather quiet for almost a year now, and very few updates if any have been released for my Password Protection PLugin, my Google 404 Plugin, and definately not for my AskApache CrazyCache plugin, which I will be releasing last… So for all of you who’ve helped me out by sending me suggestions and notifying me of errors and sticking with it… Just wanted to say sorry about that, and thanks for all the great ideas.. Well, I’ve been sticking with it as well believe it our not. I manage to get free days once in a while, and then its time to jam.
The story behind this plugin is sorta wack, but in a good way :). While doing tons of security research on permissions, authorization, access, etc.. for the Password Protection plugin (still being worked on), I needed to have unheard of debugging capabilities while working on the plugin on the various websites, webhosts, and test servers that I use to test in different environments. So I hacked together a bunch of php code that helped me debug, actually I pretty much went overkill and tried to get as much debugging info as programmatically possible, and it ended up being so much code that I took it out of my Password Protection code and made it its own plugin.
My improved version of the common printenv / test-cgi scripts for debugging Apache environment variables set in .htaccess files