PAM, Process Management, and Security Mechanisms in Linux

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary from the lecture on PAM, process management, security measures, and logging in Linux.

PAM

A suite of shared libraries allowing system administrators to choose how applications authenticate users.

Modularity

The capability of PAM to allow different authentication methods to be plugged into the system without changing application code.

Centralized Management

PAM's ability to manage and update authentication policies across multiple applications.

PAM Configuration Files

Files that define authentication policies for applications using PAM, typically located in /etc/pam.d/.

Common PAM Modules

Includes modules like pamunix.so for standard Unix authentication or pamgoogle_authenticator.so for two-factor authentication.

Process ID (PID)

A unique identifier for each process in Linux.

fork()

A system call used to create a new process by duplicating the calling (parent) process.

exec()

A system call used to replace a process's memory space with a new program.

Process States

Include running, sleeping, stopped, zombie, and orphan.

Inter-Process Communication (IPC)

Mechanisms that allow processes to communicate or share data, such as pipes or sockets.

Systemd

A system and service manager for Linux operating systems, often used as the default init system.

Security Context

Used in SELinux to determine what a process can do by assigning a label that contains user, role, type, and level.

iptables

A powerful firewall tool in Linux used to control network traffic at the packet level.

Firewalld

A dynamic firewall management tool that uses zones to define trust levels for network connections.

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall)

A user-friendly front-end for managing iptables rules in Linux.

Logwatch

A log analysis tool that compiles summaries of various logs for system monitoring.

Rsyslog

An enhanced version of the syslog protocol used for forwarding log messages across a network.

SSH (Secure Shell)

A protocol for securely accessing network services over an unsecured network.

Key-based Authentication

A method of SSH authentication relying on a pair of cryptographic keys for enhanced security.

SELinux Modes

SELinux operates in three modes: enforcing, permissive, and disabled.

Samba

An open-source software suite that enables file and print sharing between Windows and Unix/Linux systems.