This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.
What this hour is for
The auditor reads a paste. A missing User, or User=root, means the service runs as root. It also looks for NoNewPrivileges and ProtectSystem. The score is out of 3. It says this is not systemd-analyze security, and it does not change the unit.
One unit you administer. Do not set the user to root to make it start. Do not daemon-reload during the reading.
192.0.2.10/24 and example.com are documentation. They stay in the note.
The change you can finish
Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the host named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the host, then decide.
Rollback is the file, the package version, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.
- Paste one unit.
- Read the three items.
- Write the score.
- Do not change the unit.
- Stop.
Mistakes that outlive the command
systemd Unit Security Audit Checklist goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.
- The score called systemd-analyze security.
- User set to root.
- The unit changed during the reading.
- A host you do not administer.
Decisions to write down
One decision for systemd Unit Security Audit Checklist: The score is out of 3. This is not systemd-analyze security. Nothing was changed. And the host is yours.
Checks before you call it done
Confirm this before you call the change done: The unit is named. The three items are written. The score is written. Nothing was changed. And the host is yours. If one of those fails, stop.
# A score of 3 on a short list.
# This is not systemd-analyze security.
# Do not change the unit during the reading.Before you leave the host
systemd Unit Security Audit Checklist ends when the hostname in the prompt matches the hostname in the ticket. If it does not, you are on the wrong host. Stop. A command that succeeded on the wrong host is not progress.
The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log into the host and does not know which disk is empty. You delete a line that names a host, a path, or an account you did not write down.
192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you leave on a host because a draft included them.
prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save in the ticket or in git. The real secret stays in the password store.
One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it. The next change waits for its own page.
If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. The failure is the result. Adding a forum command beside a half-applied change produces a host nobody can rebuild. Restore the copy you took first.
A second person reads the hostname and the change aloud. If they cannot find them in the ticket, the note is not done. Silence is not agreement. Then leave the host alone.
This page is a planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, not an official standard, and not permission to touch a host you do not administer. You do not disable a firewall, AppArmor, or SELinux to make a check pass.
Tools for this guide
These tools run in the browser on this site. They do not log into your machines.
Related pillar guides
More in this cluster
The pillar for this page, and the next published pages filed with it.
- Pillar: Server Hardening & Audit Guide
- Checklist: php.ini Audit Checklist
- Checklist: Lynis Report Audit Checklist
- Checklist: GPO Security Audit Checklist
Companion: Security: Server Hardening Guide.