os-coursework

M# Week 3 – Remote Access & System Hardening

1. Objective

The goal for this week was to configure secure remote access to the server using SSH and to implement a firewall (UFW) to protect the system from unauthorized network traffic.

2. Remote Access Configuration (SSH)

I installed and configured the OpenSSH server to allow management from a remote Windows terminal.

• Installation: sudo apt install openssh-server -y
• Port Forwarding: Since the VM is on a NAT network, I mapped host port 2222 to guest port 22.

Above: Verifying that the SSH service is active and running.

3. Remote Connection Test

I verified the connection using Windows PowerShell to ensure the port forwarding and credentials were correct.

• Command: ssh zetzura@127.0.0.1 -p 2222

Above: Successful remote login to the Ubuntu server from the host machine.

4. Firewall Hardening (UFW)

To secure the server, I enabled the Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) and specifically allowed only SSH traffic.

• Allow SSH: sudo ufw allow ssh
• Enable Firewall: sudo ufw enable
• Status Check: sudo ufw status verbose

Above: Screenshot showing the firewall is active and only allowing port 22/tcp.

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