This Is Your Brain On Informatics: Common Pathnames

/etc/init.d/[service] [operation]

This "pathname" is actually a script that causes the initiate daemon (that constantly stays in memory) to act on a service that has been input. After the service, an operation can be input in from one of the following:

• start
• stop
• reload
• restart
• force-reload

For our purposes, the only services that we know that this script can act on are as follows:

• nginx
• mysql
• php5-fpm
• denyhosts

/etc/hosts.deny

This file can be accessed via pico or any other text editor in order to manage the IP addresses that have been blocked from accessing your virtual machine (including your own if it accidentally happens). Once you are in the file, delete the IP address (possibly your IP address) at the bottom of the file that you no longer wish to restrict.

/etc/host.allow

This is a file is similar in nature to the hosts.deny file in that IP addresses can be input into the file. However, IP addresses that are input into this file will be allowed access to the nginx web server and prevented from being automatically added to the hosts.deny file (this will still occur if the login attempts from the same IP address are exceeded). This file should only be used as a last resort if denyhosts continually (and erroneously) adds your personal IP address to the hosts.deny file. An alternative is using aptitude to remove the denyhosts firewall; however, this is not recommended for a live server.