CentOS 6 Setup Guide

A step-by-step guide on how to setup a minimal CentOS 6 installation for maximum security, good logging behaviour and self-monitoring capabilities.

While most commands shown here are generically useable, this guide assumes you are within an OpenVZ container and using one of the minimal CentOS 6 templates.

On the other hand, some steps are not required within an OpenVZ container, as the hardware node takes care of them (mainly network configuration). They have been left inside for the sake of completeness however.

Disclaimer

Nevertheless this guide tries to leave you with a highly secured box, keep in mind that security requires on-going work. New threats are shining up nearly every day, so one must stay up-to-date and follow the security scene keenly.

Also, there are two ways you can follow this guide. Either by simple reading through it and copy-pasting the commands included, or by starting further research on all covered topics and building your own opinion on the stuff included here. The later is preferable and will help you more.