Hardening guide for Nginx 0.7.65 on RedHat 5.4 (64bit edition)

1. Login to the server using Root account.
2. Create a new account:
groupadd nginx
useradd -g nginx -d /dev/null -s /sbin/nologin nginx
3. Mount RHEL 5.4 DVD, and move to the RPM folder:
mount /dev/hdc /media
cd /media/Server
4. Before compiling the Nginx environment, install the following RPM:
rpm -ivh kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh glibc-headers-2.5-42.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh glibc-devel-2.5-42.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh gmp-4.1.4-10.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh libgomp-4.4.0-6.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh gcc-4.1.2-46.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh pcre-devel-6.6-2.el5_1.7.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh e2fsprogs-devel-1.39-23.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh keyutils-libs-devel-1.2-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh libsepol-devel-1.15.2-2.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh libselinux-devel-1.33.4-5.5.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh krb5-devel-1.6.1-36.el5.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh zlib-devel-1.2.3-3.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh openssl-devel-0.9.8e-12.el5.x86_64.rpm
5. Download Nginx 0.7.65 from:
http://wiki.nginx.org/NginxInstall
6. Copy the Nginx 0.7.65 source files using PSCP (or SCP) into /tmp
7. Move to /tmp
cd /tmp
8. Extract the nginx-0.7.65.tar.gz file:
tar -zxvf nginx-0.7.65.tar.gz
9. Move to the Nginx source folder:
cd /tmp/nginx-0.7.65
10. Edit using VI, the file /tmp/nginx-0.7.65/src/http/ngx_http_header_filter_module.c and replace the following section, from:
static char ngx_http_server_string[] = "Server: nginx" CRLF;
static char ngx_http_server_full_string[] = "Server: " NGINX_VER CRLF;
To:
static char ngx_http_server_string[] = "Server: Secure Web Server" CRLF;
static char ngx_http_server_full_string[] = "Server: Secure Web Server" CRLF;
11. Run the commands bellow to compile the Nginx environment:
./configure --with-http_ssl_module --without-http_autoindex_module --without-http_ssi_module

make

make install
12. Remove the Nginx source files:
rm -rf /tmp/nginx-0.7.65
rm -f /tmp/nginx-0.7.65.tar.gz
13. Remove Default Content
rm -rf /usr/local/nginx/html
14. Updating Ownership and Permissions on Nginx folders:
chown -R root:root /usr/local/nginx
chmod 750 /usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx
chmod -R 640 /usr/local/nginx/conf
chmod -R 770 /usr/local/nginx/logs
15. Create folder for the web content:
mkdir -p /www
16. Updating Ownership and Permissions on the web content folder:
chown -R root /www
chmod -R 775 /www
17. Edit using VI the file /usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf and change the following settings:
From:
#user nobody;
To:
user nginx nginx;

From:
#error_log logs/error.log notice;
To:
error_log logs/error.log notice;

From:
server_name localhost;
To:
server_name Server_FQDN;

From:
root html;
To:
root /www;

18. Add the following sections to the end of the /usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf file:
server_tokens off;
client_body_buffer_size 1K;
client_header_buffer_size 1k;
client_max_body_size 1k;
large_client_header_buffers 2 1k;
client_body_timeout 10;
client_header_timeout 10;
send_timeout 10;
19. Create using VI, the file /etc/init.d/nginx with the following content:
#!/bin/sh
#
# nginx - this script starts and stops the nginx daemon
#
# chkconfig: - 85 15
# description: Nginx is an HTTP(S) server, HTTP(S) reverse \
# proxy and IMAP/POP3 proxy server
# processname: nginx
# config: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
# config: /etc/sysconfig/nginx
# pidfile: /var/run/nginx.pid

# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

# Source networking configuration.
. /etc/sysconfig/network

# Check that networking is up.
[ "$NETWORKING" = "no" ] && exit 0

nginx="/usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx"
prog=$(basename $nginx)

NGINX_CONF_FILE="/usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf"

[ -f /etc/sysconfig/nginx ] && . /etc/sysconfig/nginx

lockfile=/var/lock/subsys/nginx

start() {
[ -x $nginx ] exit 5
[ -f $NGINX_CONF_FILE ] exit 6
echo -n $"Starting $prog: "
daemon $nginx -c $NGINX_CONF_FILE
retval=$?
echo
[ $retval -eq 0 ] && touch $lockfile
return $retval
}

stop() {
echo -n $"Stopping $prog: "
killproc $prog -QUIT
retval=$?
echo
[ $retval -eq 0 ] && rm -f $lockfile
return $retval
}

restart() {
configtest return $?
stop
sleep 1
start
}

reload() {
configtest return $?
echo -n $"Reloading $prog: "
killproc $nginx -HUP
RETVAL=$?
echo
}

force_reload() {
restart
}

configtest() {
$nginx -t -c $NGINX_CONF_FILE
}

rh_status() {
status $prog
}

rh_status_q() {
rh_status >/dev/null 2>&1
}

case "$1" in
start)
rh_status_q && exit 0
$1
;;
stop)
rh_status_q exit 0
$1
;;
restartconfigtest)
$1
;;
reload)
rh_status_q exit 7
$1
;;
force-reload)
force_reload
;;
status)
rh_status
;;
condrestarttry-restart)
rh_status_q exit 0
;;
*)
echo $"Usage: $0 {startstopstatusrestartcondrestarttry-restartreloadforce-reloadconfigtest}"
exit 2
esac
20. Change the permissions of the file /etc/init.d/nginx
chmod +x /etc/init.d/nginx
21. To start Nginx service at server start-up, run the command:
chkconfig nginx on
22. To manually start the Nginx service, use the command:
/etc/init.d/nginx start
23. Uninstall the following RPM:
rpm -e gcc-4.1.2-46.el5
rpm -e libgomp-4.4.0-6.el5
rpm -e gmp-4.1.4-10.el5
rpm -e glibc-devel-2.5-42
rpm -e glibc-headers-2.5-42
rpm -e kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5