Learn how to setup commands or scripts to execute at shutdown and boot in Suse Linux
Execute a command at shutdown and boot in Suse Linux
In this article, we will walk you through the procedure to schedule scripts at shutdown and boot in Suse Linux. Many times, we have a requirement to start certain applications or services or script after server boots. Sometimes you want to stop application or service or run the script before the server shuts down. This can be done automatically by defining commands or scripts in certain files in Suse Linux.
Application auto start-stop along with OS reboot
Let’s walk through steps to configure the custom applications to auto-start and stop along with Linux reboot. Create a file with a custom name (e.g autoapp) in /etc/init.d as below –
#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: auto_app
# Required-Start: $network $syslog $remote_fs $time
# X-UnitedLinux-Should-Start:
# Required-Stop:
# Default-Start: 3 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 2 6
# Short-Description: Start and stop app with reboot
# Description: Start and stop custom application with reboot
### END INIT INFO#
case "$1" in
"start")
su - appuser -c "/app/start/command -options"
echo "Application started"
;;
"stop")
su - appuser -c "/app/stop/command -options"
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $0 { start|stop }"
exit 1
;;
esac
exit 0
Make sure you copy all the above text including INIT block at the beginning of the file. Edit appuser and app commands under start and stop blocks.
Set executable permission on this file.
The next step is to identify this file as a service using chkconfig. Use filename as a service name in the below command.
root@kerneltalks # chkconfig --add autoapp
Now enable it to be handeled by systemctl
root@kerneltalks # systemctl enable autoapp
And you are done. Try to start and stop the application using systemctl command to make sure your configuration is working fine. To rule out any permission issues, script entries typo, etc.
If systemctl is properly starting and stopping application as expected then you are all set. Final test you can do by rebooting your server and then verifying if the application was down while the server was shut and did it came up along with server boot.
Run script or command after server boot
In Suse Linux, you have to define commands or scripts in /etc/init.d/after.local to run them after server boots. I am running SLES 12 SP3 and my /etc/init.d/after.locallooks likes below –
root@kerneltalks # cat /etc/init.d/after.local
#! /bin/sh
#
# Copyright (c) 2010 SuSE LINUX Products GmbH, Germany. All rights reserved.
#
# Author: Werner Fink, 2010
#
# /etc/init.d/after.local
#
# script with local commands to be executed from init after all scripts
# of a runlevel have been executed.
#
# Here you should add things, that should happen directly after
# runlevel has been reached.
#
I added below command at end of this file.
echo "I love KernelTalks"
Then to test it, I rebooted the machine. After reboot, since command output is printed to console I need to check logs to confirm if the command executed successfully.
You can check logs of after local service as below :
# systemctl status after-local -l
● after-local.service - /etc/init.d/after.local Compatibility
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/after-local.service; static; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (exited) since Thu 2018-05-24 03:52:14 UTC; 7min ago
Process: 2860 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/after.local (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 2860 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
May 24 03:52:14 kerneltalks systemd[1]: Started /etc/init.d/after.local Compatibility.
May 24 03:52:15 kerneltalks after.local[2860]: I love KernelTalks
If you observe the above output, the last line shows the output of our command which we configured in /etc/init.d/after.local! Alternatively, you can check syslog/var/log/messages file as well to check the same logs.
So it was a successful run.
Run script or command before server shutdown
To run a script or command before server initiate shutdown, you need to specify them in /etc/init.d/halt.local. Typical vanilla /etc/init.d/halt.local looks like below –
root@kerneltalks # cat /etc/init.d/halt.local
#! /bin/sh
#
# Copyright (c) 2002 SuSE Linux AG Nuernberg, Germany. All rights reserved.
#
# Author: Werner Fink, 1998
# Burchard Steinbild, 1998
#
# /etc/init.d/halt.local
#
# script with local commands to be executed from init on system shutdown
#
# Here you should add things, that should happen directly before shuting
# down.
#
I added below command at end of this file.
echo "I love KernelTalks"
To make sure, this file is picked up for execution before the shutdown halt.local service should be running. Check if service is running and if not then start it.
# systemctl enable halt.local
halt.local.service is not a native service, redirecting to systemd-sysv-install
Executing /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable halt.local
# systemctl start halt.local
# systemctl status halt.local
● halt.local.service
Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/halt.local; bad; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (exited) since Thu 2018-05-24 04:20:18 UTC; 11s ago
Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
Process: 3074 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/halt.local start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
May 24 04:20:18 kerneltalks systemd[1]: Starting halt.local.service...
Then to test it, I shut down the machine. After boot, check logs to confirm if a command was run when the system was shut down.
# cat /var/log/messages |grep halt
2018-05-24T04:21:12.657033+00:00 kerneltalks systemd[1]: Starting halt.local.service...
2018-05-24T04:21:12.657066+00:00 kerneltalks halt.local[832]: I Love KernelTalks
2018-05-24T04:21:12.657080+00:00 kerneltalks systemd[1]: Started halt.local.service.
# systemctl status halt.local -l
● halt.local.service
Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/halt.local; bad; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (exited) since Thu 2018-05-24 04:21:12 UTC; 1min 18s ago
Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
Process: 832 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/halt.local start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Tasks: 0 (limit: 512)
May 24 04:21:12 kerneltalks systemd[1]: Starting halt.local.service...
May 24 04:21:12 kerneltalks halt.local[832]: I Love KernelTalks
May 24 04:21:12 kerneltalks systemd[1]: Started halt.local.service.
That’s it. You can see our echo message is printed in logs which indicates commands successfully ran before shutdown.
In this way, you can configure your application start-stop commands in Suse Linux to start and stop application after boot and before the shutdown of the server. Also, you can schedule scripts to execute before shutdown and after boot of the Suse Linux server.
Learn why ps output shows UID instead of username.
PS reads UID instead of username in output
One of our reader asked me:
I see userid in place of the username in ps -ef command output, please explain.
In this article, we will see why ps output shows UID instead of username sometimes. In some recent Linux distributions like RHEL 7, it shows cropped username ending with + sign. Let’s see the reason behind ps doesn’t show username.
where the first column is username who owns that particular process. Sometimes you see output like below –
kernelt+ 1354 1335 0 17:50 pts/0 00:00:00 top
OR
1001 1354 1335 0 17:50 pts/0 00:00:00 top
where username in ps output is numeric or cropped username ending with +
This is because ps -ef output restricts username up to 8 characters. If your username is longer than 8 characters then it will display UID or cropped version of it. Here we have kerneltalks user on our server.
Learn how to change UID or GID safely in Linux. Also, know how to switch UID between two users and GID between two groups without impacting files ownership they own.
How to change UID or GID safely in Linux
In this article, we will walk you through to change UID or GID of existing users or groups without affecting file ownership owned by them. Later, we also explained how to switch GID between two groups and how to switch UID between two users on the system without affecting file ownership owned by them.
Let’s start with changing UID or GID on the system.
Current scenario :
User shrikant with UID 1001 Group sysadmin with GID 2001
Expected scenario :
User shrikant with UID 3001 Group sysadmin with GID 4001
Changing GID and UID is simple using usermod or groupmod command, but you have to keep in mind that after changing UID or GID you need to change ownership of all files owned by them manually since file ownership is known to the kernel by GID and UID, not by username.
Now, search and change all file’s ownership owned by this user or group with for loop
root@kerneltalks # for i in `find / -user 1001`; do chown 3001 $i; done
root@kerneltalks # for i in `find / -group 2001`; do chgrp 4001 $i; done
OR
root@kerneltalks # find / -user 1001 -exec chown -h shrikant {} \;
root@kerneltalks # find / -group 2001 -exec chgrp -h sysadmin {} \;
That’s it. You have safely changed UID and GID on your system without affecting any file ownership owned by them!
How to switch GID of two groups
Current scenario :
Group sysadmin with GID 1111 Group oracle with GID 2222
Expected scenario :
Group sysadmin with GID 2222 Group oracle with GID 1111
In the above situation, we need to use one intermediate GID which is currently not in use on your system. Check /etc/group file and select one GID XXXX which is not present in a file. In our example, we take 9999 as intermediate GID.
Now, the process is simple –
Change sysadmin GID to 9999
Find and change the group of all files owned by GID 1111 to sysadmin
Change oracle GID to 1111
Find and change the group of all files owned by GID 2222 to oracle
Change sysadmin GID to 2222
Find and change the group of all files owned by GID 9999 to sysadmin
Learn how to safely remove the disk from LVM. It’s useful when you need to free up disks from the volume group and re-use somewhere else or replace a faulty disk.
How to safely remove disk from LVM
This article will serve solution for below questions :
How to safely remove the disk from LVM
How to remove the disk from VG online
How to copy data from one disk to other at the physical level
How to replace a faulty disk in LVM online
How to move physical extents from one disk to another
How to free up disk from VG to shrink VG size
How to safely reduce VG
We have volume group named vg01 which has 20M logical volume created in it and mounted it on /mydata mount point. Check lsblk output below –
root@kerneltalks # lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
xvda 202:0 0 10G 0 disk
├─xvda1 202:1 0 1M 0 part
└─xvda2 202:2 0 10G 0 part /
xvdf 202:80 0 1G 0 disk
└─vg01-lvol1 253:0 0 20M 0 lvm /mydata
Now, attach new disk of the same or bigger size of the disk /dev/xvdf. Identify the new disk on the system by using lsblk command again and comparing the output to the previous one.
root@kerneltalks # lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
xvda 202:0 0 10G 0 disk
├─xvda1 202:1 0 1M 0 part
└─xvda2 202:2 0 10G 0 part /
xvdf 202:80 0 1G 0 disk
└─vg01-lvol1 253:0 0 20M 0 lvm /mydata
xvdg 202:96 0 1G 0 disk
You can see the new disk has been identified as /dev/xvdg. Now, we will add this disk to current VG vg01. This can be done using vgextend command. Obviously, before using it in LVM you need to run pvcreate on it.
Observe the above output. Since we created a 20M mount point from disk /dev/xvdf it has 20M less free size. The new disk /dev/xvdg is completely free.
Now, we need to move physical extents from disk xvdf to xvdg. pvmove is the command used to achieve this. You just need to supply a disk name from where you need to move out PE. Command will move PE out of that disk and write them to all available disks in the same volume group. In our case, only one other disk is available to move PE.
Move progress is shown periodically. If due to any reason operation interrupted in between then moved PE will remain at destination disks and un-moved PEs will remain on the source disk. The operation can be resumed by issuing the same command again. It will then move the remaining PE out of the source disk.
In the above command, it will run pvmove in the background. It will redirect normal console outputs in normal.log file under the current working directory whereas errors will be redirected and saved in error.log file in the current working directory.
Now if you check pvs output again, you will find all space on disk xvdf is free which means its not been used to store any data in that VG. This ensures you can remove the disk without any issues.
Before removing/detaching disk from the server, you need to remove it from LVM. You can do this by reducing VG and opting for that disk out.
root@kerneltalks # vgreduce vg01 /dev/xvdf
Removed "/dev/xvdf" from volume group "vg01"
Now disk xvdf can be removed/detached from server safely.
Few useful switches of pvmove :
Verbose mode prints more detailed information on the operation. It can be invoked by using -v switch.
root@kerneltalks # pvmove -v /dev/xvdf
Cluster mirror log daemon is not running.
Wiping internal VG cache
Wiping cache of LVM-capable devices
Archiving volume group "vg01" metadata (seqno 17).
Creating logical volume pvmove0
activation/volume_list configuration setting not defined: Checking only host tags for vg01/lvol1.
Moving 5 extents of logical volume vg01/lvol1.
activation/volume_list configuration setting not defined: Checking only host tags for vg01/lvol1.
Creating vg01-pvmove0
Loading table for vg01-pvmove0 (253:1).
Loading table for vg01-lvol1 (253:0).
Suspending vg01-lvol1 (253:0) with device flush
Resuming vg01-pvmove0 (253:1).
Resuming vg01-lvol1 (253:0).
Creating volume group backup "/etc/lvm/backup/vg01" (seqno 18).
activation/volume_list configuration setting not defined: Checking only host tags for vg01/pvmove0.
Checking progress before waiting every 15 seconds.
/dev/xvdf: Moved: 0.00%
/dev/xvdf: Moved: 100.00%
Polling finished successfully.
The interval at which command updates the progress can be changed. -i switch followed by a number of seconds can be used to get updates from command on user-defined intervals on progress.
How to guide to boot Suse Linux from old kernel after kernel upgrade.
Boot Suse Linux from old kernel after kernel upgrade
This article is basically a how-to guide for booting SUSE Linux system from the previous kernel after the kernel upgrade process. Normally, Linux like Red Hat has the option to just change boot priority of kernel in /etc/grub.conf and reboot into the kernel of your choice. But in SUSE Linux, we do not have that option. Now the question is how to boot into old kernel once I upgrade the kernel.
You can boot into the older kernel by using the below method. I explained kernel upgrade first and then how to uninstall update to boot from the older kernel. This is a kind of rollback kernel upgrade in SUSE Linux.
1. Upgrade kernel in Suse Linux
The first thing you want to check and confirm that if your SUSE supports multiversion or not. Go to /etc/zypp/zypp.conf and make sure the below-mentioned line is not commented on. If there is # at the beginning of it, remove it.
multiversion = provides:multiversion(kernel)
There are many ways to maintain how many old kernel versions can be maintained by the system. We won’t be going through it. You can find more details about it here.
Once you are confirmed, multiversion is active then go ahead with kernel upgrade. If it’s not activated, zypper will auto-delete old kernel and you won’t be able to use it.
root@kerneltalks # uname -a
Linux kerneltalks 4.4.114-94.11-default #1 SMP Thu Feb 1 19:28:26 UTC 2018 (4309ff9) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Install the new kernel version using zypper. Make sure you are installing the new kernel and not updating your current one.
root@kerneltalks # zypper in kernel-default
Refreshing service 'SMT-http_smt-ec2_susecloud_net'.
Refreshing service 'cloud_update'.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...
The following 5 NEW packages are going to be installed:
crash-kmp-default crda kernel-default-4.4.120-94.17.1 kernel-firmware
wireless-regdb
5 new packages to install.
Overall download size: 81.3 MiB. Already cached: 0 B. After the operation,
additional 358.3 MiB will be used.
Continue? [y/n/...? shows all options] (y): y
Retrieving package kernel-default-4.4.120-94.17.1.x86_64
(1/5), 38.6 MiB (167.2 MiB unpacked)
Retrieving: kernel-default-4.4.120-94.17.1.x86_64.rpm ........[done (7.1 MiB/s)]
Retrieving package kernel-firmware-20170530-21.19.1.noarch
(2/5), 42.5 MiB (191.1 MiB unpacked)
Retrieving: kernel-firmware-20170530-21.19.1.noarch.rpm .....[done (18.2 MiB/s)]
Retrieving package wireless-regdb-2017.12.23-4.3.1.noarch
(3/5), 14.1 KiB ( 13.0 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: wireless-regdb-2017.12.23-4.3.1.noarch.rpm ...................[done]
Retrieving package crash-kmp-default-7.1.8_k4.4.92_6.30-4.6.2.x86_64
(4/5), 116.8 KiB ( 7.8 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: crash-kmp-default-7.1.8_k4.4.92_6.30-4.6.2.x86_64.rpm ........[done]
Retrieving package crda-1.1.3-4.2.1.x86_64 (5/5), 14.4 KiB ( 34.5 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: crda-1.1.3-4.2.1.x86_64.rpm ..................................[done]
Checking for file conflicts: .............................................[done]
(1/5) Installing: kernel-default-4.4.120-94.17.1.x86_64 ..................[done]
Additional rpm output:
Creating initrd: /boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default
dracut: Executing: /usr/bin/dracut --logfile /var/log/YaST2/mkinitrd.log --force /boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default 4.4.120-94.17-default
dracut: dracut module 'btrfs' will not be installed, because command 'btrfs' cou ld not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'dmraid' will not be installed, because command 'dmraid' c ould not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'mdraid' will not be installed, because command 'mdadm' co uld not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'btrfs' will not be installed, because command 'btrfs' cou ld not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'dmraid' will not be installed, because command 'dmraid' c ould not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'mdraid' will not be installed, because command 'mdadm' co uld not be found!
dracut: *** Including module: bash ***
dracut: *** Including module: systemd ***
dracut: *** Including module: systemd-initrd ***
dracut: *** Including module: i18n ***
dracut: No KEYMAP configured.
dracut: *** Including module: xen-tools-domU ***
dracut: *** Including module: kernel-modules ***
dracut: *** Including module: rootfs-block ***
dracut: *** Including module: suse-xfs ***
dracut: *** Including module: terminfo ***
dracut: *** Including module: udev-rules ***
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 40-redhat.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 50-firmware.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 50-udev.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 91-permissions.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 80-drivers-modprobe.rules
dracut: *** Including module: dracut-systemd ***
dracut: *** Including module: haveged ***
dracut: *** Including module: usrmount ***
dracut: *** Including module: base ***
dracut: *** Including module: fs-lib ***
dracut: *** Including module: shutdown ***
dracut: *** Including module: suse ***
dracut: *** Including modules done ***
dracut: *** Installing kernel module dependencies and firmware ***
dracut: *** Installing kernel module dependencies and firmware done ***
dracut: *** Resolving executable dependencies ***
dracut: *** Resolving executable dependencies done***
dracut: *** Hardlinking files ***
dracut: *** Hardlinking files done ***
dracut: *** Stripping files ***
dracut: *** Stripping files done ***
dracut: *** Generating early-microcode cpio image ***
dracut: *** Store current command line parameters ***
dracut: Stored kernel commandline:
dracut: root=UUID=26fa33a2-ad40-4a85-a495-402aca6a2127 rootfstype=ext4 rootflag s=rw,relatime,data=ordered
dracut: *** Creating image file '/boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default' ***
dracut: *** Creating initramfs image file '/boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default' d one ***
(2/5) Installing: kernel-firmware-20170530-21.19.1.noarch ................[done]
(3/5) Installing: wireless-regdb-2017.12.23-4.3.1.noarch .................[done]
(4/5) Installing: crash-kmp-default-7.1.8_k4.4.92_6.30-4.6.2.x86_64 ......[done]
(5/5) Installing: crda-1.1.3-4.2.1.x86_64 ................................[done]
Output of kernel-firmware-20170530-21.19.1.noarch.rpm %posttrans script:
Creating initrd: /boot/initrd-4.4.114-94.11-default
dracut: Executing: /usr/bin/dracut --logfile /var/log/YaST2/mkinitrd.log --f orce /boot/initrd-4.4.114-94.11-default 4.4.114-94.11-default
dracut: dracut module 'btrfs' will not be installed, because command 'btrfs' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'dmraid' will not be installed, because command 'dmrai d' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'mdraid' will not be installed, because command 'mdadm ' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'btrfs' will not be installed, because command 'btrfs' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'dmraid' will not be installed, because command 'dmrai d' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'mdraid' will not be installed, because command 'mdadm ' could not be found!
dracut: *** Including module: bash ***
dracut: *** Including module: systemd ***
dracut: *** Including module: systemd-initrd ***
dracut: *** Including module: i18n ***
dracut: No KEYMAP configured.
dracut: *** Including module: xen-tools-domU ***
dracut: *** Including module: kernel-modules ***
dracut: *** Including module: rootfs-block ***
dracut: *** Including module: suse-xfs ***
dracut: *** Including module: terminfo ***
dracut: *** Including module: udev-rules ***
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 40-redhat.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 50-firmware.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 50-udev.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 91-permissions.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 80-drivers-modprobe.rules
dracut: *** Including module: dracut-systemd ***
dracut: *** Including module: haveged ***
dracut: *** Including module: usrmount ***
dracut: *** Including module: base ***
dracut: *** Including module: fs-lib ***
dracut: *** Including module: shutdown ***
dracut: *** Including module: suse ***
dracut: *** Including modules done ***
dracut: *** Installing kernel module dependencies and firmware ***
dracut: *** Installing kernel module dependencies and firmware done ***
dracut: *** Resolving executable dependencies ***
dracut: *** Resolving executable dependencies done***
dracut: *** Hardlinking files ***
dracut: *** Hardlinking files done ***
dracut: *** Stripping files ***
dracut: *** Stripping files done ***
dracut: *** Generating early-microcode cpio image ***
dracut: *** Store current command line parameters ***
dracut: Stored kernel commandline:
dracut: root=UUID=26fa33a2-ad40-4a85-a495-402aca6a2127 rootfstype=ext4 root flags=rw,relatime,data=ordered
dracut: *** Creating image file '/boot/initrd-4.4.114-94.11-default' ***
dracut: *** Creating initramfs image file '/boot/initrd-4.4.114-94.11-defaul t' done ***
Creating initrd: /boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default
dracut: Executing: /usr/bin/dracut --logfile /var/log/YaST2/mkinitrd.log --f orce /boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default 4.4.120-94.17-default
dracut: dracut module 'btrfs' will not be installed, because command 'btrfs' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'dmraid' will not be installed, because command 'dmrai d' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'mdraid' will not be installed, because command 'mdadm ' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'btrfs' will not be installed, because command 'btrfs' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'dmraid' will not be installed, because command 'dmrai d' could not be found!
dracut: dracut module 'mdraid' will not be installed, because command 'mdadm ' could not be found!
dracut: *** Including module: bash ***
dracut: *** Including module: systemd ***
dracut: *** Including module: systemd-initrd ***
dracut: *** Including module: i18n ***
dracut: No KEYMAP configured.
dracut: *** Including module: xen-tools-domU ***
dracut: *** Including module: kernel-modules ***
dracut: *** Including module: rootfs-block ***
dracut: *** Including module: suse-xfs ***
dracut: *** Including module: terminfo ***
dracut: *** Including module: udev-rules ***
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 40-redhat.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 50-firmware.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 50-udev.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 91-permissions.rules
dracut: Skipping udev rule: 80-drivers-modprobe.rules
dracut: *** Including module: dracut-systemd ***
dracut: *** Including module: haveged ***
dracut: *** Including module: usrmount ***
dracut: *** Including module: base ***
dracut: *** Including module: fs-lib ***
dracut: *** Including module: shutdown ***
dracut: *** Including module: suse ***
dracut: *** Including modules done ***
dracut: *** Installing kernel module dependencies and firmware ***
dracut: *** Installing kernel module dependencies and firmware done ***
dracut: *** Resolving executable dependencies ***
dracut: *** Resolving executable dependencies done***
dracut: *** Hardlinking files ***
dracut: *** Hardlinking files done ***
dracut: *** Stripping files ***
dracut: *** Stripping files done ***
dracut: *** Generating early-microcode cpio image ***
dracut: *** Store current command line parameters ***
dracut: Stored kernel commandline:
dracut: root=UUID=26fa33a2-ad40-4a85-a495-402aca6a2127 rootfstype=ext4 root flags=rw,relatime,data=ordered
dracut: *** Creating image file '/boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default' ***
dracut: *** Creating initramfs image file '/boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-defaul t' done ***
Reboot system and you see your system is booted with the latest new kernel.
root@kerneltalks # uname -a
Linux kerneltalks 4.4.120-94.17-default #1 SMP Wed Mar 14 17:23:00 UTC 2018 (cf3a7bb) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Now check all the installed kernel packages on your system using –
root@kerneltalks # zypper se -si 'kernel*'
Refreshing service 'SMT-http_smt-ec2_susecloud_net'.
Refreshing service 'cloud_update'.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
S | Name | Type | Version | Arch | Repository
---+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------+-------------------
i+ | kernel-default | package | 4.4.120-94.17.1 | x86_64 | SLES12-SP3-Updates
i+ | kernel-default | package | 4.4.114-94.11.3 | x86_64 | SLES12-SP3-Updates
i | kernel-firmware | package | 20170530-21.19.1 | noarch | SLES12-SP3-Updates
Here, you can see there are two kernels installed on the system. Old one is 4.4.114-94.11.3 and the new one is 4.4.120-94.17.1 from which the current system is booted.
2. Boot from the old kernel in SUSE Linux
For Suse with GRUB2
Now, if you want to boot the system from the old kernel 4.4.114-94.11.3 without un-installing new kernel then follow the below steps.
Make copy of /etc/default/grub file as a backup. and then edit it –
root@kerneltalks # cp /etc/default/grub /etc/default/grub.backup
root@kerneltalks # vi /etc/default/grub
Look for GRUB_DEFAULT=0and edit the number per old kernel menu number. Old kernel menu number can be found in /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
Open /boot/grub2/grub.cfg and look for entry menuentry You will be able to see different kernel entries in it. First being 0 and then counter goes on. Check and choose the menu number of your old kernel.
After editing /etc/default/grub file you need to re-create /boot/grub2/grub.cfg You can do it with below command –
root@kerneltalks # grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.120-94.17-default
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd-4.4.120-94.17-default
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.114-94.11-default
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd-4.4.114-94.11-default
done
Once done, reboot the system. That’s it. You can see your system is booted with an old kernel while your new kernel is still installed on the server.
For Suse with GRUB
Edit /boot/grub/grub.conf which is also link to /boot/grub/menu.lst . Look for parameter default 0 and change the number 0 to your desired kernel menu number.
You can see the kernel list to be displayed later in the same file. Remember, the numbering starts at 0. So countdown to your old kernel version number and use it for the default parameter.
Save the file and reboot the system. You will be booted with old kernel.
3. Rollback to old kernel in SUSE Linux
Now if you want to rollback system to the old kernel 4.4.114-94.11.3, remove this latest installed kernel 4.4.120-94.17.1. You need to give kernel name as <package_name>-<package_version>. You can get the version from the above command output. In this way, we are downgrading kernel in SUSE Linux.
root@kerneltalks # zypper rm kernel-default-4.4.120-94.17.1
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...
The following package is going to be REMOVED:
kernel-default-4.4.120-94.17.1
1 package to remove.
After the operation, 167.2 MiB will be freed.
Continue? [y/n/...? shows all options] (y): y
(1/1) Removing kernel-default-4.4.120-94.17.1.x86_64 .............................................................................................................[done]
There are some running programs that might use files deleted by recent upgrade. You may wish to check and restart some of them. Run 'zypper ps -s' to list these programs.
Now as per warning lets check which all processes are using it.
root@kerneltalks # zypper ps -s
The following running processes use deleted files:
PID | PPID | UID | User | Command | Service
----+------+-----+------+---------------+--------------
486 | 1 | 0 | root | systemd-udevd | systemd-udevd
You may wish to restart these processes.
See 'man zypper' for information about the meaning of values in the above table.
Lets reboot system and check kernel version.
root@kerneltalks # uname -a
Linux kerneltalks 4.4.114-94.11-default #1 SMP Thu Feb 1 19:28:26 UTC 2018 (4309ff9) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
You can see the system is booted with your old kernel 4.4.114-94.11.3!
Now, Check installed kernel packages and you can see a newer kernel package is no more installed/active on the system.
root@kerneltalks # zypper se -si 'kernel*'
Refreshing service 'SMT-http_smt-ec2_susecloud_net'.
Refreshing service 'cloud_update'.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
S | Name | Type | Version | Arch | Repository
---+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------+-------------------
i+ | kernel-default | package | 4.4.114-94.11.3 | x86_64 | SLES12-SP3-Updates
i | kernel-firmware | package | 20170530-21.19.1 | noarch | SLES12-SP3-Updates
If you have another method (command line) to boot into the older kernel then please share in the comments below.
Solution for VMware tools not running after Linux kernel upgrade in guest VM
VMware tools not running after Linux kernel upgrade
In this article, we will discuss solutions when VMware tools are not running after the Linux kernel upgrade.
Cause :
After kernel upgrade in the Guest VM Linux machine, you may see VMware tools are not running. This is because there are VMware tools modules that runs using kernel library files. After a kernel upgrade, they point to different library files than the one currently used by the kernel and hence failed to start.
Solution :
The issue can be resolved by reconfiguring VMware tools after the kernel upgrade. This process is on the fly and does not require downtime.
Login to Guest Linux operating system using root account and run reconfiguration script /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl
You will be asked a few choices to make. If you know about those modules you choose your answers according to your requirement and just hit enter to accept defaults. See below sample output –
root@kerneltalks # /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl
Initializing...
Making sure services for VMware Tools are stopped.
Found a compatible pre-built module for vmci. Installing it...
Found a compatible pre-built module for vsock. Installing it...
The module vmxnet3 has already been installed on this system by another
installer or package and will not be modified by this installer.
The module pvscsi has already been installed on this system by another
installer or package and will not be modified by this installer.
The module vmmemctl has already been installed on this system by another
installer or package and will not be modified by this installer.
The VMware Host-Guest Filesystem allows for shared folders between the host OS
and the guest OS in a Fusion or Workstation virtual environment. Do you wish
to enable this feature? [no]
Found a compatible pre-built module for vmxnet. Installing it...
The vmblock enables dragging or copying files between host and guest in a
Fusion or Workstation virtual environment. Do you wish to enable this feature?
[no]
VMware automatic kernel modules enables automatic building and installation of
VMware kernel modules at boot that are not already present. This feature can
be enabled/disabled by re-running vmware-config-tools.pl.
Would you like to enable VMware automatic kernel modules?
[no]
Do you want to enable Guest Authentication (vgauth)? Enabling vgauth is needed
if you want to enable Common Agent (caf). [yes]
Do you want to enable Common Agent (caf)? [yes]
No X install found.
Creating a new initrd boot image for the kernel.
NOTE: both /etc/vmware-tools/GuestProxyData/server/key.pem and
/etc/vmware-tools/GuestProxyData/server/cert.pem already exist.
They are not generated again. To regenerate them by force,
use the "vmware-guestproxycerttool -g -f" command.
vmware-tools start/running
The configuration of VMware Tools 10.0.6 build-3560309 for Linux for this
running kernel completed successfully.
You must restart your X session before any mouse or graphics changes take
effect.
You can now run VMware Tools by invoking "/usr/bin/vmware-toolbox-cmd" from the
command line.
To enable advanced X features (e.g., guest resolution fit, drag and drop, and
file and text copy/paste), you will need to do one (or more) of the following:
1. Manually start /usr/bin/vmware-user
2. Log out and log back into your desktop session; and,
3. Restart your X session.
Enjoy,
--the VMware team
If you are ok to accept the default and want the script to run non-interactive, run it with -d default switch.
Failed to mount cd:///?devices=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-VMware_Virtual_IDE_CDROM_Drive_10000000000000000001 on /var/adm/mount/AP_0xFre2nn: Mounting media failed (mount: no medium found on /dev/sr0)
Detailed error snippet below :
# zypper in salt-minion
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...
The following 16 NEW packages are going to be installed:
libzmq3 python-Jinja2 python-MarkupSafe python-PyYAML python-backports.ssl_match_hostname python-futures python-msgpack-python python-netaddr python-psutil
python-pycrypto python-pyzmq python-requests python-simplejson python-tornado salt salt-minion
The following 2 recommended packages were automatically selected:
python-futures python-netaddr
The following 15 packages are not supported by their vendor:
libzmq3 python-Jinja2 python-MarkupSafe python-PyYAML python-backports.ssl_match_hostname python-futures python-msgpack-python python-psutil python-pycrypto
python-pyzmq python-requests python-simplejson python-tornado salt salt-minion
16 new packages to install.
Overall download size: 9.0 MiB. Already cached: 0 B. After the operation, additional 48.0 MiB will be used.
Continue? [y/n/? shows all options] (y): y
Retrieving package python-netaddr-0.7.10-8.5.noarch (1/16), 896.9 KiB ( 4.2 MiB unpacked)
Failed to mount cd:///?devices=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-VMware_Virtual_IDE_CDROM_Drive_10000000000000000001 on /var/adm/mount/AP_0xFre2nn: Mounting media failed (mount: no medium found on /dev/sr0)
Please insert medium [SLES12-SP1-12.1-0] #1 and type 'y' to continue or 'n' to cancel the operation. [yes/no] (no): n
Problem occured during or after installation or removal of packages:
Installation aborted by user
Please see the above error message for a hint.
Cause :
This error is nothing but zypper trying to read repo information from CD/DVD. Since one of the zypper repo is configured to look for mountable media, it’s doing its job. But, currently, that media is not connected to the system, and hence zypper is failing to read details from it.
Solution :
List your zypper repo using the command :
# zypper lr --details
# | Alias | Name | Enabled | GPG Check | Refresh | Priority | Type | URI | Service
--+----------------------+----------------------+---------+-----------+---------+----------+--------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------
1 | SLES12-SP1-12.1-0 | SLES12-SP1-12.1-0 | Yes | (r ) Yes | No | 99 | yast2 | cd:///?devices=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-VMware_Virtual_IDE_CDROM_Drive_10000000000000000001 |
2 | sles12-sp1-bootstrap | sles12-sp1-bootstrap | Yes | ( p) Yes | No | 99 | rpm-md | http://repo.kerneltalks.com/pub/repositories/sle/12/1/bootstrap |
Here you can see first repo’s URI is pointing to a CD. Now you can mount the CD or you can disable that repo for time being and move ahead with the installation.
Use the below command to disable CD repo. Make sure you enter correct repo number in command (here it’s 1)
# zypper mr --disable 1
Repository 'SLES12-SP1-12.1-0' has been successfully disabled.
Once CD/DVD repo is disabled successfully, re-run zypper installation command and you will be able to execute it without any errors!
-r switch gives you your current kernel version. -v gives you your current patch level. You can see in the above output our RHEL6 system has 2014 (almost 4 years old) patched kernel. We will patch it to the latest one in this article.
How to upgrade the kernel in RHEL
Patching kernel is Linux is the same as upgrading to the latest kernel. Make sure you have yum configured properly to receive the latest packages from trusted repositories. If you do not have/want yum configurations, you can download the latest kernel and its dependencies from the Red Hat portal and keep it ready on the server for installation.
Never replace the existing kernel by updating the package. Always install a new kernel package so that your old kernel still resides on the server and you can boot it if your server/application is not behaving well with the new kernel.
To install the latest kernel, use rpm -ivh <rpm names> or yum install kernel command.
root@kerneltalks # yum install kernel
Loaded plugins: amazon-id, rhui-lb, security
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.32-696.20.1.el6 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: dracut-kernel >= 004-408.el6 for package: kernel-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: kernel-firmware >= 2.6.32-696.20.1.el6 for package: kernel-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64
--> Running transaction check
---> Package dracut-kernel.noarch 0:004-336.el6_5.2 will be updated
---> Package dracut-kernel.noarch 0:004-409.el6_8.2 will be an update
--> Processing Dependency: dracut = 004-409.el6_8.2 for package: dracut-kernel-004-409.el6_8.2.noarch
---> Package kernel-firmware.noarch 0:2.6.32-431.29.2.el6 will be updated
---> Package kernel-firmware.noarch 0:2.6.32-696.20.1.el6 will be an update
--> Running transaction check
---> Package dracut.noarch 0:004-336.el6_5.2 will be updated
---> Package dracut.noarch 0:004-409.el6_8.2 will be an update
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
========================================================================================================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
========================================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
kernel x86_64 2.6.32-696.20.1.el6 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases 32 M
Updating for dependencies:
dracut noarch 004-409.el6_8.2 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases 127 k
dracut-kernel noarch 004-409.el6_8.2 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases 28 k
kernel-firmware noarch 2.6.32-696.20.1.el6 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases 29 M
Transaction Summary
========================================================================================================================================================================
Install 1 Package(s)
Upgrade 3 Package(s)
Total download size: 61 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/4): dracut-004-409.el6_8.2.noarch.rpm | 127 kB 00:00
(2/4): dracut-kernel-004-409.el6_8.2.noarch.rpm | 28 kB 00:00
(3/4): kernel-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64.rpm | 32 MB 00:00
(4/4): kernel-firmware-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.noarch.rpm | 29 MB 00:00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 45 MB/s | 61 MB 00:01
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Updating : dracut-004-409.el6_8.2.noarch 1/7
Updating : dracut-kernel-004-409.el6_8.2.noarch 2/7
Updating : kernel-firmware-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.noarch 3/7
Installing : kernel-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64 4/7
Cleanup : dracut-kernel-004-336.el6_5.2.noarch 5/7
Cleanup : dracut-004-336.el6_5.2.noarch 6/7
Cleanup : kernel-firmware-2.6.32-431.29.2.el6.noarch 7/7
Verifying : kernel-firmware-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.noarch 1/7
Verifying : kernel-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64 2/7
Verifying : dracut-kernel-004-409.el6_8.2.noarch 3/7
Verifying : dracut-004-409.el6_8.2.noarch 4/7
Verifying : dracut-004-336.el6_5.2.noarch 5/7
Verifying : kernel-firmware-2.6.32-431.29.2.el6.noarch 6/7
Verifying : dracut-kernel-004-336.el6_5.2.noarch 7/7
Installed:
kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.32-696.20.1.el6
Dependency Updated:
dracut.noarch 0:004-409.el6_8.2 dracut-kernel.noarch 0:004-409.el6_8.2 kernel-firmware.noarch 0:2.6.32-696.20.1.el6
Complete!
If you are on a test system and don’t mind wiping out old kernel then you can directly use yum update kernel or rpm -Uvh <rpms> command and update kernel.
If you observe, yum resolved dependencies too. If you are opting to install from rpm you need to download all dependencies as well. Here is the list of dependencies depending on your RHEL version :
Now, if you observe,/boot/grub/grub.conf your newly installed kernel entry is added before your old kernel entry. This gives new kernel priority to boot when you reboot the system. parameter default=0 says the system needs to be booted from the very first kernel defined below. Kernel entries numbering starts from 0. Make sure this parameter value points to your newly installed kernel and reboot the system.
# cat /boot/grub/grub.conf
default=0
timeout=1
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64 console=ttyS0 ro root=UUID=9996863e-b964-47d3-a33b-3920974fdbd9 rd_NO_LUKS KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us LANG=en_US.UTF-8 xen_blkfront.sda_is_xvda=1 console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty0 rd_NO_MD SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 crashkernel=auto rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_DM
initrd /boot/initramfs-2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64.img
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux (2.6.32-431.29.2.el6.x86_64)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-431.29.2.el6.x86_64 console=ttyS0 ro root=UUID=9996863e-b964-47d3-a33b-3920974fdbd9 rd_NO_LUKS KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us LANG=en_US.UTF-8 xen_blkfront.sda_is_xvda=1 console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty0 rd_NO_MD SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 crashkernel=auto rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_DM
initrd /boot/initramfs-2.6.32-431.29.2.el6.x86_64.img
After rebooting, you can see your system is running with a new updated kernel!
root@kerneltalks # reboot
Broadcast message from root@kerneltalks
(/dev/pts/0) at 2:14 ...
The system is going down for reboot NOW!
root@kerneltalks # uname -r
2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64
root@kerneltalks # uname -v
#1 SMP Fri Jan 12 15:07:59 EST 2018
You can see kernel is upgraded from 2.6.32-431.29.2.el6.x86_64 to 2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64. And patch level from July 2014 to Jan 2018.
How to upgrade the kernel in Suse Linux
Let’s start with checking current kernel version and patch info.
root@kerneltalks # uname -r
3.0.101-108.21-default
root@kerneltalks # uname -v
#1 SMP Fri Dec 29 10:25:37 UTC 2017 (5f5299b)
Perform kernel upgrade with zypper or if you have kernel rpm package with you, you can use rpm -ivh <kernel_rpm_path> to perform the multi-kernel install (not update)
You have an option to perform distribution upgrade using zypper dup as well which includes updating all packages to available updates. But most of the cases it’s not recommended.
# zypper up kernel-default
Refreshing service 'cloud_update'.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...
The following packages are going to be upgraded:
kernel-default kernel-default-base
2 packages to upgrade.
Overall download size: 40.2 MiB. After the operation, additional 1.2 MiB will be used.
Continue? [y/n/? shows all options] (y): y
Retrieving package kernel-default-base-3.0.101-108.35.1.x86_64 (1/2), 15.7 MiB (23.2 MiB unpacked)
Retrieving: kernel-default-base-3.0.101-108.35.1.x86_64.rpm [done]
Retrieving package kernel-default-3.0.101-108.35.1.x86_64 (2/2), 24.5 MiB (86.1 MiB unpacked)
Retrieving: kernel-default-3.0.101-108.35.1.x86_64.rpm [done]
Installing: kernel-default-base-3.0.101-108.35.1 [done]
Additional rpm output:
Kernel image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.101-108.35-default
Initrd image: /boot/initrd-3.0.101-108.35-default
Root device: /dev/hda1 (mounted on / as ext3)
Kernel Modules: xen-platform-pci xen-vbd-upstream xen-vbd xen-balloon xen-vnif scsi_mod libata ata_piix jbd mbcache ext3 edd usb-common usbcore ehci-hcd ohci-hcd uhci-hcd xhci-hcd crc-t10dif sd_mod
Features: acpi fv_guest block resume.userspace resume.kernel
32723 blocks
Installing: kernel-default-3.0.101-108.35.1 [done]
Additional rpm output:
Kernel image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.101-108.35-default
Initrd image: /boot/initrd-3.0.101-108.35-default
Root device: /dev/hda1 (mounted on / as ext3)
Kernel Modules: hwmon thermal_sys thermal processor fan xen-platform-pci xen-vbd-upstream xen-vbd xen-balloon xen-vnif scsi_mod libata ata_piix ata_generic jbd mbcache ext3 edd usb-common usbcore ehci-hcd ohci-hcd uhci-hcd xhci-hcd hid usbhid crc-t10dif sd_mod
Features: acpi fv_guest block usb resume.userspace resume.kernel
33630 blocks
# reboot
Broadcast message from root (pts/0) (Sat Mar 3 04:47:12 2018):
The system is going down for reboot NOW!
Reboot the system and then check new kernel version.
# uname -r
3.0.101-108.35-default
# uname -v
#1 SMP Mon Feb 19 21:13:08 UTC 2018 (251ec24)
You can see the kernel is upgraded from 3.0.101-108.21-default to 3.0.101-108.35-default. And patch date from Dec 2017 to Feb 2018!
How to upgrade the kernel in Ubuntu Linux
Start with checking your current kernel version and patching date
# uname -v
#16-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 20 15:31:12 UTC 2017
# uname -r
4.9.0-15-generic
Now visit the Ubuntu Kernel page and download the kernel of your choice which is matching with your server arch using wget. We chose to upgrade to 4.10 kernel. Since we have generic kernel we downloaded generic kernel files from 4.10 directory.
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TorGuard review
Review for TorGuard VPN services: The best tool to secure your web traffic. TorGuard is a leading firm in VPN services with the tagline ‘Don’t Risk Your Online Privacy. Go Stealth with TorGuard‘. So let’s get our hands on TorGuard VPN and see its features. But first let’s try to figure out, what is VPN? why VPN? and why do I need my web traffic secured?
VPN is a short form of Virtual Private Network. It’s about privacy. In today’s world, data is everything. Big companies, businesses always look for data to analyze and decide business strategy. Public domain data is gathered from internet traffic. If you are connected to free wifi then there are maximum chances your internet traffic is being monitored and maybe being sold to such companies. So online privacy is a key area to focus on these days. That’s where a VPN comes into the picture. VPN creates a secure tunnel between you and the VPN server. All your internet traffic will be routed through this tunnel and then to the internet from the VPN server. This way you keep your anonymity online and no middleman can intercept/ snoop your internet traffic.
TorGuard VPN
Now we know little basic about VPN, let’s get our hands on TorGuard VPN. To use TorGuard VPN you have plenty of options depending on which device you want to use on. They have windows, Linux, MAC OS software setups. They also have Android, iOS apps, Mozilla, Chrome browser extensions & router setup scripts. All these downloads can be explored on their download page. Another cool way to connect TorGuard is by using the Cisco AnyConnect client. Here is a small guide by TorGuard to set up the Cisco AnyConnect clients to use their services.
TorGuard VPN chrome extension
For quick hands-on, we are using the Chrome Browser extension. The extension is available in the Chrome store here. After installing you will be asked for login credentials.
You have an option to save your credentials so that you need not enter them every time you connect. You also have an option to select a country from which your VPN server will be selected to connect you to the internet. Connection type by default SSL since you want to secure connection but HTTP protocol is also available if you choose to. It also offers port selection if you opt for it.
Observe your current IP and hit the connect button. Once connected your current IP will be changed and the extension icon on the Chrome bar turns green. Extensive information about your IP can be fetched by visiting TorGurd’s ‘What is my IP‘ page.
Do you know: TorGuard’s website detects your current IP and ISP details and displays it to you in websites header menu bar! Go check yourself.
TorGuard has a massive network across the globe for serving you. Around 3000+servers in 50+ countries serving different VPN services to TorGuard customers. You can figure out how much extensive mesh of servers they have to back these numbers. The complete list of their infrastructure can be found here.
TorGuard VPN features
Simply changing IP does not help to keep you anonymous online. So TorGuard has tonnes of features and add-ons to choose from. TorGuard offers simultaneous connections, unlimited speed & bandwidth, cross-platform compatibility. With security norms, it has OpenVPN/PPTP/L2TP/iKEv2/SSTP, Multiple Ciphers AES128/AES256, Stealth Proxy (ShadowProxy) to offer. Advertisers always find a way to sneak into your traffic and get the data for their partners. TorGuard has very strong ad network blocking along with malware blocking. It also blocks WebRTC/DNS/IPv6 Leaks.
TorGuard has anonymous webmail service as well. G/PGP end-to-end encrypted webmail for secured communication. It comes with MITM Protection which guard email against Man in the Middle Attacks. TorGuard offers higher-speed networks, dedicated IPs, residential IPs of specific countries as add-ons to its existing customers.
Plans and pricing
A basic anonymous VPN comes with $9.99 monthly. It’s best if you are just starting off with a VPN and wanted to try out before you invest a bigger amount in it. For an average user, their quarterly bundle pack is super. It’s for $19.99 and includes most of the features. All anonymous VPN plans can be seen here.
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We mentioned above about anonymous webmail service by TorGuard. It comes with free with VPN plans but only 10MB limited storage. For unlimited storage, you have to opt-in monthly, quarterly, or yearly plans which are for $6.95, $15.95 and $49.95. You can use coupons and links above to get heavy discounts!
Closing note
TorGuard VPN is the security niche essential tool for internet savvy people caring about their privacy and personal space. It offers basic services at a very low price and can be of great use with add-ons at the stack of some extra bucks.
