retep
08-15-2006, 04:02 AM
Hi.
Welcome to the August 2006 RimuHosting newsletter. It has been a few months since the last newsletter (in April) so this one is probably long overdue.
First up, a couple of key security exploit annoucements...
Webmin Security Exploit
There was a nasty Webmin security exploit. See:
http://bliki.rimuhosting.com/space/knowledgebase/linux/miscapplications/webmin
Webmin is installed by default on most servers ordered with us. So this will most likely affect you.
We have upgraded the version of webmin running on most servers we host. If we were not able to do this then you will have received a separate email from us by now.
It is possible (even likely) that the security hole was exploited before your version of webmin was patched. So, per that bliki url, we recommend you change passwords on all your user accounts. Just to be safe.
Rails Security Exploit
Over the last few months we have had a good number of customers sign up with us to use their server for Ruby on Rails hosting. Rails requires quite a bit of flexibility in the hosting setup, so the VPS plans we offer are a good match for it.
We have even created a howto/script for setting up a full-on RimuHosting Ruby on Rails Hosting Stack (http://bliki.rimuhosting.com/space/knowledgebase/linux/miscapplications/ruby+on+rails) (http://bliki.rimuhosting.com/space/knowledgebase/linux/miscapplications/ruby+on+rails%29).
Recently there was a serious exploit (and fix announced). See:
http://weblog.rubyonrails.com/2006/8/9/rails-1-1-5-mandatory-security-patch-and-other-tidbits
If you don't know what Rails is, never installed it or never asked us to install it then this does not affect you. (Rails is only on your server if you requested we do it or if you did it yourself).
If you installed Rails (or had us do it) <em>please</em> urgently upgrade Rails to 1.1.6.
New RimuHosting Staff
We had two new staff members join us in June. Please welcome Pablo and Fernando who have been providing some great support to customers over the last couple of months. It is great to be able to have such bright and capable people available to help improve our service to customers.
New Staff Profile Page
Ever been curious about who all is working behind the scenes at RimuHosting? We created a staff profile page (http://rimuhosting.com/support/staff.jsp) with a bit of info about team. These are the folks working at the coal face, helping out customers each day: setting up new servers, troubleshooting problems, installing apps, you name it.
RimuHosting Looking For More Support Staff
Want to work at RimuHosting? I invite you to check out the position details at http://forums.rimuhosting.com/forums/showthread.php?p=645#post645
VPS Reboots
Some people have reported having issues with the 'reboot' command on their VPS. Occasionally this will fail. Either the VPS will not shut down correctly, or once shut down will not start up correctly. We suspect this is due to a Xen bug. Since it 'should' work.
We are waiting on the next Xen release in hopes that this will improve the situation. In the meantime if you hit this problem we recommend doing a reboot via the reboot button in the http://rimuhosting.com/cp control panel.
CC Billing
We had a few people question whether charges on their CC statement are from us or not. So just to be clear: our CC transactions will go through as either WP-RIMUHOSTING or WP-OBJEXCEL (which is our company name).
Hosting Referrals Appreciated
If you have friends or colleagues that may require Linux or Java hosting and you think our service would suit them, please mention us to them. If they put your name as their referral source when they order we will pop a $15 hosting credit on your next hosting bill by way of thank you.
Do you feel the need to tell the world about your web host? Then we invite you to place one of our 'hosted by' buttons on your web site. You can see our current selection of buttons at http://rimuhosting.com/linktous.jsp
And that is all the news fit to send for this newsletter!
Regards, Peter Bryant
http://rimuhosting.com
Welcome to the August 2006 RimuHosting newsletter. It has been a few months since the last newsletter (in April) so this one is probably long overdue.
First up, a couple of key security exploit annoucements...
Webmin Security Exploit
There was a nasty Webmin security exploit. See:
http://bliki.rimuhosting.com/space/knowledgebase/linux/miscapplications/webmin
Webmin is installed by default on most servers ordered with us. So this will most likely affect you.
We have upgraded the version of webmin running on most servers we host. If we were not able to do this then you will have received a separate email from us by now.
It is possible (even likely) that the security hole was exploited before your version of webmin was patched. So, per that bliki url, we recommend you change passwords on all your user accounts. Just to be safe.
Rails Security Exploit
Over the last few months we have had a good number of customers sign up with us to use their server for Ruby on Rails hosting. Rails requires quite a bit of flexibility in the hosting setup, so the VPS plans we offer are a good match for it.
We have even created a howto/script for setting up a full-on RimuHosting Ruby on Rails Hosting Stack (http://bliki.rimuhosting.com/space/knowledgebase/linux/miscapplications/ruby+on+rails) (http://bliki.rimuhosting.com/space/knowledgebase/linux/miscapplications/ruby+on+rails%29).
Recently there was a serious exploit (and fix announced). See:
http://weblog.rubyonrails.com/2006/8/9/rails-1-1-5-mandatory-security-patch-and-other-tidbits
If you don't know what Rails is, never installed it or never asked us to install it then this does not affect you. (Rails is only on your server if you requested we do it or if you did it yourself).
If you installed Rails (or had us do it) <em>please</em> urgently upgrade Rails to 1.1.6.
New RimuHosting Staff
We had two new staff members join us in June. Please welcome Pablo and Fernando who have been providing some great support to customers over the last couple of months. It is great to be able to have such bright and capable people available to help improve our service to customers.
New Staff Profile Page
Ever been curious about who all is working behind the scenes at RimuHosting? We created a staff profile page (http://rimuhosting.com/support/staff.jsp) with a bit of info about team. These are the folks working at the coal face, helping out customers each day: setting up new servers, troubleshooting problems, installing apps, you name it.
RimuHosting Looking For More Support Staff
Want to work at RimuHosting? I invite you to check out the position details at http://forums.rimuhosting.com/forums/showthread.php?p=645#post645
VPS Reboots
Some people have reported having issues with the 'reboot' command on their VPS. Occasionally this will fail. Either the VPS will not shut down correctly, or once shut down will not start up correctly. We suspect this is due to a Xen bug. Since it 'should' work.
We are waiting on the next Xen release in hopes that this will improve the situation. In the meantime if you hit this problem we recommend doing a reboot via the reboot button in the http://rimuhosting.com/cp control panel.
CC Billing
We had a few people question whether charges on their CC statement are from us or not. So just to be clear: our CC transactions will go through as either WP-RIMUHOSTING or WP-OBJEXCEL (which is our company name).
Hosting Referrals Appreciated
If you have friends or colleagues that may require Linux or Java hosting and you think our service would suit them, please mention us to them. If they put your name as their referral source when they order we will pop a $15 hosting credit on your next hosting bill by way of thank you.
Do you feel the need to tell the world about your web host? Then we invite you to place one of our 'hosted by' buttons on your web site. You can see our current selection of buttons at http://rimuhosting.com/linktous.jsp
And that is all the news fit to send for this newsletter!
Regards, Peter Bryant
http://rimuhosting.com