Welcome to Richard's Blog

Category: Network and IT System

Fail2ban – how to unbanip on your sshd
IP address unban

Fail2Ban is an intrusion prevention system that protects computer servers from brute-force attacks. It can monitor specific logs and block IP addresses that act like brute-force attacks.

Fail2Ban particularly monitors the number of connection attempts. After 5 failed SSH connection attempts, Fail2Ban will ban the IP address from connecting via SSH for 10 minutes. If this address fails several times, it might be banned permanently until you contact admin@richardapplegate.io and explain why you are attacking my server.

Unban an IP address

To unblock an IP address, you must first access it from another IP (VPN) address or internet connection than the one that is blocked.

Look at the Fail2Ban log to find out where the IP address was banned.jail
```
sudo tail /var/log/fail2ban.log 
2019-01-07 16:24:47 fail2ban.filter  [1837]: INFO    [sshd] Found 11.22.33.44 
2019-01-07 16:24:49 fail2ban.filter  [1837]: INFO    [sshd] Found 11.22.33.44 
2019-01-07 16:24:51 fail2ban.filter  [1837]: INFO    [sshd] Found 11.22.33.44 
2019-01-07 16:24:54 fail2ban.filter  [1837]: INFO    [sshd] Found 11.22.33.44 
2019-01-07 16:24:57 fail2ban.filter  [1837]: INFO    [sshd] Found 11.22.33.44 
2019-01-07 16:24:57 fail2ban.actions [1837]: NOTICE  [sshd] Ban 11.22.33.44 
2019-01-07 16:24:57 fail2ban.filter  [1837]: NOTICE  [recidive] Ban 11.22.33.44
```
Here, the 11.22.33.44 IP address has been banned in the sshd and recidive jails.

Then use the following commands to unban the IP address.
```
sudo fail2ban-client set sshd unbanip 11.22.33.44
sudo fail2ban-client set recidive unbanip 11.22.33.44
```
March 28, 2024
🔄 How to Safely Back Up & Restore Docker Compose Data
When you’re running apps with Docker Compose, your data is the heart and soul of your services—databases, media files, configurations, and more. Without a solid backup and restore plan, a simple mistake (or disk failure!) can lead to a world of pain. Here’s a step-by-step guide to properly back up and restore data from Docker Compose environments, the right way.

Why Back Up Docker Compose Volumes and Data?

By default, Docker containers are ephemeral. Persistent data lives in volumes or bind mounts—which need explicit backup. Databases (Postgres, MySQL), app uploads, and configs are often stored here.

If you lose a volume, your critical data is gone.

🗂️ What Should You Back Up?
1. Docker Volumes: Contents of named volumes managed by Docker.
2. Bind Mounts: Data mapped to host folders.
3. Database Dumps: Logical (SQL) dumps for easy portability & restore.
4. Configs: Your docker-compose.yml, .env, TLS keys, and other setup files.
🚀 Step-by-Step: Back Up Docker Compose Data

1️⃣ Identify Your Data

First, look at your docker-compose.yml for volumes/bind mounts:
```
services:
  db:
    image: postgres
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  pgdata:
```
Here the named volume is pgdata.

2️⃣ Stop the Compose Stack (Recommended)

This ensures consistent backups (especially for databases):
```
docker compose down
```
3️⃣ Back Up Docker Volumes

List all local volumes:
```
docker volume ls
```
To back up a volume (e.g., pgdata), run:
```
docker run --rm 
  -v pgdata:/volume 
  -v $(pwd):/backup 
  busybox 
  tar czvf /backup/pgdata_backup.tar.gz -C /volume .
```
- This creates a pgdata_backup.tar.gz in your current directory.
- More on managing Docker volumes
Repeat for each volume you want to back up.

Bind mounts?

Just copy the folder on the host:
```
cp -a /absolute/path/to/mount /your/backup/location
```
4️⃣ Logical Database Backups (Recommended for Portability)

For MySQL:
```
docker exec <db_container> mysqldump -u root -p<pass> <database> > mysql_backup.sql
```
For PostgreSQL:
```
docker exec -t <db_container> pg_dump -U <user> <db> > pg_backup.sql
```
💾 Restoring Your Data

1️⃣ Restore a Docker Volume from Backup

Create the volume if needed:
```
docker volume create pgdata
```
Unpack the tarball:
```
docker run --rm 
  -v pgdata:/volume 
  -v $(pwd):/backup 
  busybox 
  tar xzvf /backup/pgdata_backup.tar.gz -C /volume
```
2️⃣ Restore a Bind Mount

Just reverse your earlier copy:
```
cp -a /your/backup/location /absolute/path/to/mount
```
3️⃣ Restore Database from Dump

For MySQL:
```
docker exec -i <db_container> mysql -u root -p<pass> <database> < mysql_backup.sql
```
For PostgreSQL:
```
cat pg_backup.sql | docker exec -i <db_container> psql -U <user> <db>
```
4️⃣ Bring the Stack Up
```
docker compose up -d
```
🔐 Pro Tips
- Automate backups! Use cron or a backup script.
- Store backups offsite (cloud, external drive, etc).
- Test your backups regularly! A backup you can’t restore isn’t a backup.
📚 Resources
- Backup, restore, or migrate data volumes | Docker Docs
- Docker Compose file reference
- Best practices for backing up Docker containers – Docker Blog
- Backing up Docker volumes to S3 (article)
March 25, 2024
How to add SecurityEdge to allow our site on our business Internet? Here is how,

Log in to your Comcast Business Account.

https://business.comcast.com/connectivity/internetdashboard/

After you log in, go to the correct location to update your internet. Scrolling down to Subscribed Services ⇾ SecuirtyEdge.

After you click that SecuirtyEdge(https://securityedge.comcast.com/#home)

You can go over to the Block and Allow list.

Place your website into the Check URL text box and then click Check.

Make sure that you click allow, so we can access your site from your stores or office.

So yes you notice we disable our SecuirtyEdge because we had our own 3 DNS Server .

After you publish and save, it will take about 30 min for your store’s or office’s modem to update, and then it will unblock/SSL invalid won’t show that anymore.

If you still face the issue, I am happy to swing by and work that out for you to get it to success on the website for every customer view..

March 25, 2024