Linux Lite reload

Andy Kay

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I have a big old desktop that is running Linux Lite, and I would like to completely reload the operating system to lose any rootkit thingies that might have lodged themselves in there. Is there a simple way of doing this... or do I have to go through this incomprehensible ISO image stuff?
 


What makes you think you have "rootkits".

Have you enabled your ufw firewall.

Are you running 'Firejail" sandbox.


 
Thanks for the prompt replies guys. I'm no techie, but I was interested in getting some antivirus for this machine. I found a number of free AV packages, but the stuff for rootkits was for scanning only and not for removing. The advice for removing was to reload the OS. I'd like to start with a squeaky clean OS rather than inherit I don't know what. I was hoping there was some magic button that would permit me to do a complete reload, but it seems not. I'll start trudging through the incomprehensible ISO image stuff.
 
What makes you think you have "rootkits".

Have you enabled your ufw firewall.

Are you running 'Firejail" sandbox.


Thank you poorguy. Very useful links. I have now installed a squeaky clean up to date version of Linux Lite, and enabled firewall. I tried to sandbox Firefox by default but when I right-click on the Firefox icon I don't get an 'edit' option but rather a menu giving options 1. Properties 2. Move 3. Remove 4. Panel. ... Is there another way?
 
Right click firefox on the taskbar / panel.

Open properties and see if edit option is given.

Open edit and there will be something like this.

firefox %u


Type firejail in front of it.

firejail firefox %u

Save and close then open your browser.

You can check to see if firefox is running within firejail by opening the terminal and copy and paste this command and then press enter.

firejail --tree
 
Right click firefox on the taskbar / panel.

Open properties and see if edit option is given.

Open edit and there will be something like this.

firefox %u


Type firejail in front of it.

firejail firefox %u

Save and close then open your browser.
I found the edit facility and made the edit. Search works okay when Firefox is not firejailed. When firejailed I can type in the search string, but as soon as I press the enter key there is no further activity. I can recover by removing Firefox from firejail.

I can think of two things that might have caused this:
1. I installed Duckduckgo as my default browser, but have now removed this and the problem still persists.
2. Following the advice in one of your links I tried to remove MONO (whatever that is), and the system said something about changing the daemon, gave me a line to type, and asked me to restart.

I'm tempted to re-install and see if sandboxing remains problematic (since I now have a memory stick with the ISO on it). Should I go ahead?
 
If you are using Linux Lite than don't remove mono.

If you are using Linux Mint than you need to remove mono-runtime-common as it poses a vulnerability from what I've read.

Probably best to do a clean install and also make certain to install all updates.


After you do a clean install you can reinstall firejail and run it from the terminal to test it by copy and paste this command into terminal.

firejail firefox


Please re-read the info in the links prior to applying any of the tweaks and make certain you understand what is happening before applying any of the tweaks.
 
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@Andy Kay FWIW, I've used Linux Lite and I never had any rootkit or any other kind of malware/virus, in fact, I've never ever faced any virus like scenario under Linux, that was a Windows thing I left behind. I'm not saying it can't happen but in the 5 or 6 forums I'm in, I've never seen a thread about a "virus or rootkit" infection. Just saying, maybe you should make sure about that first, unless of course you have already done that. Use some of the tools mentioned here and post it so people can give some better informed advice. Also, take a look at their forum, searching for "rootkit" threw this https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/other/z2-and-message-in-chkrootkit/msg37088/#msg37088 Beware of false positives https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/on-topic/(solved)-fresh-ll-install-rootkit/msg11564/#msg11564 By the way, which Linux Lite version are you using? Current version is 4.6 https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/release-announcements/linux-lite-4-6-final-released/

Hope this helps! :)
 
@Andy Kay FWIW, I've used Linux Lite and I never had any rootkit or any other kind of malware/virus, in fact, I've never ever faced any virus like scenario under Linux, that was a Windows thing I left behind. I'm not saying it can't happen but in the 5 or 6 forums I'm in, I've never seen a thread about a "virus or rootkit" infection. Just saying, maybe you should make sure about that first, unless of course you have already done that. Use some of the tools mentioned here and post it so people can give some better informed advice. Also, take a look at their forum, searching for "rootkit" threw this https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/other/z2-and-message-in-chkrootkit/msg37088/#msg37088 Beware of false positives https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/on-topic/(solved)-fresh-ll-install-rootkit/msg11564/#msg11564 By the way, which Linux Lite version are you using? Current version is 4.6 https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/release-announcements/linux-lite-4-6-final-released/

Hope this helps! :)
+1
 
Probably best to do a clean install and also make certain to install all updates.


After you do a clean install you can reinstall firejail and run it from the terminal to test it by copy and paste this command into terminal.

firejail firefox

Please re-read the info in the links prior to applying any of the tweaks and make certain you understand what is happening before applying any of the tweaks.
Clean install complete. Installed all available updates. Installed firejail. Firefox still fails when sandboxed. I think I'm just going to have to live without it. Thanks for all your help poorguy.
 
@Andy Kay FWIW, I've used Linux Lite and I never had any rootkit or any other kind of malware/virus, in fact, I've never ever faced any virus like scenario under Linux, that was a Windows thing I left behind. I'm not saying it can't happen but in the 5 or 6 forums I'm in, I've never seen a thread about a "virus or rootkit" infection. Just saying, maybe you should make sure about that first, unless of course you have already done that. Use some of the tools mentioned here and post it so people can give some better informed advice. Also, take a look at their forum, searching for "rootkit" threw this https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/other/z2-and-message-in-chkrootkit/msg37088/#msg37088 Beware of false positives https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/on-topic/(solved)-fresh-ll-install-rootkit/msg11564/#msg11564 By the way, which Linux Lite version are you using? Current version is 4.6 https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/release-announcements/linux-lite-4-6-final-released/

Hope this helps! :)
Thanks Tolkem. I don't know much about the history of this particular machine, so thought it best to do a clean install anyway. Now running the latest version 4.6, all nice and clean with all available updates, and firewall enabled. After reading the links provided by poorguy, I won't worry about viruses or rootkits. Thanks for your input.
 


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