1) During the install, the option to sync with a NTP server was checked. From a security perspective, why is it important for a system to keep accurate time?
So, there can be a log if server went down and accurate time when and changes occurred 2) During the install, a password has been set for the “root” user. What is the root user, and when is it appropriate to use this account

The root account is the most privileged account on a Linux system. This account gives you the ability to carry out all facets of system administration, including adding accounts, changing user passwords, examining log files, installing software, etc. If, you changing password you should do it in root user, but for security reason you should never user root account since it’s an administrator account. 3) During the install, X-Window and Desktop Manager were installed. However, in a production environment it is recommended not to run the X- Windows environment. Explain the purpose of this recommendation
Linux is a command base program and X- Window is GUI therefore it is not recommended.
During Linux installation, deselecting X Window packages, especially the base packages, will return errors concerning failed dependencies. You can safely deselect all of these applications, in addition to X itself 4) During the installation process it asks what the option given to create the partition are? Name them
Ext 2 and Ext 4 5) Why is it important to partition a Linux system correctly?
Like any partitions, if the unproved distribution causes system not to be balance, possibly crash the system. For security, once a disk is divided into several partitions, directories and files of different categories may be stored in different partitions 6) What is the significance of SWAP partition in Linux system? What different way can the swap space be configured, and why would you recommend one over the other?
For server (web) performance swap space is an area on a disk that temporarily holds a process memory image. When physical memory demand is sufficiently low, process memory images are brought back into physical memory. 7) What are some of the benefits and features that are available to Linux users by selecting the ext4 file system for the partitioning of Linux system?
Ext4 file system has more features than ext3 and are generally performance better. Some of the feature are Sub-second timestamps, space preallocation, Journal checksumming, Large (>2T) file support, large (>16T) filesystem support, Defragmentation support 8) How is the password file used, and what fields make up its content? Explain
/etc/passwd file stores essential information, which is required during login i.e. user account information. /etc/passwd is a text file, that contains a list of the system's accounts, giving for each account some useful information like user ID, group ID, home directory, shell, etc. It should have general read permission as many utilities, like ls use it to map user IDs to user names, but write access only for the superuser (root). 9) What is the Fstab file used for and what field makes up its content? Explain
The /etc/fstab file is one of the most important files on any Linux system. It keeps track of disk devices and their mount points on the UNIX directory tree. Devices kept track with this file are the partition(s) where Linux is installed, the swap partition, any partitions created by other operating systems, floppy drive devices, zip drives, digital cameras, card readers, and other devices that are treated as disks by Linux.

10) Explain the significance of creating separate partition of the /var and /boot directories? What is contained within these directories
Disk partitioning is the creation of separate divisions of a hard disk drive using partition editors such as fdisk. Once a disk is divided into several partitions, directories and files of different categories may be stored in different partitions. Ease of use - Make it easier to recover a corrupted file system or operating system installation. Performance - Smaller file systems are more efficient. You can tune file system as per application such as log or cache files. Dedicated swap partition can also improve the performance (this may not be true with latest Linux kernel 2.6). Security - Separation of the operating system files from user files may result into a better and secure system. Restrict the growth of certain file systems is possible using various techniques. Backup and Recovery - Easier backup and recovery. Stability and efficiency - You can increase disk space efficiency by formatting disk with various block sizes. It depends upon usage. For example, if the data is lots of small files, it is better to use small block size. Testing - Boot multiple operating systems such as Linux, Windows and FreeBSD from a single hard disk.

11) How would selecting the option “encrypt files system” be useful?
It is very useful simply to avoid someone attacking your personal information so “encrypt file system” has great security counter measures; this file system has always protected data files within the system. 12) How can partitioning with Logical Volume Manager help as it relates to the CIA Traid of security?
Keep everything up to date and make sure all applications are running perfectly.

13) What security advantages can be realized when selecting the “minimal” software install option?
If I install the minimal of applications such as a smart phone will use less disk space the more applications I install will make my network slow, it will be best to check your process and if there are any applications running you should kill them immediately 14) How could you automate a Fedora install geared for security?
If I use yum to install hacking tools I can simply install a shell chip or create a script and automate in a script so only a certain amount of applications install automatically.
15)What is the purpose of “firstboot”? The purpose of a “first boot” is a program that runs after installing Fedora, the “first boot” enables us to configure and set up language, display welcome screen, license screen, as well as giving us the option to choose a keyboard layout, create your personal root password, setting up networking, security level, configuring time zone and date.