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https://github.com/allancrabelo/born2beroot

Born2beroot is a hands-on cybersecurity & infrastructure project where I built and secured a Linux system from scratch. From LVM and UFW to SSH hardening and audit scripting, it's DevOps meets resilience — proving I can build secure systems with zero guesswork.
https://github.com/allancrabelo/born2beroot

42porto 42school bash devops docker firewall infrastructure linux lvm networking ssh sysadmin system-administration ubuntu ubuntu-server virtualbox

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Born2beroot is a hands-on cybersecurity & infrastructure project where I built and secured a Linux system from scratch. From LVM and UFW to SSH hardening and audit scripting, it's DevOps meets resilience — proving I can build secure systems with zero guesswork.

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![Design sem nome(5)](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8cdeef09-5df8-4893-a5ef-9ecdf3ba062c)



# 🧱 BORN2BEROOT – Linux Infrastructure & Security Project



**Born2beroot** is a Linux system hardening project that challenges students to configure a secure and fully operational virtual machine from scratch. Built under strict 42 guidelines, the project covers everything from EFI, LVM, and GRUB to SSH, sudo, and UFW — simulating real-world system administration with high security and performance standards.



This VM is not just a configuration task; it is a secure system environment built line-by-line, manually, to reflect your mastery over Linux internals, partitioning strategies, logical volumes, backup routines, and access controls.



🧠 It is a training ground for becoming a true system administrator.



---



## 🏅  Performance in the Project 



During the evaluation of Born2beroot, I delivered all mandatory setups, security reinforcements, and optimizations. Some of the key completed aspects:



   ✅ EFI, GRUB, and secure boot management  

   ✅ Proper partitioning using LVM (Volume Groups + Logical Volumes)  

   ✅ SSH service with root login disabled  

   ✅ User creation with restricted `sudo` access  

   ✅ UFW configured to whitelist only necessary services  

   ✅ Backup snapshot routines and `/etc` integrity control  

   ✅ Valgrind clean and system logs audit-ready



This reflects a strong understanding of system resilience, minimalism, and performance — all pillars for cybersecurity in production-grade systems.





  




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## 📚 Key Features



🔹 System Setup – Linux Core Administration



- EFI System Partition (`/boot/efi`) and GRUB2 bootloader installation

- LVM setup: Physical Volumes → Volume Group → Logical Volumes

- Swap area defined and activated

- Partition structure using `ext4` for performance and journaling support



🔹 Security Hardening – Access & Firewall



- UFW firewall enabled with strict rules (`22`, `80`, and monitored ports)

- SSH configuration with `PermitRootLogin no`

- `sudo` configured for group `sudo` only, log policies in place

- Password complexity and account lockout policies



🔹 Automation & Logging



- Cron jobs for uptime logs and system checks

- Custom MOTD (Message of the Day)

- Snapshots via LVM or full system backups via `tar`



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## 📁 Project Structure



    📦 born2beroot  

    ┗ 📜 signature.txt



---



## 📖 Concepts Overview



| Concept           | Description                                                                 |

|------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| `/dev`           | Represents devices as files (e.g. disks, partitions)                        |

| `/dev/mapper`    | Holds mapped logical volumes (via LVM)                                      |

| `/dev/sda5`      | The 5th partition of your first storage device (`sda`)                      |

| EFI Partition    | Stores GRUB and bootloaders; must be FAT32 and mounted at `/boot/efi`      |

| LVM Group        | Volume Group containing Logical Volumes (e.g. `/dev/mapper/root`)           |

| Swap Partition   | Dedicated virtual memory area; activates with `swapon`                      |

| Filesystems      | `ext4`, `ext3`, `btrfs`, `XFS`, `JFS`, `FAT32` — each with pros and cons     |

| GRUB             | Bootloader that starts the OS via EFI or BIOS                               |

| `apt` / `sudo`   | Package manager / privilege elevation tool                                  |



---



## 🧠 Commands You’ll Use Often



    # See system date

    date



    # Save system state via full backup

    sudo tar czpvf born2beroot-backup.tar.gz --exclude=/proc --exclude=/sys --exclude=/dev --exclude=/run --exclude=/mnt /



    # Create LVM snapshot (if using LVM)

    sudo lvcreate --size 1G --snapshot --name snap_before_sudo /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root



    # Show mounted disks

    lsblk



    # Show volume groups

    vgdisplay



# 🚧 Tutorials (Coming Soon)



I'm currently working on a detailed tutorial to help others navigate the BORN2BEROOT project more efficiently. This section will include:



    📹 Video Guide – A step-by-step walkthrough explaining key concepts and solutions.

    📄 PDF Guide – A structured document with explanations, tips, and best practices.



Stay tuned! The tutorial will be available soon. 🚀



## 🔎 Checklist and commands during the evaluation

- [ ] Check if sha1sum of vdi file is equal to signature.txt

- [ ] Check linux release `lsb_release -a || cat /etc/os-release`

- [ ] Check the partitions `lsblk`

- [ ] Check if sudo in on `dpkg -l | grep sudo`

- [ ] Check the hostname `hostnamectl`

- [ ] Check the password policy `sudo chage -l username`

- [ ] Check UFW `sudo ufw status numbered`

- [ ] Check SSH `sudo systemctl status ssh`

- [ ] Check sudo log `cd /var/log/sudo/` then `cat sudo.log`

- [ ] Check if user is on sudo `getent group sudo`

- [ ] Check if user is on user42 `getent group user42`

- [ ] Run monitoring `cd /usr/local/bin` then `bash monitoring.sh`

- [ ] Create a new user `sudo adduser username`

- [ ] Check the username `cd /etc/passwd | grep username`

- [ ] Create a new group `sudo groupadd evaluating`

- [ ] Add the user to new group `sudo adduser username evaluating`

- [ ] Add the user to sudo `sudo adduser username sudo`

- [ ] Check the changes `getent group evaluating` and `getent group evaluating`

- [ ] Change the hostname `sudo hostnamectl set-hostname newname` && `sudo nano /etc/hosts`

- [ ] reboot, see and see the change `sudo reboot` then `hostnamectl`

- [ ] Restore the original hostname `sudo hostnamectl set-hostname oldname` && `sudo nano /etc/hosts`

- [ ] Add the 8080 port `sudo ufw allow 8080`

- [ ] See the changes `sudo ufw status numbered`

- [ ] Delete the port added `sudo ufw delete 1-9`

- [ ] Check the ip address `sudo ip address`

- [ ] Connect to new user `ssh new_user@hostip.0.0.0 -p 4242`

- [ ] Try to connect to root (Must be fail) `ssh root@hostip.0.0.0 -p 4242` 

- [ ] Change time to 1min `sudo crontab -u root -e `



# 🤝 Contributing



If you are also doing the Piscine, feel free to suggest improvements or share new approaches!



    📬 Contact: If you want to discuss solutions or exchange ideas, find me on Discord or GitHub!





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