Linux Lite

Debian

Ubuntu Studio

Network Security Toolkit

• My AAO runs NST 24 most of the time - network/security probe running NTOP and Snort
• Nov 2017 - NST 26 SVN:9267 upgrade *** Aborted ***
• Overall:  Live Boot worked well, but install went poorly.  Features were not what I had hoped
• Live Boot:  Things ran very well off of USB stick, fedora 26 seemed to get along fine on AAO
• Install was rough:  No grub choice for standard Gnome Desktop - Fluxbox was default
• Security App Changes:
• No pre-installed OpenVAS (Vulnerability Scanner), I must have misread release notes
• Old NTOP was removed, I like/know that one.  Will play w/ NTOPNG to be ready next time!
• Hoped to play with Snorby - not there
  
  
• Created 4g usb boot using iso and mint USB Disk utility
• Initial Boot from Live USB:
• Blueman takes a dump @ startup  ("quit unexpectedly") - has happened since NST 22
• OS Runs fine, notes as I go
• WiFi - no prob
• Network - Win/Workgroup fine
• Audio output works
• trackpad, works fine, had to tweak to set tap-to-click
• Seems to have more general apps, media player for example
• Install Notes - I 'install' to a USB drive instead of using persistence ... can't recall why 
• Release Announcement @ https://sourceforge.net/p/nst/news/2017/10/nst-version-26-9267-released/
• "Install to Harddisk" icon fires up Anaconda, really easy install, but a tad sluggish
• "Installation Destination" for me was USB (32g sdc), Automatic partitioning + make space available 
• <punted>
• Apps
• old NTOP is gone!  Oh NO! change!  I liked that one!  AAO constantly ran NTOP!
• ntopng - it works .... but...
• had to set admin password to match nstpassword?  THEN login with admin/admin(!) and change it again via WebUI ... I need to retrace my steps here 
• Need to figure out filters - need to ignore the probe itself?
• no show stopper, more testing needed
• snort/snorby - TBD, BASE is gone, but I'd like to run snorby
• Fumbling as usual
• <punted>

• Works pretty well - STILL TWEAKING, but IS USABLE especially after adding memory*
• Pretty tight on memory, Still working on making more avail for apps
• Chrome is a PIG - pretty much un-usable!  Probably due to memory 
• Initial Performance tweaks:
• Turned off Animations - sysdm.cpl/performance/visual effects;  Adjust for best performance
• Attempting to Shut up Cortana - Settings/Privacy/Speech, Inking & Typing: click "Stop getting to know me!"  BUT She is still running ... more to come
  
• Windows 10 Creator (v1703) - July 2017
• Win 10 Specs @ https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/windows-10-specifications
• Win Update History @ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4018124
• Windows Creator Update took A VERY LONG time - At least overnight!  Scary 
• .9g mem in use just idling (no foreground programs) - happy I added memory* a while ago
• Seems to work fine for browsing via Firefox 
• Bottom Line:  Update took a very long time, but runs fine.  Not sure how v1703 would run on a stock AAO with < 2g of memory.

Elementary OS

• Had been playing with Elementarty OS on a desktop, decided to give it a boot on the AAO.  
• Failed - never got past splash screen 
  
  

Mageia 5

• Always liked Mandrake, came up great on AAO - but gave up on testing/tinkering
• Testing cut short, Aborted - never did figure out USB persistence - lost interest and patience 
• Touch pad worked out of box with right/bottom scroll areas, but no real tweaks that I could see (e.g. 2finger scrolling is a fav) 
• WiFi worked out of box - little different configuration
• Power Management seemed to work fine, even suspend/resume, but noted some odd auto brightness adjustments while running on battery
• Little slow/sluggish running off of USB stick
• Didn't test mic or camera
  

Puppy Slacko

• Nice!  Fast!
• Different:  Not really Multi-User, session can be saved/restored - so no 'Fast User Switching"
• Win Workgroups and Linux Network shares came right up
• Lots of stuff installed/buit-in - a tad cluttered on AAO display ... BUT many nice facilities, including a tool to remove built-in packages!   
• Used pAVrecord to test webcam
• Did not get audio input working, but pretty sure I could if I tinkered with ALSA, inbuilt sound could probably use a tweak or two - sounded like crap
• Persistence is a gimme!  You setup persistence and save config during first shutdown/restart - Nice!
  

Security Onion

• Originally tested to simplify Snort install/setup 
• Based on ubuntu 14.04 64-bit
• 14.04 Release Notes:  Little disappointed, no Live Boot option, no Snorby
• No Live Boot:  Couldn't find/figure out LiveCD, ended up doing an install to a 32g USB flash drive.  3 partitions - 8g ext4 for /, 4g swap and 20g ext4 for me (home).  so far so good
• Based on Ubuntu 14.04 ... works a lot better than 13.04 (abort!), but still quirky.  
• Mouse Pointer disappears - probably this bug - its annoying, always happens after sleep/wake sequence
  My lame work-around:  
• Bring up app menu by moving imaginary mouse pointer to upper left
• Type some stuff in search box of programs menu while moving mouse
• Mouse pointer eventually reappears (Yeeeesh!)
• Misc Notes
• System appears to be nicely locked-down from firewall (iptables) perspective, did not fiddle to test home network.  Even struggled with ssh to access system!
• Personalization, user switching, etc handled by outer Ubuntu 14.04, features seemed to be intact
• Not what I was looking for.  I wanted a simple way to spin-up a portable IDS and plug into our home network to watch over things (IoT world in particular).  Looking forward to *not* installing/configuring snort/snorby, but seeing how they work.  Snorby was no longer avail on SO 14.04

Kali

• Updated to Kali 2016.2 32-bit on 32g Flash Drive.  I needed more space for logs, capture files and such
• No audio devices, a few fcn keys work.  Overall appears to be solid
• Config steps and links so I don't have to find them next time!
• Live, Persistent Kali USB drive @ kali.org/prst
• Tweaking in process
• AAO Trackpad - turn on Tap to Click, but still a bit touchy/odd
• service ssh start (as needed)
• snort/snorby - I punted, not using snort/snorby under kali - it was a pain to install/configure
• Kali is now my road warrior boot - for external scans and such away from home
• NST used as probe, IDS, monitor, etc when AAO is on home network
  

KNOPPIX

• KNOPPIX 7.7 - install to flash disk to get reusable environment, I didn't bother
• It talks (Audio) when it boots! 
• LOTS of applications, very nice UI and pretty snappy on AAO 
• Almost too much included with the distro - you have to sift through applications and menus
• Audio did not work out of the box - record or playback.  Fiddled a little with kmixer, probably OK
• Touchpad worked, but never found the tweaks I use for 2 finger scrolling and tapping
• Some function keys appeared to work - Mute, Brightness and monitor on/off
• Networking worked out of the box. One slight hiccup with WiFi required reboot
  

Network Security Toolkit

• My AAO runs NST most of the time now - quite useful as a network/security probe
  more @ http://www.networksecuritytoolkit.org
• Jan 2017 - NST 24:SVN 7977 - works VERY Well
• Successfully updated to 24:SVN 7977 64-Bit - lots of nice tools
• "Installed" to a 32g memory stick this time - instead of live boot w/ persistence
• Notes to self (stuff I struggle with each time I upgrade this one)
• httpd.conf is @ /etc/nst/httpd/conf *not* /etc/httpd/conf!  Service is nstwui *not* httpd!
• Handy http://wiki.networksecuritytoolkit.org/index.php/Getting_Started
• Setting up NST Geolocation (connections on map!) 
• Runs great on AAO - lots of security tools accessible via web browser
• Nov 2017 - NST 26 SVN:9267 upgrade *** In Process ***
• Mostly interested in OpenVAS (Vulnerability Scanner) and snort UI (snorby), release notes @ http://www.networksecuritytoolkit.org
• Created 4g usb boot using iso and mint USB Disk utility
• Initial Boot from Live USB:
• Blueman takes a dump @ startup  ("quit unexpectedly") - has happened since NST 22
• OS Runs fine, notes as I go, will fill-in test table later
• WiFi - no prob
• Network - Win/Workgroup fine
• Audio output works
• trackpad, works fine, had to tweak to set tap-to-click
• 
  
• old NTOP is gone!  Oh NO! change!  I liked that one!  AAO constantly ran NTOP!
• ntopng - it works .... but...
• had to set admin password to match nstpassword?  THEN login with admin/admin(!) and change it again via WebUI ... I need to retrace my steps here 
• Need to figure out filters - need to ignore the probe itself?
• no show stopper, more testing needed
• snort/snorby - TBD, BASE is gone
• Fumbling to get 

Parrot

• Security Oriented OS, runs great on AAO!
• Followed Parrot Live Install Procedure to create 3.4.1 Live USB.  Booted fine on AAO
• Lots of Security Tools!  Well organized.
• Mate bottom panel gets in the way of dialogs periodically - set to autohide on AAO 
• Looks REALLY good - Playing with persistence so I can put some more miles on it
• Ended up moving to 16g USB Stick w/ persistence.  Some tools require space to install/use
• Quite possibly a replacement for my Kali portable security toolkit
• OpenVAS vulnerability scanner is pre-installed, typically a BEAR to get up and running.  
  Steps (and notes to self):
• Menu:  Parrot->Vulnerability Analysis->OpenVAS initial setup - will take a while (hours?)
• Remember to reset OpenVAS admin password or record password created by script
  
  sudo openvasmd --user=admin --new-password=<new_password>
• Menu:  Parrot->Vulnerability Analysis->OpenVAS start
• Menu:  Parrot->Vulnerability Analysis->OpenVAS Sanner->openvas check setup
  (fix anything that needs it 
• Menu:  Parrot->Vulnerability Anaysis->OpenVAS Sanner->start gsd
• Greenbone is @ https://localhost:9392 - add ssl exception and permit scripts
• Sept 2017 update:
• Now using Parrot on AAO instead of Kali for portable security scans and such
• Recreated my 16g Live Boot USB using v3.8 64-bit Full Edition - MUCH faster than upgrading
  Steps (in case I need to do this again)
• Download via https://www.parrotsec.org/download.fx (torrent)
• Create Live Boot usb via Rosa Image Writer Step by Step
• Create persistence partition and persistence.conf using gparted and these steps 

Gentoo