Which Services Can I Disable?
From FedoraNEWS.ORG
Written by Tejas Dinkar on 2005-08-18
Fedora Comes with A lot of Services that are pre-configured to run at boot, that you probably will not be using. You can configure them to run at startup via the program system-config-services (System Settings -> Server Settings -> Services) . If you see a service not listed here, read the description to see if you need it or not.
Here is a list of some of them:
| Table of contents |
acpid
Listen and dispatch ACPI signals from kernel. Leave it on if you have a fairly new BIOS as it handles shutting of power to your computer
anacron
This runs cron jobs that were scheduled to run when the system was down. Safe to disable, unless you had a cron job that makes backups at thimes the system was down
apmd
Advanced power management daemon. Leave it on If you have a laptop, or a battery backup. Disable it if you have a desktop.
arpwatch
Arpwatch is a tool that monitors ethernet or fddi activity and maintain a database of ethernet/ip address pairings. You can probably disable it.
atd
Controls the at command, which is used to schedule commands. Unless you use the at command, you can turn it off
autofs
autofs is usually used for mounting network shares. Could be disabled for desktop systems.
bluetooth
Well? Do you want bluetooth on when you turn on your computer?
canna
Japanese support. Not needed unless you can read Japanese
cpuspeed
CPUSpeed for Linux adjusts the CPU speed dynamically based on the demand for processing power. Disable it unless you are using a laptop
crond
This handles cron jobs, an essential part of Linux systems. Do NOT turn this off unless you are a lunatic, an expert or both
cups
Common UNIX Printing Solution. It is one system the computer uses to control the print queue. Leave it on if you have a printer
gpm
Lets you use the mouse in text-only console. Leave it off If you never leave X window system
httpd
Makes your computer a webserver. Unless you have a webpage you are hosting, this can be turned Off.
httpsd
Same thing as httpd, except secure. You probably want this off as well, unless you get to your site as https://
inetd/xinetd
Do not confuse this with Xine the movie player. Both of these are importand services. Do not turn off.
iptables
iptables is part of the Linux Firewall. Leave it on if you are on a network, especially if you are connected to the world wide web.
irda
Infra Red Data Association. Unless you are doing IR, you don't need this.
isdn
ISDN deamon for ISDN connections. Not needed unless you connect to the net through ISDN.
kuzdu
New Hardware detection utility. disable it if you never change your setup
lm_sensors
Sensors is used for monitoring motherboard sensor values. Unless your mother board has sensors to measure it's temperature, and other stuff you would like to know, this can be off.
mpmpd/mdmonitor
The mdadm package includes software used to create, manage, and monitor software RAID volumes.
named
Named is a Domain Name Server. You don't need it unless you are acting as a DNS server.
netfs
Mounts/Unmounts all Network File Systems, Samba pount points. Not needed if you don't need to automount remote File Systems
nfs/nfslock/portmap
This is the server functionality for file sharing across TCP/IP networks
ntp/ntpd
Used for syncing time across a network. You probably don't need this.
pcmcia
PCMCIA is to support ethernet and modems in laptops. You can switch it off in desktops
pop3d
Used to run a pop3 server on the machine. Unless you are a mail server, you don't need this
rhnsd
The RedHat network. Not needed if you use yum for all your updates
rpcgssd/rpcidmapd/rpcsvcgssd
These are Network File System Daemons. If You do not use NFS, turn it off
sendmail/smtpd
For use if your machine is a mail server. If not, it will mostly handle log alerts and other similar activities. It will not pose a security threat to leave it on.
smb/smbd/nmbd/winbind
For use if you want to network your linux box with a windows machine, and have the linux box appear in the 'network neighborhood'
snmpd/snmptrapd
Simple Network Management Protocol. You probably don't need this.
squid
Use this to become a sort of cache for internet requests from your local network. Unless internet requests go through you, this can be disabled
sshd/telnetd/rshd
Allow remote users to log onto your computer. Unless you need this, disable it. SSH is the most secure of these.
syslog
Keep this on. It logs your system activities.
vsftpd
This makes your computer an ftp server. Unless you want people to access your computer via ftp, disable this
wine
Keeps a copy of WINE loaded so you can just double click on a .exe to run it. You won't see this option unless you have WINE installed
