# How to secure the Linux server?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-secure-the-linux-server/143785
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** hosting
**Created:** [March 10, 2020, 10:07am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-secure-the-linux-server/143785 "2020-03-10T10:07:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalerka](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dalerka)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2020, 10:07am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-secure-the-linux-server/143785/1 "2020-03-10T10:07:11Z")
I’m going through the following guide and would appreciate any comments about:
1. Which things described in this guide are **absolutely must do**?
2. Which things **may cause issues with Discourse** administration or usage? (e.g. reboots with unattended upgrades).
[https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server](https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server)
Although the guide is focused on securing a home-based (private) server, I think it’s relevant for self-hosting.
I’m using `Ubuntu 18.04` FYI and already enabled the security recommendations as per [Discourse INSTALL guide](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md#post-install-maintenance)
Are the following recommendations suitable (won’t conflict) for the normal work of a Discourse forum?
[Automatic Security Updates](https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server#automatic-security-updates-and-alerts)
[Firewall with UFW](https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server#firewall-with-ufw-uncomplicated-firewall)
[Anti-Virus Scanning and Rootkit detection](https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server#anti-virus-scanning-with-clamav-wip)
[Gmail and Exim4 As MTA With Implicit TLS](https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server#gmail-and-exim4-as-mta-with-implicit-tls)
[iptables Intrusion Detection And Prevention with PSAD](https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server#iptables-intrusion-detection-and-prevention-with-psad)
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### Author:  [@itsbhanusharma](https://meta.discourse.org/u/itsbhanusharma)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2020, 11:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-secure-the-linux-server/143785/2 "2020-03-10T11:26:57Z")
I support automatic security updates, UFW hardening
Use something like mailgun for discourse emails.
Everything else is probably unnecessary.