What are router ports?

A router is an essential element for Internet browsing. This device allows you to connect to other devices, either by cable or via Wi-Fi. A router is an essential element for Internet browsing. This device allows you to connect to other devices, either by cable or via Wi-Fi. Consequently, it manages the data we send and receive. Thus, when you access a website, the router acts as an intermediary between the website servers and the computer or cell phone you are using.

Now, what are ports? They are the gateways that the router uses for all the information to pass through. This is where all the information that we send or receive from the network is going to pass through. Therefore, whether these ports are open or closed can be decisive for the data to enter better. A domestic router, whether ADSL or fiber optic, will have a total of 65536 ports. Obviously, it is not necessary to open or use all of them. Many of them have a specific function that is important, but most of them are not really used.

Why router ports are important

These ports are going to act for data input and output. Therefore, if you have any of them closed when using an application that needs it, you may see that the connection is slow or there are cuts. For example, when downloading files or initiating a video call. Consequently, you will need to know exactly which program is used by which program. The information exchanged with the connection could be blocked or even fail to reach the destination, regardless of whether it works better or worse.

In such a case, it is necessary to act. We must know which ports are used by a certain application, for example, and open them correctly in the router. We will see that there are different types and also methods to open them, as well as thousands of ports available.

Types of router ports

The ports are supervised through IANA, an entity that is in charge of assigning them at a global level. Some ports are used by certain system services, router services or protocols. Others, on the other hand, are used for applications that connect to the Internet. For example, video call programs, games, downloads, etc.

• System ports: Those ranging from 0 to 1023. These are those reserved for the operating system and different protocols. For example, 20 is used by FTPS, 21 Ftps, 22 SSH or 25 SMTP.
• Registered ports: They are those for programs or games. They are usually configured during the installation process of that application. They range from 1024 to 49151. For example, we can name the 1194 used by OpenVPN in some NAS or 6881 used by BitTorrent.
• Private or dynamic ports: On the other hand, 49152 to 65535 are the applications that connect to a server. We will also use them in some applications that we install.

How to open router ports

We have already seen how many ports there are and what they are. Well, let’s go into the procedure to open it. Don’t worry, it is a simple procedure. Besides, at some point we will have to do it to ensure that a program works properly. The paths vary depending on the router model we have.

However, a fundamental element is to know the default gateway. Most likely it is 192.168.1.1, but this may vary. To find out what it is in your case, in Windows, you can go to the Terminal and run the ipconfig command. You will see different connection data and one of them is the gateway to access the device.

Consequently, the first thing to do is to set the default gateway and enter the router configuration. You also need to know the login details. The password, if you have not changed it, is usually of the type 1234, admin123 and similar. However, we recommend that you change this password and never leave the factory default.

Let’s get to work!

Depending on the router model, you may need to know your private IP. No problem, as this info is also in ipconfig. Basically, it is the IP of the device where you are going to play or install the program where you need to have those ports open. After obtaining this data, it is time to go to the router configuration. Once there, just open the corresponding section. Next, it is important to enter essential data. Namely, the port number (you can also put a range of several), the protocol it uses and the IP address. You can also give it a name to know in the future to which application or service it belongs.

On some models you will see that default applications are provided. This makes it easier to open the ports. In fact, just check the Default option, and you will see a menu with different programs and choose the one you are interested in. This will apply the corresponding changes without having to set anything manually.

In addition, it is a mistake to open more ports than you really need. Ultimately, the more you have open, the more exposed you are to potential network attacks. Think of your router as a large building that you want to protect; the fewer ports you have open, the better.

Enable UPnP

An alternative option is to use the UPnP protocol. This is not something that is on all routers, but it is on many. The acronym stands for Universal Plug and Play, and its function is to open or close router ports automatically. Specifically, when installing an application that requires it. It is very intriguing since we do not have to touch anything manually.

For example, if you use a video game console or a computer game, having it enabled means that it will open the necessary ports automatically. Furthermore, the good thing is that when they are not being used, it will close them again without us having to do anything. It will also help reduce the risk of security problems.

To activate the UPnP protocol in the router, you have to access the configuration and go to advanced settings. It will depend on the exact model, but you have to search for UPnP and activate the button. Once done, you will have to apply the changes to take effect, and you will be able to open or close ports automatically.

Which router ports to open

You may be wondering which ports to open. There are thousands, as we have indicated. Logically, it is not good to have all of them open for security reasons. In fact, the ideal is to open only those that you really need. For example, ports specific to an application or protocol.

Therefore, let’s take a look at the main ports that you will need to open to use some devices or services correctly. For example, a printer, a Skype video call. Furthermore, to connect a game console to the network so that the games run smoothly, without any interruption.

For the printer

When connecting a printer to the network, connectivity problems may occur. Occasionally, the cause is not having the ports open. It is important to know which ones are used and to open them in the router if necessary to make it work in the best possible way. In the instruction manual or by doing an Internet search, you will be able to see exactly which ones it uses.

However, the usual port that you must open for the printer to work properly is 9100. Other common ports are 9101, 9102, 2501, 5001, 9600, 631, 6310 or 161. All of them work for certain processes and models.

On the other hand, if you decide to open the ports, you should bear in mind the importance of updating the printer and making sure that it is protected at all times. There have been cases of cyberattacks that, for example, exploited vulnerabilities and had port 9100 opens. This flaw affected brands such as Canon and HP. You should always have all patches installed to resolve problems of this type.

Internet gaming on the PC

Another reason for wanting to open router ports is to play online games on the computer. This can be essential to keep the ping as low as possible and to avoid outages. The goal is to achieve a smooth connection and that data can travel easily. Keep in mind that our computer will have to connect to the game servers.

Now, which ports to open to play over the Internet? This will depend on the game itself. Consequently, you will need to know the ports it uses. However, there are some general ports that are usually required: 53, 80 and 443. They are used by the DNS service, browsing through HTTP and through HTTPS, respectively.

Connecting game consoles

In addition to opening ports to play on the Internet from the computer, it is also important to consider which ports should be opened on the game consoles. Each one will have a series of ports that we must open so that they work as well as possible. In this way there will not be any type of cut or speed failure. You must know which is the IP in each case to be able to configure it.

P2P Downloads

When downloading through P2P applications, it is also significant to open the ports. If you have ever used programs such as eMule or Lphant, you will surely remember the bandage next to the icon. That meant that the ports were closed and downloads were very slow, so if you use P2P programs to download files, whatever they are, you should be aware of which ports they use. Consequently, open them in the router so that the speed is adequate and problems do not appear.

For example, in the case of BitTorrent, which is one of the most popular applications, ports 9881-9999 TCP are used. However, you should know which ones are used by the program you are going to use to avoid malfunctioning. You may notice a significant difference in download speed if the ports are open or not.

Video calls

When you make a video call, you need an optimal connection. After all, you are sending and receiving numerous data, and it is important that the image is not interrupted. Therefore, you will also need to open certain ports to ensure a smooth connection and a good result.

Conclusions

Therefore, as you have been able to see in many occasions, it is necessary to open the router ports. For example, to play games over the Internet, to use video calling applications or P2P downloads. You must know exactly which ones to open. Furthermore, the steps to follow depend on the device you are using

However, as we have explained, you should bear in mind that opening router ports should be an exception. That is, you should not leave more ports open than you really need. Indeed, you could be exposing security and end up being a problem instead of a solution or an improvement. As an alternative to having to open ports manually, we have also explained the UPnP protocol alternative to open and close ports automatically. This is done when an app requires the use of the port. This feature is present in many routers. See you later!

The post Which ports should I open in the router for each task? appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

Nmap is an open-source, cross-platform tool used to scan networks and obtain information about services, operating systems, and vulnerabilities derived from the conjunction of these. In general, Nmap is used to scan the ports of one or more hosts.

A more exact definition is provided by the project’s website

Nmap (“Network Mapper”) is a free and open-source (license) utility for network discovery and security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime.

More about Nmap:

Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics.

So if you are passionate about the world of computer security or auditing, then you need to learn how to use Nmap. Or at least get to know it.

Install Nmap on Linux

Fortunately, Nmap is available in the official repositories of many Linux distributions. So installing it will not be a problem for us.

In the case of distributions from the Debian family which includes Ubuntu and its derivatives such as Linux Mint in a terminal you have to execute

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nmap

On the other hand, in the case of the RHEL family including CentOS, Fedora, or Rocky Linux, you just need to run

sudo dnf install nmap

But you can also install it on OpenSUSE

sudo zypper in nmap

Then, to check that the installation has been successful, you can run

nmap --version
Nmap version 7.80 ( https://nmap.org )
Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
Compiled with: liblua-5.3.3 openssl-1.1.1j libssh2-1.9.0 libz-1.2.11 libpcre-8.39 libpcap-1.10.0 nmap-libdnet-1.12 ipv6
Compiled without:
Available nsock engines: epoll poll select

Now we can use it.

Using Nmap on Linux

With Nmap installed correctly, you should be able to use it on your computer without any problems. We’ll go through several examples on how to use this tool.

To scan a host, you can run

sudo nmap [host]

For example

sudo nmap localhost

sample output:

Starting Nmap 7.80 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2021-10-12 10:50 EDT
Nmap scan report for localhost (127.0.0.1)
Host is up (0.0000040s latency).
Other addresses for localhost (not scanned): ::1
All 1000 scanned ports on localhost (127.0.0.1) are closed

As you can see some interesting information is displayed on the output screen which is useful for detecting problems.

To do a quick scan then you can use the -F option

sudo nmap -F [host]

You can replace [host] with the IP address of the computer you want to scan.

sudo nmap 192.168.2.3

Also, you can specify multiple hosts or IP addresses.

sudo nmap 192.168.2.3, 192.168.2.6, 192.168.1.1

Or a range

sudo nmap 192.168.2.3-20

In this case, it will scan IP addresses ranging from 192.168.2.3 to 192.168.2.20.

Another option is to scan the entire subnet

sudo nmap 192.168.1.1/24

You can change the frequency and timing of the network scans with the -T option and by specifying a number between 0-5, the higher the number the faster the scan.

For example

sudo nmap -T4 localhost

In this case response times will be lower and can be useful on slow or busy networks.

If you want to have information about the ports, you have to add the -p option and specify some or a range of ports

sudo nmap -p 25,80 192.168.2.1

In this case, the TCP port 25 and 80 of the host will be scanned.

If you want to scan UDP ports

sudo nmap -sU -p 25,80 192.168.2.1

Conclusion

Nmap is a vital tool for many sysadmin who need to find out some weaknesses.

The post How to install and use nmap on Linux appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

Brief introduction about Simple Port Forwarding

This is a free program focused on the management of router connection ports. Of course, this can be done through the router configuration itself. However, this program has a very intuitive interface. In addition, it also offers a portable version in addition to the executable version. So once run, you just have to search for your router version. Currently, there is support for more than 3000 routers available. If not available, you can choose a compatible one or request the inclusion of the model. On the other hand, the app automatically detects the IP of the router. It even offers a window with a web interface for access. Simple Port Forwarding allows you to set your IP address as static temporarily. In addition, it is possible to change the DNS connection.

How to open and manage ports easily with Simple Port Forwarding.

The app has support for multiples. In addition, the program knows the ports used by hundreds of applications. On the other hand, a complete wizard is provided for this task.

How to modify ports with the program

For this purpose, it is necessary to work with the supplementary window of the program. Please click on item 4.

A new window will be displayed immediately. Once there, you can select the specific application. The tool stores the necessary port settings for each program. Likewise, it is possible to add a new configuration for any other software. With this in mind, just drop down the list of possible apps.

In addition, we can also select P2P programs. This is very important since most of these programs require opening certain ports.

Change router ports manually

We can also customize the port management. To do so, click on Add Custom. A new window will be displayed. There you must configure a series of specific parameters.

In this section you can add a name to the defined task. You can also tell the program the type of connection, or the ports we will use.

Ultimately we have seen how to easily open and manage ports in Windows 10. This tool is very easy to use and has several configuration options. See you later!

The post Easily open and manage ports appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

How to open the firewall port using the advanced settings.

In the first place it is necessary to enter the Control Panel and follow the next path:

• System and security
• Windows Defender Firewall
• Advanced Settings

The advanced settings of the Windows Firewall are immediately displayed. There are the entry and exit rules plus the security rules for connections. Finally, there are the firewall supervision options.

Clicking on the input rules will display the pre-configured Windows Server rules. As the name implies, they are related to incoming network connections and packets. Also, some rules are not activated by default. Therefore, you just need to double-click on them and then enable them.

Creating a new rule in the Windows Server Firewall.

By right-clicking on inboud rules, you can create a new rule.

There are several options for the creation of the rule. However, you should only select Port. Press Next to continue

Now it’s time to set your connection preferences:

• TCP: It is a connection-oriented protocol. In other words, its function is to create connections with the aim of sending data flow.
• UDP: It is a non connection-oriented protocol. Consequently, its development is based on the exchange of data grams.

On the other hand, it is possible to enable all ports for connection. This is obviously an unsecured option. Or you can configure specific ports.

Now it is time to determine what action the new rule will take:

• Allow connection through the port.
• Allow connection if secure. That is, allow data to be transmitted only if the connection is authenticated through Ipsec.
• Block connection through the port.

Please select the option corresponding to Allow connection and press Next. Now it is time to determine which profiles the new rule will be applied to.

Finally, you can assign a name and description to the new rule. This way it is easier to locate it later.

Back to the previous screen, you can see the new rule created.

Ultimately we have seen how to open a firewall port in Windows Server 2019/2016. In addition, the tutorial also serves to block a specific port. This way, the administrator can increase the functionality of the Firewall. All right, that’s it for now. Greetings!

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MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). It is very popular among developers for being free, easy to use and very secure. In many cases, it is the entry point to other more robust applications such as Oracle Database or IBM DB2.

At the same time, many people who start with MySQL don’t feel comfortable with the way they perform operations because everything is through CLI. With the aim of minimizing the difficulty to visualize data, create a database and perform more actions with MySQL using less time is that tools such as MyWebSQL emerge.

MyWebSQL is an open source, web-based, WYSIWYG MySQL client written in PHP. It utilizes modern day technologies and browsers to provide a fast, intuitive querying and editing interface to the MySQL databases.

It was created with the following points in mind.

• Easy deployment and usage.
• Fast querying and editing on MySQL databases.
• Developer friendly to save time spent on queries and working with results.
• Usable with all major browsers without any loss of functionality.

As you can see, it is a software designed to save time with MySQL. Let’s install MyWebSQL on CentOS 7.

0. Prerequisites

The installation is really simple, however, you must take into account the following:

• MyWebSQL is also compatible with MariaDB which is a 100% MySQL compatible fork. It is the one I will use.
• You have to install LAMP first. It is not difficult.
• The commands must be executed as root user.
• The packages wget and unzip, must be installed.

Let’s get to work.

1. Install Apache web server and PHP

The first element that you need is Apache web server. To do this, run:

:~$ su
:~# yum install httpd

Then, enable it and start it.

:~# systemctl enable httpd
:~# systemctl start httpd

Then, set the Firewall rule:

:~# firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-service=http --permanent
:~# firewall-cmd --reload

To check that the whole process has been successful, go to your web browser and go to http://IP_SERVER and if you see the following, then everything is fine.

Now is PHP’s turn.

:~# yum install php php-mysql php-cli php-xml php-gd

Create a new file called t.php on /var/www/html/

:~# nano /var/www/html/t.php

And put the following:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save and close the file.

Next, you have to restart apache service:

:~# systemctl restart httpd

Now, go to the web browser and try to go to http://IP_SERVER/t.php. If you see this, PHP is installed.

Note: If you want to install a more recent PHP version, I explained it here.

2. Install MariaDB

Don’t be confused, MariaDB is a fork absolutely compatible with MySQL. In addition, it comes by default in the official CentOS 7 repositories. It currently has a great support and a very active community, so it is the best option.

To install MyWebSQL this step is vital.

:~# yum install mariadb-server

Then, start and enable the service:

:~# systemctl enable mariadb
:~# systemctl start mariadb

Now, configure MariaDB using the mysql_secure_installation script.

:~# mysql_secure_installation

First, log in without a password since it has not been defined and then create one. To the rest of the questions answer, as you want, I did so: Y, N, Y, Y.

3. Install MyWebSQL

The time has come to install MyWebSQL. First, you have to download it.

:~# cd /opt/
:~# wget https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/mywebsql/stable/mywebsql-3.7.zip

The next step is to unzip it in the apache root directory, i.e. /var/www/html.

:~# unzip mywebsql-3.7.zip -d /var/www/html/

Restart Apache.

:~# systemctl restart httpd

And that’s it.

4. Accessing to MyWebSQL

After restarting Apache web server, you should be able to start the application. Open your web browser and go to http://IP_SERVER/mywebsql.

In the place, the credentials of your server. Username and password. And then access.

As this is a newly created instance, there is not much information to show. However, I will show MySQL users.

Conclusion

To install MyWebSQL requires certain prerequisites, however, its installation is really simple. This application is very useful for those who use MySQL on a daily basis and need to see data graphically and easily.

We want to know your opinion, did you know about this application? Have you used them? How was your experience with it?

Please share this article through your social networks.

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