This article was originally written in 2011. It has been revised for clarity and updated with more modern configurations. Technologies like OpenVPN and Samba are constantly evolving, so always consult the official documentation for the latest recommendations. This guide aims to set up a simple OpenVPN server to secure access to a local network and route all web traffic through it. The local network uses the 192.168.0.0/24 address range. A server on this network, with the IP address 192.168.0.10, will host OpenVPN and a DNS server (dnsmasq) to manage local DNS queries. We will call it “Server.” ...

Interacting with SOAP web services, such as those built with PHP, from a .NET application is a common task. When these services are protected by HTTP Basic Authentication, configuring the C# client requires a small extra step, but it’s simpler than it might seem. This guide demonstrates the standard and recommended method for consuming a secure SOAP web service with Basic Auth using C#. The Challenge: Basic Authentication When you add a “Service Reference” to a Visual Studio project for a SOAP web service, the generated client doesn’t automatically handle sending authentication credentials. If you try to call a service method directly, you will likely get a (401) Unauthorized error. ...

SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) is a secure method for transferring files over a network. Unlike FTP, all data, including credentials, is encrypted. Modern versions of OpenSSH include a built-in SFTP server, allowing you to set up restricted access for file transfers without needing a full SSH shell. This guide explains how to create a user limited exclusively to SFTP access and confined to their home directory (chroot). 1. Create a Dedicated Group It is recommended to create a specific group for SFTP users. This makes it easier to manage permissions and apply rules in the SSH configuration. ...

Pure-FTPd is a secure and easy-to-configure FTP server. One of its most useful features is the management of virtual users. Unlike system users, virtual users exist only for the FTP service. They are stored in a dedicated database, which avoids creating real accounts on the operating system, thereby improving security. This guide will show you how to configure Pure-FTPd to use a virtual user database. 1. Virtual User Files The configuration of virtual users relies on two main files, usually located in /etc/pure-ftpd/: ...

It is sometimes necessary to convert the encoding of a large number of files, for example, when migrating an old project. UTF-8 encoding is the standard today, but many older files may use encodings like ISO-8859-1 or Windows-1252. Here is a modern, standalone PHP script that recursively scans a source directory, detects the encoding of each file, and converts it to UTF-8 in a destination directory. Unlike the old version that relied on shell commands (file, iconv), this script exclusively uses native PHP extensions (mbstring, SPL), making it more portable and reliable. ...

Note de mise à jour (Juillet 2025) : Cet article est conservé pour l’archive. Les méthodes présentées ici (rand(), srand()) ne sont plus considérées comme sécurisées. Pour une approche moderne et sûre, veuillez consulter la version mise à jour de cet article : Générer un mot de passe sécurisé en PHP (Version 2025) La sécurisation d’un mot de passe dépend du nombre de caractères différents présent dans celui-ci. Voici une solution pour rendre les mots de passe sécurisé lors de leur génération: code : ...