How To Install Chkrootkit on AlmaLinux 9

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Chkrootkit on AlmaLinux 9. In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, ensuring the integrity of your Linux system is paramount. Rootkits, a particularly insidious form of malware, have the potential to go unnoticed and wreak havoc on your system’s security. Enter Chkrootkit, a powerful tool designed to detect these covert threats.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of Chkrootkit on AlmaLinux 9. You can follow the same instructions for CentOS and Rocky Linux or RHEL-based.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: AlmaLinux 9.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies for Chkrootkit.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install Chkrootkit on AlmaLinux 9

Step 1. Before diving into the installation process, ensure your AlmaLinux 9 system is up-to-date. Run the following commands in your terminal:

sudo dnf update

Step 2. Installing Chkrootkit on AlmaLinux 9.

• Method 1: Installing from the Official Repository

To install Chkrootkit, use the following command:

sudo dnf install chkrootkit

This command will fetch Chkrootkit and its dependencies from the official repositories and install them on your system.

To verify that Chkrootkit has been successfully installed, you can use the following command:

chkrootkit --version

• Method 2: Installing from Source

Download the latest version of Chkrootkit from the official website using the following command:

wget ftp://ftp.chkrootkit.org/pub/seg/pac/chkrootkit.tar.gz

Use the following command to extract the downloaded archive:

tar -xvzf chkrootkit.tar.gz

 Change to the extracted directory by running the following command:

cd chkrootkit-*

Now, compile and install Chkrootkit:

make sense
sudo make install

To ensure Chkrootkit is properly installed, run:

chkrootkit --version

If you see the Chkrootkit version displayed, you’ve successfully installed it from the source.

Step 3. Running Chkrootkit.

Before running a scan, it’s a good practice to update Chkrootkit to the latest version. You can do this with the following command:

sudo chkrootkit-update

To perform a system scan for rootkits, use the following command:

sudo chkrootkit

Chkrootkit will go through various checks and display the results in your terminal. Be patient, as the scan may take a few minutes.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Chkrootkit. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Chkrootkit on your AlmaLinux 9 system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Chkrootkit website.