At 08:38 PM 9/20/02 -0500, Le, Paul [Contractor] wrote:
>May I ask what is iptables, and where can I get a how to for it.
[old stuff deleted]
Oopf! A trickier question than it looks like, I'm sad to say.
iptables is the application used to configure some of the advanced routing
functions (including firewalling, NAT, and port forwarding) in Linux 2.4.x
kernels. If you have the application installed, "man iptables" will tell
you the basic commands. But this listing is pretty barebones ... useful if
you need to check a detail in your iptables ruleset, but not much help
getting started.
To my surprise, there does not seem to be an "official" Ipchains HowTo at
linuxdoc, but several routing HowTos have been updated recently enough to
give at least a bit of an introduction. Find them via this URL
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/networking.html#NETROUTING
(www.tldp.org is the site formerly called linuxdoc, and it should always be
the first place to check for HowTos or other Linux documentation).
There is an actual Iptables HowTo, which you can find many links for by
searching on "linux iptables" at Google (the second place to check for
HowTos and other Linux documentation). I don't know why it is not on the
list at tldp (maybe times have changed and my "first" and "second" ratings
need to be reversed?).
Another way to get a handle on Ipfilters is to look at an application that
uses it. One example is Shorewall, a drop-in firewalling package. Find it
the usual ways (some distros include it in their package-management systems).
Finally, I came across this link:
http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/Security/IPtables_Basics.html
Personally, I didn't find the content all that helpful, but with so little
for the beginner to choose from on this fundamentally difficult topice, I
thought it worth mentioning anyway.
--
-------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--------
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, California, USA [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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