On Thu, 08 Feb 2001, Mary Sweat wrote:
I am a newbie to the Linux world and have been given the task of setting up a Linux firewall (a very basic one) on SuSE LINUX 7.0. I read the SuSE Linux document regarding the firewall.rc.config file, and I have a question. If I follow this documentation and define my variables/parameters in this file do I need to do anything else (other then reboot) to make the firewall work?
This sounds like a good learning project. I'm a newbie to firewall hands-on too - I put SuSEfirewall on an internet-connected home workstation 2 weeks ago. I suggest experimenting in a safe environment, and also reading the technical doc enclosed with SuSEfirewall, usually called SuSEfirewall-technical-english.txt This explains how the rc.config settings are turned into filter rules automaticallly. Make sure the firewall package is installed - if it is you will see console messages on its status when you go to runlevel 2. (...see a unix or linux primer for runlevels - among other things a simple tool to avoid rebooting) ... and the firewall is running. If the script has interpreted your config correctly, all your intended filters should be in place (but the script has no warranty, heh!)
do I have to use the IPCHAINS utility and configure some filter rules, or am I through once I configure the firewall.rc.config file.
Yes you are through - you can try penetration testing it now :-). Seriously before you go any further send a few packets at it from your laptop with nmap or saint and see if they are treated according to your plan. The script actually automates the process of generating commands for the ipchains utility, all behind the scenes. Look at the list archives for various attempts people have made at combining their own ipchains scripts with SuSEfirewall - maybe that is useful but I never tried it. Look behind the curtain at the wizard of oz - read /sbin/SuSEfirewall to see the neatly nested 'for' loops and realize we both have a lot to learn. dproc