Hello all. I tried this before with no luck so I'll try again as I'm not getting any answers from "red hat linux bible"

I'm new to linux so please don't take offense at my ignorance.

Can I mimic Internet Connection sharing in Linux? Are there websites, documents, downloads I can read that would help? Does anyone have any suggestions?

I've installed red hat linux 9 on the system I'm currently on (it's running beautifully. I'd like to set something similar to Internet Connection Sharing that Windows does.

This (linux) system has 2 nic cards. 1 attached to a hub and one attached to the cable modem.

I'd like to establish a dns proxy on this system for the windows clients as well as an http proxy, DHCP system etc.

Basically there will be 2 other machines, both running windows XP and both obtaining IP addresses dynamically (if we can swing all this). ICS had windows use this machine as a dhcp server, and dns proxy. It would dynamically assign ip addresses to the 2 other machines and they would use this system as dns, etc.

the other machines used the 192.168.0.x address of the lan card on this machine as their configurations for everything.

Is there a way to mimic this without having to buy a router?

Thanks.

Fre.

what's all this talk about mimicry??? please understand that Linux is knee deep in networking capabilities, there is no "pretend" about it..... Linux can prvide a totally real 100% genuine routing system. you can easily configure a linux system to perform NAT functions as you want.... if you're starting out i'd suggest using a front end tool like firestarter (see google) to configure this automatically for you.

and generally you won't ned a proxy... you have two clients, not 200. you'd just route data at low level, which is much faster and easier, and denfinetly what you want.

please don't treat linux as a windows wannabe, this is the real stuff.

Ok, thanks for the starters here. but a few more questions.

1) will the "firestarter" do the data routing automatically, or will other configurations have to be made.

2) if other configurations, then what? thank you.

This is what I was looking for. Posting the website for any others who may be interested

ICS can be duplicated easily and quickly with the following information (on IP masquerade)

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/IP-Masquerade-HOWTO/

Thanks for the responses I got.

If anyone else looks at this and was as clueless as I was on where to start I hope that website I found helps you as much as it is helping me.

firestarter does all of this for you, which is why i suggested it, and it's *not* called "ICS".

I'm very grateful for your willingness to post, especially considering my original post went completely ignored.

I also understand your moderator privileges may give you some leadway on how liberal you can be with your responses, but there's a couple things I found offensive.

1) In Windows it "IS" called ICS. Regardless of whether you like windows terminology or technology, the fact remains that it's still the dominating technology (regardless of how poorly it's coded or unstable as it is) and it was a question from someone who's more familiar with windows than linux.
2) Not everyone is as comfortable or even as trusting as you with linux.
3) Not everyone is of your culture to be able to discern the intent of your bitterness.
4) When you ridicule new users for asking honest questions in innocence it tends to offend and estrange them. It did me. I asked a question in ernest. You chose to become indignant at my wording instead of just realizing what I was asking and offering an explanation/answer/suggestion.


Thank God for my associates and professors at school who are very encouraging and answer questions without becoming indignant. They are the ones who quickly recognized the heart of the matter of my question and understood it to be a question of IP masquerading.

I've read some excellent questions and answers on here so I realize it's not everyone who chooses to be haughty and reprimand the person asking the question. Unfortunately for me, and I don't understand why, you chose to be different than most the posts I've read and attack me (perhaps you thought it to be funny).

While what you recommended may have done everything for me, your answer was not clear enough for someone of my level of understanding versus someone of your level of understanding.

If you take this to heart and understanding then it is good. If you choose to take offense at my being offended by your excessive indignance then I will not be surprised.

In spite of your attacking me, I do thank you for taking the time to attempt to answer a question.

Fre.

I'm sorry if that's how I cam across, really don't mean to, it's just that I get the impression that you are not that aware of what Linux can really do. Linux is designed for this sort of thing, it is perfect for it. Windows however is a complete cludge when it comes to this sort of thing, resolving things in high level restrictive methods which can easily leave people thinking this is the ideal way... It might seem complicated compared to clicking "go" in windows, but it really is a vastly better solution in practise and concept.

Thank you for your apology. It really helps to know you're not intending any thing negative. And you are correct. I am ignorant of everything linux can do. The very reasons you express are why I installed it and am making this attempt to learn it. Thank you for your willingness to help. I hope I can come here as needed to learn more.