Hello everyone,
I have fedora core 3 installed. I need some helpful tutorial on setting up firewall rules... (No GUI tools pls).
I came across "Shorewall" and it seems to be okay although I have some difficulty getting it work properly. I followed the tutorial on this page http://www.unofficial-support.com/ar...w-to/shorewall

However, this tutorial does not address anything related to editing the zone file. It seems editing the zone file is a mandotary on this new version.
So, my question is what needs to be added to the zone file? Basically, I want to allow incoming connection for web, ftp and so on in an easy to manage utility.

Does anybody use SHOREWALL??? Can you provide me with any sample configuration files to run a secure web server??

Of course, if you can suggest me any other command utility similar to shorewall that would be very useful to me. Thank you!

You're trying to make it too hard.

First go back to the shorewall.sourceforge.net website and read the documentation there. It's very good documentation on iptables, firewalls and vpn.

Essentially you install shorewall (use the rpm if you're using FC3), then copy one of the examples from the above shorewall website. There are:

1) One Interface example for a simple firewall (no routing)
2) A Two Interface example for a router (Internet on one interface, LAN on the other)
3) A Three interface example (like 2, but with a DMZ)

Pick the example that best suits your needs, edit each of the example files (read the comments, lots of documentation there), then copy the files to /etc/shorewall.

Lastly, edit the /etc/shorewall/shorewall.conf file and change the

STARTUP-ENABLED=N to Y

Zones are essentially labels you can define for different networks. For instance,

The name used for eth0 in the interfaces file might be net. net, then would need to be defined in zones.

Let's say loc refers to eth1, which is your local lan, so use use the name loc in your interfaces file which you first define in zones.

Complicated? Where zones really shine is when you need to define vpn tunnels for your firewall with really complex rules. You then define various vpn subnets in the tunnels file. Each of these networks needs a name, hence the zones file.

I've not attempted IPSEC with the new 2.6 kernel yet, but if you're using FreeSwan or OpenSwan, you'll go crazy without shorewall.