I never seem to be able to forward any port, even when my routers configurations seem to be completely correct.

But, when I installed Slackware, all the ports that are supposed to be open are, even some that I didn't specify in my router. How does Slackware do this.

if /etc/rc.d/rc.ip_forward is set to executable, then your Slacware box will forward ipv4 packets onwards.
What is allowed and not allowed will depend on your firewall settings, ie your iptables rules, but you will need to arrange for your own firewall as Slackware does not provide one natively.

Even if the ports are open on your Slackware box ('netstat -pantu' is useful) connections to/from the 'outside' will still depend on your router's firewall settings.

tobyl

I see. How can I emulate this effect on my Windows install though?

Perhaps you should ask this question on a windows forum..

What would this have to do with Slackware in getting port forwarding accomplished on a Windows machine?

Because only Slackware works for some reason, even after I forward the ports in my router. I just wonder how.

Another reason to dump the Windows Security Risk.

Come on guys - I know I'm new here so don't flame me out but the guy is asking an intelligent question. Surely the question is "how does slackware do this" rather than "how come windows doesn't" ? Lets not be closed minded about this ? These forums are how we learn aren't they..

I for one would be interested in the answer but I don't have the knowledge to explain. Weren't you all newbies once? (iamzz - I'm not implying your a neewbie here - I'm on your side !!)

Cheers,

XEdX

Well no offense but I did not even understand the question.

Eric

I take it you have a router to connect your machines to the internet. And as an example you have set this router up to forward port 80 for a web server on one of your machines on your LAN.

When you install windows XP with SP2 it will enable the built in firewall with its default rules. These rules block all incoming connections. And then you have to configure it to allow anything else you need.

Now when you come to linux it is a bit different. In general all linux distributions have a firewall. It is part of the kernel, however you might just find one out there that does not have this enabled. To keep it simple we will assume that all distros have firewall capabilities built in. When you install your chosen distro you may be asked about configuring the firewall, it will ask you some questions about what sort of things you will be doing. Some distros may not ask you anything, but will enable some default rules like windows does. But you will also get a distro like slackware, it has firewall capabilities but does not enable any of them. It leaves it up to you to decide how you will configure the firewall.

I hope this helps you in your quest.

Ok - point taken. I take it the question was how come Slackware honours the routers settings yet Winblows doesn't. With hindsight this is obviously explained as Windows doesn't work as it should but Slack does and it is not in the scope of this forum to explain why .

Sorry, its late in the UK and my mind is burnt out a bit through through kernel builds ( BTW thanks for your info on my thread Alien Bob ). I'll have to put my mind in gear before opening my mouth in future.

... Late night kernel builds might not be a good thing but this new OS is kind of addictive !!

Tara,

XEdX

Ok, this might be a little inappropriate, but does anyone know how opening a port would be done in a Windows XP SP2 install? I have turned off firewall, and check just about every option.

If you have no firewall, *every* port is now open.

Windows Security -- an oxymoron.

It would seem so, but I still cannot receive incoming connections.

We're generally here supporting Linux users in our spare time as a contribution to the community.

When you purchased the Windows software, you also paid for support. If your Windows OS is a Retail version, you may call Microsoft for support; if it's OEM, you should call the OEM who provided it.