Fwctl
=====

Version: 0.25

Requirements
------------
kernel 2.2
ipchains 1.3.8
IPChains.pm 0.5
Net::IPv4Addr.pm 0.06 or later
ipmasqadm for port forwarding

Description
-----------

Fwctl is a module to configure the Linux kernel packet filtering firewall
using higher level abstraction than rules on input, output and forward
chains. It supports masquerading and accounting as well.

With it, you can configure your firewall using 

accept traffic_control
accept ping -src INTERNAL_NET -dst INTERNET -masq
accept http -src INTERNAL_NET -dst PROXY
accept http -src PROXY -dst INTERNET
accept name_service -src INT_DNS_SRV -dst DNS_SERVER -query-port 5353
accept name_service -src DNS_SERVER  -dst INTERNET   -query-port 5353
accept name_service -src INTERNET -dst DNS_SERVER -server
accept telnet -src INTERNAL_NET -dst INTERNET -masq
deny netbios -nolog #Reduce log file clutter

Rather than the approximate 100 rules to have the equivalent in a tight
configuration. (When the default policy is to deny everything on all chains,
and when you are using interface name in all rules.)

From the same configuration files and using the same principles, it
is possible to configure accounting and port forwarding.

Fwctl also has powerful report generation tools.

Installing
----------

If you are on RedHat 6.0, I strongly suggest you use the RPM file or
the spec file to generate one.

If you are not on a RedHat 6.0 compatible system, you can use 
the usual:

    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make install

This will install *only* the Fwctl module.  You will need to install
the following files manually, according to your distribution layout :

    fwctl : Script to start/restart/reconfigure the firewall

    fwctl.init : SysV style shell script to start the firewall at boot.

    fwctl.cron : Shell script that dumps the accounting information once
		 in a while. Should be run periodically.

The default path to the configuration files are

	/etc/fwctl/aliases
	/etc/fwctl/interfaces
	/etc/fwctl/rules

Testing
-------

If you want to run the regression test, you must do so as root
and I suggest you shutdown your network interfaces when doing so.

Documentation
-------------

Documentation is included in POD format.

Support & Mailing List
----------------------

There are two mailing lists related to Fwctl. 

One is low traffic and moderated for announcements related material. You
can subscribe by sending an empty message to fwctl-announce-subscribe@insu.com.

The other mailing list is for discussion around the use of Fwctl. You
can subscribe by sending an empty message to fwctl-users-subscribe@insu.com.


Bugs
----

Send bug reports and suggestions to francis.lacoste@iNsu.COM.

Copyright
---------

Copyright (c) 1999,2000 Francis J. Lacoste and iNsu Innovations. Inc.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms same terms as perl itself.
