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By Gregor N. Purdy
August 2004
Pages: 96
Series: Pocket References
ISBN 10: 0-596-00569-5 |
ISBN 13: 9780596005696
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
Linux iptables Pocket Reference organizes the subtle netfilter syntax for quick and easy lookup, and helps administrators remember all the values they need to enter to assure strict security. The book divides the listings of all iptables options into those that are suitable for firewalling, accounting, and Network Address Translation (NAT). Our unique quick reference format is ideal for Linux administrators who already have a firewall in place, but need to be prepared for frequent changes in their environment.
Full Description
Firewalls, Network Address Translation (NAT), network logging and accounting are all provided by Linux's Netfilter system, also known by the name of the command used to administer it, iptables. The iptables interface is the most sophisticated ever offered on
Linux and makes Linux an extremely flexible system for any kind of network filtering you might do. Large sets of filtering rules can be grouped in ways that makes it easy to test them and turn them on and off.
Do you watch for all types of ICMP traffic--some of them quite dangerous? Can you take advantage of stateful filtering to simplify the management of TCP connections? Would you like to track how much traffic of various types you get?
This pocket reference will help you at those critical moments when someone asks you to open or close a port in a hurry, either to enable some important traffic or to block an attack. The book will keep the subtle syntax straight and help you remember all the values you have to enter in order to be as secure as possible. The book has an introductory section that describes applications,followed by a reference/encyclopaedic section with all the matches and targets arranged alphabetically.
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Featured customer reviews
Great as a pocket reference, December 01 2007
Rating:
Submitted by
Brian Raaen
[Respond | View]
This book was designed to be a pocket reference and not as a how-to guide. While this book has some good explanations of the path a packet takes through the kernel, it do not tell you how to set up filtering rules. It is a good place to look something up quick. The tables with the protocol numbers and port numbers has been very useful for me, and I keep this book in my laptop case at all times. If you are considering whether to get this book or not, keep the following in mind. If you have a good understanding to tcp/ip, networking protocols, and a working understanding of iptables this book is a good reference guide. If you are not familiar with those concepts you should look for a better how-to guide or learning book.
It's okay but..., October 08 2007
Rating:
Submitted by
BigDumbDinosaur
[Respond | View]
If this is your first time setting up the Linux packet filtering functions you will need to refer to other documentation. This pocket guide is most useful to someone who is already familiar with the workings of iptables. I do not recommend it for a beginner.
Little explanation is given in this guide on the theory of packet filtering and network address translation (NAT), and the examples, as is so typical of a lot of Linux documentation, make too many assumptions about the reader's knowledge. In particular, the NAT section is woefully inadequate -- I can glean more information about NAT from the ipfilters man page.
I was also disappointed in the typesetting of this guide. The font is too small and the font weight produces, in my opinion, a poor contrast between characters and paper. I struggled trying to read this guide in anything other than high light levels and concluded that I had wasted my money. I'll keep it here in my library (returning it would cost almost as much as it's worth) but it will probably gather a lot of dust.
Media reviews
"[Consumers] will find the fine 'pocket references' produced by O'Reilly to be compact and affordable."
-- James Cox, The Computer Shelf: Midwest Book Review
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