shorewall_code/Shorewall-docs/Introduction.xml

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  <articleinfo>
    <title>Introduction</title>

    <author>
      <firstname>Tom</firstname>

      <surname>Eastep</surname>
    </author>

    <pubdate>2003/12/23</pubdate>

    <copyright>
      <year>2003</year>

      <holder>Thomas M. Eastep</holder>
    </copyright>

    <legalnotice>
      <para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
      document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version
      1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with
      no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover, and with no Back-Cover
      Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
      <quote><ulink type="" url="Copyright.htm">GNU Free Documentation License</ulink></quote>.</para>
    </legalnotice>
  </articleinfo>

  <section>
    <title>Introduction</title>

    <para>The information in this document applies only to 1.4.x releases of
    Shorewall.</para>

    <section>
      <title>Glossary</title>

      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><ulink url="http://www.netfilter.org">Netfilter</ulink> - the
          packet filter facility built into the 2.4 and later Linux kernels.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>ipchains - the packet filter facility built into the 2.2 Linux
          kernels. Also the name of the utility program used to configure and
          control that facility. Netfilter can be used in ipchains
          compatibility mode.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>iptables - the utility program used to configure and control
          Netfilter. The term <quote>iptables</quote> is often used to refer
          to the combination of iptables+Netfilter (with Netfilter not in
          ipchains compatibility mode).</para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>What is Shorewall?</title>

      <para>The Shoreline Firewall, more commonly known as <quote>Shorewall</quote>,
      is high-level tool for configuring Netfilter. You describe your
      firewall/gateway requirements using entries in a set of configuration
      files. Shorewall reads those configuration files and with the help of
      the iptables utility, Shorewall configures Netfilter to match your
      requirements. Shorewall can be used on a dedicated firewall system, a
      multi-function gateway/router/server or on a standalone GNU/Linux
      system. Shorewall does not use Netfilter&#39;s ipchains compatibility
      mode and can thus take advantage of Netfilter&#39;s connection state
      tracking capabilities.</para>

      <para>Shorewall is not a daemon. Once Shorewall has configured
      Netfilter, it&#39;s job is complete although the <ulink
      url="starting_and_stopping_shorewall.htm">/sbin/shorewall program can be
      used at any time to monitor the Netfilter firewall</ulink>.</para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Getting Started with Shorewall</title>

      <para>New to Shorewall? Start by selecting the <ulink
      url="shorewall_quickstart_guide.htm">QuickStart Guide</ulink> that most
      closely match your environment and follow the step by step instructions.</para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Looking for Information?</title>

      <para>The <ulink url="shorewall_quickstart_guide.htm#Documentation">Documentation
      Index</ulink> is a good place to start.</para>
    </section>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>License</title>

    <para>This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of <ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">Version
    2 of the GNU General Public License</ulink> as published by the Free
    Software Foundation.</para>

    <para>This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
    WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
    or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
    for more detail.</para>

    <para>You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
    Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA</para>
  </section>
</article>