April 2005 - KCLUG

Re: Request for help: Debian firewall, and maybe some kernel upgradetips
by Jack 15 Apr '05

15 Apr '05

--- Gerald Combs wrote: > Justin Dugger wrote: > > Actually, you probably need a ftp tracking module > installed into the > > kernel; ftp has two ports, the command and data > port. The command port > > is 21, which does things like initiate transfers > ... > > FTP uses port 21 for commands, such as LIST, PWD, > DIR, CD, etc. as you > stated above. It uses a separate socket and > separate ports for data > transfers (such as directory listings and files). > Data transfers are > either "active" or "passive." For active > connections, the server > initiates a connection _from_ port 20 to a randomly > selected port on the > client. For passive connections, the client > initiates a connection to a > randomly selected port on the server. You shouldn't > have to unblock > port 20 no matter what, since there isn't going to > be traffic coming > into that port in either case. > > Firewalls can trip up two things: > > - They can block active data connections to clients > (which is why most > FTP client software uses passive connections > nowadays). > > - If a data connection takes a long time, they can > time out the > associated command connection (which sits idle). > > To get around these issues firewalls typically use > stateful inspection > or proxying. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the simple firewall rules posted earlier would effectively break ftp. Wouldn't the unpriviledged ports also be blocked? Wouldn't you need to specifically allow the unpriviledged ports for either active or passive ftp? Wouldn't you need to allow outbound ports also? I don't remember all the rules posted, but I would think that the default rule would be to drop inbound and outbound unused ports. Brian D. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Make Yahoo! your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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Another Linux consultant startup question
by Jack 15 Apr '05

15 Apr '05

Hope I'm not upsetting the consultants on the list, but I'm going to try and pick your brains again. Thanks for all the help so far! I'm wondering if anyone is using any templates to generate quote documents from or responses to RFPs. I could of course make one up, but it'd be faster to take templates already made and customize them. Thanks again, Brian D. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/

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Re: Migrating to Linux - WP
by Jack 15 Apr '05

15 Apr '05

--- Jonathan Hutchins wrote: > On Wed, April 13, 2005 12:30 pm, Jack said: > > So it appears that oo has decided to use Java for > functions somewhat like > MS Offices uses Visual Basic. "Document Wizards" > are a Microsoftian evil, > but some amount of macro scripting is useful for > things like invoice > systems. Well what would you recommend they use? > which Java do you install? When in doubt install the official version which would be Sun's. > ... Choosing, > installing, and maintaining a Java distribution to > support a single app is > a bit like installing Microsoft Office Professional > to edit a one-page > text file, if there were multiple versions of Office > to choose from. While Java could be considered an OS, just as much as say PERL or Python could be, I don't really see it as such. I see it as an appliaction that interacts with other applications. I also respectfully disagree with MS Office comparison. Open Office is as far as I can tell more powerful. I've written small books in OO, that can easily be sent in a format that is ready for a printer (printer as in commercial book printer as opposed to the office hardware printer) to use. I've found OO to be much more robust creating usable online books and it also loads books faster. Not that OO is perfect, far from it. Brian D. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Make Yahoo! your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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RE: Request for help: Debian firewall, and maybe some kernel upgradetips
by djgoku 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

>On 4/14/05, Brian Kelsay <Brian.Kelsay(a)kcc.usda.gov> wrote: > I just said that because when I was enabling FTP on my server and thru the firewall, I >opened port 20. Course I listened to dj_goku and that may have been mistake number 1. ;-) >(We just love to bag on dj_goku.) The only port I opened for ftp was 223. Also the router/firewall had at the time 443, 222 open. So your port 20 was not needed in my case, Jonathan #1 (jhutchins) verified my ftp was working. hehe Maybe port 20 open on your box is slowing down the scp and ssh connections... =) -- dj_goku -www.djgoku.com- -www.tektronic.org-

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Re: Request for help: Debian firewall, and maybe some kernel upgradetips
by Justin Dugger 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

Actually, you probably need a ftp tracking module installed into the kernel; ftp has two ports, the command and data port. The command port is 21, which does things like initiate transfers and list directory contents, etc. It also sends a random number which pertains to the port number for the data port. Now that I think of it, this usually matters much more for the clients, I'm not so sure of the server. Anyone wiser than I (it isn't hard)? > > Don't you also need port 20 open for ftp? > > > > Brian Kelsay > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Kclug mailing list > > Kclug(a)kclug.org > > http://kclug.org/mailman/listinfo/kclug

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Re: Request for help: Debian firewall,and maybe some kernel upgradetips
by Brian Kelsay 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

I just said that because when I was enabling FTP on my server and thru the firewall, I opened port 20. Course I listened to dj_goku and that may have been mistake number 1. ;-) (We just love to bag on dj_goku.) Brian Kelsay >>> Justin Dugger <jldugger(a)gmail.com> 04/14/05 11:52AM >>> Actually, you probably need a ftp tracking module installed into the kernel; ftp has two ports, the command and data port. The command port is 21, which does things like initiate transfers and list directory contents, etc. It also sends a random number which pertains to the port number for the data port. Now that I think of it, this usually matters much more for the clients, I'm not so sure of the server. Anyone wiser than I (it isn't hard)? > > Don't you also need port 20 open for ftp? > > > > Brian Kelsay > > > >

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Firefox and T-bird on flash drive
by Brian Kelsay 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

Oren was talking last week at the meeting about putting Thunderbird on a flash drive and so this seemed appropriate. Windows-only for now. PUTTING FIREFOX AND THUNDERBIRD ON A FLASH DRIVE I had a caller on the radio show last week who wanted to put Firefox and Thunderbird on a USB flash drive. I said it could be done, but that it would take some work that I just could not explain on the air. (Note: If you don't know what a flash drive is, I cover that below in the Rookie Rundown below.) The way that I did it was to create a profile on the drive, copy some files and do a bit more tweaking. Well, Brad, in Spring Hill, TN, wrote me to say that much of the work has been done already. You just have to download the portable versions. You can find all of the details on these sites. Thank you, Brad! You rock! http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/portable_firefox/ http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/portable_thunderbird/ Brian Kelsay

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Re: Request for help: Debian firewall, and maybe some kernel upgradetips
by Brian Kelsay 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

On Wed, 13 Apr 2005, Jared wrote: >> At present, all I need open is SSH, WWW, and FTP. >You've probably already noticed this, but ftp is traditionally port 21, so >you want to open ports 21,22,80 for ftp,ssh,www. Port 23 is usually >telnet. >Regards, >-Don Don't you also need port 20 open for ftp? Brian Kelsay

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Request for help: Debian firewall, and maybe some kernel upgrade tips
by Jared 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

I need some firewall help, for starters. At present, all I need open is SSH, WWW, and FTP. I tried this: http://www.rexx.com/~dkuhlman/iptables_install.html but I'm installing on 3.0r1 with 2.2 kernel and got several error messages regarding incompatible kernel when I tried to start the firewall. I'd like to upgrade to a newer kernel, but can't seem to find any help on how to do this easily using apt-get. I think if I'm using 2.4 or 2.6 my problem with the firewall will go away. I do not have physical access to the box I'm working on, so need to be able to do all of this without physical intervention, or even the risk of it. What's the safest way to upgrade a Debian kernel? Also. Is there any sort of firewall that is real easy to configure, something like this: [SuperEasyFirewall] Open=22,80,23 Blocked=22.23.34.43:[22,80] Closed=EverythingElse I don't understand why a firewall config has to be four miles long and so dern complicated! -Jared

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Re: Migrating to Linux - WP
by Jack 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

--- Jeremy Turner wrote: > On Wed, Apr 13, 2005 at 01:07:43PM -0500, Jonathan > Hutchins wrote: > > It's my understanding that oo2 no longer runs on > Linux, but requires > > Java instead. > > > It looks like more of OpenOffice.org 2 is dependent > on Java, but you can > use parts of it without. OO.org 1 used Java for: > ... > > So you can do things like type and print, but > getting into more complex > features would require a JRE. The article goes on > to say that some > distros use a free JRE with gcj, and others don't > include OO.org at all > (Slackware). One I don't see why using java is an issue. Java runs fine on Linux. Yeah I know all the *Evil Sun* issues. Blah, blah, blah. Anyway from what I understand the "free JREs" don't necessarily work well with OO. Some of the features aren't working yet. Eventually someone will come up with a 100% "free" JRE, but until that happens you're best bet is to install Sun's JRE for OO. Personally, I don't care too much about the battle over Sun's JRE, but would use an alternate if it was stable enough. The point of the original post was about porting users to Linux. If that means giving them Sun's JRE and OO2 so much the better. BRian D. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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