[computerdumb002]

hello i have just installed linux ubuntu on my computer and would like to know whether a firewall is necessary before i go online. If so which one would you recomend? much appreciated

[lunarlander]

Yes, I would still recommend using a firewall. FireStarter is a good one I've tried.

[lotuseclat79]

Hi computerdumb002,

Welcome to TSG!

Yes, Firestarter would be a good start. You can also find a Beginner's Guide to iptables thread as one of my posts over in the Unix/Linux forum. I'd also recommend downloading and testing your firewall setup with nmap and nmapfe (nmap's gui front end) against localhost to assure that all of your ports are stealthed once you hook up to the Internet.

-- Tom

[carefreecomputer]

While the Firestarter firewall is an excellent example of a fullon firewall, some users may wish consider something much simpler.

In that case I can recommend the kiss firewall script.
Its a shell script that uses the standard iptables.

Luckily its VERY well commented and so customising it is quite easy.

www.geocities.com/steve93138/

Hope this helps someone

[new tech guy]

Linux distros such as that usually have their own built in firewalls so they can handle such things fine and their built in ones are usually very good as well. You will probably find it in your administrative control center.

[lotuseclat79]

Originally Posted by new tech guy

Linux distros such as that usually have their own built in firewalls so they can handle such things fine and their built in ones are usually very good as well. You will probably find it in your administrative control center.

Hi new tech guy,

The problem is that the distros contain iptables by default, but its firewall capabilities are not turned on with rules because there is no one default set of rules that would apply to everyone's different needs.

That mandates that each user (or admin) needs to take the action of implementing the rules for the computer that fit its needs.

In other words, yes, a firewall is necessary for Ubuntu (and every Linux distro), but you need to give it rules for it to be active when you boot up. Check out my threads in the Linux forum for the Beginners guide to iptables for a straightforward set of rules to activate on each bootup and how to do it.

-- Tom

[new tech guy]

Oh ok i thought you could just enable shorewall which is in my particular distro (pclinuxos 2007) and be done with it. I will check out your guides.