LINUX NEWS
http://www.Cramsession.com
September 26, 2002 - Issue #100TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) Sean’s Notes
2) Linux News
Slapper Continues to Spread
OEone HomeBase DESKTOP
SuSE eMail Server: Best of Show?
PostNuke Developer's Site Launched3) Linux Resources
Poke The Penguin, But Not Too Much!
Syncing a USB PDA to Linux
Instant Messaging Clients Compared
Red Hat: Slapper Help
Logical Volume Management4) App o’ the Week
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1) Sean’s Notes
I might have mentioned it before, but most of my day to day work is as a network engineer, working on switches, routers, and firewalls. I’ve always been a strong advocate of using Linux boxes as firewalls, but have you ever thought of using them as a router?
As bandwidth demands increase, providers are moving toward metro Ethernet access. Rather than point to point T1’s, you can have 10Mbit over Ethernet. The hardware to do the serial T1 has existed on the PC for a while, but most prefer to buy a dedicated router rather than mess with the Voodoo that is leased lines and Frame Relay.
So a Linux box can route packets, big deal! In a large network, dynamic routing is used to keep routes straight, and to provide redundant paths. Unix has always supported basic routing protocols like RIP (Routing Information Protocol), but more advanced protocols like OSPF and BGP are out of reach. Those who have played on routers will also know the flexibility that goes on top of that, such as redistribution between protocols and various filters.
So, a while back, a couple of guys got together and decided to add some serious routing protocols to Linux. The project is called Zebra, and is located at http://www.zebra.org. The interface is, for the most part, a clone of the Cisco IOS, though there are some enhancements that will either make you weep for joy, or with frustration.
I pulled down a rpm of Zebra 0.93a from RPMfind.net, upgrading the version that came with Red Hat. Once installed, you can fire up the zebra daemon (/etc/rc.d/init.d/zebra start). To access the router, you either run “vtysh”, or telnet to port 2601.
Here’s where the quirkiness of zebra kicks in. Each routing process (zebra, bgpd, ospfd, etc) listens on a different port. So, to configure Zebra itself, you telnet to 2601. To configure bgp, you use 2605. Each configuration is separate from each other. vtysh shows it all, but you can’t save your changes from within it.
That aside, people familiar with the Cisco IOS will be right at home. Here’s the routing table from zebra:
> show ip route
Codes: K - kernel route, C - connected, S - static, R - RIP,
O - OSPF, B - BGP, > - selected route, * - FIB route
K>* 0.0.0.0/0 via 192.168.1.1, eth0
C>* 10.0.0.0/8 is directly connected, eth1
C>* 127.0.0.0/8 is directly connected, lo
B>* 172.16.0.0/16 [20/0] via 10.0.0.2, eth1, 00:05:07
B 192.168.0.0/24 [20/0] via 10.0.0.2, eth1, 00:05:07
K>* 192.168.0.0/24 via 10.0.0.2, eth1
C>* 192.168.1.0/24 is directly connected, eth0
K>* 192.168.3.0/24 via 10.0.0.2, eth1
With Zebra, any route learned by a routing protocol is propagated
to the kernel. So, from the command line, my routing table looks
like:
$ netstat -rn
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Iface
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 eth1
172.16.0.0 10.0.0.2 255.255.0.0 eth1
192.168.3.0 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0 eth1
192.168.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 eth0
192.168.0.0 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0 eth1
192.168.9.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 vmnet8
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 eth1
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 lo
0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 eth0
The difference is that here, you can’t see where you learned the route from. However the fact remains, your box can interact with other routers.
Those looking to augment their network test labs, or gain some experience on Cisco devices without owning any, will also find Zebra to be useful. The command syntax is almost directly ripped from IOS, except that addresses are generally entered x.x.x.x/y instead of x.x.x.x y.y.y.y. Subtle difference, but quicker for those that think in CIDR.
Unfortunately Zebra’s documentation is sparse, so you should be familiar with routing protocols in general before starting in.
Here’s an interesting link showing Zebra as part of a global load balancing network. An interesting project, if you ask me:
http://www.supersparrow.org/ss-0.0.0/cf/pop_x/gnu_zebra.sh.html
The functionality of Linux as a router is coming close to the appliance-based routers such as those that Cisco sells. Quality of Service, routing protocols, and filtering are all available. Depending on your needs, such as simple routing between Ethernet interfaces, the cost of a Linux box might be a lot cheaper than a Cisco router. Mind you, the performance peaks might not be as high, but if we’re only talking about 10Mbit interfaces, it’s not an issue.
Long live the Penguin,
Sean mailto:swalberg@cramsession.com
2) Linux News
Slapper Continues to Spread
The Slapper worm has been making its rounds by exploiting the SSL flaws in Apache. It’s on its third variant already, and seems to be causing a great deal of havoc.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1135304
OEone HomeBase DESKTOP
In an effort similar to Ximian’s, OEone has come up with a Linux desktop. They’re trying to bundle it with a sort of Internet backup service, prices seem fairly reasonable. Just like Ximian, the install can be done over the Internet, so it might be worth taking a look. Here’s a review from Linuxorbit.
http://www.linuxorbit.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file= index&req=showcontent&id
SuSE eMail Server: Best of Show?
“Pop quiz: what messaging server has group calendaring, including free/busy notifications, group contacts, POP3 and IMAP, built-in encryption, Web mail, low system requirements, high scalability, reasonable cost, and non-restrictive licensing? Answer: SuSE Linux eMail Server 3.1.”
http://networking.earthweb.com/netos/article/0,,12083_1466561,00.ht ml
PostNuke Developer’s Site Launched
PostNuke is a more serious offshoot of PHPNuke, a Content Management System written in PHP. They’ve just announced a developer’s site devoted to extending this fantastic piece of software.
http://developers.postnuke.com/
3) Linux Resources
Poke The Penguin, But Not Too Much!
Here’s a fun little Flash program that lets you poke a Penguin. Do you think he’ll put up with it though? Try and see what happens when you make a penguin angry!
http://www2.gamesville.lycos.com/html_poke/poke_penguin.htm
Syncing a USB PDA to Linux
Follow a sysadmin as he sets up his Visor to back up to his Linux box over USB!
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/4445/1/
Instant Messaging Clients Compared
“Somehow, some way, people who are new to Linux have gotten the idea that Linux has limited IM choices. Since the Unix family was the first to have popular IM clients (with “talk” leading the way), that’s more than a little silly. It is true that if you want the latest AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) features or MSN Messenger you’re out of luck, but there are many other clients to choose from, and some will let you talk to your buddies whether they’re on AIM, MSN, or even Yahoo!.”
http://freshmeat.net/articles/view/563/
Red Hat: Slapper Help
Here’s a document from Red Hat that specifically talks about the Slapper worm. Turns out the fix has been available since the end of July (up2date took care of my web server).
http://www.redhat.com/support/alerts/linux_slapper_worm.html
Logical Volume Management
“With LVM, you can combine partitions or drives into one large storage pool, called a volume group, and from there create logical volumes for filesystems.” LVM is cool stuff, allowing on-the-fly disk management.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sidY57
4) App o’ the Week
PHPMyAdmin is a great web-based administration tool for MySQL databases. It’s currently popular with hosting sites, to make it easier for users to create tables and manage their database.
http://www.phpmyadmin.net/
(C) 2002 BrainBuzz.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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