rChains for Linux -- FAQ

1. How do I go about configuring the "per host" monitoring?
2. How can I monitor how much bandwidth is being used by one of my services (ie: Apache)?
3. Why should I use rChains/ipchains to monitor bandwidth instead of just using a managed hub/switch?
4. What is this MRTG thing?
5. How can I make ICQ work?
6. Future versions in Perl? Why?

1. How do I go about configuring the "per host" monitoring?

   This is actually quite simple. Look in the MRTG directory in the source tree.

2. How can I monitor how much bandwidth is being used by one of my services (ie: Apache)?

   Do this in the same way as you do "per host" monitoring except check your web server chains instead of the host chains. Better support for this will be in future versions.

3. Why should I use rChains/ipchains to monitor bandwidth instead of just using a managed hub/switch?

   There are actually several reasons to use rChains/ipchains rather than using a managed hub/switch.

   1. Money... Managed equipment costs quite a bit a money (especially for the home user), rChains/ipchains/Linux is free. :-)
   2. A managed hub/switch will gather statistics on all traffic going through a port, including LAN traffic. Personally all I care about is internet traffic. rChains will only report how much data goes through the firewall.
   3. Money (again)... I can't afford managed equipment (unless somebody wants to send me some for free)...

4. What is this MRTG thing?

   See http://oss.oetiker.ch/mrtg/doc/mrtg.en.html

5. How can I make ICQ work?

   Enable the hostrules() function in the start() function (/etc/sysconfig/firewall/functions).
   Note: in old versions of rChains, this code can be found near the end of the lanaccess() function (/etc/sysconfig/firewall/functions or /etc/rc.d/rc.firewall.functions).

6. Future versions in Perl? Why?

   Perl lends itself to doing what is needed to make rChains very robust and much easier to maintain. However, I should note that I like having rChains written in bash. Therefore, I stress the "partially written in Perl" part.