[PATCH] do justice to netfilter configuration

[PATCH] do justice to netfilter configuration

[Tomas Szepe]

$subj.  I wanted to do this for a long time, so here comes:

o  Move all IPv4 netfilter config entries to net/ipv4/netfilter/Kconfig.
o  Move the netfilter submenu right under the netfilter on/off switch.
o  Move the netfilter debug option into the netfilter submenu.
o  Move all netfilter settings as close to their IPv6 sibling as possible.
o  Rename "IP: Netfilter Configuration" to "IPv4 Netfilter Configuration"
o  Rename "IPv6: Netfilter Configuration" to "IPv6 Netfilter Configuration"

-- 
Tomas Szepe <szepe@pinerecords.com>

diff -urN a/net/Kconfig b/net/Kconfig
--- a/net/Kconfig	2003-01-01 18:07:56.000000000 +0100
+++ b/net/Kconfig	2003-01-01 18:28:12.000000000 +0100
@@ -40,66 +40,6 @@
 	  the real netlink socket.
 	  This is a backward compatibility option, choose Y for now.
 
-config NETFILTER
-	bool "Network packet filtering (replaces ipchains)"
-	---help---
-	  Netfilter is a framework for filtering and mangling network packets
-	  that pass through your Linux box.
-
-	  The most common use of packet filtering is to run your Linux box as
-	  a firewall protecting a local network from the Internet. The type of
-	  firewall provided by this kernel support is called a "packet
-	  filter", which means that it can reject individual network packets
-	  based on type, source, destination etc. The other kind of firewall,
-	  a "proxy-based" one, is more secure but more intrusive and more
-	  bothersome to set up; it inspects the network traffic much more
-	  closely, modifies it and has knowledge about the higher level
-	  protocols, which a packet filter lacks. Moreover, proxy-based
-	  firewalls often require changes to the programs running on the local
-	  clients. Proxy-based firewalls don't need support by the kernel, but
-	  they are often combined with a packet filter, which only works if
-	  you say Y here.
-
-	  You should also say Y here if you intend to use your Linux box as
-	  the gateway to the Internet for a local network of machines without
-	  globally valid IP addresses. This is called "masquerading": if one
-	  of the computers on your local network wants to send something to
-	  the outside, your box can "masquerade" as that computer, i.e. it
-	  forwards the traffic to the intended outside destination, but
-	  modifies the packets to make it look like they came from the
-	  firewall box itself. It works both ways: if the outside host
-	  replies, the Linux box will silently forward the traffic to the
-	  correct local computer. This way, the computers on your local net
-	  are completely invisible to the outside world, even though they can
-	  reach the outside and can receive replies. It is even possible to
-	  run globally visible servers from within a masqueraded local network
-	  using a mechanism called portforwarding. Masquerading is also often
-	  called NAT (Network Address Translation).
-
-	  Another use of Netfilter is in transparent proxying: if a machine on
-	  the local network tries to connect to an outside host, your Linux
-	  box can transparently forward the traffic to a local server,
-	  typically a caching proxy server.
-
-	  Various modules exist for netfilter which replace the previous
-	  masquerading (ipmasqadm), packet filtering (ipchains), transparent
-	  proxying, and portforwarding mechanisms. Please see
-	  <file:Documentation/Changes> under "iptables" for the location of
-	  these packages.
-
-	  Make sure to say N to "Fast switching" below if you intend to say Y
-	  here, as Fast switching currently bypasses netfilter.
-
-	  Chances are that you should say Y here if you compile a kernel which
-	  will run as a router and N for regular hosts. If unsure, say N.
-
-config NETFILTER_DEBUG
-	bool "Network packet filtering debugging"
-	depends on NETFILTER
-	help
-	  You can say Y here if you want to get additional messages useful in
-	  debugging the netfilter code.
-
 config FILTER
 	bool "Socket Filtering"
 	---help---
diff -urN a/net/ipv4/Kconfig b/net/ipv4/Kconfig
--- a/net/ipv4/Kconfig	2002-12-08 20:06:25.000000000 +0100
+++ b/net/ipv4/Kconfig	2003-01-01 18:28:23.000000000 +0100
@@ -371,4 +371,3 @@
 	  If unsure, say Y.
 
 source "net/ipv4/netfilter/Kconfig"
-
diff -urN a/net/ipv4/netfilter/Kconfig b/net/ipv4/netfilter/Kconfig
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/Kconfig	2002-10-31 02:34:01.000000000 +0100
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/Kconfig	2003-01-01 18:29:27.000000000 +0100
@@ -2,8 +2,68 @@
 # IP netfilter configuration
 #
 
-menu "IP: Netfilter Configuration"
-	depends on INET && NETFILTER
+config NETFILTER
+	depends on INET
+	bool "Network packet filtering (replaces ipchains)"
+	---help---
+	  Netfilter is a framework for filtering and mangling network packets
+	  that pass through your Linux box.
+
+	  The most common use of packet filtering is to run your Linux box as
+	  a firewall protecting a local network from the Internet. The type of
+	  firewall provided by this kernel support is called a "packet
+	  filter", which means that it can reject individual network packets
+	  based on type, source, destination etc. The other kind of firewall,
+	  a "proxy-based" one, is more secure but more intrusive and more
+	  bothersome to set up; it inspects the network traffic much more
+	  closely, modifies it and has knowledge about the higher level
+	  protocols, which a packet filter lacks. Moreover, proxy-based
+	  firewalls often require changes to the programs running on the local
+	  clients. Proxy-based firewalls don't need support by the kernel, but
+	  they are often combined with a packet filter, which only works if
+	  you say Y here.
+
+	  You should also say Y here if you intend to use your Linux box as
+	  the gateway to the Internet for a local network of machines without
+	  globally valid IP addresses. This is called "masquerading": if one
+	  of the computers on your local network wants to send something to
+	  the outside, your box can "masquerade" as that computer, i.e. it
+	  forwards the traffic to the intended outside destination, but
+	  modifies the packets to make it look like they came from the
+	  firewall box itself. It works both ways: if the outside host
+	  replies, the Linux box will silently forward the traffic to the
+	  correct local computer. This way, the computers on your local net
+	  are completely invisible to the outside world, even though they can
+	  reach the outside and can receive replies. It is even possible to
+	  run globally visible servers from within a masqueraded local network
+	  using a mechanism called portforwarding. Masquerading is also often
+	  called NAT (Network Address Translation).
+
+	  Another use of Netfilter is in transparent proxying: if a machine on
+	  the local network tries to connect to an outside host, your Linux
+	  box can transparently forward the traffic to a local server,
+	  typically a caching proxy server.
+
+	  Various modules exist for netfilter which replace the previous
+	  masquerading (ipmasqadm), packet filtering (ipchains), transparent
+	  proxying, and portforwarding mechanisms. Please see
+	  <file:Documentation/Changes> under "iptables" for the location of
+	  these packages.
+
+	  Make sure to say N to "Fast switching" below if you intend to say Y
+	  here, as Fast switching currently bypasses netfilter.
+
+	  Chances are that you should say Y here if you compile a kernel which
+	  will run as a router and N for regular hosts. If unsure, say N.
+
+menu "IPv4 Netfilter Configuration"
+	depends on NETFILTER
+
+config NETFILTER_DEBUG
+	bool "Network packet filtering debugging"
+	help
+	  You can say Y here if you want to get additional messages useful in
+	  debugging the netfilter code.
 
 config IP_NF_CONNTRACK
 	tristate "Connection tracking (required for masq/NAT)"
diff -urN a/net/ipv6/netfilter/Kconfig b/net/ipv6/netfilter/Kconfig
--- a/net/ipv6/netfilter/Kconfig	2002-10-31 02:34:02.000000000 +0100
+++ b/net/ipv6/netfilter/Kconfig	2003-01-01 18:29:35.000000000 +0100
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # IP netfilter configuration
 #
 
-menu "IPv6: Netfilter Configuration"
+menu "IPv6 Netfilter Configuration"
 	depends on INET && EXPERIMENTAL && IPV6!=n && NETFILTER
 
 #tristate 'Connection tracking (required for masq/NAT)' CONFIG_IP6_NF_CONNTRACK

Re: [PATCH] do justice to netfilter configuration

[Bill Davidsen]

On Wed, 1 Jan 2003, Tomas Szepe wrote:

> $subj.  I wanted to do this for a long time, so here comes:
> 
> o  Move all IPv4 netfilter config entries to net/ipv4/netfilter/Kconfig.
> o  Move the netfilter submenu right under the netfilter on/off switch.
> o  Move the netfilter debug option into the netfilter submenu.
> o  Move all netfilter settings as close to their IPv6 sibling as possible.
> o  Rename "IP: Netfilter Configuration" to "IPv4 Netfilter Configuration"
> o  Rename "IPv6: Netfilter Configuration" to "IPv6 Netfilter Configuration"

Another Christmas present. I'd just like to thank you for the work you
have done on making the options make sense.

I haven't tried the mods to PCMCIA yet, but I certainly would like to stop
chasing through other menus to turn on the drivers I need. Repeat thought
for USB.

Now if there was a way to symbolic link to required options, so instead of
being told you can't config USB this-n-that because you didn't find human
interface whatever, you could click into the menu to turn on the whatever
and pop back to what you really wanted to do. Yes, this is definitely 2.7
material (if at all) because someone will create either a loop or
recursion, but I can dream, right?

-- 
bill davidsen <davidsen@tmr.com>
  CTO, TMR Associates, Inc
Doing interesting things with little computers since 1979.