SporkBomb

Would you like a corporate grade firewall and IDS for your SOHO network? Do you have an old spare PC sitting around? If you answered yes to both questions then you’re in luck because IPCop is there for you. IPCop is a Linux firewall distribution which is configured to allow even new users to configure and use it.

First make sure that you have an old but functional computer lying around. Anything will do as long as if has a 386+ CPU, 32MB+ RAM and 200MB+ (5GB+ if you want to run a proxy server) of storage space. Now the most important thing you have to keep in mind that will will be just like your “router” (the little NetGear/Linksys/Dlink box) you have at home. In fact those like boxes are in fact just tiny computers themselves. Well, what do they all have in common? They have multiple ports. Usually there is one port called something along the lines of Cable, or Internet. This is the connection which goes into your cable modem or DSL model. They also have 4-6 connections which you can use to connect your local computers to. Well, you will need at least 2 network cards if you want to use IPCop. One will be the “Internet” interface and the other will be your local interface.

Make sure that the computer you’ve built is running reliably and that both network cards are plugged in securely. You may also want to check the hardware compatibility list to make sure that your network cards will be recognized.

Next download the appropriate IPCop ISO image and burn it with software like Nero or the free CDBurnerXP Pro. Put the CD in the CD tray of your spare computer, boot it up and make sure you set the BIOS boot sequence to boot from CD. Once you’re in the main setup screen, follow the prompts and configure your GREEN (local) and RED (internet) interfaces with the appropriate IP addresses. Make sure that the local network has an IP address somewhere in the 192.168.x.x, 172.16.x.x, or 10.x.x.x ranges and set the internet interface to get all of its information via DHCP. Connect the cable coming from your modem box to the RED interface and the cable from your home computer to your GREEN interface. If you have more than one computer on your network, you can instead connect the green interface to a switch or a hub and plug in all your boxes in it. If you have a wireless access point or you want to have a DMZ network, I STRONGLY urge you to get separate network cards for them and configure them as the BLUE (wireless) and ORANGE (DMZ) networks and put them on different subnets.

When you’re done with the setup, go back into the BIOS and disable the CD-Rom from participating in the boot sequence. You can also remove the CD-Drive altogether because you won’t need it anymore. Boot up the newly installed firewall and watch it boot. Once you’re presented with a login screen, go to a computer which is on the GREEN (local) network and connect to https://ipofgreeninterface:445. Use the admin password you set during setup to configure all the options you want. By default, the original configuration will keep you very safe.

If you get stuck somewhere along the way, just e-mail me and we’ll solve the problem together.

Edit:

I forgot to mention that there are awesome guides for both installing and configuring IPCop at IPCop.com > Documentation

Remember to visit the donations page and see how you can help if you like IPCop.