Life of a Web Programmer

There’s a lot of crap out there on the Internets. So having a firewall is a must if you’re running a virtual or dedicated server. This is a quick guide on how to install APF on your linux server.

First, download the latest and greatest version of APF from R-FX Networks:

http://www.rfxn.com/downloads/apf-current.tar.gz


cd /tmp
wget http://www.rfxn.com/downloads/apf-current.tar.gz
tar -zxf apf-current.tar.gz
cd apf-0.*
./install.sh

*Notice: apply the latest version number here.

This should automatically install APF on your server. Now we have to edit the configuration file.

nano -w /etc/apf/conf.apf


Scroll down to the “Inbound (Ingress) TCP/UDP Ports” and “Outbound (Egress) TCP/UDP Port” section. Please find the correct configuration for your control panel.

—–cPanel—–
IG_TCP_CPORTS=”20,21,22,25,26,53,80,110,143,443,465,993,995,2082,2083,2086,2087,2095,2096″
IG_UDP_CPORTS=”21,53,873″

EGF=”1″
EG_TCP_CPORTS=”21,22,25,26,27,37,43,53,80,110,113,443,465,873,2089″
EG_UDP_CPORTS=”20,21,37,53,873″

—-Ensim—–
IG_TCP_CPORTS=”21,22,25,53,80,110,143,443,19638″
IG_UDP_CPORTS=”53″

EGF=”1″
EG_TCP_CPORTS=”21,22,25,53,80,110,443″
EG_UDP_CPORTS=”20,21,53″

—-Plesk—–
IG_TCP_CPORTS=”20,21,22,25,53,80,110,143,443,465,993,995,8443″
IG_UDP_CPORTS=”37,53,873″

EGF=”1″
EG_TCP_CPORTS=”20,21,22,25,53,37,43,80,113,443,465,873,5224″
EG_UDP_CPORTS=”53,873″

Save the file and start APF.

apf -s


If everything still works then edit the config file and turn DEVEL_MODE OFF. Make absolutely sure you can start a new SSH session before changing DEVEL_MODE OFF.

***AGAIN, please make sure you are able to start a new SSH session. This is your last warning!!!

DEVEL_MODE=”0″

Now, restart APF and everything should be working!!!

apf -r


If you have an issues or need a list of available of commands for APF:

apf --help


Also, if you are getting an error on startup or restart similar to this:

unable to load iptables module (ip_tables), aborting. apf


try changing SET_MONOKERN=”0″ to “1″ – although it is not recommended, this allows for APF to run if this module is not directly compiled into the kernel.

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve organized the photos I want to share with all of you. You can view all of them on my facebook profile here. Catherine and I had a great time staying with her parents, Barbara and Berne. We all enjoyed white water rafting, hiking, biking, and visiting with friends. And you can’t beat that Northwest weather, raining one day and beautiful sunshine the next Take a look at some of the photos we took on our trip.

On our way to Colorado Bend State Park up in Bend, TX. We both are looking forward to getting back on the trail after a three week hiatus. I’ve decided that I will track on our upcoming adventures in Google Maps and in pictures per blog post (a before and after if you will). So see map below on the park’s location…

View Colorado Bend State Park in a larger map

Next week, Catherine and I will be visiting her parents for a week of adventuring in the northern Rockies for what will be an awesome time. There are many plans ahead of us and I will keep everyone up to date on our adventures. We are both really excited and can’t wait to see the family. Stay tuned for developing events.

Catherine and I visited Hamilton Pool near Bee Caves, TX this weekend, being my first visit and her second???, and I have to say that I am very impressed with how awesome it was with the swimming hole and waterfall. Catherine brought along her vintage camera and we took a couple silly pictures with it. Hopefully they will turn out great.

As for the park itself, it was a great hike all around. The circle around the pool was something taken out of a Mayan religious sanctuary (not sure if this was a holy site for the original Native American Indians in the Texas area, but it sure had that feeling). The waterfall crashed down into the swimming hole, being 66 degree Fahrenheit, too cold for swimming.

There was also a .6 mile hike to the Pedernales River that trekked rocky hills blanketed with blue and yellow wild flowers along a quiet creek capped with tall, lively cedars and oaks that feed the mighty Pedernales River. Being late April, it was surprisingly nice to be able to enjoy high 70s degree weather with sunlight to warm you up if you were to be chilled by the slight breeze.

I will be uploading photos to facebook in the next coming days, so stay tuned. I have to say that I will recommend this spot for anyone looking for a quick, relaxing hike.

As you can see, I have added my live stream from my justin.tv channel for your viewing pleasure. Here you can see what’s going on with my XBOX and follow along with some of my game play.

Also, notice the link below the stream. Please follow it if you like what you see and KARMA will pointed in your direction

Last night, the boys and I captured 6 hours of multiplayer game footage of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on justin.tv. Stayed up late and complied 3 of the top highlights, one word: EPIC.

Picture Mario Kart on steroids, leveling up and mods to fix your RPG-like feel, mix in some stunning graphics, and you got Blur, developed by Bizarre Creations and Activision. Played the public beta this weekend, and I have to say that I’m really impressed considering it is a DEMO and not the full version.

There are a couple elements in the game that set it apart from typical arcade-style racing games; one being that you can have up to 20 peeps competing in one race. Dare I say a MMORPG Racing genre?

Competitors race one another in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 & 2 styled lobbies with options to vote for their next race track. When selected, racer have the option to mod out certain “perks” to increase XP after the race is completed; perks like extra hit damage, increased multipliers, etc.

Take a look at the demo on Xbox Live here…

I just purchased a new Linksys WRT54GL router because of my performance from my older router. And I have to say that I have significantly noticed a change in DL and UL speeds. Significantly, a 194% increase in DL speeds. Here are my recent results from speedtest.net:

I have been “pulling host” on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 every time when starting from any lobby. STFUxN0085xFTW!!!

Anyone considering upgrading to a better router, you should definitely check out Linksys WRT54GL.