Welcome to SmoothWall Express

System and Hardware Specifications

2

Note:

If any of the Linux system or configuration files are changed by other than the SmoothWall

Express configuration and installation procedures, there is a risk of compromising security, for

which the SmoothWall Express Project Team cannot be held responsible.

However, we do not discourage people from experimenting with and further developing their

SmoothWall Express – it is just that we must point out that ill-conceived or badly executed

changes might compromise the security of the SmoothWall Express system.

Who should read this guide?

Anyone installing and maintaining SmoothWall Express should read this guide.

Other Documentation and User Information

– here you can create a my.SmoothWall profile, access more documentation

and sign up for newsletters and more information.

– this is the home of the SmoothWall Express community, containing the

collective wisdom of hundreds of SmoothWall Express experts in forums, FAQs and IRC

channels.

System and Hardware Specifications

Note:

Requirements may vary depending on traffic throughput and processing requirements, which

themselves vary according to the number and size of protected networks.

The following specifications are the minimum hardware specifications and recommendations for

SmoothWall Express:

System/hardware

Requirement/recommendations

Processor

Intel Pentium 200 or compatible processors.

Memory

128 megabytes of RAM. More RAM is required for additional services.

Storage

2 gigabytes hard disk – IDE and SCSI devices supported.

Network interface cards

A minimum of one supported network interface card (NIC).

If the connection to the Internet is via a broadband device such as a

cable modem, ethernet-presented ADSL, or another ethernet-presented

connection, you will need a second NIC.

Keyboard

If the system BIOS supports boot without keyboard, this is only

required for the initial installation.

Video card

Only required when installing SmoothWall Express.

Monitor

Only required when installing SmoothWall Express.

CD-ROM

Only required when installing SmoothWall Express.

3

SmoothWall Express

Installation Guide

About Registration

The first time you connect to the Internet from your newly installed SmoothWall Express, a

registration script runs once only.

In a manner similar to the way in which a web site cookie records a small amount of information

for future viewing of that particular site, the registration script sends a few key pieces of

information about your installation back to SmoothWall Limited. This data enables the

development team to gauge the type of platforms on which SmoothWall Express is being

deployed and to better judge what features it would be helpful to add to future releases.

Note:

Please note that none of this information is sensitive and that all the information is stored securely

in our database according to BS5750 and the Data Protection Act requirements.

SmoothWall Limited does not capture any other user information or any other data secretly or

covertly – all information recorded is impersonal.We appreciate your concerns about security and

data integrity.

If you would like to voluntarily provide any further information to assist the future development

of products there is a registration form on the web site that can be used for this purpose.

The following system information is recorded:

•

The date of installation

•

The processor type and speed

•

Interface configuration

•

SmoothWall Express Version

•

The size of hard drive present

•

The amount of memory (RAM) present

•

A list of PCI and USB devices installed.

Floppy drive

Recommended for upgrading from previous versions.

Internet connection type

Internet

a suitable NIC is required.

ADSL

a supported PCI or USB modem is required.

ISDN

a supported ISDN card or external RS232 or USB

connected adapter is required.

Modem

a modem, a supported RS232, ISA or PCI modem is

required.

System/hardware

Requirement/recommendations

Welcome to SmoothWall Express

GPL and Open Source Software

4

GPL and Open Source Software

SmoothWall Express is licensed under the General Public Licence (GPL); see

and

for the full terms and conditions of the licence.

All program code written specifically for SmoothWall Express is licensed under the GPL, the

copyright to which remains with the original author.

All code contributed to SmoothWall Express by SmoothWall Limited, even if previously released

as part of their commercial products, is licensed under the GPL, the copyright of the code

remaining with SmoothWall Limited.

The CD image file (.iso) by which SmoothWall Express is distributed also contains a large amount

of Linux operating system and general purpose code, libraries etc. that was not written specifically

for SmoothWall Express. Indeed, it is the use of this pre-existing code base that makes the open

source concept so powerful and enabled the rapid development of the initial SmoothWall Express

firewall.

The licensing and copyright of all this non SmoothWall Express specific code is the responsibility

of the original author, i.e. the person who wrote the code. In general this code is licensed under

the GPL or the Lesser GPL (LGPL).

In adherence with the terms of the GPL, any changes that have been made to other people’s GPL

or LGPL licensed code in the creation of SmoothWall Express are published by the SmoothWall

Express open source project team via the

web site. All program code

specifically written for SmoothWall Express is also available from the web site. You can

reproduce, modify or distribute any of this code without payment of any royalty or fees – but you

are expected to publish any changes that you make so that other may benefit, especially if you

distribute your changed code to other people.

Open source is not shareware and vice versa. Shareware may be available ‘free of charge’, without

royalties or fees but the whole source code of the software is not usually made freely available to

you, unlike open source. The confusion is a result of the English language having two meanings

for the word free, as in free of charge and free as in liberty (free to do what you want).

Your use and installation of SmoothWall Express acknowledges your acceptance of the terms of

the GPL.

You are encouraged to participate in and support the open source movement. The Free Software

Foundation (FSF) is generally seen as the champion of the open source movement and you are

encouraged to support their efforts to promote and defend open source.

Need some help?

Support for SmoothWall Express is provided by way of mailing lists and forums accessible by

visiting:

This support is provided on an entirely voluntary basis by members of the SmoothWall Express

open source community. Nobody is paid to provide support for SmoothWall Express. Thus, the

SmoothWall Express open source project team cannot be held responsible for the quality,

accuracy or timeliness of the information provided by the volunteers who are kind enough to offer

their time and knowledge to the benefit of others.

For those users, particularly commercial users, who want professional support, we recommend the

use of SmoothWall Limited’s commercial products which are fully supported by both

SmoothWall Limited and its world-wide network of resellers. For further details see SmoothWall

Limited’s web site at:

5

Chapter 2

Installing SmoothWall Express

In this chapter:

•

Warning!

•

Program messages and conventions

•

How to install SmoothWall Express.

Note:

This is beta documentation. What you see on your screen and the information in this document

may, and probably will, differ.

Also, cross references and other information may be incorrect.

If you would like to send me constructive feedback or make suggestions about the documentation,

you can contact me at [email protected]

Warning!

Do not install SmoothWall Express on your main or only workstation – all data on the

workstation’s hard disk will be lost.

Installing SmoothWall Express

ERASES ALL DATA

from the workstation’s hard disk. Before you start

the installation, ensure that all valuable data is safely backed up.

SmoothWall Limited cannot be held responsible for any loss of data.

Messages and Conventions

SmoothWall Express’s installation and initial setup programs use a text-based interface that is

compatible with all types of graphic card.

The following keyboard controls are used to interact with the programs:

Key

Explanation

Arrows

Move the cursor/focus/highlight between options.

Tab

Advances the focus to the next screen object.

Space

Clicks a button if it has the focus.

Enter or Return

Clicks a button if it has the focus.

Clicks

Ok

if the focus is not currently on a button.

Installing SmoothWall Express

Installing SmoothWall Express

6

The following on-screen buttons are used throughout the installation and setup process:

Installing SmoothWall Express

SmoothWall Express’s install is designed to run on a workstation with a bootable CD-ROM drive.

It automatically checks the workstation and hardware components and installs SmoothWall

Express accordingly.

To install SmoothWall Express:

1

Browse to

and download and burn a CD of SmoothWall Express.

2

Insert the CD into the CD drive of the workstation you want to use as a firewall appliance and

reboot. The following screen is displayed:

3

After reading the information, press

Enter

. The following dialog box opens:

4

Press Enter to continue.

Button

Explanation

Cancel

Exits the current section of the installation or setup process without saving or

activating any changes.

If the Setup program is being run as part of the first-time setup process, the Cancel

button will exit the setup program and require the installation process to be restarted.

Done

Indicates that configuration of the current feature is complete. Changes will be saved

and activated and control will return to the menu or installation procedure.

Finished

Exits once all configuration changes have been completed in the Setup program.

Ok

Confirms the selection of the highlighted option, acknowledges a message or

proceeds to the next screen.