Ubuntu Manpage: ippl.conf - IP Protocols Logger configuration file

NAME

       ippl.conf - IP Protocols Logger configuration file

DESCRIPTION

       The  ippl.conf  file  is  the only configuration file for the ippl logger. It defines what
       protocols to log, and the kind of packets to log.

       A hash mark (``#'') indicates that the end of the line is a comment and it will  therefore
       not be read.

USER RUNNING THREADS

       ippl  does  not  run  (unless specified) the protocol logging threads as root for security
       reasons. You can specify which user should be use with the runas keyword.

       Syntax: runas [user]

       user is a user defined in /etc/passwd. By default, the Debian-ippl user is used.

PROTOCOLS

       Each protocol is run by an different thread. To run a thread, use the:

       Syntax: run [protocol] [protocol] ...

       protocol can be:

       icmp to specify that the thread logging ICMP messages should be run.

       tcp to specify that the thread logging TCP connections should be run.

       udp to specify that the thread logging UDP datagrams should be run.

       all to log all the protocols.

ADDRESS RESOLUTION

       You can enable or disable IP address resolution on a protocol basis.   To  enable  address
       resolution, use:

       Syntax: resolve [protocol] [protocol] ...

       protocol is the same as in the protocols section.

       To disable address resolution, use:

       Syntax: noresolve [protocol] [protocol] ...

       protocol is the same as before.

       By default, IP address resolution is disabled for all the protocols.

       Ippl  by  default  resolves tcp/udp port numbers to their respective service names. If you
       pass a protocol to the noportresolve option, ippl logs the port number instead. This is  a
       Debian specific extension.

       By  default  service  resolving  is  enabled,  since this is the behaviour of the upstream
       program.

LOGGING FORMAT

       ippl can log IP protocols in a more or less detailed format. By default, it only shows the
       source  address and the type or the destination port. A more detailed version can be used.
       There is also a shortest version.

       Syntax: logformat [format] [protocol] [protocol] ...

       format can be:

       short to use a short format for logging.

       normal to use the normal format. This is the default.

       detailed to log more information. This option displays the source  and  destination  ports
       and addresses.

       protocol is the same as in the protocols section.

IDENT MECHANISM

       To enable the IDENT remote username resolution, use the ident keyword.  To disable it, use
       the noident keyword.  Note that the information returned  is  *NOT*  reliable  in  general
       since it is returned by the remote host. By default, the ident resolution is off.

TCP CONNECTION TERMINATION

       ippl  can  detect  when  a  TCP  connection  is  closed.  To  enable this feature, use the
       logclosing keyword.  To disable  it,  use  the  nologclosing  keyword.   By  default,  TCP
       connection terminations are ignored.

LOGGING MECHANISM

       ippl  can  log  messages  using  syslog  (using  the  LOG_DAEMON facility) or it can write
       directly into a file. This is specified using log-in keyword.

       Syntax: log-in [protocol] [filename]

       protocol is the same as in the protocols section.  filename is an absolute path to a file.
       Note that the file cannot be in the root directory; it has to be in a directory.

       NOTE: when the logs are rotated, ippl opens new files when it is sent the SIGHUP signal.

RULES

When a thread is run, it will catch all the packets using the protocol logged. The user
may want to ignore certain packets. This is done with Apache-like rules.

There are two different types of rules. The first one describes what packets to log, and
the second one describes the packets that should be ignored. The syntax of a rule is as
follows:

Syntax: [log|ignore] {option [option],[option],...} [protocol] [description]

log means that the packets described should be logged and ignore is used if the user does
not want to log a certain type of packets.

Option
The option keyword will permit to override the default values for this rule only. options
is also recognized.

Valid options are:

resolve enable IP address resolution.

noresolve disable IP address resolution.

portresolve enable IP service resolution.

noportresolve disable IP service resolution.

ident use ident logging (only for TCP).

noident disable ident logging (only for TCP).

logclosing log connection termination (only for TCP).

nologclosing do not log connection termination (only for TCP).

short use the short logging format.

normal use the normal logging format.

detailed use the detailed logging format.

Protocol
protocol is one of the supported protocols (see the protocols section).

Description
description holds the type of packet and the hosts to which the rule applies.

Type of packet:

type <number> Specify an ICMP message type.
port <number> Specify a destination TCP or UDP port number.
port <name> Specify a destination TCP or UDP port name.
srcport <number> Specify a source TCP or UDP port number.
srcport <name> Specify a source TCP or UDP port name.

number is specified like this:
n Number n.
n-- Every number m >= n.
--n Every number m <= n.
l--k Every number m, with l <= m <= k.
string If a string is specified, it is
either the name of a service
(see /etc/services) or an
ICMP message.
Keywords for ICMP messages are:
echo_reply 0
dest_unreach 3
src_quench 4
redirect 5
echo_req 8
router_advert 9
router_solicit 10
time_exceeded 11
param_problem 12
ts_req 13
ts_reply 14
info_req 15
info_reply 16
addr_mask_req 17
addr_mask_reply 18

Source of the packets:

from <host>

where host is specifed as follows:
x.x.x.x IP address of a host
x.x.x.x/x.x.x.x IP address, followed by a network mask to specify a subnet
x.x.x.x/n IP address, followed by the number of 1's at the left side of the
network mask
host.net.domain host name (wildcards accepted)

Destination of the packets:

to <host>

where host is specified as follows:
x.x.x.x IP address of the local interface
host.net.domain host name of the local interface (*no* wildcards accepted)

This rule is useful only if you have multiple interfaces connected to your box, or if you
use IP aliasing. This can also be useful if you want to log or ignore broadcasts. To do
so, just use your broadcast address as destination IP address.

Please note that rules using IP addresses are faster to check than rules using host names.

If you log UDP, it is *strongly* recommended to ignore the broadcasts! (until we
implement an option for that).

EXPIRATION OF DNS CACHE

       The time for which ippl holds cached DNS  data  without  performing  any  queries  can  be
       changed.

       Syntax: expire <time>

       defines how often the DNS data expires.  time is specified in seconds (default is 3600).

FILES

        /etc/ippl.conf - configuration file
        /usr/share/doc/ippl/* - files worth reading if you still have a question

AUTHORS

       Hugo Haas (hugo@larve.net) Etienne Bernard (eb@via.ecp.fr)

                                  Last change: 11 February 2000                      IPPL.CONF(5)