shutdown command brings the system down in a secure way. All logged-in users are notified that the system is going down, and login is blocked. It is possible to shut the system down immediately or after a specified delay. All processes are first notified that the system is going down by the signal SIGTERM. This gives programs like vi the time to save the file being edited, mail and news processing programs a chance to exit cleanly, etc. shutdown does its job by signalling the init process, asking it to change the runlevel. Runlevel 0 is used to halt the system, runlevel 6 is used to reboot the system, and runlevel 1 is used to put to system into a state where administrative tasks can be performed; this is the default if neither the -h or -r flag is given to shutdown. To see which actions are taken on halt or reboot see the appropriate entries for these runlevels in the file /etc/inittab.(http://linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl8_shutdow.htm)

Shutdown the machine immediately

Type the following command as root

# shutdown -h now

Shutdown the machine with user defined message

# shutdown -h now 'Server is going down for replace old hardware'

Scheduling the shutdown

Example, schedule shutdown for 3 AM.

# shutdown -h 03:00

Schedule shutdown the system in 5 minutes

# shutdown -h +5

Reboot the machine immediately

# shutdowm -r now

Cancel a running shutdown

# shutdown -c

The post Linux Shutdown Command appeared first on lifeLinux: Linux Tips, Hacks, Tutorials, Ebooks.

iptables is a user space application program that allows a system administrator to configure the tables provided by the Linux kernel firewall (implemented as different Netfilter modules) and the chains and rules it stores. Different kernel modules and programs are currently used for different protocols; iptables applies to IPv4, ip6tables to IPv6, arptables to ARP, and ebtables for Ethernet frames.
Iptables requires elevated privileges to operate and must be executed by user root, otherwise it fails to function. On most Linux systems, iptables is installed as /usr/sbin/iptables and documented in its man page,[2] which can be opened using man iptables when installed. It may also be found in /sbin/iptables, but since iptables is not an “essential binary”, but more like a service, the preferred location remains /usr/sbin.
iptables is also commonly used to inclusively refer to the kernel-level components. x_tables is the name of the kernel module carrying the shared code portion used by all four modules that also provides the API used for extensions; subsequently, Xtables is more or less used to refer to the entire firewall (v4,v6,arp,eb) architecture.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iptables

In most Linux distros including Redhat / CentOS Linux installs iptables by default. You can use the following procedure to verify that iptables has been installed. Open terminal and type the following command:

root@longvnit:~# iptables -V

Sample outputs:

iptables v1.3.5

You can use the following command to view the status of iptables command, enter:

root@longvnit:~#yum info iptables

Sample outputs:

Installed Packages
Name       : iptables
Arch       : i386
Version    : 1.3.5
Release    : 5.3.el5_4.1
Size       : 552 k
Repo       : installed
Summary    : Tools for managing Linux kernel packet filtering capabilities.
URL        : http://www.netfilter.org/
License    : GPL
Description: The iptables utility controls the network packet filtering code in
           : the Linux kernel. If you need to set up firewalls and/or IP
           : masquerading, you should install this package.

If the above message does not appear, then type the following command to install iptables

root@longvnit:~#yum install iptables

You can use the following command to view rules in all chains:

root@longvnit:~#iptables -L -n

Sample outputs:

Chain INPUT (policy DROP)
target     prot opt source               destination         
ACCEPT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0           state RELATED,ESTABLISHED 
ACCEPT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0           

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target     prot opt source               destination         

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target     prot opt source               destination

The post How to install IPTables on RedHat / Centos Linux appeared first on lifeLinux: Linux Tips, Hacks, Tutorials, Ebooks.