General Information on Activate Rule Base

The Activate Rule Base panel is used to generate the rule base file (/etc/security/fwfilters.cfg) and to make this file the active set of rules through which the firewall evaluates datagram traffic received by either the secure or non-secure interfaces. Rule generation is based upon the configurations defined in the Connections Panel and all of its subsidiary configurations (i.e., Services, Rule Templates, Socks Templates, and Tunnels). Additionally, the Activate Rule Base Panel allows you to validate these configurations and it allows you to deactivate the rule base file.

List

The List function lists the current Rule Base file (/etc/security/fwfilters.cfg).

Activate (Rule Base)

The Activate function generates the rules based upon the configurations defined in the Connections Panel and all of its subsidiary configurations (i.e., Services, Rule Templates, Socks Templates, and Tunnels). These rules are placed into the /etc/security/fwfilters.cfg file and become the active rules through which the firewall can evaluate network datagrams. If filter support is already active, this procedure updates the active rules with the contents of a newly generated /etc/security/fwfilters.cfg file.

Feedback about a successful activation or any errors found will be displayed in the Output section.


Validate (Rule Base)

The Validate function allows you to do a trial generation of rules. Its main purpose is to evaluate your rule generation for any possible errors. Feedback about a successful validation or any errors found will be displayed in the Output section. If the rule base is validated successfully, it may then be activated.

Deactivate (Rule Base)

Deactivate causes the firewall rule-processing to be reset to its initial state which is no rule-processing by explicit rules but rather by the implied rules built into the netinet device driver -- no routing between secure and non-secure interfaces.

Output

As the command that you have intiated proceeds, progress information will appear here.

Close

Press the "Close" button to eliminate the window from your display.