Chapter 29. Maintaining a Healthy System

Summary

In this chapter we looked at advanced network configuration and utilities as well as security issues. On the advanced network side, we saw how ifconfig could be used to assign an IP address to your machine, or more interesting, bind another IP address to it, for such purposes as virtual host web serving. We also took an in-depth look at Network Utility, which provides a suite of diagnostic tools for a Mac user to test his connections.

Network security has never been as important on the Macintosh as it is with Mac OS X, which provides a wider variety of network services than any previous release. Luckily, Mac OS X includes a variety of tools that can fend off attacks before they occur without the need for additional software.

Many users find that their network security issues can be simply addressed by applying TCP wrappers to their critical services and shutting down those protocols that aren't being used. Advanced users can use ipfw, or graphical tools that interface with ipfw, such as BrickHouse, to provide low-level control over the flow of network traffic to and from the Mac OS X computer. In addition, administrators might want to take proactive measures by employing an intrusion detection tool such as Tripwire or Snort. These applications can detect an attack and react to it potentially saving your system, data, and peace of mind.