Online Help


Getting Started using Windows

If you've just installed Fire Door, you're probably keen to get something (anything!) going!

IMPORTANT NOTE
BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, CHANGE THE FIRE DOOR PASSWORD AS DETAILED IN THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY ALLOW SOMEONE TO CHANGE YOUR SITE CONFIGURATION.

Follow these steps to install a minimum configuration which will get you cruising the 'Web as soon as possible:

  1. Make sure that the Windows host on which you wish to run Fire Door has the TCP/IP protocol installed.
  2. Make sure that the Windows host on which you wish to run Fire Door has Remote Access installed.
  3. Ensure Remote Access on your Fire Door host can dial and autoconnect to your Internet Service Provider. Note that this must be able to log in to the ISP without user intervention.
  4. Add the name of the Remote Access configuration of your ISP to the list of remote systems using the Dialup Configuration page. Note that if your system has a permanent internet connection then this is not necessary.
  5. Make sure that the client machines which will be using Fire Door to access the Internet have the TCP/IP protocol installed.
  6. Configure client browsers to use the host that Fire Door is running on as the HTTP proxy. The exact mechanism for this depends on the browser being used. For example, in Netscape navigator, this would be in the Options/Network Preferences menu and the Proxies tab.
  7. Add security restrictions as per your local policies.
  8. Configure Fire Door to use the proxy server provided by your service provider, if any.


You're done!

You should now be able to run your Internet browser on any client machine and have Fire Door automatically dial your service provider.

Note that only one user at a time will be able to access this feature unless you register your copy of Fire Door.


Getting Started using Unix

If you've just installed Fire Door, you're probably keen to get something (anything!) going!

IMPORTANT NOTE
BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, CHANGE THE FIRE DOOR PASSWORD AS DETAILED IN THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY ALLOW SOMEONE TO CHANGE YOUR SITE CONFIGURATION.

Follow these steps to install a minimum configuration which will get you cruising the 'Web as soon as possible:

  1. Make sure that the Unix host on which you wish to run Fire Door has the TCP/IP network protocol installed.
  2. Make sure that the Unix host on which you wish to run Fire Door has the "pppd" and "chat" programs installed.
  3. Ensure that the correct "pppd" and "chat" parameters have been set to allow Fire Door to dial and autoconnect to your Service Provider
  4. Add the name of the dialup configuration added in step 3 to the list of remote systems using the Dialup Configuration page
  5. Make sure that the client machines which will be using Fire Door to access the Internet have the TCP/IP protocol installed.
  6. Configure client browsers to use the host that Fire Door is running on as the HTTP proxy. The exact mechanism for this depends on the browser being used. For example, in Netscape navigator, this would be in the Options/Network Preferences menu and the Proxies tab.
  7. Add security restrictions as per your local policies.
  8. Configure FireDoor to use the proxy server provided by your service provider, if any.


You're done!

You should now be able to run your Internet browser on any client machine and have Fire Door automatically dial your service provider.

Note that only one user at a time will be able to access this feature unless you register your copy of Fire Door.


Make sure the Fire Door host is running TCP/IP

If you have already been using your Fire Door host to access the Internet, then it you can ignore this section as TCP/IP must already be installed. You will need to know the IP number which has been assigned to this machine on the local network for later steps, so be sure to find this out.

For Windows/NT and Windows 95 you may have to install TCP/IP via the Control Panel using the Network applet. Consult your Windows manuals for more information on installing and configuring TCP/IP protocol support


Make sure the Windows host running Fire Door has Remote Access installed

If you have already been using your Fire Door host to access the Internet, then it you can ignore this section as Remote Access must already be installed.

For Windows/NT and Windows 95 you may have to install Remote Access via the Control Panel. Consult your Windows manuals for more information on installing and configuring Remote Access.


Make sure the Fire Door clients are running TCP/IP

All client machines which will be used with Fire Door will need to have the TCP/IP networking protocol installed. See the software manuals for your machines for instructions on how to do this.

When installing the client software, be sure to assign the IP address of the Fire Door host as the Domain Name Service (DNS) server. If you have another machine that is already a DNS server then that should remain the DNS server for the clients.

It is recommended that all of your client machine be allocated IP addresses on the 10.x.x.x network. These IP addresses have been specifically set aside for local networks and using them will improve the security of your network.


Making Remote Access connect and dial your ISP

If you have already been using your Fire Door host to access the Internet, then it you have probably already got this going. The only additional restriction is that the log in is automatic, that is you are not using a terminal or manually typing in usernames or passwords etc.

If the Remote Access System is not already installed on Windows/NT, you will have to install it via the Control Panel using the Network applet. Consult your Windows/NT manuals for more information on configuring a Windows/NT Remote Access System.

When setting up a Remote Access host, make sure that it can log in without user intervention. This usually involves setting up the SWITCH.INF file to script the log in sequence. If you can simply press the Dial button in the RAS Dialler program to connect to you ISP, then this will be suitable for Fire Door.


Adding the Dialup Host to Fire Door

From the Fire Door Home Page, select on the hyperlink to the Dialup Configuration page. Click on the hyperlink in the last line of the dialup host list which has the text "Add new remote". A Dialup Host Parameters page will appear. Select the name of Remote Access entry you wish to use to connect to your service provider in the field labelled "Name:". The rest of the parameters can be left at their default values.

Press the button labelled "Accept", and a new page will be displayed confirming that the new configuration has been added. Use the "Back" button on your browser to return to the Fire Door Home Page.

See also Help on Dialup Parameters


Add security restrictions for all local clients

To preserve the security of your local network, you should add Access Restrictions for all local clients which will be using Fire Door to prevent unwanted access to your local machines. Leaving the Access Restrictions page at it's default values will allow any machine to use your Fire Door gateway, including machines not on your local network when you are connected to the Internet.

If you have used the recommended practice of allocating IP addresses in the 10.x.x.x address space for your clients, then you will need to replace the default "allow" restriction with the a restriction of the form:

10.*.*.*:*   *.*.*.*:*

If you have assigned other IP addresses, then you will need to add explicit restrictions for each client address.

See also Security Help


Make sure that the Unix host on which you wish to run Fire Door has TCP/IP protocol support.

Almost every Unix system will has TCP/IP protocol support installed by default. You can determine whether it is or not by checking for the existence of TCP/IP utilities like "ping" and "telnet". If your system does not have TCP/IP support, then consult your operating system manuals on how to install it.

Make sure that the Unix host on which you wish to run Fire Door has the the "pppd" and "chat" programs installed.

These are the two most common programs for establishing a dial up connection on Unix machines. The "chat" program is used to set up the modem, dial the number and log into the remote system. The "pppd" program then can establish the TCP/IP link using the serial connection established by chat.

The set up of the PPP connection is beyond the scope of this help. Use th FAQ's or on-line help available on your Unix system for more information.


Add configuration information for dial up connections.


$Revision: 1.9 $ $Date: 1996/06/13 13:26:49 $