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In-Reply-To: <aXTNF-LULR_faP7K@imp.flyn.org>
From: Prabu Anand Kalivaradhan <kprabuanand@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 22:28:13 +0530
Message-ID: <CAAt6f0bkyqoJNid2gpGGUS96B_UCwmNbPLf0qiXkQaP78188QA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Preferred firewall
To: ~alpine/devel@lists.alpinelinux.org
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Hi Mike,

Thanks for the additionl suggestions. I've gone through the page and made
the suggested changes and added few wikilinks. I'm not a awall user, so
appreciate if some awall user can verify the correctness of the page.

Regards,
Prabu


On Sat, 24 Jan 2026 at 19:16, W. Michael Petullo <mike@flyn.org> wrote:

> > The wiki page https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/How-To_Alpine_Wall has
> been
> > updated.
>
> Thank you for the updates to the documentation, Prabu.
>
> I have some points to consider about the changes:
>
> (1) Under "Activating/Applying a Policy" is "awall enable test-policy".
> I think that should be "awall enable home-policy", since the example has
> the policy definition in "home-policy.json".
>
> (2) I like that you compared AWall to Shorewall, but a reader might not
> be familiar with Shorewall. You could make this more clear with the
> following changes:
>
> + [Add the following immediately after the "Configuration files"
> heading] This guide shows how to configure a firewall using AWall. Also
> shown are comparable Shorewall configurations, as Shorewall is another
> firewall configuration tool used in many applications. This comparison is
> meant to help readers who are familiar with Shorewall learn AWall. You
> should follow the AWall examples. Use the Shorewall examples as
> contextual references, or ignore them if unfamiliar with Shorewall.
>
> and
>
> - [Remove] The below example shows the "Basic home firewall" configuration
> for both
> Shorewall and AWall. Based on below example, it can be clearly seen that
> AWall Policy files are not equivalent to Shorewall's /etc/shorewall/policy
> files.
>
> + [Replace with] The examples below show how to configure a basic home
> firewall using AWall. Note that AWall Policy files differ substantially
> from Shorewall's /etc/shorewall/policy files in syntax and layout.
>
> and
>
> - [Remove] Let's suppose you have the following Shorewall configuration:
>
> + [Replace with] Let's suppose you have the following Shorewall
> configuration, which
> you want to convert to a configuration for AWall.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> --
> Mike
>
> :wq
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_defa=
ult" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)=
">Hi Mike,</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,san=
s-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_def=
ault" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0=
)">Thanks for the additionl suggestions. I&#39;ve gone through the page and=
 made the suggested changes and added few wikilinks. I&#39;m not a awall us=
er, so appreciate if some awall user can verify the correctness of the page=
.</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;f=
ont-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" sty=
le=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Regard=
s,</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;=
font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Prabu</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" s=
tyle=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>=
</div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_=
attr">On Sat, 24 Jan 2026 at 19:16, W. Michael Petullo &lt;<a href=3D"mailt=
o:mike@flyn.org" target=3D"_blank">mike@flyn.org</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><b=
lockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-le=
ft:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">&gt; The wiki page <a href=
=3D"https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/How-To_Alpine_Wall" rel=3D"noreferrer=
" target=3D"_blank">https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/How-To_Alpine_Wall</a=
> has been<br>
&gt; updated.<br>
<br>
Thank you for the updates to the documentation, Prabu.<br>
<br>
I have some points to consider about the changes:<br>
<br>
(1) Under &quot;Activating/Applying a Policy&quot; is &quot;awall enable te=
st-policy&quot;.<br>
I think that should be &quot;awall enable home-policy&quot;, since the exam=
ple has<br>
the policy definition in &quot;home-policy.json&quot;.<br>
<br>
(2) I like that you compared AWall to Shorewall, but a reader might not<br>
be familiar with Shorewall. You could make this more clear with the<br>
following changes:<br>
<br>
+ [Add the following immediately after the &quot;Configuration files&quot;<=
br>
heading] This guide shows how to configure a firewall using AWall. Also<br>
shown are comparable Shorewall configurations, as Shorewall is another<br>
firewall configuration tool used in many applications. This comparison is<b=
r>
meant to help readers who are familiar with Shorewall learn AWall. You<br>
should follow the AWall examples. Use the Shorewall examples as<br>
contextual references, or ignore them if unfamiliar with Shorewall.<br>
<br>
and<br>
<br>
- [Remove] The below example shows the &quot;Basic home firewall&quot; conf=
iguration for both<br>
Shorewall and AWall. Based on below example, it can be clearly seen that<br=
>
AWall Policy files are not equivalent to Shorewall&#39;s /etc/shorewall/pol=
icy<br>
files.<br>
<br>
+ [Replace with] The examples below show how to configure a basic home<br>
firewall using AWall. Note that AWall Policy files differ substantially<br>
from Shorewall&#39;s /etc/shorewall/policy files in syntax and layout.<br>
<br>
and<br>
<br>
- [Remove] Let&#39;s suppose you have the following Shorewall configuration=
: <br>
<br>
+ [Replace with] Let&#39;s suppose you have the following Shorewall configu=
ration, which<br>
you want to convert to a configuration for AWall.<br>
<br>
Thanks again!<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Mike<br>
<br>
:wq<br>
</blockquote></div></div>
</div>

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