<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      type="topic" style="task"
      id="net-firewall-on-off">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="net-security"/>
    <desc>You can control which programs can access the network. This helps to keep your computer secure.</desc>
    <revision pkgversion="3.4.0" date="2012-02-20" status="final"/>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Paul W. Frields</name>
      <email>stickster@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>

    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>
  </info>

  <title>Enable or block firewall access</title>

<comment>
<cite date="2012-02-19">shaunm</cite>
<p>Continue to revisit this page until we can provide real instructions.
As it is, we're stuck in "whatever distros do" territory.</p>
</comment>

  <p>Your system should be equipped with a <em>firewall</em> that allows it to block programs from being accessed by other people on the internet or your network. This helps to keep your computer secure.</p>
  <p>Many applications can use your network connection. For instance, you can share files or let someone view your desktop remotely when connected to a network. Depending on how your computer is set up, you may need to adjust the firewall to allow these services to work as intended.</p>
  <p>Each program that provides network services uses a specific <em>network port</em>. To enable other computers on the network to access a service, you may need to "open" its assigned port on the firewall:</p>

  <steps>
    <item>
      <p>Go to <gui>Activities</gui> in the top left corner of the screen and start your firewall application. You may need to install a firewall manager yourself if you can't find one (for example, Firestarter or GUFW).</p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>Open or disable the port for your network service, depending on whether you want people to be able to access it or not. Which port you need to change will <link xref="net-firewall-ports">depend on the service</link>.</p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>Save or apply the changes, following any additional instructions given by the firewall tool.</p>
    </item>
  </steps>

</page>