firewall for win2k

[deepsix]

can someone post a tutorial on how to setup the win2k firewall, and how to setup what ports are allowed access etc... also, how do I know which ports my Remote Desktop uses so I can get back in?

[ElectroFlow]

Had the same issue implementing a firewall on Win2K server. I'm personally partial to ZoneAlarm Pro, which has a great UI and very flexible advanced permission settings.

Initially, I had some problems getting booted off after installing ZAP. Even though it has an option to set the allowed programs at the end of the install, it kept knocking me off RDC. Finally, I just installed it (knowing I'd get booted off) and requested that a ServerBeach tech log in to my server and temporarily disable the firewall in ZAP. They were great about assisting me with this...

Once the firewall was disabled, I could then log back in through RDC and set the necessary permissions. BEFORE enabling the firewall or program control, make sure you go to the EXPERT settings in the firewall and open port 3389 (RDC's port) and give it a ranking of 1. This way, ZAP will allow requests made on that TCP connection.

Hope this works fo ya.

[deepsix]

cool, i use zonealarm at home too, but for my web server, is it worth it to get the zonealarm plus or pro?

I guess it doesn't cost much, but is one specific for a web server or anything?

[ElectroFlow]

I haven't used the basic version of ZA in a long time, so I'm not very familiar with what it does or doesn't have, but ZA Pro is a product I've always been happy with.

There aren't too many other "soft" firewalls out there in the price range of ZA Pro either. Most enterprise firewalls cost some serious loot.

Another economic one that I've heard some good things about is Sygate's Personal Firewall Pro (http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_pro.htm).

Good luck!

[deepsix]

Where is the actual path to RDC that I need to set permissions for to allow access to the program and Port 3389?

Also, how do I setup different ports to get access through FTP, and to allow web access to the sites that are hosted on my server?

[ElectroFlow]

On XP, your path to RDC should be something to the effect of: %SystemRoot%\System32\mstsc.exe. Whatever OS you're running, just do a search for mstsc.exe, and that's your terminal services/RDC app. To allow RDC and all other apps/services you need to run from being blocked by ZA, you have to add them in PROGRAM CONTROL as ALLOWED applications.

To specify permissions for specific ports & protocols, you have to go into the EXPERT tab in the ZA Firewall settings. Here you can define which ports you want to open, and what protocol they're using.

[charlie]

i don't have a win2k server but remote access usually runs on port 3389, unless you made some registry change to change it.

as for firewalls, i'm not sure which firewall you're using.

Originally posted by deepsix
can someone post a tutorial on how to setup the win2k firewall, and how to setup what ports are allowed access etc... also, how do I know which ports my Remote Desktop uses so I can get back in?