Welcome to the FireWall-1 Gurus Mailing List

While I'm no longer maintaining the FireWall-1 FAQs and I'm not running a web-based forum anymore, I am maintaining the FireWall-1 Gurus mailing list. Not sure why, except that it fills a need and it's relatively easy for me to fill.

Introduction

This mailing list is designed to be a discussion forum for FireWall-1 and related products. Unlike certain other mailing lists, this list is and will remain moderated. This means all emails to the list are approved by a moderator before being sent out. The approval guidelines are designed to promote useful discussion and eliminate redundant information. Because moderating a list can be a full-time job, there is more than one moderator. However, I, PhoneBoy, am the benevolent dictator of the list and always have the final say.

The email address for the mailing list is fw1-gurus@lists.phoneboy_REMOVEME_.com. However, before you post to the list, please read the list FAQ, most especially the guidelines for posting to FireWall-1 Gurus.

Administrative questions about the list can be addressed to fw1-gurus-owner@lists.phoneboy_REMOVEME_.com. Technical questions sent to fw1-gurus-owner@lists.phoneboy_REMOVEME_.com will be ignored and will not be forwarded to the list.

Disclaimers
Questions about the list
Does this list have an RSS Feed?

Disclaimers

The moderators are human and will make mistakes from time to time. Deal with it.
This is a public mailing list. Don't expect any sort of privacy. If you posted something you wish you didn't, deal with it.
This list is not meant to replace a support contract with Check Point, Nokia, or an authorized support provider.
This list does not represent the official opinion of Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd., Nokia Corporation, or anyone else for that matter, including the moderators.
Use the information contained herein at your own risk without any warranty. If it helps you, great. If your system is turned into a pile of smoking rubble, it's not our fault.
All submissions to this list, whether or not they are approved, may be re-used without your permission.
Any subscribers that use auto-responders to list postings will be unsubscribed without warning. This also includes sites that might "auto-respond" to messages that do not conform to that site's policy for content.
We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.

Questions about the list

What is a mailing list?

A mailing list, in this context, is a forum for discussing a particular topic over electronic mail. Interested persons subscribe their email address to the list. Participants submit a message to a particular email address, the list address, which then sends their message to all subscribers. Some subscribers, instead of receiving every email sent out to the list, will receive a daily summary of the list traffic. This is called a "digest."

Didn't this list used to be called FireWall-1 Wizards?

The name "FireWall-1 Wizards" was inspired by the "Firewall Wizards" mailing list, which had been around for a few years before I started my list. In March of 2003, I was asked by TruSecure to change the name of my mailing list because "Firewall Wizards" is a registered trademark they currently own and "FireWall-1 Wizards" is too confusingly similar. In fact, users had been confused on more than one occasion. I should have chosen a different name to begin with.

Doesn't Check Point run a FireWall-1 Mailing List? How is FireWall-1 Gurus Different?

Check Point's list is an unmoderated forum. This means anyone can send messages to the list. The problem is that nobody is actively making sure postings are relevant, on-topic, or not covered somewhere else like a FAQ page. Frequently, unmoderated lists, particularly popular ones, have a low signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. a low number of useful posts versus the large number of unuseful posts). Check Point's mailing list is no exception. The FireWall-1 Gurus list was created in response to frustration with the Check Point mailing list. As such, it is a moderated forum, which means all submissions are reviewed by human beings before they are sent to the list as a whole. The moderators will approve posts that meet certain criteria. The criteria is designed to promote useful technical conversations and reduce redundant questions and answers (i.e. those covered in other areas or answers recently posted).

How come my message doesn't appear right away?

Messages are moderated. This means humans must look at the message and determine if the message met acceptable criteria. If the message does not appear in a day or so, don't panic. There are times where messages may be queued up for a few days because the moderators haven't processed them yet. Otherwise, you will get a reject notice with an explanation of why it was rejected. If you disagree, feel free to respond to the moderators.

Even if we were to moderate the postings in realtime, do you have any idea how many people subscribe to this list? Do you know how long it takes to send out that many messages, even with a decent net connection?

What are the guidelines for posting to FireWall-1 Gurus?

Basically, the post must be "on-topic" (i.e. about Check Point VPN-1/FireWall-1 or a related product). However, there are exceptions:

Message that are not sent in ASCII text (i.e. use RTF or HTML). Not all readers of this list use these sorts of mail readers. The mailing list software automatically rejects postings that contain these formats. Please configure fw1-gurus@lists.phoneboy_REMOVEME_.com so that only ASCII information is sent.
Anything already covered in the FAQs. Check Point's Support Database (public access documents), FireWall-1 FAQs at cpug.org, and Nokia's Knowledge Base (for Nokia-specific questions) will be the baseline this will be judged against, though it may eventually include other sources.
Any question(s) regarding which OS is the best to use. The standard answer is "use what you know best." Note that this does not preclude discussing hardware, which is a different topic entirely.
Rants about Check Point Support or your Reseller.
Commercial postings, unless they contain a high amount of technical content. For example, it is okay to describe how a particular product might solve your problem, but it is not okay to say "buy this, it does that." This is a technical discussion forum, not a place to advertise your commercial products and services.
Job postings or soliciting for jobs. See previous point.
Flames or anything intended to invoke flames (i.e. flamebait).
Most License-related issues. Most license questions fall under the category of "talk to your reseller." Those that don't will be posted.
Someone said the same thing recently (i.e. within the past 24 hours).
Your post is essentially a "me too" email without any useful content or unique insights.
Your post quotes too much of a previous post or has too many people listed in the "To" or "CC" field. Please reduce the amount of stuff you are "replying" to down to the bare essentials, i.e. the specific points you are replying to. Replys that contain more than one message previously posted to the list that aren't trimmed to the specific points you are replying to will be rejected.
Anything cross-posted to another mailing list, such as fw-1-mailinglist (i.e. Check Point's list).
Posts lacking basic information like version of FireWall-1 w/Service Packs, OS version, or a useful subject line.
Anything the moderators can easily answer (if we feel like it. :-).

Your postings must contain relevant information, which includes, but may not be limited to:

Version/Service Pack level of VPN-1/FireWall-1/Secure Client in question (build numbers are useful). If asking about Secure Client issues, please also include the version/service pack level of FireWall-1 you are connecting to. Be as specific as possible when providing this information.
- Bad example: "Latest version of FireWall-1"
- Better, but not as great example: "FireWall-1 4.1"
- Best example: "FireWall-1 NG FP3 with HFA-308 applied"
Operating System/Platform and version/service pack level, as appropriate. Again, be as specific as possible.
Error messages or log messages that show up along the way
Exact steps you took that led to the error and/or using to accomplish your goal, including rulebases used

Why are my posts being rejected?

Quite likely because you failed to follow the list posting guidelines. Read the rejection notice carefully.

How do I (un)subscribe?

You may (un)subscribe from the following web form: FireWall-1 Gurus Information Page.

The process of subscribing or unsubscribing requires confirmation. A message will be sent to the email address entered into the form. Please follow the directions listed in the email.

If you have issues, which may occur if you subscribed under one address and are trying to subscribe from a different address, please contact fw1-gurus-owner@lists.phoneboy_REMOVEME_.com for assistance. Your request will be processed manually.

Is there a "nomail" option for going on vacation, etc?

Yes there is. Refer to the FireWall-1 Gurus Information Page for changing your list options, including nomail.

Why is the "Reply-to" header on list email always the original sender and not the mailing list?

Because if the mailing list sets a Reply-To header, you lose the original Reply-To header sent by the poster. I consider this important information that should not be lost. If you want a response to a list posting to go back to the list, please use the "Reply-to-all" function in your mail client. If you want to ensure all replies to your messages sent to the mailing list go to the mailing list and not to you directly, set the "Reply-to" header in your outgoing message to the list address.

Will my address be unsubscribed if email bounces?

If you or your site implements an auto-responder and it responds to any list postings for any reason whatsoever, your email address will be unsubscribed without warning.

If your email becomes unavailable for a period of time (e.g. a day or so), ezmlm will "detect" this and stop sending you mail. It will occasionally try and "ping" your address to make sure your address is still good. If your address becomes unreachable for an extended period of time, your address will be automatically unsubscribed.

If your email address is unavailable for a short time and then comes back alive, you don't need to tell us. ezmlm figures it out quite well.

I inadvertenly posted a message with some private information in it. Can you remove my posting from the archives or alter it?

No posting made to the list will be removed from the archives or altered unless required by law or court order. Email addresses may be obscured to protect you from spammers, but there is no guarantee of that.

Mailing List Archives

Yes, there are mailing list archives. Check the FireWall-1 Gurus Archive page. The archives are updated daily based on the current list traffic. Approved postings may take a day or so to show up in the archives. Threads are displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Does this list have an RSS Feed?

Why yes it does. It is an RSS 2.0 feed updated at the same time the mailing list archives are. A modern browser should pick up the RSS feed automatically, but if not, the RSS feed has the URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/FireWall-1Gurus

Last updated: 26 April 2007