NetMAX Newsletter - October 2006

1. [Coming Soon!] Upcoming NetMAX 5.51 Release
2. [Support] New Device Support in NetMAX 5.51
3. [Tips and Tricks] Dynamic DNS with DynDNS
4. [General] Let's Hear From You

1. Upcoming NetMAX 5.51 Release

NetMAX is planning an update to our NetMAX 5 product family in October, in the form of a package that will update all NetMAX 5.5 products to version 5.51. It is strongly recommended that any users who have not already updated from NetMAX 5.0/5.01/5.02 to 5.5 use NetMAX Package Management to do so at their earliest convenience, in order to prepare for installing the 5.51 update.

The NetMAX 5.51 update builds upon the updated features, security upgrades, interface improvements and added features introduced in NetMAX 5.5. It will be posted on the front page of the NetMAX website when ready for download, which can be found at:

www.netmax.com

2. New Device Support in NetMAX 5.51

NetMAX Professional Suite 5.51 adds new device support to NetMAX, including the Marvell/SysKonnect gigabit Ethernet driver (for single processor systems only), which supports devices such as the D-Link DGE-560T adapter. Also added are the newest Intel e1000 gigabit Ethernet drivers, as well as LSI Logic SCSI adapter support.

The VPN 5.51 product adds rsync functionality support, eliminates problems with adding and deleting different users' credentials via a new method of maintaining the VPN CA index file, and restores proper ownerships to PKCS12 files. Changes have also been made to ensure a VPN restarts properly when the PPPOE configuration changes.

In all 5.51 products, the named committer has been fixed to support unusual netmask settings (in order to prevent potential failed upgrades). Additionally, 69.*, 72.*, and 75.* have been removed from the IP spoofing blacklist, Samba log files have been altered to rotate as expected, and missing ftp and procmail log files will no longer flag errors. Optional alert notification e-mail addresses are now also added to root's .forward file (this may be overridden by editing /etc/commit.conf).

More feature additions and updates from the NetMAX 5.51 release will be covered in the release notes, which will be here upon release:

www.netmax.com/support/downloads/downloads.html#notes

3. Dynamic DNS with DynDNS

NetMAX and Dynamic Network Services, Inc. (DynDNS) have teamed up to provide dynamic domain registry service that is easy to setup for websites hosted on NetMAX servers. You can set up Dynamic DNS for your site by registering your domain with DynDNS, and then executing the steps in the following paragraphs.

*** Prerequisites ***

The first step is to add your dynamic DNS domain name via the Domain Name Configuration option. If you need help doing this, look up "Adding, Editing and Deleting DNS Domains" in the help files:

192.168.69.1:5150/help/Help.cgi?Key=Machines_DNS

Use a static/internal network interface's parameters for "Networks in this Domain." The IP address of this interface must not be dynamically assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your dynamic DNS provider will supply domain name servers, which you should enter as "Additional Name Servers for this Domain."

Under "Specify a NetMAX DNS Name and IP address" you should enter your dynamic DNS host and domain names, then select the IP address of your static interface.

*** Configuring Dynamic DNS ***

Once you've added your dynamic DNS, fully-qualified domain name to the system, you are ready to configure dynamic DNS.

1. Select Home | Network | Dynamic DNS.
2. Check "Enable Dynamic DNS Service."
3. Select your service provider.
4. Select your dynamic network interface. This interface will normally have its IP address assigned via DHCP by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
5. Enter your login and password. In some cases, your login will be the same as your host name. Refer to your dynamic DNS provider's documentation for more information if needed.
6. Select either the fully-qualified hostname or the domain name,
   depending upon your service provider.
7. Optionally enter an "MX" (mail exchanger). This option is not
   supported by all providers.
8. Click *STORE*.
9. Click *COMMIT*.

DynDNS provides superior domain name system (DNS) services with the highest levels of redundancy, service, and support in the industry. Their world-class team of DNS experts allows NetMAX and DynDNS to provide an unprecedented quality of service and support, via the use of proven linux and open source technology. For more information on DynDNS, visit:

www.dyndns.com/about/technology/dns.html

If you have questions about this procedure, or any other aspect of NetMAX, please contact NetMAX Support directly.

4. Let's Hear From You!

We would very much like to hear from you - especially about how you use NetMAX and Linux in your business, and what features we can add to NetMAX to make it better suit your needs. Please contribute your input to the NetMAX Forum at:

www.netmax.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi

or to our general NetMAX contact form at:

www.netmax.com/partners/contacts.html

Let us know about your likes, dislikes, and general comments. We are especially interested in the features that you would like to see in the forthcoming NetMAX 6.0 release.

Thank you!