Software update: ClarkConnect 3.1 beta

ClarkConnect is a complete operating system that can turn a computer into a dedicated gateway and an easy-to-use server. All the usual features are included, including firewall, intrustion detection system, Apache web server with CGI, PHP and SSL support, file server with FTP, Windows and AppleShare, mail server with POP, IMAP and SMTP, built-in web proxy filter, print server with support for Samba and of course DHCP and DNS services. Point Clark Networks has released beta 3.1 with the following release notes:

Major features in 3.1 include:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS 4 core
• LAN and system backup
• Significant firewall speed improvement
• New intrusion detection reports
• New intrusion prevention features
• Peer-to-peer bandwidth shaping
• PPTP pass through mode
• Content filter phrase list configuration
• Speakup support
• … and a few other changes.

Known Issues

• The build did not incorporate some of the latest updates from the software development team.
• Modules are only available from the command line apt-get tool (not webconfig)
• We are evaluating the DHCP server capabilities of Dnsmasq. Right now, it is possible to have both the old DHCP server and the new Dnsmasq-based DHCP server installed at the same time.
• The Speakup support is broken in the installer.
• There are cosmetic issues in many places (for example, the boot splash)
• The intrusion detection report fails when no records are found
• The locale/Internationalization is a work in progress (translators: wait for the next build)
• We have not completed all the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Errata

Differences Between ClarkConnect and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4

The core packages in ClarkConnect are built on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Source RPMS. However, we have made a few changes:

• We decided to put aside the udev implementation. The implementation is a nice feature for desktop systems, but not all that important for server systems.
• The MySQL package was split into “mysql” and “mysql-client”.
• The distcache feature in the Apache web server was disabled.
• PPTP, firewall and peer-to-peer patches were added to the kernel.
• The Megaraid driver in the kernel was downgraded.