Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Wed, 14 Dec 2016 13:33:14 -0500
From:      "Isaac (.ike) Levy" <ike@blackskyresearch.net>
To:        galtsev@kicp.uchicago.edu
Cc:        Allan Jude <allanjude@freebsd.org>, freebsd-jail@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: multiple interfaces for jail.conf(1) and jail_set(2)
Message-ID:  <ADC537A8-5E39-4467-A541-F71FA98111CA@blackskyresearch.net>
In-Reply-To: <27934.128.135.52.6.1481728934.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu>
References:  <0ED7F403-F14E-4A72-8E54-AF74AAE15061@blackskyresearch.net> <11488.128.135.52.6.1481666606.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu> <BF1B3D9C-D3D3-4F57-9B10-417C176E8423@blackskyresearch.net> <02b85a36-007b-605d-7ab0-c9e56495d86e@freebsd.org> <27934.128.135.52.6.1481728934.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help

>> In ezjail I can just do this:
>>=20
>=20
> Of course, it is great to learn that some tools can do this or that.
> However, this only is helpful to those who are just choosing what to =
use
> for the future. Once your choice is made, you (at least I) kind of =
avoid
> jumping over to doing something using different tools, especially what =
is
> already done some specific way on your production machine.
>=20
> I guess, what I'm trying to say is: don't be surprised if OP finds =
your
> effort to help him ultimately useless.
>=20
> Incidentally, I for one set up jails "by the book", not by using some =
tool
> which does it all for me behind the scenes. So, reference to any tools =
are
> kind of set me off (hence this my reply ;-)
>=20
> Just my $0.02.
>=20
> Valeri

Sorry to drag this out further, but Valeri is spot on here.

Sorry to indulge and repeat in my own words- after using jail(8) heavily =
since 1999, and even helping run one of the earliest jail based ISP=E2=80=99=
s, I am a bit taken back to see such a propensity toward suggesting 3rd =
party tooling on this list- particularly as it does not answer my =
original question.

Has everyone been using so many 3rd party tools for jailing for so long =
that we=E2=80=99ve forgotten how jail(8) works, to the point that my =
original question can=E2=80=99t even be recognized?  A question not =
worth answering, but certainly worth pondering!  I=E2=80=99m not arguing =
against the use of nice 3rd party tools, but I do want to make it very =
clear that they are not required for heavy or even light jailing.

The strength of jail(8) and jail(2), even before important features like =
multiple IP=E2=80=99s and per-jail securelevels etc, was always that =
it=E2=80=99s just another small piece of the the UNIX ecosystem- jail(8) =
was strong because the *entire* base system made it strong.
For example: before multiple jail IP=E2=80=99s, we=E2=80=99d often =
simply NAT addresses on the jailing host itself, a bit of scripting =
ifconfig(8) made it simple for our environment.  Before base provided =
per-jail devfs rulesets, (and even before devfs), we=E2=80=99d simply =
make and delete packs of =E2=80=98/dev=E2=80=99 tarballs for various =
jails- removing the devices which were inappropriate for our applied =
need.  I could go on forever, but nearly everything one could need in a =
jailed system can always be set up using other base tools- and the UNIX =
philosophy.

Even today, jail(8) is still trivially scriptable for starting/stopping =
and managing many jails.  For my use, just using the base system is =
preferable over 3rd party tooling because I know exactly what I want to =
do, and with common UNIX knowledge I can manage hundreds and thousands =
of jails across multiple hardware hosts, with nothing but the base =
system.  3rd party tools can be wonderful, but over the 17+ years I=E2=80=99=
ve been using FreeBSD jail(8), many 3rd party tools have come and gone, =
and changed a great deal- but the base UNIX system has not fundamentally =
changed.  I mean, even many jail related scripts I wrote in 1999 are =
still completely functional and relevant.

Best,
.ike





Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?ADC537A8-5E39-4467-A541-F71FA98111CA>