Networking

Networking is required for almost all machines today, and Linux supports almost every networking option available. Here we are going to show only a few of the wide variety that are present.

For all networking options, including different drivers, the main network configuration option must be enabled: 

Networking
    [*] Networking support

The TCP/IP option should also be selected so that the machine can talk to other machines on the Internet: 

Networking
    [*] Networking support
          Networking options
              [*] TCP/IP networking

Netfilter

The Netfilter portion of the Linux kernel is a framework for filtering and manipulating all network packets that pass through the machine. It is commonly used if you wish to enable a firewall on the machine to protect it from different systems on the Internet, or to use the machine as a proxy for other machines on the network. For more details on what Netfilter is good for, please see NETFILTER.

To enable the main Netfilter option: 

Networking
    [*] Networking support
          Networking options
              [*] Network packet filtering (replaces ipchains)

It is recommended that you enable the Netfilter netlink interface and Xtables support when using netlink: 

Networking
    [*] Networking support
          Networking options
              [*] Network packet filtering (replaces ipchains)
                    Core Netfilter Configuration
                        [*] Netfilter netlink interface
                        [*] Netfilter Xtables support (required for ip_tables)

The different protocols that you wish to filter should also be selected: 

Networking [*] Networking support Networking ...

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