Iptables Tutorial 1.2.2

Each rule that uses the hashlimit match creates a separate hashtable which in turn has a specific max size and a maximum number of buckets. This hash table contains a hash of either a single or multiple values. The values can be any and/or all of destination IP, source IP, destination port and source port. Each entry then points to a token bucket that works as the limit match.

Table 10-16. Hashlimit match options

Match	--hashlimit
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.3 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000/sec --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport --hashlimit-name hosts
Explanation	The --hashlimit specifies the limit of each bucket. In this example the hashlimit is set to 1000. In this example, we have set up the hashlimit-mode to be dstip,dstport and destination 192.168.0.3. Hence, for every port or service on the destination host, it can receive 1000 packets per second. This is the same setting as the limit option for the limit match. The limit can take a /sec, /minute, /hour or /day postfix. If no postfix is specified, the default postfix is per second.
Match	--hashlimit-mode
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.0/16 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000/sec --hashlimit-mode dstip --hashlimit-name hosts
Explanation	The --hashlimit-mode option specifies which values we should use as the hash values. In this example, we use only the dstip (destination IP) as the hashvalue. So, each host in the 192.168.0.0/16 network will be limited to receiving a maximum of 1000 packets per second in this case. The possible values for the --hashlimit-mode is dstip (Destination IP), srcip (Source IP), dstport (Destination port) and srcport (Source port). All of these can also be separated by a comma sign to include more than one hashvalue, such as for example --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport.
Match	--hashlimit-name
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.3 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000 --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport --hashlimit-name hosts
Explanation	This option specifies the name that this specific hash will be available as. It can be viewed inside the /proc/net/ipt_hashlimit directory. The example above would be viewable inside the /proc/net/ipt_hashlimit/hosts file. Only the filename should be specified.
Match	--hashlimit-burst
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.3 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000 --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport --hashlimit-name hosts --hashlimit-burst 2000
Explanation	This match is the same as the --limit-burst in that it sets the maximum size of the bucket. Each bucket will have a burst limit, which is the maximum amount of packets that can be matched during a single time unit. For an example on how a token bucket works, take a look at the Limit match.
Match	--hashlimit-htable-size
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.3 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000 --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport --hashlimit-name hosts --hashlimit-htable-size 500
Explanation	This sets the maximum available buckets to be used. In this example, it means that a maximum of 500 ports can be open and active at the same time.
Match	--hashlimit-htable-max
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.3 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000 --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport --hashlimit-name hosts --hashlimit-htable-max 500
Explanation	The --hashlimit-htable-max sets the maximum number of hashtable entries. This means all of the connections, including the inactive connections that doesn't require any token buckets for the moment.
Match	--hashlimit-htable-gcinterval
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.3 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000 --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport --hashlimit-name hosts --hashlimit-htable-gcinterval 1000
Explanation	How often should the garbage collection function be run. Generally speaking this value should be lower than the expire value. The value is measured in milliseconds. If it is set too low it will be taking up unnecessary system resources and processing power, but if it's too high it can leave unused token buckets lying around for too long and leaving other connections impossible. In this example the garbage collector will run every second.
Match	--hashlimit-htable-expire
Kernel	2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dst 192.168.0.3 -m hashlimit --hashlimit 1000 --hashlimit-mode dstip,dstport --hashlimit-name hosts --hashlimit-htable-expire 10000
Explanation	This value sets after how long time an idle hashtable entry should expire. If a bucket has been unused for longer than this, it will be expired and the next garbage collection run will remove it from the hashtable, as well as all of the information pertaining to it.

Helper match

This is a rather unorthodox match in comparison to the other matches, in the sense that it uses a little bit specific syntax. The match is used to match packets, based on which conntrack helper that the packet is related to. For example, let's look at the FTP session. The Control session is opened up, and the ports/connection is negotiated for the Data session within the Control session. The ip_conntrack_ftp helper module will find this information, and create a related entry in the conntrack table. Now, when a packet enters, we can see which protocol it was related to, and we can match the packet in our ruleset based on which helper was used. The match is loaded by using the -m helper keyword.

Table 10-17. Helper match options

Match	--helper
Kernel	2.4, 2.5 and 2.6
Example	iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m helper --helper ftp-21
Explanation	The --helper option is used to specify a string value, telling the match which conntrack helper to match. In the basic form, it may look like --helper irc. This is where the syntax starts to change from the normal syntax. We can also choose to only match packets based on which port that the original expectation was caught on. For example, the FTP Control session is normally transferred over port 21, but it may as well be port 954 or any other port. We may then specify upon which port the expectation should be caught on, like --helper ftp-954.