What info is really useful in my iptables log and how do I disable the useless bits?

Posted by anthony01 on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by anthony01
Published on 2012-09-24T14:55:59Z Indexed on 2012/09/24 15:39 UTC
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linux

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monitoring

In my iptables rules files, I entered this at the end:

-A INPUT -j LOG --log-level 4 --log-ip-options --log-prefix "iptables: "

I DROP everything besides INPUT for SSH (port 22)

I have a web server and when I try to connect to it through my browser, through a forbidden port number (on purpose), I get something like that in my iptables.log

Sep 24 14:05:57 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC=yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=64 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=59351 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=63776 DPT=1999 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0
Sep 24 14:06:01 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC= yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=63377 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=63776 DPT=1999 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0
Sep 24 14:06:09 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC=yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=55025 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=63776 DPT=1999 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0
Sep 24 14:06:25 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC=yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=54521 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=63776 DPT=1999 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0
Sep 24 14:06:55 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC=yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=100 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=35050 PROTO=TCP SPT=63088 DPT=22 WINDOW=33304 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0
Sep 24 14:06:55 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC=yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=52 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=14076 PROTO=TCP SPT=63088 DPT=22 WINDOW=33264 RES=0x00 ACK URGP=0
Sep 24 14:06:55 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC=yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=52 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=5277 PROTO=TCP SPT=63088 DPT=22 WINDOW=33248 RES=0x00 ACK URGP=0
Sep 24 14:06:56 myserver kernel: [xx.xx] iptables: IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=aa:bb:cc SRC=yy.yy.yy.yy DST=xx.xx.xx.xx LEN=100 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=54 ID=25501 PROTO=TCP SPT=63088 DPT=22 WINDOW=33304 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0

As you can see, I typed xx.xx.xx.xx:1999 in my browser, and it tried to connect until it timed out.

1) There are many similar lines for just one event. Do you think I need all of them? How would I avoid duplicates?

2) The last 4 lines are for my port 22. But since I allow port 22 INPUT for my web server, why are they here?

3) Do I need info like LEN,TOS,PREC and others? I'm trying to find a page that explains them one by one, by I can't find anything.

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