[GTALUG] Debian Linux as-a-router Guide

[Jamon Camisso]

On 2023-09-07 10:20 a.m., Giles Orr via talk wrote:
> As per my previous post, I just purchased a mini-PC which I intend to
> turn into a router.  Is anyone aware of a guide for turning a Debian
> PC into a _home_ router?  I'd like to be running probably DNSmasq,
> using a blocklist, stuff like that.  I've found webpages that tell me
> how to turn on network forwarding, or maybe configure DNSmasq, but not
> the whole process.
> 
> Please don't suggest pfsense: I'm well aware of it, and it may well be
> better.  But I'm very adept at managing Debian, and initially at least
> I intend to try to set this up.  If it turns out to be direly
> difficult, pfsense may happen later.

This guide will get you pretty close, though it is a few years old: 
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/04/the-ars-guide-to-building-a-linux-router-from-scratch/2/

The author uses Ubuntu, but generally, I suspect it is in line with what 
you're envisioning (DNS, DHCP, and routing/firewall) on a Debian box.

If I were building this system out, I might opt to use nftables and 
firewalld instead of iptables or ufw. However, if you're more familiar 
with either of the latter two it might be easier to start with them.

I'd also suggest running pihole in a container to handle DNS. it blocks 
so many junk requests.

Let us know how you get on with things.

Cheers, Jamon