Pseries Installation Guide

56 Compiling Rules
Table 8 Compiler Configuration Options
Compilation Option Description
1 Target Device Choose the model of your appliance.
• The P10 requires type PB-10G-2P (see Figure 35 on page 58)
2 Match non-IP Traffic Answering Yes to this option matches packets that are not IPv4. This
option should be set to No if only IP traffic is allowed. (see Figure 35 on
page 58)
3 Match Fragmented IPv4
Packets or IPv4 Packets w/
Options
Answering Yes to this option:
• Adds a rule to match fragmented IPv4 packets
• Adds a rule to match IPv4 packets with any option in the header (see
Figure 35 on page 58).
4 Rules File Specify the rules file that contains the Snort rules that will be compiled into
firmware.
• Include the relative path of the file in your entry.
• Your entry is used to create the firmware names.
• Enter null to create firmware with no static rules; compiling firmware
with no static rules maximizes dynamic rule capacity (see Figure 35 on
page 58).
Note: The script performs a syntax check on the input file. If there are
errors, you are prompted to enter the file name again. The entry must be
made at the prompt; if the Enter key is pressed erroneously such that the
entry cannot made at the prompt, enter Ctrl-C to halt the configuration
process, and then enter gmake to begin again.
5 Dynamic Rules Enter the number of dynamic rules to synthesize.
• If you enter one of the sample Snort rules files, choose the minimum
number of dynamic rules; otherwise, the placing may fail.
• If you are using fewer static rules, you can increase the number of
dynamic rules up to approximately 30 for each channel (60 in total) (see
Figure 35 on page 58).
Note: The number of dynamic rules specified in this option is guideline that
the compiler uses to reserve space on the FPGA. The number you choose
is the approximate
number of rules you will be able to configure at runtime.
The amount of space a rule consumes varies based on the complexity of
the rule. Therefore, you might not be able to compile as many dynamic
rules as specified in this option if the rules are complex.
6 meta.rules The pnic-Compiler prepends a set of fixed rules called meta.rules —
located in the pnic-compiler/rules directory. The rules in this file report on
flow information and provide compatibility with Snort; include or exclude
this file considering that including them allows you to run Snort on the DPI
interface.
It is best to include this file if Snort is being used as the front end. If not
using Snort as the front end, these rules should not be included or they
should be changed to accommodate other packet analysis requirements
(see Figure 36 on page 59).