[TriLUG] Web Usage Tracking...

[Rev. Christian J Hedemark]

The Other Chris writes again:

> I need to be able to track the web activities of our people.  We already
have
> a Linux firewall, and thinking that that is a natural choke point, I
thought
> it would be handy if said software could run on it.  Do I have any
choices?

One word: Squid.

Squid is EXCELLENT for this purpose.  There are other add-ons to provide
HTML-based reporting of web activity.  It will also make you a hero if your
company is going through the pain of needing yet another T1 to accomidate
load.  I've seen quite a bit of savings when users were forced through a
caching proxy.  Colocating it on the firewall is one choice.  Or you can use
a firewall rule to divert all http traffic to a second machine (running
squid) who is the only machine allowed to go straight through the firewall
for common web ports.

Reverend Christian J Hedemark II
Hillsborough, NC
http://yonderway.com
"Those who are willing to sacrifice essential liberties for a little order,
will lose both and deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin