GeoIP

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Description

The GeoIP plugin lets us know where our mail server is receiving mail from. If we're receiving too much spam from a particular location, this will help track it down. We can then use that info to reject connections from that place taking the load off our server.

Download and install

GeoIP plugin

We need the GeoIP package and the perl interface to the program but this isn't installed on SME Server. We'll have to grab the packages from yum. Yum has access to different public repositories where packages are available. GeoIP is in the extras repository. We'll enable the repository and install them.

yum --enablerepo=extras install perl-Geo-IP 

Yum does the magic and knows to install both the program and the interface.

GeoIP database

For the plugin to work we need the GeoIP database. This database is maintained and updated a company called MaxMind. We'll have to download it every month for the Lite version we are using here or pay for their subscription service to be as accurate as possible and download once a week.

The database needs to be in a specific location or it won't work. We'll change to that location.

cd / 
mkdir /var/lib/GeoIP
cd /var/lib/GeoIP 

Now we'll get the latest database. The database is also in the repositories but it's outdated. We'll grab the most recent directly from MaxMind.

wget http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLiteCountry/GeoIP.dat.gz

The database is zipped. We'll have to unzip it.

gunzip GeoIP.dat.gz

Creating a cron-job

We can add a cron-job to automate the monthly process of updating the GeoIP database:

 mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/crontab

Now we will add a custom template fragment:

 vim /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/crontab/91_Update_GeoIP_db

Add the following to this fragment, this will download and extract the new database every month:

 # Updating the GeoIP database monthly on the 5th at 0:00h.
 0 0 5 * * root /usr/bin/wget http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLiteCountry/GeoIP.dat.gz -O /var/lib/GeoIP/GeoIP.dat.gz; /bin/gunzip -f /var/lib/GeoIP/GeoIP.dat.gz

To activate the custom template fragment:

 expand-template /etc/crontab

GeoIP qpstmpd plugin

The email receiving component of SME Server is called qpsmtpd. It's great because it allows us to turn plugins on or off or create our own when we need. The GeoIP plugin is already in SME Server but it's turned off. I've created a RPM but it's not in any of the repoitories, it's attached to a bugzilla: 1866 (direct download).

You can download this with your desktop pc and transfer this onto your SME Server with WinSCP.

cd
wget http://bugs.contribs.org/attachment.cgi?id=3539 -O smeserver-geoip-1.0.5-1.noarch.rpm

Now you can install the rpm:

yum localinstall smeserver-geoip-1.0.0-4.noarch.rpm

Testing

Now that the package and database are installed, we can test it (refer to Country Code list at end of page as required).

geoiplookup 216.17.211.37 

It should return:

GeoIP Country Edition: US, United States

It gives us the country code (US) and the long name (United States). Let's test it again with a domain name.

geoiplookup contribs.org 

Same result. So we know it works with ip addresses or domain names. Let's test it again around the world.

geoiplookup gormand.com.au 

It should return:

GeoIP Country Edition: AU, Australia 

Now again.

geoiplookup e-smith.com 

It should return:

GeoIP Country Edition: CA, Canada 

One last time:

geoiplookup swerts-knudsen.dk 

It should return:

GeoIP Country Edition: DK, Denmark

Usage

Tracking e-mail

GEOIP plugin should now do its work. Check the qpsmtpd logs and you'll see the countries from where mail is sent.

cat /var/log/qpsmtpd/current 

We'll use a simple shell script to do the work then we'll run it.

First, create the the script.

vi geoipstats.sh

Insert the following: Code:

#!/bin/sh 
# Read the qpsmtpd log file.
# Read all of the countries and count them.  
cat /var/log/qpsmtpd/* | \
grep 'GeoIP Country:' | \
sed -e 's/^.*\(..\)$/\1/' | \
sort | uniq -c | sort -n 

Now run the script. It will show the number of messages sent by country code.

sh geoipstats.sh

See where your mail is coming from. Now ask the question, "why am I receiving thousands of email from RU -Russia? I don't even know anyone there." Good point. In addition, your server has to process all that mail, taking resources away from the server. In the next section we'll block the countries that we consider bad.

Blocking email

Add the values to the SME CADNHO db. In our case, Russia and Poland seem to causing issues. You can type in any country codes you wish.

config setprop qpsmtpd BadCountries RU,PL

Signal the email-update event.

signal-event email-update

No more mail from domains ending on .ru or .pl. The beauty of this is that the SME Server lookups happen locally on the local database rather than looking up the IP address via dns. This results in very fast responses. In addition, the plugin happens before most other plugins. This means the mail is dropped before the SME Server even has to check to see if it's on a blacklist or if it's spam.

Abbreviated Country Code List

AC      Ascension Island
AD      Andorra
AE      United Arab Emirates
AERO    members of the air-transport industry
AF      Afghanistan
AG      Antigua and Barbuda
AI      Anguilla
AL      Albania
AM      Armenia
AN      Netherlands Antilles (being phased out)
AO      Angola
AQ      Antarctica
AR      Argentina
AS      American Samoa
ASIA    Restricted to the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific community
AT      Austria
AU      Australia
AW      Aruba
AX      Aland Islands
AZ      Azerbaijan
BA      Bosnia and Herzegovina
BB      Barbados
BD      Bangladesh
BE      Belgium
BF      Burkina Faso
BG      Bulgaria
BH      Bahrain
BI      Burundi
BIZ     Restricted for Business
BJ      Benin
BL      Saint Barthelemy
BM      Bermuda
BN      Brunei Darussalam
BO      Bolivia
BQ      Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
BR      Brazil
BS      Bahamas
BT      Bhutan
BV      Bouvet Island
BW      Botswana
BY      Belarus
BZ      Belize
CA      Canada
CC      Cocos (Keeling) Islands
CD      Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
CF      Central African Republic
CG      Congo
CH      Switzerland
CI      Cote d'Ivoire
CK      Cook Islands
CL      Chile
CM      Cameroon
CN      China
CO      Colombia
COM     Generic top-level domain
COOP    cooperative associations
CR      Costa Rica
CU      Cuba
CV      Cape Verde
CW      Curaçao
CX      Christmas Island
CY      Cyprus
CZ      Czech Republic
DE      Germany
DJ      Djibouti
DK      Denmark
DM      Dominica
DO      Dominican Republic
DZ      Algeria
EC      Ecuador
EDU     Educational Institutions
EE      Estonia
EG      Egypt
EH      Western Sahara
ER      Eritrea
ES      Spain
ET      Ethiopia
EU      European Union
FI      Finland
FJ      Fiji
FK      Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
FM      Micronesia, Federated States of
FO      Faroe Islands
FR      France
GA      Gabon
GB      United Kingdom
GD      Grenada
GE      Georgia
GF      French Guiana
GG      Guernsey
GH      Ghana
GI      Gibraltar
GL      Greenland
GM      Gambia
GN      Guinea
GOV     United States Government
GP      Guadeloupe
GQ      Equatorial Guinea
GR      Greece
GS      South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
GT      Guatemala
GU      Guam
GW      Guinea-Bissau
GY      Guyana
HK      Hong Kong
HM      Heard Island and McDonald Islands
HN      Honduras
HR      Croatia
HT      Haiti
HU      Hungary
ID      Indonesia
IE      Ireland
IL      Israel
IM      Isle of Man
IN      India
INFO    Generic top-level domain
IO      British Indian Ocean Territory
IQ      Iraq
IR      Iran, Islamic Republic of
IS      Iceland
IT      Italy
JE      Jersey
JM      Jamaica
JO      Jordan
JOBS    Reserved to serve needs of the international human resource management community
JP      Japan
KE      Kenya
KG      Kyrgyzstan
KH      Cambodia
KI      Kiribati
KM      Comoros
KN      Saint Kitts and Nevis
KP      Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
KR      Korea, Republic of
KW      Kuwait
KY      Cayman Islands
KZ      Kazakhstan
LA      Lao People's Democratic Republic
LB      Lebanon
LC      Saint Lucia
LI      Liechtenstein
LK      Sri Lanka
LR      Liberia
LS      Lesotho
LT      Lithuania
LU      Luxembourg
LV      Latvia
LY      Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
MA      Morocco
MC      Monaco
MD      Moldova, Republic of
ME      Montenegro
MF      Saint Martin (French part)
MG      Madagascar
MH      Marshall Islands
MIL     United States Military
MK      Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
ML      Mali
MM      Myanmar
MN      Mongolia
MO      Macao
MOBI    consumers and providers of mobile products and services
MP      Northern Mariana Islands
MQ      Martinique
MR      Mauritania
MS      Montserrat
MT      Malta
MU      Mauritius
MUSEUM  museums
MV      Maldives
MW      Malawi
MX      Mexico
MY      Malaysia
MZ      Mozambique
NA      Namibia
NAME    individuals
NC      New Caledonia
NE      Niger
NET     Generic top-level domain
NF      Norfolk Island
NG      Nigeria
NI      Nicaragua
NL      Netherlands
NO      Norway
NP      Nepal
NR      Nauru
NU      Niue
NZ      New Zealand
OM      Oman
ORG     Generic top-level domain
PA      Panama
PE      Peru
PF      French Polynesia
PG      Papua New Guinea
PH      Philippines
PK      Pakistan
PL      Poland
PM      Saint Pierre and Miquelon
PN      Pitcairn
PR      Puerto Rico
PRO     Restricted to credentialed professionals and related entities
PS      Palestinian Territory, Occupied
PT      Portugal
PW      Palau
PY      Paraguay
QA      Qatar
RE      Reunion
RO      Romania
RS      Serbia
RU      Russian Federation
RW      Rwanda
SA      Saudi Arabia
SB      Solomon Islands
SC      Seychelles
SD      Sudan
SE      Sweden
SG      Singapore
SH      Saint Helena
SI      Slovenia
SJ      Svalbard and Jan Mayen
SK      Slovakia
SL      Sierra Leone
SM      San Marino
SN      Senegal
SO      Somalia
SR      Suriname
SS      South Sudan
ST      Sao Tome and Principe
SU      Soviet Union (being phased out)
SV      El Salvador
SX      Saint Maarten (Dutch part)
SY      Syrian Arab Republic
SZ      Swaziland
TC      Turks and Caicos Islands
TD      Chad
TEL     businesses and individuals to publish their contact data
TF      French Southern Territories
TG      Togo
TH      Thailand
TJ      Tajikistan
TK      Tokelau
TL      Timor-Leste
TM      Turkmenistan
TN      Tunisia
TO      Tonga
TP      Portuguese Timor (being phased out)
TR      Turkey
TRAVEL  entities whose primary area of activity is in the travel industry
TT      Trinidad and Tobago
TV      Tuvalu
TW      Taiwan, Province of China
TZ      Tanzania, United Republic of
UA      Ukraine
UG      Uganda
UK      United Kingdom
UM      United States Minor Outlying Islands
US      United States
UY      Uruguay
UZ      Uzbekistan
VA      Holy See (Vatican City State)
VC      Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
VE      Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
VG      Virgin Islands, British
VI      Virgin Islands, US
VN      Viet Nam
VU      Vanuatu
WF      Wallis and Futuna
WS      Samoa
XXX     the adult entertainment community
YE      Yemen
YT      Mayotte
ZA      South Africa
ZM      Zambia
ZW      Zimbabwe

Country Code Info Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2#Officially_assigned_code_elements

Troubleshooting

At April 2012 there may be some problems with countries not being blocked, possibly related to the way the geo database is updated for free users. User experience and opinion vary, and following a complaint, the original forum post about this has been deleted - http://forums.contribs.org/index.php/topic,48560.0.html

Users are advised to determine the effectiveness of the database for themselves.