Re: How to access conntrack connection expiration in a netfilter module?

[Ed W <lists@wildgooses.com>]

On 02/10/2012 19:17, Pablo Neira Ayuso wrote:

> We used to have notifier call chains to deliver in-kernel
> nofitications to events. However, since it was overkill for just one
> single client (ctnetlink), we removed it and use a single hook
> function.
>
> The workaround is to dig into the history, find that code and forward
> port it.
>
> But I have to warn you that I won't take that patch into mainstream
> since there's only one single client in the official Linux kernel
> code, and external clients like that ndpi thing do not justify such
> change. Sorry.

Understood.  I have temporarily hacked in a crude second notifier 
variable, just about to test it.

However, it seems like a common requirement to want to be able to do 
some housekeeping in netfilter modules - what am I missing, how are 
other modules doing stuff like this?  Is there another technique which 
might be used?  Any other modules which do something similar that I 
could crib from, ie with some internal state augmenting a flow and then 
needing to cleanup sometime after the flow has gone away?

Thanks

Ed W