Trying to buld firewall via fireHOL

Hello,

Two questions:

I've loaded fireHOL onto my Debian etch system. The system is hosted on a remote Virtual Private Server. I do have root access.

The system supports:

- http
- https
- ssh
- outgoing e-mail

My fireHOL script, based on fireHOL tutorial, is:

******************** script *************

interface etho internet src not "${UNROUTABLE_IPS}"

server_ssh_ports="tcp/XXXXXX" (port masked to protect the innocent)

protection strong 10/sec 10
server http accept
server ssh accept

server ident reject with tcp-reset

client smtp accept

*********** end script ************

When I ran /etc/init.d/firehol debug, I got the following warning:

************* warning **************

IMPORTANT WARNING:
------------------
FireHOL cannot find your current kernel configuration.
Please, either compile your kernel with /proc/config,
or make sure there is a valid kernel config in
/lib/modules/2.6.18-PAEjan29/build/.config,
/usr/src/linux/.config or /boot/config-2.6.18-PAEjan29

Because of this, FireHOL will simply attempt to load
all kernel modules for the services used, without
being able to detect failures.

********* end warning *************

Question 1: Does my fireHOL script look functional?

Question 2: How can I re-compile kernel with /proc/config?

Note: Compiling the kernel scares me to death, since I've never done it. I've got an extensive web store set up on the system, so much afraid of losing/damaging something. Not sure exactly which directories/files to back-up or how to protect myself. So, please provide DETAILED recipe for recompilation.

Many thanks in advance,

lPrentice