README

halberd -- HTTP load balancer detector
======================================

    The halberd, a weapon based on the spear, was developed by combining the
    merits of the spear and dagger-axe in the Yin and Shang period (1600-1100
    B.C.). It can be used to hook-cut, peck and pierce the opponent making it a
    more powerful weapon than the dagger-axe and spear.
    -- Essentials of Chinese Wushu by Wu Bin, Li Xingdong and Yu Gongbao

Overview
--------

halberd is a tool for discovering and bypassing HTTP load balancers. It is
useful in testing load balancer configurations as well as auditing web servers
and web applications.

Installation
------------

Installing halberd is a very simple task. It suffices to write::

    # python setup.py install

Python version 2.4 or above is needed plus its threading and MD5 or
SHA1 modules. It is advisable to have python's SSL networking capabilities
enabled, this is needed to scan through HTTPS.

A configuration file is stored in a directory named .halberd hanging from the
user's home directory. Its name is halberd.cfg and it holds information
relevant to halberd's behavior when acting as a distributed client or server,
for SSL networking, etc. So if you're going to use some of halberd's more
advanced features you should change the values there.

Platforms
---------

halberd should work in every machine providing the dependencies specified in
the Installation section. It has been successfully built and tested on:

* RedHat Linux 9.0
* Windows 2000 Server
* Mac OS X 10.2

Documentation
-------------

Full API documentation can be found in doc/api. An overview of what halberd
does is located at doc/overview.txt. A user guide and a set of slides are being
written.

Getting started
---------------

You could start by trying::

    $ halberd.py --help

And follow with::

    $ halberd.py login.passport.net


:Version: $Id: README,v 1.10 2005/08/27 11:58:53 rwx Exp $