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Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw) — The Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw, and gufw - a Graphical User Interface version of the same) is a frontend for iptables and is particularly well-suited for host-based firewalls. Ufw provides a framework for managing netfilter, as well as a command-line interface for manipulating the firewall.

Contents

  1. Installation
  2. Configuration
  3. Firewall Rules
    1. Port Ranges
    2. IP address
  4. Deleting Rules
  5. Graphical Interface
  6. Links

Installation

Uncomplicated Firewall can be easily installed by typing this command into the terminal as a super user: 

# apt-get install ufw

However, simply installing the firewall will not turn it on automatically, nor it will have any rule set by default.

Configuration

* /!\ Warning: If you are configuring over SSH, you may wish to allow SSH before enabling the firewall. If your connection gets interrupted before allowing SSH you may be locked out of your system.

Firstly, the firewall must be enabled by typing: 

# ufw enable

Note: it may be disabled the same way, by replacing enable with disable.

Secondly, defaults must be set up. For normal users the following defaults will do just fine. 

# ufw default deny incoming
# ufw default allow outgoing

Next, it is recommended to verify that the firewall is enabled by typing: 

# ufw status verbose

Note: With this command you will also be able to see all of the defaults and rules which you have applied.

Firewall Rules

Allowing rules is quite simple from the command line, and it is sometimes necessary. For example, by default ufw denies all of the incoming connections, which will make it a problem if you are using SSH. Therefore, you must create a rule which allows SSH connections, by typing: 

# ufw allow ssh

Other rules may be added in the same way by simply specifying a name of the program (Deluge, Transmission). Ufw comes with preloaded defaults for some commonly used programs, and they are automatically activated when you make a rule by specifying the name of the program. List the default programs with the following command: 

# ufw app list

Port Ranges

Port ranges may also be specified, a simple example for tcp would be: 

# ufw allow 1000:2000/tcp

and for udp: 

# ufw allow 1000:2000/udp

IP address

An IP address may also be used: 

# ufw allow from 111.222.333.444

Deleting Rules

Rules may be deleted with the following command: 

# ufw delete allow ssh

You may also delete rules by number. To show a numbered list of rules: 

# ufw status numbered

This will output a numbered list of rules, and the number may be used to delete a particular rule: 

# ufw delete 2

Graphical Interface

If you do not want to manage your firewall through the command line there is a graphical user interface available for ufw called gufw. You may install it through your preferred package manager by searching for gufw or you may execute the following command in the terminal: 

# apt-get install gufw

ufw in Launchpad gufw official website