Firewalls are software programs that control incoming and outgoing Internet connections. They can prevent hackers from gaining access to your computer system over the Internet.
5 Tips To Take Advantage Of Firewall Services In Linux 6
1. Use iptables
2. Install UFW
3. Use UFW to add a new rule
4. Manage your firewall rules
5. Use FirewallD for full control over your firewall
1. Use iptables: Firewall Service In Linux 6
Iptables is the de facto Linux firewall and network address translation (NAT) system. It has been around for years and comes standard in every Linux distribution.
Iptables can set firewall rules and can also filter traffic based on its source or destination. Rulesets are neat by using the iptables command. Also, the iptables command enables you to create, display, reverse, remove and add rules in the firewall ruleset.
Iptables can be configured using both a simple command-line interface (CLI) and a powerful graphical user interface (GUI). I prefer the CLI, but it’s nice to have a GUI available in case you need it. For example, if you want to create a rule that blocks all incoming connections except those on port 80 (web traffic).
2. Install UFW
Ufw is a simple front-end for iptables that enables you to configure rules without knowing iptables syntax. Ufw provides an easy-to-use command-line interface that makes it easy for you to add and delete rules from your firewall ruleset without having to edit the iptables file directly.
While the iptables tool comes standard with every Linux distribution, ufw is not installed by default; however, most distributions make it available in their software repositories so you can easily install ufw if you want it. If it’s not available in your repositories, you can download and install it manually as well.
3. Use UFW to add a new rule
Once UFW is installed, you can use it to create new rules by adding them one at a time with the cmd line. Also, ufw utility or by adding them all at once with a text editor of your choice.
4. Manage your firewall rules
After creating your rules using either method above, there are two ways to manage them: 1) Use the CLI version of ufw, which provides an interface similar to the iptable utility used in earlier versions of Linux: 2) Use this GUI application called GUFW. It’s available in most Linux software repositories.
5. Use FirewallD for full control over your firewall
If you need to block certain ports or IP addresses and want to know exactly what’s going on, take a look at FirewallD.
FirewallD is the default firewall on Fedora 15 and later and can be used to configure the firewall very precisely. Using a command-line interface, you can specify which packets are allowed in and out of your system, what programs are allowed to access the Internet, which ports they can use, who can access your system, etc.
Firewall Configuration: Firewall Service In Linux 6
The Firewall daemon runs as a service process on your system. It listens to all traffic by default. You can configure it using the system-config-firewall utility or by directly editing its configuration files. The service process runs as root and drops privileges by default.