I am using GUI tool to setup firewall rules for my home computer connected to ADSL (DSL/Cable) network. However, after reboot my rules are not saved. Is there any way I can save and load all firewall rules again?
You need to use the iptables-save command, which is used to dump the contents of an IP Table in easily parseable format to screen. Using I/O-redirection provided by your shell you can save iptables firewall rules to a file.
To restore iptables rules use the iptables-restore command. It is used to restore an IP Tables from data specified from file. Use I/O redirection provided by your shell to read from a file.
Examples: Saving and Restoring Iptables Rules
In this example, save current iptables firewall rules to a file called /root/dsl.fw, enter:
# iptables-save > /root/dsl.fw
To restore iptables rules, enter:
# iptables-restore < /root/dsl.fw
To restore rules automatically upon Linux system reboot add following command to your /etc/rc.local file, enter:
# vi /etc/rc.local
Append the line:
/sbin/iptables-restore < /root/dsl.fw
Save and close the file. Please note that under Red Hat enterprise Linux (RHEL) / CentOS / Fedora Linux you can use following commands to save and restore firewall rules. To Save the rules to /etc/sysconfig/iptables file:
# /etc/init.d/iptables save
To restore the rules from /etc/sysconfig/iptables file:
# /etc/init.d/iptables start
If you are using Debian / Ubuntu Linux open /etc/network/interfaces:
# vi /etc/network/interfaces
Append the line to eth0 section:
post-up iptables-restore
Close and save the file. Reboot the system.
See also:
🐧 16 comments so far... add one ↓
| Category | List of Unix and Linux commands |
|---|---|
| File Management | cat |
| Firewall | Alpine Awall • CentOS 8 • OpenSUSE • RHEL 8 • Ubuntu 16.04 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04 |
| Network Utilities | dig • host • ip • nmap |
| OpenVPN | CentOS 7 • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Debian 8/9 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04 |
| Package Manager | apk • apt |
| Processes Management | bg • chroot • cron • disown • fg • jobs • killall • kill • pidof • pstree • pwdx • time |
| Searching | grep • whereis • which |
| User Information | groups • id • lastcomm • last • lid/libuser-lid • logname • members • users • whoami • who • w |
| WireGuard VPN | Alpine • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Firewall • Ubuntu 20.04 |
Thank you! This helped me out a lot.
Does not work on Ubuntu 8.04
On Redhat/Fedora, you can do
service iptables save
And it will write a file in /etc/sysconfig that will be read on startup if the iptables service is enabled in the current runlevel.
Gr8 Man Thanks a lot…..
This solution works well assuming one of two things:
Either:
1) You are only using rules that are compatible with the GUI firewall editor (system-config-securitylevel)
or
2) You are not using system-config-securitylevel
system-config-securitylevel rewrites iptables without any lines it does not like (in my case, for example the rule “-I ‘RH-Firewall-1-INPUT’ 1 -s x.x.x.x -j ACCEPT” where x.x.x.x is an ip address) – system-config-securitylevel does not support filtering by source or destination computer (for some reason)
The workaround I found for this is to:
1) create a file called /etc/sysconfig/iptables-custom
2) add the rule to the file. If you need a template for adding rules, look at your /etc/sysconfig/iptables file to see your existing rules
3) edit /etc/init.d/iptables
In the start() function there should be a line that says something like this:
“$IPTABLES-restore $OPT $IPTABLES_DATA”
This means to restore the rules from /etc/sysconfig/iptables
BELOW THIS RULE add a line that says
“$IPTABLES-restore -n < /etc/sysconfig/iptables-custom"
The -n option is important. Without it, you would overwrite all other rules and ONLY have the rules in iptables-custom (meaning system-config-securitylevel wouldn't work any more as it would edit an unused file)
The one thing to keep in mind is that updating/reinstalling iptables will likely rewrite /etc/init.d/iptables, removing the line that adds iptables-custom
No! in Debian you must save your rules in
this
That’s, of course, if you’re using bash and have save the rules in this way
Debian/Ubuntu has a package named iptables-persistent that handles iptables-restore/iptables-save based on /etc/iptables/rules
A lot more elegant compared to making post interface-up scripts or a custom init script, imho.
hei i want to ask, i setting my iptables on mandriva 2011, and also save it using /sbin/service iptables save. the problem is when my laptop restart the rules is gone, can anyone help me?
see /etc/sysconfig/iptables-config for autosave of rules after firewall or machine restart
I hv a CentOS system and have this same problem. I have input lot to iptables but when it restart, all my iptables INPUT are gone. I was using command “service iptables save”.
I am confused .. so which one I should use for the next time?
# /etc/init.d/iptables save
or
# /sbin/service iptables save
Are those 2 commands same? Which one should I choose so the next time I restart my VPS, my iptables still remain. Please help.
Yes,those are same commands.
I want to export iptables rules from machine A to machine B.
I have dump current iptables rules from machine A with:
$ iptables-save > iptables.rules
But, at the bottom of the file there also attached firewall configuration from the machine A. Do I have just change the “Chain acctboth” configuration on machine B?
Or is there any better way to export iptables rules, I just want to export the INPUT rules.
Thanks.
You could try: iptables-save | grep -e ‘^-A INPUT’ > test.txt
Hi there, I tried this guide but it did not keep settings after a reboot. I am using an Asus N56U. Any ideas? Thanks
Asus N56U comes with either default firmware or 3rd party firmware such as DD-WRT. Due to flash module disk size limit these commands may not work on embedded tiny devices. See your firmware documentation for firewall rules.
Worked on CENTOS 6.6 x86_64 virtuozzo, WHM 11.46.2 (build 4) – thank you!