Hi all, Pretty new to the whole online security game and edging my way towards production. I’m keen to understand the precise role ufw plays. You read that it is just a “front end” to iptables. So netfilter/ iptables are always running anyway with or without ufw? And does a call to “ufw disable” turn off netfilter??
I ask because I have webmin installed, which offers me a perfectly comprehensible UI for adding rules to iptables. By adding rules in webmin and checking the ‘Activate at Boot’ option, then rebooting, am I actually securing my system, or do I have to run ufw enable to have a running firewall?
Noob question I know but it’s sort of big deal to get this right (especially since I’ve had thousands of unauthorized access attempts to Dovecot over the last few days.)
Thanks Mark
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Basically, “UFW disable” just flushes out all rules. If you leave it disabled, you can have scripts (like webmin) manage your firewall for you. Safest way to make sure is this:
run “ufw disable”
open up webmin. Add rules. Reboot. Hop on, and run this:
iptables-save
If you see your rules, you’re good. If not, you have a problem.
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