How To Create And Configure IPTables Firewall Using Firewall Builder Step By Step

iptables is an application that enables a system administrator to manipulate Linux Kernel Firewall tables and rules. It is extensively used in packet filtering and to create firewalls. In this post I am going to introduce you to an application called Firewall Builder (also known as fwbuilder) which helps in creating firewalls easily. fwbuilder can be used to create a wide variety of firewalls including Cisco Pix and HP ProCurve but we'll create something simpler, an iptables based firewall. So just follow this step by step tutorial:

1. Install fwbuilder package. It is GPLed for Linux based systems. Find the install instructions here. Don't worry, there are rpm and deb available.
2. Once installed, launch the fwbuilder as root user (iptables need root permissions).
3. Choose the fisrt icon which says "Create new firewall".
4. Choose the firewall software as "iptables" and suitable OS. If you are not sure about the options then go for "Linux 2.4/2.6". It is the kernel version. Also give the firewall an appropriate name and click next.
5. Select "Configure Interfaces Manually" and click next.
6. Click on the tiny green "+" sign on the left and add the ip addresses of your interfaces. Name would be the usual Linux names like "eth0". Now click finish.
7. Now click on the green "+" sign to add rules. By default these rules are all restrictive. They'll stop ALL the traffic from your network interface so we need to modify them. The easiest way to do so is to right click on the options.
8. Once you have modified the rule, you need to compile the firewall which will generate the rules from the GUI. Just click the compile button (the one with hammer!)
9. Now install the firewall by clicking the install button next to the compile button.

So now you can create firewalls easily. Check out the documentation of fwbuilder if you want more detailed instructions.

Image: http://www.fwbuilder.org/