Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Question about Gufw

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Beans
    435

    Question about Gufw

    Hello,

    This post is related to some other posts I made regarding ufw at these two links:
    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...&highlight=ufw
    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...&highlight=ufw

    The question I have is that the first time once I enable(activate) Gufw and use it to set up the firewall rules, will the firewall be active and those settings be in place every time I start up and boot into ubuntu in the future? Or every time I boot into ubuntu, will I have to check to see if the firewall(Gufw) is inactive or the settings need to be set again? I am asking this because I used firestarter till a couple of years earlier and once on randomly checking the iptales rules using 'sudo /sbin/iptables -L' I found that that all the chains were set to ACCEPT,i.e. the firewall was not active even though firestarter was supposed to load the firewall settings(incoming-deny,outgoing-allow) at each boot up. Since then, at each boot up, I would log onto the administrative account first, open firestarter and make sure that firestarter was active. Even after switching to ufw and then Gufw, I have been doing the same. Every time at boot up, I log into the administrative account first, open the Gufw window and make sure that Gufw is active(enabled) and that the settings are the same ones I initially set(incoming-deny,outgoing-allow). Is this necessary? Has someone ever reported a bug in Gufw or ufw of this nature where the firewall(Gufw/ufw) is somehow inactive at boot up even though it had been activated and the settings made at an earlier bootup? Or is there no reason for me to worry? Is Gufw a set and forget firewall of the kind we see on default installations of windows 7 where once the firewall is activated and set, it will be active with the correct settings at all future boot ups?

    The second question is that while using laptops and you switch between wired and wireless connections with the computer on, will it affect firewall(Gufw) security or its settings in any way?

    The third question is that for a laptop, once you log into an user account and connect to a wireless network, will the Gufw/ufw firewall immediately get activated and set the requisite rules?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Beans
    357

    Re: Question about Gufw

    1. When you enable your firewall using ufw or gufw, then the firewall rules are saved and will be there upon your next boot.

    2. Usually when you set up rules they are device intependent, which means it won't matter if you are on a wired or wireless connection. The exception to this rule is if you specify a special device in your firewall rule.

    3. The firewall remains active whether any users are logged in or not.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Beans
    435

    Re: Question about Gufw

    Hello, can you please give answers to all the points I raised in my post?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Beans
    1,531

    Re: Question about Gufw

    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    The question I have is that the first time once I enable(activate) Gufw and use it to set up the firewall rules, will the firewall be active and those settings be in place every time I start up and boot into ubuntu in the future?
    yes
    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    Or every time I boot into ubuntu, will I have to check to see if the firewall(Gufw) is inactive or the settings need to be set again?
    you can, but you don't need to.
    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    I am asking this because I used firestarter till a couple of years earlier and once on randomly checking the iptales rules using 'sudo /sbin/iptables -L' I found that that all the chains were set to ACCEPT,i.e. the firewall was not active even though firestarter was supposed to load the firewall settings(incoming-deny,outgoing-allow) at each boot up. Since then, at each boot up, I would log onto the administrative account first, open firestarter and make sure that firestarter was active.
    Yup, firestarter hasn't been maintained for years. I imagine there are some bugs in it, if that wasn't a purposeful feature to begin with. Plus firestarter, ufw, and gufw are all front-ends for iptables. Don't mess with iptables and gufw at the same time, pick one or the other for best results.
    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    Even after switching to ufw and then Gufw, I have been doing the same. Every time at boot up, I log into the administrative account first, open the Gufw window and make sure that Gufw is active(enabled) and that the settings are the same ones I initially set(incoming-deny,outgoing-allow). Is this necessary?
    Nope.
    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    Has someone ever reported a bug in Gufw or ufw of this nature where the firewall(Gufw/ufw) is somehow inactive at boot up even though it had been activated and the settings made at an earlier bootup? Or is there no reason for me to worry?
    Are you saying it's not active at boot-up? That's not typical behaviour if it's happening. I wouldn't report a bug yet. Post more details about this: give us the output of
    Code:
    sudo ufw status
    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    Is Gufw a set and forget firewall of the kind we see on default installations of windows 7 where once the firewall is activated and set, it will be active with the correct settings at all future boot ups?
    Yup.
    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    The second question is that while using laptops and you switch between wired and wireless connections with the computer on, will it affect firewall(Gufw) security or its settings in any way?
    Nope. Gufw is independent from your wireless/ethernet connection. That's not to say you might want to consider different settings for home vs. wireless at Starbucks.
    Quote Originally Posted by jsvidyad View Post
    The third question is that for a laptop, once you log into an user account and connect to a wireless network, will the Gufw/ufw firewall immediately get activated and set the requisite rules?
    Yes.

    I encourage you to read these:
    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gufw
    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UFW

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Beans
    435

    Re: Question about Gufw

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jsvidyad
    Has someone ever reported a bug in Gufw or ufw of this nature where the firewall(Gufw/ufw) is somehow inactive at boot up even though it had been activated and the settings made at an earlier bootup? Or is there no reason for me to worry?
    Are you saying it's not active at boot-up? That's not typical behaviour if it's happening. I wouldn't report a bug yet. Post more details about this: give us the output of
    Code:
    sudo ufw status
    Hello, I have never seen that kind of behavior happening. The firewall(Gufw/ufw) has always been active with the correct settings whenever I checked it on boot up provided it had been activated and configured before that boot up. I was just asking if someone had ever reported seeing it inactive at boot up or with wrong settings even though it had been set and activated at an earlier boot up. That's what I once saw for firestarter

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jsvidyad
    The second question is that while using laptops and you switch between wired and wireless connections with the computer on, will it affect firewall(Gufw) security or its settings in any way?
    Nope. Gufw is independent from your wireless/ethernet connection. That's not to say you might want to consider different settings for home vs. wireless at Starbucks.
    Is it secure enough if I set Gufw/ufw firewall to deny all incoming connections and allow all outgoing connections. Is this setting good enough for both the home network and public networks?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Beans
    919
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: Question about Gufw

    That depends on what you mean by good enough. Deny incoming and allow out is how it's set up to work by default, and for the way most people use computers it's fine. It will prevent a connection from being initiated by an external device no matter what kind of network you're on. Just understand that's the only thing it prevents.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Williams Lake
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: Question about Gufw

    @jsvidyad, https://bugs.launchpad.net is a good place to check if a bug has been reported, but be aware that anyone with a Launchpad account can report bugs, so there are many incomplete, or invalid bugs in the database as well.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •