Does Ubuntu come with a firewall?

mitchell7man · 04-26-2007, 07:51 PM

Hello,
I started using ubuntu in january, but i still havent even found out if it has a firewall. I have now installed feisty fawn, but basically all i am wondering is does Ubuntu come with a firewall already installed? What releases have firewall already installed?, if not... is installing a firewall worth it? and how would i go about installing a firewall>?

MS3FGX · 04-26-2007, 07:56 PM

Every modern Linux distribution comes with a firewall installed, it is part of the kernel, called iptables.

By default it is not doing anything, you will need to set it up yourself. Assuming you don't want to actually work with iptables rules, you should install Firestarter and use that to set things up.

mitchell7man · 04-26-2007, 08:36 PM

Ok, that was rather simple, just one questions, does the firewall block home networking by default or what not?, thanks,

Patrick K · 04-26-2007, 09:16 PM

By default iptables are setup for restrictive inbound traffic and permissive outbound traffic. All options can be configured from the command line but using Firestarter (a GUI frontend) makes it much easier. Firestarter documentation is here: http://www.fs-security.com/docs.php

mitchell7man · 04-27-2007, 09:56 AM

Thank you,

dissident_goodchild · 04-30-2007, 06:10 AM

To aim that Firestarter is only a GUI, you don't need to have started it so that true firewall is working: iptables.

mitchell7man · 04-30-2007, 09:24 AM

Ya, i think i understood that, but firestarter must be easier than iptables, from what ive read, thanks though,

dissident_goodchild · 04-30-2007, 12:38 PM

There is much people who are confused if Firestarter is not raised firewall is it either (it happened to me). It was a clarifying commentary. It didn't want to indicate that the use of Firestarter was worse sight

mitchell7man · 04-30-2007, 10:39 PM

Ok, thanks,