Deploying the firewall:

Well, it's finally time to create the main firewall ruleset script. We will simply create an importable iptables ruleset script and then import it into the iptables ruleset on your server. As soon as we import it, it instantly becomes active. So let's get started.

Create the firewall script...

vi /root/primary_firewall

#The NAT portion of the ruleset. Used for Network Address Transalation.
#Usually not needed on a typical web server, but it's there if you need it.
*nat
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [127173:7033011]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [31583:2332178]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [32021:2375633]
COMMIT

#The Mangle portion of the ruleset. Here is where unwanted packet types get dropped.
#This helps in making port scans against your server a bit more time consuming and difficult, but not impossible.
*mangle
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [444:43563]
:INPUT ACCEPT [444:43563]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [402:144198]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [402:144198]
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG FIN,PSH,URG -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG NONE -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN,RST -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN FIN,SYN -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG FIN,PSH,URG -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG NONE -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN,RST -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN FIN,SYN -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG FIN,PSH,URG -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG NONE -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN,RST -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN FIN,SYN -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG FIN,PSH,URG -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG NONE -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN,RST -j DROP
-A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN FIN,SYN -j DROP
COMMIT

#The FILTER section of the ruleset is where we initially drop all packets and then selectively open certain ports.
#We will also enable logging of all dropped requests.
*filter
:INPUT DROP [1:242]
:FORWARD DROP [0:0]
:OUTPUT DROP [0:0]
:LOG_DROP - [0:0]
:LOG_ACCEPT - [0:0]
:icmp_packets - [0:0]

#First, we cover the INPUT rules, or the rules for incoming requests.
#Note how at the end we log any incoming packets that are not accepted.
-A INPUT -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 20 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 21 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -j LOG_ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 25 -j LOG_ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 43 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 110 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 143 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
#uncomment the next line if you are running Spamassassin on your server
#-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 783 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 993 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 3306 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 127.0.0.1 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p icmp -j icmp_packets
-A INPUT -j LOG_DROP

#Next, we cover the OUTPUT rules, or the rules for all outgoing traffic.
#Note how at the end we log any outbound packets that are not accepted.
-A OUTPUT -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 20 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 21 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 23 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 25 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 43 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 110 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 143 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
#uncomment the next line if you are running Spamassassin on your server
#-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 783 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 993 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 3306 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -d 127.0.0.1 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -p icmp -j icmp_packets
-A OUTPUT -j LOG_DROP

#Here we have 2 sets of logging rules. One for dropped packets to log all dropped requests and one for accepted packets, should we wish to log any accepted requesets.
-A LOG_DROP -j LOG --log-prefix "[IPTABLES DROP] : " --log-tcp-options --log-ip-options
-A LOG_DROP -j DROP

-A LOG_ACCEPT -j LOG --log-prefix "[IPTABLES ACCEPT] : " --log-tcp-options --log-ip-options
-A LOG_ACCEPT -j ACCEPT

#And finally, a rule to deal with ICMP requests. We drop all ping requests except from our own server.
# Make sure you replace 1.2.3.4 with the IP address of your server.
-A icmp_packets -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 0 -j ACCEPT
-A icmp_packets -s 1.2.3.4 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -j ACCEPT
-A icmp_packets -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -j DROP
-A icmp_packets -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 3 -j ACCEPT
-A icmp_packets -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 11 -j ACCEPT
COMMIT

Save and exit the file.

Now import the firewall into your server's iptables ruleset...

iptables-restore < /root/primary_firewall

If you don't get any errors, your firewall should now be active. So let's take a look at the iptables status and see what it looks like.

iptables -L

You should see an output like this:

Chain INPUT (policy DROP)
target prot opt source destination
ACCEPT all -- anywhere anywhere state RELATED,ESTABLISHED
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:ftp-data
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:ftp
LOG_ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:ssh
LOG_ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:smtp
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:nicname
ACCEPT udp -- anywhere anywhere udp dpt:domain
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:http
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:pop3
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:imap
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:https
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:imaps
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:mysql
ACCEPT all -- localhost.localdomain anywhere
icmp_packets icmp -- anywhere anywhere
LOG_DROP all -- anywhere anywhere

Chain FORWARD (policy DROP)
target prot opt source destination

Chain OUTPUT (policy DROP)
target prot opt source destination
ACCEPT all -- anywhere anywhere state RELATED,ESTABLISHED
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:ftp-data
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:ftp
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:ssh
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:telnet
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:smtp
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:nicname
ACCEPT udp -- anywhere anywhere udp dpt:domain
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:http
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:pop3
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:imap
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:https
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:imaps
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere tcp dpt:mysql
ACCEPT all -- anywhere localhost.localdomain
icmp_packets icmp -- anywhere anywhere
LOG_DROP all -- anywhere anywhere

Chain LOG_ACCEPT (2 references)
target prot opt source destination
LOG all -- anywhere anywhere LOG level warning tcp-options ip-options prefix `[IPTABLES ACCEPT] : '
ACCEPT all -- anywhere anywhere

Chain LOG_DROP (2 references)
target prot opt source destination
LOG all -- anywhere anywhere LOG level warning tcp-options ip-options prefix `[IPTABLES DROP] : '
DROP all -- anywhere anywhere

Chain icmp_packets (2 references)
target prot opt source destination
ACCEPT icmp -- anywhere anywhere icmp echo-reply
ACCEPT icmp -- yourhostname anywhere icmp echo-request
DROP icmp -- anywhere anywhere icmp echo-request
ACCEPT icmp -- anywhere anywhere icmp destination-unreachable
ACCEPT icmp -- anywhere anywhere icmp time-exceeded

Congratulations. Your server now has an active firewall. Technically speaking, you can stop here and you should have a decent firewall set up for your web server. In the next few steps we will test the functionality of the firewall and we will also install a log analyzer that will provide us with a web based log monitor. Additionally, I'll show you how to ensure that your new firewall starts up on boot.

Important Note: Now that your firewall is up and running, you will want to disable the "safetynet" crontab so that your firewall will remain up and running.

Proceed to the next step