How To Backup / Restore Linux Firewall

To safely back up and restore your Linux firewall, you need to consider the specific firewall tool you are using. This guide covers UFW, Firewalld, iptables, and nftables, with clear steps to ensure your rules are preserved and restored correctly.

General Strategy

• Back up both active rules and configuration files.
• Store backups outside system directories (/etc, /var) to avoid loss during package removal.
• Restore only after disabling the firewall or stopping its service.

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall)

Backup:

mkdir -p ~/Documents/firewall-backups/ufw
sudo ufw status numbered > ~/Documents/firewall-backups/ufw/ufw-rules.txt
sudo cp -a /etc/ufw ~/Documents/firewall-backups/ufw/config

Restore:

sudo ufw disable
sudo cp -a ~/Documents/firewall-backups/ufw/config/* /etc/ufw/
sudo ufw enable

Firewalld

Backup:

mkdir -p ~/Documents/firewall-backups/firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --runtime-to-permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all > ~/Documents/firewall-backups/firewalld/summary.txt
sudo cp -a /etc/firewalld ~/Documents/firewall-backups/firewalld/config

Restore:

sudo systemctl stop firewalld
sudo cp -a ~/Documents/firewall-backups/firewalld/config/. /etc/firewalld/
sudo systemctl start firewalld

iptables

Backup:

mkdir -p ~/Documents/firewall-backups/iptables
sudo iptables-save > ~/Documents/firewall-backups/iptables/iptables.rules
sudo ip6tables-save > ~/Documents/firewall-backups/iptables/ip6tables.rules

Restore:

sudo iptables-restore < ~/Documents/firewall-backups/iptables/iptables.rules
sudo ip6tables-restore < ~/Documents/firewall-backups/iptables/ip6tables.rules

To persist rules across reboots:

sudo apt install iptables-persistent
sudo netfilter-persistent save
sudo netfilter-persistent reload

On other distros, use:

sudo iptables-save > /etc/sysconfig/iptables
sudo ip6tables-save > /etc/sysconfig/ip6tables

sudo iptables-restore < /etc/sysconfig/iptables
sudo ip6tables-restore < /etc/sysconfig/ip6tables

sudo service iptables save

nftables

Backup:

mkdir -p ~/Documents/firewall-backups/nftables
sudo nft list ruleset > ~/Documents/firewall-backups/nftables/nftables.rules

Restore:

sudo nft -f ~/Documents/firewall-backups/nftables/nftables.rules

To persist rules:

sudo cp ~/Documents/firewall-backups/nftables/nftables.rules /etc/nftables.conf
sudo systemctl enable nftables
sudo systemctl restart nftables

Note: Before resetting or restoring any firewall, you may want to back up your current rules.

By following these steps, you can safely back up and restore Linux firewall configurations across different tools. This ensures your security setup remains consistent and recoverable after system changes or reinstalls.