Upgrading to ufw on Ubuntu 9.04

Question

I've recently upgrade my Ubuntu server install to 9.04. I'd like to install and use ufw. Is there a way to import my existing iptables into ufw? I'm worried about switching it on, and having all my ports closed. I'd like to open up a single additional tcp port, but don't want to go through the complicated process of changing my iptable rules.

Answer 1

Manually put your old rules in "/etc/ufw/before.rules" or "after.rules". These are in standard iptables format. There is also var/lib/user.rules, but these are overwritten by adding rules via ufw. Put your existing rules in place, add your new rules via ufw allow, and enable ufw afterwards.

Answer 2

ufw is an intuitive frontend to iptables for newbies.

If you already grok iptables, I see no reason why you should switch.

Answer 3

i guess you can keep your iptables rules and do something like this:

1. open a screen window
2. sudo ufw enable && sleep 120 && sudo ufw disable (be sure it wont ask you passwd :D)
3. do you testing and in a worst case scenario wait 120 secs

With this method you can test certain rules, without having an issue when you have to go to the co-loc.