Ubuntu Linux Save / Restore Iptables Rules

To save and restore iptables rules on Ubuntu Linux, you can use the iptables-save and iptables-restore commands. The iptables-save command writes the current iptables rules to a file, while the iptables-restore command reads the rules from a file and applies them to the system.

Here are the steps to save and restore iptables rules on Ubuntu Linux:

  1. Open a terminal or SSH session to the Ubuntu system.
  2. To save the current iptables rules to a file, type the following command:
sudo iptables-save > /etc/iptables.rules

This command writes the current iptables rules to the file /etc/iptables.rules. You can choose any filename and location for the rules file.

  1. To restore the iptables rules from a file, type the following command:
sudo iptables-restore < /etc/iptables.rules

This command reads the iptables rules from the file /etc/iptables.rules and applies them to the system.

  1. If you want the iptables rules to be automatically loaded at boot time, you can add a script to the system startup process. On Ubuntu, you can create a script in the /etc/network/if-up.d/ directory that loads the iptables rules when a network interface is brought up.

For example, create a new file called /etc/network/if-up.d/iptablesload with the following contents:

#!/bin/sh
iptables-restore < /etc/iptables.rules

Save the file and make it executable with the following command:

sudo chmod +x /etc/network/if-up.d/iptablesload

This script will automatically load the iptables rules from the file /etc/iptables.rules when a network interface is brought up.

That’s it! You have successfully saved and restored iptables rules on Ubuntu Linux, and configured the system to automatically load the rules at boot time.

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