firewall-cmd

dynamic firewall management interface

TLDR

Check firewalld daemon status

$ firewall-cmd --state

List all active zones with their interfaces

$ firewall-cmd --get-active-zones

List all rules in the default zone

$ firewall-cmd --list-all

Add a service permanently to a zone

$ firewall-cmd --permanent --zone public --add-service https

Add a port permanently to a zone

$ firewall-cmd --permanent --zone public --add-port 8080/tcp

Remove a service permanently

$ firewall-cmd --permanent --zone public --remove-service http

Reload configuration (apply permanent changes at runtime)

$ firewall-cmd --reload

Save runtime config to permanent

$ firewall-cmd --runtime-to-permanent

Enable masquerade (NAT) on a zone

$ firewall-cmd --permanent --zone public --add-masquerade

firewall-cmd is the command-line interface for firewalld, providing dynamic management of the Linux firewall. It supports zones, services, port forwarding, masquerading, and rich rules with both runtime and permanent configurations.

PARAMETERS

--state

Check whether the firewalld daemon is active (returns exit code 0 if running).

--reload

Reload firewall rules while keeping state information. Applies permanent rules to the runtime configuration.

--complete-reload

Reload the firewall completely, including netfilter kernel modules. May terminate active connections.

--runtime-to-permanent

Save the current runtime configuration to permanent.

--get-zones

List all predefined zones.

--get-default-zone

Print the default zone for connections and interfaces.

--set-default-zone zone

Set the default zone.

--get-active-zones

Print currently active zones with their bound interfaces and sources.

--list-all-zones

List all available zones with their complete settings.

--list-all

List everything added or enabled in the current or specified zone.

--zone zone

Specify the zone to operate on.

--get-services

List all predefined services.

--add-service service

Add a service to the zone.

--remove-service service

Remove a service from the zone.

--add-port port/protocol

Add a port (or port range) to the zone (e.g. `8080/tcp` or `5000-5100/tcp`).

--remove-port port/protocol

Remove a previously added port from the zone.

--add-masquerade

Enable IPv4 masquerade (NAT) on the zone. Useful when the machine is a router.

--remove-masquerade

Disable IPv4 masquerade on the zone.

--query-masquerade

Return whether IPv4 masquerade is enabled in the zone.

--add-rich-rule rule

Add a rich language firewall rule.

--remove-rich-rule rule

Remove a rich language firewall rule.

--permanent

Make changes permanent (survives reboot). Requires `--reload` to take effect at runtime.

--panic-on / --panic-off

Enable/disable panic mode (drops all incoming and outgoing traffic).

--change-interface interface

Change the zone binding of a network interface.

CONFIGURATION

**/etc/firewalld/zones/*.xml**

Zone definitions including allowed services, ports, and rich rules.

**/etc/firewalld/services/*.xml**

Service definitions mapping service names to ports and protocols.

INSTALL

sudo dnf install firewalld

sudo pacman -S firewalld

sudo apk add firewalld

sudo zypper install firewalld

nix profile install nixpkgs#firewalld

CAVEATS

Changes without --permanent are lost on reload or reboot. After permanent changes, use --reload to apply them. Zone changes may disconnect active sessions.

HISTORY

firewall-cmd is the client for firewalld, Red Hat's dynamic firewall management daemon used in RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora.