iptables-apply(8) a safer way to update iptables remotely

SYNOPSIS

iptables-apply [-hV] [-t timeout] [-w savefile] {[rulesfile]|-c [runcmd]}

DESCRIPTION

iptables-apply will try to apply a new rulesfile (as output by iptables-save, read by iptables-restore) or run a command to configure iptables and then prompt the user whether the changes are okay. If the new iptables rules cut the existing connection, the user will not be able to answer affirmatively. In this case, the script rolls back to the previous working iptables rules after the timeout expires.

Successfully applied rules can also be written to savefile and later used to roll back to this state. This can be used to implement a store last good configuration mechanism when experimenting with an iptables setup script: iptables-apply -w /etc/network/iptables.up.rules -c /etc/network/iptables.up.run

When called as ip6tables-apply, the script will use ip6tables-save/-restore and IPv6 default values instead. Default value for rulesfile is '/etc/network/iptables.up.rules'.

OPTIONS

-t seconds, --timeout seconds
Sets the timeout in seconds after which the script will roll back to the previous ruleset (default: 10).
-w savefile, --write savefile
Specify the savefile where successfully applied rules will be written to (default if empty string is given: /etc/network/iptables.up.rules).
-c runcmd, --command runcmd
Run command runcmd to configure iptables instead of applying a rulesfile (default: /etc/network/iptables.up.run).
-h, --help
Display usage information.
-V, --version
Display version information.

LEGALESE

Original iptables-apply - Copyright 2006 Martin F. Krafft <[email protected]>. Version 1.1 - Copyright 2010 GW <[email protected] or http://gw.tnode.com/>.

This manual page was written by Martin F. Krafft <[email protected]> and extended by GW <[email protected] or http://gw.tnode.com/>.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the Artistic License 2.0.