iptables is a user space application program that allows a system administrator to configure the Netfilter tables, chains, and rules.
The iptables package also includes ip6tables. ip6tables is used for configuring the IPv6 packet filter.
The software is released under an open source license.
Key Features
- Handles filtering and management of incoming and upgoing IP packets.
- Part of the Netfilter framework.
- Performs Network Address Translation (also known as masquerading).
Website: www.netfilter.org
Support: HOWTOs
Developer: netfilter core team
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
Related Software
| Firewalls | |
|---|---|
| OpenSnitch | Interactive application firewall |
| nftables | Provides a new in-kernel packet classification framework |
| Firewalld | Dynamically managed firewall with support for network/firewall zones |
| Portmaster | Application firewall that does the heavy lifting |
| iptables | Configure the Linux 2.4.x and later packet filtering ruleset |
| ufw | Uncomplicated Firewall. This is software for managing a netfilter firewall |
| Shorewall | High-level tool for configuring Netfilter |
| gufw | Easy, intuitive, way to manage your Linux firewall |
| Vuurmuur | Uncomplicated Firewall, manage a netfilter firewall |
| awall | Firewall configuration tool, providing various benefits over plain iptables |
| Foomuuri | Multizone bidirectional nftables firewall |
| bgpipe | BGP reverse proxy and firewall |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Intrusion Prevention for SSH | |
|---|---|
| Fail2Ban | Intrusion prevention software framework written in Python |
| SSHGuard | Protects hosts from brute-force attacks against SSH and other services |
| denyhosts | Helps thwart SSH server attacks |
| iptables | Configure the Linux 2.4.x and later packet filtering ruleset |
| CSF | ConfigServer Security & Firewall |
| reaction | Daemon that scans program outputs for repeated patterns, and takes action |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |