Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Firewall Rules Order

    pfBlockerNG
    13
    34
    20.2k
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • chudakC
      chudak
      last edited by

      @BBcan177:

      You can create a new alias in pfBlockerNG and add "0.0.0.0" which is equivalent to "any" IP, into the custom list…

      Then edit either the Advanced Inbound or Outbound Firewall rule settings to configure the balance of the rules options...

      You can then define this Alias Action setting to Permit or Block...

      You can drag the Aliases from the IP tab to re-order as you wish.

      Also as stated above, you can use "Alias Type" rules and create all the rules manually.

      Thank you!  But I have more questions then answers to those steps, need more info.

      It seems overall the rules order in combination with pfB has room for improvement  :D

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • chudakC
        chudak
        last edited by

        @BBcan177:

        You can create a new alias in pfBlockerNG and add "0.0.0.0" which is equivalent to "any" IP, into the custom list…

        Then edit either the Advanced Inbound or Outbound Firewall rule settings to configure the balance of the rules options...

        You can then define this Alias Action setting to Permit or Block...

        You can drag the Aliases from the IP tab to re-order as you wish.

        Also as stated above, you can use "Alias Type" rules and create all the rules manually.

        I don't know but all those changes seem too much and too complicated.

        Here is my example, I want to keep untouched rules order to make all network clients to use pfSense router as DNS server like:

        pass - Allow DNS to pfSense only
        block - Block all DNS not to pfSense

        And every time pfBlockerNG updates, my "block" rule get pushed to the end of the list.

        It seems wrong to me regardless of workarounds.  As I described in this https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/8279

        Why won't we either

        1 - in pfBlockerNG, Rule Order add option - "Do not change (preserve) existing order"

        or

        2 - in Firewall Rules <if>add say a check box "Preserve existing order", which will not allow the order to be changed.

        ???</if>

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • C
          coffeecup25
          last edited by coffeecup25

          Floating rules are evaluated first - or at least they were a few years ago.

          I had to solve this problem a few years ago. Make the rules that get moved downward into floating rules. Then change the evaluation order of the others as needed using built in tools.

          I don't have this problem today but I'm sure the answer is still correct.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • zenn bijiZ
            zenn biji
            last edited by

            Maybe im being stupid but, i cant find anything named Alias native anywhere in PFblockerNG-devel

            S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • B
              Benjamins
              last edited by Benjamins

              Firewall rules are shown as a list on the Rules tab. The rules are applied from top to bottom, and the first rule that matches the traffic overrides all the other rules below. The main principle is to allow only the needed traffic and block the rest. Therefore, the last rule of a firewall profile is the Deny rest rule dgcustomerfirst

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • G
                gessel
                last edited by

                Would it be possible to add a "rule order" option "manual order" where pfBlocker would not reorder the rules automatically? Insertion of any new rule might be to the "original format" but if the user reorders the rules manually in the Firewall Rules interface, those changes would persist.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • R
                  rkgraves
                  last edited by rkgraves

                  Thank You for your help - I know this is an old thread but I am stuck and needing some help!

                  I'm using pfBlockerNB with GeoIP filtering. I have a pfSense Allow rule that needs to precede the pfB_ Block rules on the WAN interface. I have other pfSense Allow rules that should follow the pfB_ Block rules.

                  The solution mentioned is to create Alias' for the pfB_ rules. And then create my own WAN rules using the Alias'. I am missing something as pfB_ Firewall Aliases URLs were automatically created by pfBlockerNG (Firewall / Aliases / URLs) and my Firewall default WAN pfB_ rules are already using these Alias'.

                  What am I missing? My goal is to be able to sort my WAN Firewall rules to something other than one of the four Rule Order options available in pfBlockerNG.

                  Running
                  2.4.5-RELEASE-p1 (amd64)
                  pfBlockerNG net 2.1.4_22

                  Thank You for Your Help,
                  RKGraves

                  Bob.DigB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • S
                    SteveITS Galactic Empire @zenn biji
                    last edited by

                    @lordofpc734 said in Firewall Rules Order:

                    cant find anything named Alias native anywhere in PFblockerNG-devel

                    (and others)

                    On the IPv4/IPv6 tabs select Alias Native:
                    d73c4a1d-b7ab-4ca7-8328-0ae3653cfaac-image.png

                    Then create whatever rules you want:
                    94d9cc3f-a330-481d-837d-b36b3406b64b-image.png

                    (yes I know it says v4 twice in the alias, that's an artifact when upgrading from pfBlockerNG to -devel as it adds _v4 to all the aliases)

                    Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                    When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                    Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                    R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Bob.DigB
                      Bob.Dig LAYER 8 @rkgraves
                      last edited by

                      @rkgraves said in Firewall Rules Order:

                      I have a pfSense Allow rule that needs to precede the pfB_ Block rules on the WAN interface.

                      Make that rule a floating one if you can't find a better solution.

                      R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • R
                        rkgraves @SteveITS
                        last edited by

                        @teamits
                        Thank You Very Much!

                        When you manually create WAN Firewall rules using the Aliases created this way what do you do with the default rules automatically created by pfBlocker, just disable them?

                        Again Thanks,
                        RKGraves

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Bob.DigB
                          Bob.Dig LAYER 8
                          last edited by

                          Manage them in pfBlocker, disable or delete them, if you don't need them anymore.
                          Clipboard01.png

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • R
                            rkgraves @Bob.Dig
                            last edited by

                            @Bob-Dig
                            Thank You for this tip!

                            I can see how creating an IPv6 Floating rule (Floating rules evaluated first) would work. But can an IPv4/NAT rule work as a floating rule?

                            Again Thanks,
                            RKGraves

                            Bob.DigB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • Bob.DigB
                              Bob.Dig LAYER 8 @rkgraves
                              last edited by

                              @rkgraves absolutely.

                              R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • R
                                rkgraves @Bob.Dig
                                last edited by

                                @Bob-Dig
                                Thank You, I'll work on this and report back.

                                I appreciate your time and help!
                                RKGraves

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • R
                                  rkgraves
                                  last edited by

                                  Thank You Everyone!

                                  I'm now able to manually set the order of my WAN firewall rules while running pfBlockerNG-devel with GeoIP. To verify what I did is correct, and for anyone else who might come across this thread, I'll list my abbreviated steps.

                                  • clean pfSense install
                                  • generated a new MaxMind key
                                  • installed pfBlockerNG-devel
                                  • Firewall / pfBlockerNG / IP / GeoIP - for each GeoIP location I set the Action to "Alias Native"
                                  • Firewall / Rules / WAN - manually created IPv4 and IPv6 Deny rules using the source as the GeoIP Aliases
                                  • Firewall / NAT / Port Forward - created my IPv4 Allow Rules
                                  • Firewall / Rules / WAN - created my IPv6 Allow rules
                                  • Firewall / Rules / WAN - sorted my Allow and Deny rules as needed - Saved

                                  Tested:

                                  • Firewall / pfBlockerNT - Save (my original install would fail at this point and remove my WAN Rules sort order - defaulting instead to one of the 4 predefined rule orders)
                                  • Rebooted pfSense & tested

                                  For those with more experience; Please let me know if anything I did appear incorrect.
                                  Again, Thank You for your Help!
                                  R.K.Graves

                                  S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • S
                                    SteveITS Galactic Empire @rkgraves
                                    last edited by

                                    @rkgraves said in Firewall Rules Order:

                                    Firewall / Rules / WAN - manually created IPv4 and IPv6 Deny rules using the source as the GeoIP Aliases

                                    Depending on your intentions, you may want deny rules on the LAN side to block outgoing traffic. Otherwise if the LAN allows the outbound the connection state will allow the inbound.

                                    Also after creating the pfBlocker entries an Update is necessary to generate the lists/tables.

                                    Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                                    When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                                    Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • V
                                      Veralder
                                      last edited by

                                      so happy to find the explanation relating the tables and lists!! thanks!

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • First post
                                        Last post
                                      Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.