PyWall

PyWall is a terminal-based firewall management tool written in Python. It provides a structured and safe approach to managing firewall rules with validation, persistence, deduplication, dry-run execution, and rollback-ready backups.

Warning: PyWall interacts with system firewall rules and must be run with root privileges. Always test in a virtual machine or non-production environment.

Features

• Terminal-based command-line interface
• Rule validation (IP address, port, protocol)
• Persistent rule storage using JSON
• Rule deduplication to prevent duplicates
• Dry-run firewall execution
• Automatic iptables backup with timestamps
• Rollback-ready firewall design
• Safe execution (no blind flushing of rules)

Project Structure

PyWall/
├── pywall.py              # Main CLI entry point
├── core/
│   ├── rules.py           # Rule engine (persistence and validation)
│   ├── executor.py        # Firewall executor (dry-run and backup)
│   └── __init__.py
├── config/
│   └── rules.json         # Stored firewall rules (runtime)
├── backups/               # Timestamped iptables backups
├── logs/                  # Logs (optional)
└── README.md

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or newer
• Linux system with iptables
• Root privileges

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/w3nch/PyWall.git
cd PyWall

Ensure the script is executable:

chmod +x pywall.py

Usage

Display help:

python3 pywall.py --help

Check firewall status:

sudo python3 pywall.py status

Add a firewall rule:

sudo python3 pywall.py add-rule --block --ip 1.2.3.4 --port 80 --protocol tcp

List firewall rules:

sudo python3 pywall.py list-rules

Delete a firewall rule:

sudo python3 pywall.py delete --id 1

Start firewall (dry-run with backup):

sudo python3 pywall.py start

Firewall Backups

Before applying any firewall changes, PyWall automatically creates a backup of the current iptables configuration.

Backups are stored in:

backups/

Backup file format:

iptables-YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS.rules

These backups can be used for rollback using iptables-restore.

Design Philosophy

PyWall is designed with safety and predictability in mind:

• Validation before persistence
• Persistence before execution
• Backup before modification
• Dry-run before live execution
• Rollback capability built into the workflow

This approach minimizes the risk of system lockout or misconfiguration.

Roadmap

Planned enhancements include:

• Safe rule application with automatic rollback on failure
• INPUT and OUTPUT chain support
• Rule priority and ordering
• nftables backend support
• Logging and monitoring
• Daemon mode

Disclaimer

This project is intended for educational and experimental use. Use at your own risk. Always maintain out-of-band access when modifying firewall rules.

License

MIT License