# Configure a Firewall

Activate and configure a [<mark style="color:blue;">Firewall</mark>](https://docs.ionos.com/support/general-information/glossary-of-terms#firewall) for each Network Interface Card ([<mark style="color:blue;">NIC</mark>](https://docs.ionos.com/support/general-information/glossary-of-terms#nic)) to better protect your servers from attacks. IONOS Cloud Firewalls can filter incoming (ingress), outgoing (egress), or bidirectional traffic. When configuring firewalls, define appropriate rules to filter traffic accordingly.

## Activate a Firewall

To activate a Firewall, follow these steps:

1\. In the **Workspace**, select a Virtual Machine with a **NIC**.

2\. From the **Inspector** pane, open the **Network** tab.

3\. Open the properties of the NIC for which you want to set up a Firewall.

4\. Choose either **Ingress**, **Egress**, or **Bidirectional** traffic flow type for which the Firewall needs to be activated.

![Activate a Firewall](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-75a8662978d35d3034f7e7e1026e554e2eb04596%2Factivate_firewall.png?alt=media)

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Warning:** Activating the Firewall without additional rules will block all incoming traffic. Make sure you set the Firewall rules by using **Manage Rules**.
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{% hint style="success" %}
**Result:** The Firewall is activated for the selected **NIC**.
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## Create a Firewall Rule

To create a Firewall rule, follow these steps:

1\. In the **Workspace**, select a VM with a **NIC**.

2\. From the **Inspector** pane, open the **Network** tab.

3\. Open the properties of the NIC for which you wish to manages Firewall Rules.

4\. Click **Manage Rules**.

5\. Click **Create Firewall Rule** and choose from the following type of Firewall rules to add from the drop-down list:

* Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Rule
* User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Rule
* Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Rule
* ICMPv6 Rule
* Any Protocol

![Create a Firewall Rule](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-6fb7819a5276e4ccf313f9569370e1af034d7f69%2Fnew_rules_firewalls.png?alt=media)

6\. Enter values for the following in a Firewall rule:

* **Name:** Enter a name for the rule.
* **Direction** Choose the traffic direction between **Ingress** and **Egress**.
* **Source MAC:** Enter the Media Access Control (MAC) address to be passed through by the firewall.
* **Source IP/CIDR:** Enter the [<mark style="color:blue;">IP address</mark>](https://docs.ionos.com/support/general-information/glossary-of-terms#ip-address) to be passed through by the Firewall.
* **Destination IP/CIDR:** If you use virtual IP addresses on the same network interface, you can enter them here to allow access.
* **Port Range Start:** Set the first port of an entire port range.
* **Port Range End:** Set the last port of a port range or enter the port from Port Range Start if you only want this port to be allowed.
* **ICMP Type:** Enter the ICMP Type to be allowed. Example: 0 or 8 for echo requests (ping) or 30 for traceroutes.
* **ICMP Code:** Enter the ICMP Code to be allowed. Example: 0 for echo requests.
* **IP Version:** Select a version from the drop-down list. By default, it is **Auto**.

![Values for a Firewall Rule](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-76176131990a06cd834ed74e794a38e19a88a79b%2Ffirewall_fields.png?alt=media)

7\. (Optional) You can add Firewall rules from an existing template by using **Rules from Template**. The **Generic Webserver**, **Mailserver**, **Remote Access Linux**, and **Remote Access Windows** are the types of Firewall rules you can add from the existing rules template.

![Firewall Rules from Template](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7c09736596e812da36b71c876737c18aa794842d%2Ffirewall-rules-templates.png?alt=media)

8\. Alternatively, you may import an existing rule set from the **Clone Rules from other NIC**.

9\. Click **Save** to confirm creating a Firewall rule.

{% hint style="success" %}
**Result:** A Firewall Rule is created with the configured values.
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