Firewall rules and aliases

FreeSense evaluates firewall policy at interfaces. Start with the question: which source is allowed to reach which destination, using which protocol and port? Write that answer as a narrow, reviewable rule.

Rule design

• Put specific allow or block rules before broad rules.
• Scope rules to the ingress interface where traffic enters the firewall.
• Use descriptions that name the service owner and intent.
• Enable logging temporarily when validating a new policy.
• Keep a known-good management path above rules that might block it.

Aliases

Aliases turn repeated addresses, networks, ports, URLs, or tables into named policy objects. Use them to keep rules readable and to centralize changes. For feeds or package-owned tables, distinguish between data you own and data an integration refreshes automatically.

The CrowdSec integration writes decisions to a reserved FreeSense-owned table. Do not edit its generated table as if it were a hand-maintained alias; manage it through the CrowdSec interface.

Change workflow

Make one policy change at a time, apply it while console access is available, validate the intended flow, and inspect the relevant firewall log entries. Save a configuration backup before a broad policy rewrite or remote maintenance window.