Firewall is an integral part of any system and can be used to protect a server against unauthenticated access from the outside world. It helps to prevent hackers from logging into servers on the network. Firewall can also be used to set up specific rules in-order to restrict access to specific ports of the system based on IP address.
The basic functionality of a firewall is to control the incoming and outgoing traffic and choose whether to block a particular connection or let it through based on the defined set of security rules.
We can use the below steps for managing Windows firewall settings.
Log in to the Windows server and open Firewall using any of the command firewall.cpl
or Windows Firewall
using Search bar.
Under firewall settings, there are two sections called "Private networks" and "Guest or public networks" with green shields to the left of them, which say that the firewall is active
. If they are on red shields, then the firewall is disabled
.
Click on either of these sections, it will prompt a drop-down menu with details about the current public or private networks.
Select the Advanced Settings
option from the left of the main menu, then you can manage and change the firewall's advanced settings menu.
Inbound Rules : Which incoming connections are automatically allowed.
Outbound Rules : Which outgoing connections are automatically allowed.
Connection Security Rules : Baselines for which connections your computer will allow and which ones it will block.
Monitoring : This is an overview of your firewall's basic monitoring guidelines.
How to Open/Limit a Port in Windows Firewall
Go to Control Panel, System and Security and Windows Firewall.
Select Advanced settings
and highlight Inbound Rules
in the left pane.
Right-click Inbound Rules
and select New Rule
.
Add the port
you need to open and click Next
.
Select the protocol (TCP or UDP)
and add the port number
and click Next
.
Select Type of connection
as per your need in the next window and click Next
.
Select the network type
and click Next
.
Name the rule
something relates to the setting and click Finish
.
How to Allow/Limit the Network in Windows Firewall
Go to Control Panel, System and Security and Windows Firewall.
Select Advanced settings
and highlight Inbound Rules
in the left pane.
Right-click the rule you want to configure, and then choose Properties
.
Here you may need to select the Rule wisely as below:
Allow Particular Network : Create a Firewall rule to Allow a port and use that rule’s properties to edit scope.
Block Particular Network : Create a Firewall rule to Block a port and use that rule’s properties to edit scope.
Click the Scope
tab. In the Remote IP Address group, select These IP Addresses
.
Select one of the following two options, and then click OK
.
a. This IP Address or Subnet Type an IP address (such as 192.168.0.12) or a subnet using Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation (such as 192.168.0.0/24) that should be allowed for the firewall rule.
b. This IP Address Range Using the From and To boxes, type the first and last IP address that should be allowed to use the firewall rule and then click OK.
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