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How to create custom ESXi 5.x Firewall rule and why you need to

By Vladan SEGET | Last Updated: June 30, 2016

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You might need to create Custom ESXi 5.x firewall rule for different reasons. One of them might be a custom made in-house software application. Services like FTP, SFTP, Telnet or SSH are not enabled by default, and the ports for these services are closed.  In the list of services, there is not a possibility for an administrator to add a custom firewall rule through the GUI. The process is possible through the CLI. So how to create custom ESXi 5.x Firewall rule?

ESXi 5.x firewall is not based on iptables as it was the case in pre-esxi5.x release. The ESXi firewall retain its configuration during the migration process, and it's active by default for new clean installations of ESXi 5.x.

You maight need to open the firewall for the defined port on TCP or UDP that is not defined by default in Firewall Properties under Configuration > Security Profile on the vSphere Client. Custom firewall rules is also on the VCP and both VCAPs blueprints so if you're studying to pass one of those VMware certification exams, you'll need this knowledge.

ESXi 5.x uses rule list for firewall rules. The rule list is written in config file, which is an XML file located here:

/etc/vmware/firewall/service.xml

The SSH access must be enabled so you can Putty to your ESXi host. The namespace esxcli network firewall gives you the options needed.

How to create Custom Firewall Rules ESXi 5.x

How to create custom ESXi 5.x Firewall rule?

It's not really difficult to create a custom rule, but you need to know the outline, follow the pattern and also you'll need to know how to work with VI editor… (Note that you can also do part of the job via WinSCP).

Step 1: Backup first the original service.xml file by running this command, but first step in to the directory by

cd /etc/vmware/firewall

And then

cp service.xml service.xml.original

Step 2: Change permissions of the service.xml file so we can do modifications

chmod 644 service.xml

and

chmod +t service.xml

Step 3: Open the service.xml file in VI editor

vi service.xml

Now the most difficult part as there are very strict rules on what a ruleset has to contain.

  • A numeric identifier for the service, if the configuration file contains more than one service.
  • A unique identifier for the rule set, usually the name of the service.
  • For each rule, the file contains one or more port rules, each with a definition for direction, protocol, port type, and port number or range of port numbers.
  • A flag indicating whether the service is enabled or disabled when the rule set is applied.
  • An indication of whether the rule set is required and cannot be disabled.

Example: Rule Set Configuration File

<service id='1256′>
<id>vladans_rule</id>
<rule id='0000′>
<direction>inbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>1256</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>true</required>
</service>

The best way is to copy one of those rules and adapt it to your needs (changing the ID number, ID, rule ID etc…. ) Note that the dst in the example means destination.

On the example below is screenshot from WinSCP utility, if you prefer …

Add custom firewall rule ESXi 5.x

Step 4 – Re-change the permissions and refresh the firewall…

chmod 444 service.xml

and

esxcli network firewall refresh

Step 5: List the rules by

esxcli network firewall ruleset list

and (or) control that the rule apears through the vSphere client.

How to create Custom Firewall Rules on ESXi 5.x

Thats all. If not there are individual commands which can be passed to open ports, but not quite sure those changes persists through reboots. By using this method the config persists through reboots.

update: just checked with 5.5 u1, and it does not persist across reboot. It was persistant (and tested) with the 5.1 version.

You can use this kb when you want to make it persistant across reboots:

  • User defined xml firewall configurations are not persistent across ESXi host reboots (2007381)

Sources:

  • VMware KB 2008226 – Creating custom firewall rules in VMware ESXi 5.0
  • VMware KB 2005304 – Adding a third-party firewall extension to ESXi 5.0
  • VMware Online Documentation
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| Filed Under: Server Virtualization Tagged With: How to create custom ESXi 5.x Firewall rule 5 Comments

About Vladan SEGET

This website is maintained by Vladan SEGET. Vladan is as an Independent consultant, professional blogger, vExpert x11, Veeam Vanguard x5, VCAP-DCA/DCD, VCP, ESX Virtualization site has started as a simple bookmarking site, but quickly found a large following of readers and subscribers.

Connect on: Facebook. Feel free to network via Twitter @vladan.

Comments

  1. PHil says

    September 24, 2014 at 6:14 pm

    Do you know if they give you winscp or something similar on the VCAP-DCA exam?

    Reply
  2. Julio Oliveira says

    February 25, 2015 at 9:48 pm

    Yes, they give winscp.

    Reply
  3. jhh says

    June 29, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    this is not persistent
    it either has to be the loaded in to a vib and then installed
    or you need an ugly hack to rc.local
    Changing the port used by SSH on an ESXi 5.0 host (2011818)

    Reply
  4. jhh says

    June 30, 2016 at 12:12 am

    No, custom firewall rules are not preserved through reboots using this method unless you…

    To fix this make it into a .tgz and add it to bootbank and boot.cfg

    Make the new rule test.xml
    mkdir -p /tmp/etc/vmware/firewall
    move test.xml in
    from /tmp
    tar czvf test.tgz etc
    cp test.tgz /bootbank
    edit boot.cfg and add “— test.tgz” to end of modules
    run auto-backup to make persistent

    Reply
    • Vladan SEGET says

      June 30, 2016 at 11:58 am

      Thanks for your comment and letting me know. This is an old post, created for v 5.0. The behaviour changed in 5.5. The post has been updated (link to a VMware kb).

      Reply

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