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I'm using Firestarter on Ubuntu 12.04.

I configured Firestarter to run even after closing in the preferences menu.

But still it exits after closing.

It doesn't minimize to system tray.

garak
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1 Answers1

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A few things, and a recommendation.

First, Firestarter isnt the firewall itself. It is a graphical front-end to the iptables firewall that comes with ubuntu by default. iptables will always run. However, with Firestarter, when it closes, it clears out the iptables rules, which is why Firestarter needs to remain open for the firewall to work.

Secondly, this might be a bug in Firestarter itself, and you should file a bug as such.

Thirdly, Firestarter is not recommended for use anymore, due to it not having been updated in a while, since support for it has been dropped from Ubuntu developers. Therefore, it is more strongly recommended to use ufw or gufw (gui frontend for ufw) in place of Firestarter, as that is updated actively, and is actively developed. Like Firestarter, they work with the iptables backend. They, however, leave the rules in place upon exit, so the firewall rules will still run, unlike with Firestarter.

Thomas Ward
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  • thank you. This gufw also closes after exiting. I can't seem to find in preferences to configure to run even after closing. – garak Jul 31 '12 at 14:21
  • It will always run. The front ends configure the backend called `iptables`, which is *always running*. You are confusing the front-end configuration utilities with the actual firewall program. Which is what I said in the first point i made in my answer. Using them to configure, and then closing the firewall configuration program, will not disable the firewall, since the backend that they configure, `iptables`, is *always running*. (Firestarter's the exception, it actually opens up the firewall on its own shutdown, which is not good form) – Thomas Ward Jul 31 '12 at 14:39