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Install WebUI

ConfigServer Firewall offers a WebUI for the managing firewall from the web interface. This section explains how to install the WebUI.


Step 1: Install Required Perl Modules:

The CSF WebUI requires a few Perl modules to be installed on your system. Use the following commands to install the required modules as per your operating system.


Debian based systems: 

sudo apt-get install libio-socket-ssl-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl \
                    libnet-libidn-perl libio-socket-inet6-perl libsocket6-perl


Redhat based systems: 

sudo yum install perl-IO-Socket-SSL.noarch perl-Net-SSLeay perl-Net-LibIDN \
               perl-IO-Socket-INET6 perl-Socket6


Step 2: Enable CSF Firewall Web UI:

To enable CSF web UI edit /etc/csf/csf.conf file in your favorite text editor and update the following values.

sudo vim /etc/csf/csf.conf

# 1 to enable, 0 to disable web ui 
UI = "1"

# Set port for web UI. The default port is 6666, but
# I change this to 1025 to easy access. Default port create some issue
# with popular chrome and firefox browser (in my case) 

UI_PORT = "1025"

# Leave blank to bind to all IP addresses on the server 
UI_IP = ""

# Set username for authetnication 
UI_USER = "admin"

# Set a strong password for authetnication 
UI_PASS = "admin"


Change the following values to your own:

  • UI_PORT
  • UI_USER
  • UI_PASS


After making changes, edit /etc/csf/ui/ui.allow configuration file and add your public IP to allow access to CSF UI. Change YOUR_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESS with your public IP address.

sudo echo "YOUR_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESS" >>  /etc/csf/ui/ui.allow


Web UI works under lfd daemon. So restart the lfd daemon on your system using the following command.

sudo service lfd restart


In order to gain access to the online admin panel; you must ensure lfd and csf are running. You can check by running the command:

sudo service lfd status


You should see the lfd service running:

● lfd.service - ConfigServer Firewall & Security - lfd
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/lfd.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2024-08-05 11:59:38 MST; 1s ago
    Process: 46393 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/lfd (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 46407 (lfd - sleeping)
      Tasks: 8 (limit: 4613)
     Memory: 121.7M
        CPU: 2.180s
     CGroup: /system.slice/lfd.service


Next, confirm csf service is also running:

sudo service csf status


Check the output for errors on service csf. You should see no errors:

● csf.service - ConfigServer Firewall & Security - csf
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/csf.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (exited) since Mon 2024-08-05 12:04:09 MST; 1s ago
    Process: 46916 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/csf --initup (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 46916 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
        CPU: 12.692s


If you see the following error when running csf status:

csf[46313]: open3: exec of /sbin/ipset flush failed: No such file or directory at /usr/sbin/csf line 5650.


You must install ipset:

sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install ipset


Step 3: Access and Use Web UI:

Now, access CSF UI on your browser with the specified port. For this tutorial; we used 1025 port and accessed the CSF admin panel by opening our browser and going to:

https://127.0.0.1:1025


When prompted for the username and password; the default is:

Field Value
Username admin
Password admin



After successful login, you will find the screen like below.


Allow IP Address: You can use below option to allow any IP quickly. This action adds the entry to the /etc/csf/csf.allow file.


Deny IP Address: You can use below option to deny any IP quickly. This action adds the entry to the /etc/csf/csf.deny file.


Unblock IP Address: You can use below option to quickly unblocked any IP which is already blocked by CSF.