Ubuntu – Where is iptables in Ubuntu 16.04

16.04iptables

I'm reading through the source code that writes directly to system iptables in /system/xbin/iptables in Android. I would like to do the same in Ubuntu without using the iptables command.

Where is iptables located on Ubuntu 16.04? I followed some questions and answers which don't apply on this version of Ubuntu.

find / -name iptables return /sbin/iptables which contains binary and maybe man!

Where is the file that the iptables command writes its configuration?

Best Answer

iptables stores its information in RAM, meaning it's non-persistent. If you want to save/restore it at will, you'll need to use a couple commands.

First off, you would use iptables as normal to set up your rules the way you want them. Then, you can freeze these rules using something like:

sudo iptables-save | sudo tee /etc/iptables.conf

Then, to load your rules, it's a simple matter of running:

sudo iptables-restore < /etc/iptables.conf

You can add this to your /etc/rc.local or similar to have it run automatically at boot, or you can have your program call this executable (or just pass the same iptables rules over and over again).

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