---
name: "netfilter-persistent"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "netfilter-persistent"
version: "1.0.23"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/netfilter-persistent"
---

# netfilter-persistent(8)

load, flush and save netfilter rule sets

## NAME

netfilter-persistent - load, flush and save netfilter rule sets

## SYNOPSIS

**netfilter-persistent** start

**netfilter-persistent** stop

**netfilter-persistent** flush

**netfilter-persistent** save

## DESCRIPTION

**netfilter-persistent** uses a set of plugins to load, flush and save netfilter rules at boot and halt time. Plugins can be written in any suitable language and stored in */usr/share/netfilter-persistent/plugins.d*

## OPTIONS

- start

  Calls all plugins with the *start* argument, causing them to load their rules into netfilter.

- stop

  If the configuration *FLUSH\_ON\_STOP* is enabled, calls all plugins with the *flush* argument, causing them to remove their rules from netfilter. Otherwise, emits a warning only.

- flush

  Calls all plugins with the *flush* argument, causing them to remove their rules from netfilter.

- save

  Calls all plugins with the *save* argument, causing them to save the currently-loaded rules to persistent storage.

## PLUGINS

Plugins can be written in any language and are merely executed by **netfilter-persistent** with a single argument. All plugins are stored in */usr/share/netfilter-persistent/plugins.d*

Plugins must implement the *start* *flush* and  *save* arguments and must not rely on additional arguments for other functionality.\
 Plugins must return 0 on success and any other code on failure.

Plugins are free to use and extend the configuration in */etc/default/netfilter-persistent* and to implement their own configuration files.

## FILES

- */etc/default/netfilter-persistent*

  Main configuration file

- */usr/share/netfilter-persistent/plugins.d*

  Plugin directory

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2009 Simon Richter \<sjr@debian.org\>\
 Copyright (C) 2010, 2014 Jonathan Wiltshire \<jmw@debian.org\>

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

## AUTHORS

Jonathan Wiltshire \<jmw@debian.org\>