{"id":645,"date":"2023-07-25T12:31:23","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T12:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hostinger.io\/support\/2023\/07\/25\/8172641-how-to-use-a-managed-vps-firewall-at-hostinger\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:12:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:12:02","slug":"8172641-how-to-use-a-managed-vps-firewall-at-hostinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/8172641-how-to-use-a-managed-vps-firewall-at-hostinger\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use a Managed VPS Firewall at Hostinger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"no-margin\"><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/vps-hosting\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">Hostinger VPS<\/a><\/b> offers an innovative <b>cloud-based firewall solution<\/b> to safeguard one or more cloud servers effectively. Implementing cloud firewalls is a <b>vital security step<\/b>, ensuring the protection of application services from unnecessary exposure to potential internet threats. Compared favorably to traditional server OS firewalls, <b>Hostinger VPS Firewall<\/b> boasts distinct advantages.<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">With Hostinger VPS Firewall, packet filtering occurs before incoming traffic reaches the protected server, significantly reducing resource usage. The added convenience of managing the firewall through hPanel rather than the OS streamlines the process. Additionally, updating the firewall policy for multiple servers is quick and simple by attaching them to a single Hostinger VPS Firewall group.<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h2 id=\"h_c01876b27d\">Example<\/h2><p class=\"no-margin\">Below is a diagram demonstrating the interaction between the<b> Hostinger VPS firewall<\/b> and the <b>OS firewall<\/b>, showcasing their combined use. Three servers are depicted, all linked to a single Hostinger VPS firewall, and each server possesses its own OS firewall. Here are the outcomes when an internet user tries to connect to these servers using different ports:<\/p><ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>HTTP traffic<\/b> in connection attempt 1 <b>succeeds<\/b>: the Hostinger VPS Firewall and the OS firewall are properly configured to<b> permit HTTP traffic<\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>SSH traffic<\/b> in connection attempt 2 <b>fails<\/b>: the traffic successfully passes through the Hostinger VPS firewall but is subsequently<b> blocked by the OS firewall<\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>MySQL traffic<\/b> in connection attempt 3 also <b>fails<\/b>: despite the OS firewall being set to allow MySQL traffic, it is <b>obstructed by the Hostinger VPS firewall<\/b>, which exclusively permits HTTP and SSH traffic<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><div class=\"intercom-container intercom-align-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2023\/07\/c49c902d-aa4f-4e90-b5dd-18c1dc2424e1.jpg\" alt=\"A diagram demonstrating the interaction between the Hostinger VPS firewall and the OS firewall\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h2 id=\"h_0dbf8af565\">How to create firewall rules<\/h2><p class=\"no-margin\">Open the <b><a href=\"https:\/\/hpanel.hostinger.com\/servers\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" rel=\"noopener\">VPS<\/a> <\/b>section on your hPanel and click on the server in question. Then, click on <b>Security <\/b>&rarr; <b>Firewall<\/b> in the left sidebar and follow these steps:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">1. Click <b>Add Firewall<\/b>, insert the firewall name, and click&nbsp;<b>Create<\/b>.<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">2. Then, click on the <b>ellipsis button &#8943;<\/b> next to the newly created firewall group list and select <b>Edit<\/b>:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2023\/07\/2ca2f9d0-f142-4133-bfce-1d9f5500807a.jpg\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">3. In the section <b>Add firewall rule<\/b>, follow these steps:<\/p><ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Select the desired firewall <b>action<\/b>: accept, reject, or drop<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Select the <b>protocol<\/b> or<b> common application<\/b> from the dropdown list<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">If a protocol like<b> TCP<\/b> or<b> UDP<\/b> is selected, insert the <b>port value<\/b> by specifying either the port number or range (in format <b>port_number:port_number<\/b>)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Select a <b>traffic source<\/b>: anywhere or custom<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">If you select a <b>custom traffic source<\/b>, specify it in the <b>Source details<\/b> field:<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><div class=\"intercom-container intercom-align-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2023\/07\/7fe8c034-f35a-4cb0-8b04-7f94dbebf675.jpg\" alt=\"An example of a VPS firewall rule \"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">4. Click on <b>Add rule<\/b>. <\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">P.S. Make sure that your firewall is<b> active<\/b>:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2023\/07\/71cdddaf-dbe7-4e1a-a914-06e10200688d.jpg\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">And that&rsquo;s it!<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h2 id=\"h_23497d3949\">How to manage firewall rules<\/h2><p class=\"no-margin\">Open the <b><a href=\"https:\/\/hpanel.hostinger.com\/servers\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" rel=\"noopener\">VPS<\/a> <\/b>section on your hPanel and click on the server in question. Then, click on <b>Firewall<\/b> in the left sidebar, click on the <b>ellipsis button &#8943;<\/b> next to the preferred firewall group list, and select <b>Edit<\/b>:<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><div class=\"intercom-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2023\/07\/7ffd589a-2a9c-4b12-9732-b446ab8f95f0.jpg\"><\/div><p class=\"no-margin\">Make the preferred changes and save them.<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<\/p><h2 id=\"h_af2534071c\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2><details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>Will changes to my Hostinger VPS firewall interrupt existing traffic?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>No. <\/b>Established connections are left intact. When you change a rule in a firewall group, changes will only be applied to new connections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>How does Hostinger VPS Firewall differ from the firewall of my OS?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Hostinger VPS Firewall is comparable to most firewall programs bundled in with server operating systems. However, Hostinger VPS Firewall has several key differences:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Packet filtering takes place at a higher level on the network, reducing your server&rsquo;s resource usage<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">The firewall is managed through the Hostinger VPS dashboard<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Updating the firewall policy for multiple servers is quick and convenient because Hostinger VPS Firewall groups can be applied to various servers<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>How do I use Hostinger VPS Firewall on my server?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Hostinger VPS Firewall can be used on both new and existing servers. First, you need to create a firewall group, and then you may add any desired rules to it. To do so, follow <b><a href=\"\/support\/8172641-how-to-use-vps-firewall#h_0dbf8af565\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\">these steps<\/a><\/b>. To apply a firewall group to an existing server, open the <b><a href=\"https:\/\/hpanel.hostinger.com\/servers\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" rel=\"noopener\">VPS<\/a><\/b> section, and access the server in question. Then, click on <b>Firewall <\/b>in the left sidebar, and you&rsquo;ll find a list of your firewall groups. Finally, <b>activate<\/b> the desired firewall group. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>Can I apply the same firewall group to more than one server?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>Yes<\/b>, you can use the same firewall group on any number of servers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>How quickly do firewall changes take effect?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Changes to a <b>Hostinger Firewall<\/b> group will occur in<b> two minutes or less<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>What is the default policy of Hostinger VPS Firewall?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Hostinger VPS Firewall groups require <b>at least one rule<\/b> to become active. An empty ruleset will block all traffic when applied to a server. By default, Hostinger VPS Firewall drops all traffic, which means you must add <b>accept rules<\/b> for all ports you want to use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>Is IPv6 supported?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">You can use Hostinger VPS Firewall to filter <b>IPv4 and IPv6 <\/b>traffic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>Is the Hostinger VPS Firewall a replacement for DDOS protection?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">The Hostinger VPS Firewall is designed to enhance the security of your instance. It&rsquo;s <b>not intended to block the large volumes of traffic<\/b> that can happen during a DDOS attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p><p class=\"no-margin\">\n<details>\n<summary>\n<p class=\"no-margin\"><b>Can the firewall on my instance be turned off? Is Hostinger VPS Firewall enough?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"collapsible-section-content\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Hostinger VPS Firewall can drop all traffic on ICMP, TCP, UDP, and GRE protocols, except for traffic that matches rules that have been added. If this is acceptable, then Hostinger VPS Firewall is enough. OS firewalls allow finer rule customization, such as ICMP message handling. If your use case requires this customization, you must still use the OS firewall and Hostinger VPS Firewall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn more about managed VPS Firewall at Hostinger<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"include_on_kodee":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vps-management"],"hreflangs":[{"locale":"en-US","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/8172641-how-to-use-a-managed-vps-firewall-at-hostinger\/","default":1},{"locale":"es-ES","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/es\/support\/8172641-como-usar-un-firewall-vps-administrado-en-hostinger\/","default":0},{"locale":"fr-FR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/fr\/support\/8172641-comment-configurer-et-utiliser-un-pare-feu-infogere-pour-vps-chez-hostinger\/","default":0},{"locale":"lt-LT","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/lt\/support\/8172641-kaip-naudoti-valdoma-vps-ugniasiene-hostinger-platformoje\/","default":0},{"locale":"pt-PT","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/br\/support\/8172641-como-usar-um-firewall-gerenciado-no-vps-hostinger\/","default":0},{"locale":"uk-UA","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ua\/support\/8172641----\/","default":0}],"include_on_kodee":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2850,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645\/revisions\/2850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}