How to Install Sentinel Firewall (CSF) on Rocky Linux 8

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Sentinel Firewall (CSF + LFD) is a powerful and lightweight firewall management tool designed for Linux servers. It provides advanced protection against brute-force attacks, port scans, and other security threats, making it an excellent choice for Rocky Linux environments.

Switch to root (or use sudo)

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sudo -s

Update your system

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dnf update -y

Install prerequisites

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dnf install -y wget tar perl

Download the Sentinel (CSF) package

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cd /root
wget https://github.com/sentinelfirewall/sentinel/raw/refs/heads/main/csf.tgz

Extract the package

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tar -xzf csf.tgz

Enter the extracted directory

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cd csf

Run the installation script

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sh install.sh

Post-Installation Configuration

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After installation, follow these configuration steps to set up and enable Sentinel (CSF).

Edit the main configuration file

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vi /etc/csf/csf.conf

Important parameters to configure

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Setting	Description	Recommended
TESTING = "1"	CSF testing mode. Change to “0” to enable.	0
TCP_IN	Allowed inbound TCP ports.	22,80,443,25,110,143,465,587,993,995
TCP_OUT	Allowed outbound TCP ports.	20,21,22,25,53,80,443,587,993,995
UDP_IN / UDP_OUT	Allowed UDP ports (DNS, NTP, etc.).	53,123
ICMP_IN	Allow ping.	Optional
RESTRICT_SYSLOG	Restrict log access.	Default
LF_TRIGGER / LF_SSHD	Brute force thresholds.	Default

Save and exit (Ctrl + O, Ctrl + X).

Whitelist or Block Specific IPs

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Whitelist your IP to avoid being locked out:

echo "203.0.113.5" >> /etc/csf/csf.allow

Block a known malicious IP:

echo "192.0.2.10" >> /etc/csf/csf.deny

Enable and Start the Firewall Services

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systemctl enable csf
systemctl start csf
systemctl status csf

Then, enable and start lfd (Login Failure Daemon):

systemctl enable lfd
systemctl start lfd
systemctl status lfd

Disable Firewalld (to avoid conflicts)

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systemctl stop firewalld
systemctl disable firewalld
systemctl status firewalld

Handle SELinux (if enforcing)

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Check SELinux status:

sestatus

If enabled and enforcing, allow CSF rules:

dnf install -y policycoreutils-python-utils
ausearch -m avc -ts recent
audit2allow -a -M csf_custom
semodule -i csf_custom.pp

Test Configuration and Reboot

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Reboot the system:

reboot

After reboot, verify CSF:

csf -v
csf -l

Optional Commands

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Whitelist your IP if blocked:

csf -a <your_ip>

View logs:

tail -f /var/log/lfd.log
tail -f /var/log/messages

✅ Sentinel Firewall (CSF) is now installed and configured successfully on Rocky Linux 8.