How to Install and Configure Fail2ban on CentOS 7, CentOS 6.x and Ubuntu 14.04

1. How do I install and configure Fail2Ban on CentOS 7?
2. How do I install and configure Fail2Ban?
3. What is Fail ban?
4. Does fail2ban work with FirewallD?
5. How do I check if fail2ban is working?
6. What is jail fail2ban?
7. How do I create a fail2ban jail?
8. Is fail2ban necessary?
9. Is fail2ban safe?
10. How often does fail2ban check logs?
11. What can fail2ban do to protect sshd?
12. How do I view fail2ban logs?
13. How do I block IP address in Firewalld?

How do I install and configure Fail2Ban on CentOS 7?

There are three steps for installing Fail2Ban on CentOS 7 – installing the EPEL repository, copying configuration files, and configuring Fail2Ban.

1. Install the EPEL Repository. ...
2. Copy the Configuration Files. ...
3. Configure Fail2Ban.

How do I install and configure Fail2Ban?

Configuring fail2ban

1. Log in to your server using SSH.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command: cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf /etc/fail2ban/jail.local. ...
3. Open the jail. ...
4. Locate the [DEFAULT] section, which contains the following global options: ...
5. Save your changes to the jail.

What is Fail ban?

Fail2Ban is an intrusion prevention software framework that protects computer servers from brute-force attacks. Written in the Python programming language, it is able to run on POSIX systems that have an interface to a packet-control system or firewall installed locally, for example, iptables or TCP Wrapper.

Does fail2ban work with FirewallD?

Fail2ban is a service that monitors logfiles to detect potential intrusion attempts and places bans using a variety of methods. ... In Fedora and EL7, the default firewall service FirewallD can be used as a ban action.

How do I check if fail2ban is working?

log if fail2ban has been started. You'll also see output related to fail2ban activity. If you installed failed2ban via the package manager or software center, you should see entries in the /etc/rc* directories for fail2ban, which indicate (on default settings and without customization) that it will run on startup.

What is jail fail2ban?

A Fail2Ban jail is a combination of a filter and one or several actions. A filter defines a regular expression that matches a pattern corresponding to a failed login attempt or another suspicious activity. Actions define commands that are executed when the filter catches an abusive IP address.

How do I create a fail2ban jail?

Via CLI:

1. Connect to the server via SSH.
2. Open /etc/fail2ban/jail.local in any text editor and add the following content with corresponding values: [Jail name] enabled = true/false filter = specify the filter action = specify the action logpath = specify the log path bantime = set IP address ban period

Is fail2ban necessary?

Fail2ban is the answer to protect services from brute force and other automated attacks. Note: Fail2ban can only be used to protect services that require username/password authentication. ... You can set up filters, as fail2ban calls them, to protect almost every listening service on your system.

Is fail2ban safe?

It's important to note that fail2ban is just a small part of a full server security program. It's not a replacement for using secure passwords or hardening the server by limiting the number of exposed services. Nevertheless, if your server is plagued by automated bots, fail2ban is a great tool for limiting the impact.

How often does fail2ban check logs?

Scan times

Fail2ban waits 1 second before checking for new logs to be scanned.

What can fail2ban do to protect sshd?

A good way to protect SSH would be to ban an IP address from logging in if there are too many failed login attempts.
...
The basics of Fail2ban

1. Filters specify certain patterns of text that Fail2ban should recognize in log files.
2. Actions are things Fail2ban can do.
3. Jails tell Fail2ban to match a filter on some logs.

How do I view fail2ban logs?

The fail2ban log file can be found at /var/log/fail2ban. log . You will neeed root access to view it. It is a text file and you can see IP addresses that have been banned within it.

How do I block IP address in Firewalld?

1. To ensure that firewalld is running on your server, run the following command. ...
2. Use the following command to block the IP address and add the rule to the permanent set: sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-rich-rule="rule family='ipv4' source address='xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx' reject"