Build Housecarl 0.1.0: the nftables firewall manager

Zones, address sets (IPv4 and IPv6 mixed, dynamic sets with timeouts) and
services, ordered rules in the early, input, forward and output chains,
port forwards with hairpin NAT and IPv6 pinholes, source NAT, redirects,
and switchable built-ins (loopback, conntrack, ICMPv6, antispoofing, MSS
clamping, DHCPv6 client, flowtable). Every change is validated, checked
with nft -c and applied in one transaction to Housecarl's own table,
inet housecarl; changes made over the network roll back unless
confirmed, and the confirmed ruleset is loaded at boot by
housecarl-ruleset.service. An empty configuration applies nothing.

Also: hit counters and the drop log (nflog), 'hc import' of an existing
nftables ruleset and 'hc takeover', the hc CLI, the REST API and the web
UI, users, scoped tokens (sets:write:NAME), the audit log, the web UI's
certificate through Jarl, Debian packages, docs, unit tests with real
nft 1.1.3, and an e2e test with real traffic (71 checks).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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abrown38andClaude Opus 5.5 committed 2026-10-19 07:57:14 +01:00
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# Importing an nftables ruleset
`hc import` turns the ruleset you have into Housecarl's configuration,
and `hc takeover` deletes the old table once Housecarl's replaces it.
Until then both apply.
## 1. Look first
On the firewall, as root:
```sh
sudo hc import --defines /etc/nftables.conf -n
```
`hc` runs `nft -j list ruleset` (and `nft -a list ruleset`, for the text
of rules it can't translate) and sends both to housecarld. `-n` (dry run)
shows what it would make, without saving anything: zones, sets,
services, rules, port forwards and NAT, then **notes** on every guess it
made, and the rules it **kept raw**.
`--defines` reads your ruleset file's `define` lines, so sets get your
names (`define trusted_ips = { ... }` becomes the set `trusted_ips`).
Without it, sets are named after what they hold. Interfaces named by a
define name their zone too (`define wan_interface = "ppp0"` makes the
zone `wan`); otherwise a zone is named after its interface.
From another machine, give the JSON as a file, and the text with
`--text`:
```sh
ssh fw 'sudo nft -j list ruleset' > ruleset.json
ssh fw 'sudo nft -a list ruleset' > ruleset.txt
hc import ruleset.json --text ruleset.txt --defines nftables.conf -n
```
With several tables, `--table "inet main"` picks one; by default every
table but Housecarl's is read. The web UI has the same under Server →
Import a ruleset.
## What becomes what
* **Interfaces** become zones. Zones are marked external when the rules
show it: MSS clamping on the way out, DHCPv6 client replies, ping
accepted from everywhere else.
* **Sets and defines** of addresses become address sets; port lists
become services.
* **Jumps and gotos** to your own chains are flattened: the jump's
condition is added to each rule of the chain, in place.
* **Rules** keep their order. A rule that is a built-in (loopback,
established, invalid, the ICMPv6 rules, MSS clamping, the DHCPv6 client
rule, antispoofing) becomes that built-in only when it sits where the
built-in goes, at the head of every chain it covers. Otherwise it stays
a rule where it was, so the ruleset does what it did. Built-ins your
ruleset doesn't have are turned off.
* **DNAT** rules become port forwards, TCP and UDP of the same port
merged into one. The forward-chain accepts that let them through
become part of the port forward, and a masquerade for inside sources
to the same host becomes its hairpin. An IPv6 accept to the same port
becomes the forward's IPv6 pinhole when there is only one candidate.
* **Masquerade and SNAT** become source NAT; **redirect** becomes a
redirect.
* **Policies** become the chains' policies.
* **Anything else** becomes a raw rule with its original text, in place.
A raw rule naming a set of the old table needs the new set name:
Housecarl's are `NAME_v4` and `NAME_v6`, and a note says so.
Chains on hooks Housecarl doesn't manage (ingress, a bridge table) are
left out, with a note.
## 2. Import
```sh
sudo hc import --defines /etc/nftables.conf
sudo hc ruleset # what Housecarl now applies
sudo hc status # problems, and the other tables
```
Housecarl's table is now in force **alongside** the old one: a packet
must be accepted by both. Nothing should change for your traffic. If
Housecarl already has a configuration, `--replace` replaces it.
Imported over the network (not through the local socket), the import is
on probation like any change: confirm it.
## 3. Take over
Once the rules look right (and their hits in the web UI agree), delete
the old table:
```sh
sudo hc takeover "inet main"
```
From now on only Housecarl's rules apply. Over the network, this is on
probation too: unless confirmed, the old table comes back.
## 4. The boot
Housecarl's ruleset is loaded at boot by `housecarl-ruleset.service`.
Debian's `nftables.service` loads `/etc/nftables.conf`, which usually
starts with `flush ruleset`: that would delete Housecarl's table, or
bring the old one back. Retire it:
```sh
sudo systemctl disable nftables.service
sudo mv /etc/nftables.conf /etc/nftables.conf.before-housecarl
```
`housecarl-ruleset.service` runs after `nftables.service` in any case,
so a leftover `flush ruleset` can't undo it. Docker, Incus and libvirt
keep adding their own tables as before.
## Checking the result
* `hc rule list input` (and `forward`) side by side with
`nft -a list table inet main`: the same rules, in the same order, with
built-ins above.
* The notes: each says what to check.
* `hc counters` after a while: a rule with no hits that had hits before
is worth a look.