Staged undo, built-ins window, machine warnings; raw and dynamic set fixes

- Undo is staged like any edit: in review mode the web UI's Undo, and hc
  history undo with -C or HOUSECARL_CHANGESET, add a revert operation
  that checks, when replayed, that nothing it touches changed since;
  applied, History links the entries. Imports and takeovers still can't
  be staged.
- The rules page sums up a chain's built-ins in one line; a window lists
  them with what they do and their hits, and switches them.
- Warnings about the machine (dashboard, hc status): nftables.service
  enabled (it loads /etc/nftables.conf at boot and flushes every table
  when stopped), and the imported table still in force beside
  Housecarl's. The docs say to disable nftables.service but not stop it.
- A raw rule with other fields set is refused (raw_conflict) instead of
  silently ignoring them; the rule dialog's nftables section hides what
  it replaces, and the importer's raw rules carry only their text.
- A dynamic set with configured entries is refused
  (set_dynamic_entries): they were silently ignored. The set dialog
  shows entries or the entry timeout, as fits.
- The rule dialog's chain choices are just the chains' names.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
abrown38andClaude Opus 5.5 committed 2026-10-19 14:52:55 +01:00
1 parent d25e12995e
commit 9a165cf70b
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@@ -157,7 +157,10 @@ Changes staged to be reviewed and applied together ([design.md](design.md#review
Staging (`?changeset=ID` on any change to objects or settings) checks
the changeset with the new operation, and nftables checks its ruleset;
an error refuses the operation. Only open changesets take operations, and
only their owner's (or an administrator's). Undo, `/import/nft` and
only their owner's (or an administrator's). An undo
(`POST /history/{id}/revert?changeset=ID`) is staged as one operation,
which checks when it is replayed that nothing it touches changed since;
applied, History links it to the entry it undoes. `/import/nft` and
`/takeover` can't be staged: with a changeset named they answer 400.
Reads of objects, settings and `/ruleset` with `?changeset=ID` show the
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@@ -117,9 +117,9 @@ it, because an exported ID easily outlives its changeset:
`-C ID` and an ID argument are used as given (housecarld still refuses a
changeset that isn't open, or another user's unless you are an
administrator). Only configuration changes are staged: dynamic set
entries, `confirm` and `rollback` are made at once, and `history undo`,
`import` and `takeover` can't be staged, so they are refused while a
changeset is named. Changesets staged in the web UI show up here too,
entries, `confirm` and `rollback` are made at once; `history undo` is
staged like any change; `import` and `takeover` can't be staged, so they
are refused while a changeset is named. Changesets staged in the web UI show up here too,
and the other way round.
## Commands
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@@ -75,8 +75,9 @@ to be reviewed and applied together with others:
| CLI | Immediate: each command is a change of its own. Stage with `-C ID` or `HOUSECARL_CHANGESET`. | Scripts want a clear result per step. |
| API | Immediate unless a changeset is named (`?changeset=ID`, `X-Housecarl-Changeset`). | As the CLI. |
Undo, imports and takeovers can't be staged; with a changeset named, they
are refused rather than applied.
An undo is staged like any edit (in review mode, the web UI's Undo
collects it for review). Imports and takeovers can't be staged; with a
changeset named, they are refused rather than applied.
## Its own table only
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@@ -107,7 +107,10 @@ the old table:
sudo hc takeover "inet main"
```
From now on only Housecarl's rules apply. Over the network, this is on
From now on only Housecarl's rules apply. Until you do, the dashboard
and `hc status` warn that the imported table still applies
(`takeover_pending`); they also warn while `nftables.service` is enabled
(`nftables_service`). Over the network, this is on
probation too: unless confirmed, the old table comes back.
## 4. The boot
@@ -122,6 +125,11 @@ sudo systemctl disable nftables.service
sudo mv /etc/nftables.conf /etc/nftables.conf.before-housecarl
```
Disable it, but **don't stop it** (no `systemctl stop nftables`, no
`disable --now`): Debian's unit stops by running `nft flush ruleset`,
which deletes every table, Housecarl's and Docker's included, at once.
Disabled, it simply doesn't run at the next boot.
`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.
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@@ -80,10 +80,21 @@ sudo nft -c -f /var/lib/housecarl/ruleset.nft # check it
Dynamic sets start empty after a reboot.
Keep Debian's `nftables.service` disabled, or `/etc/nftables.conf`
without `flush ruleset`: otherwise it deletes Housecarl's table at
boot. `housecarl-ruleset.service` runs after it, which covers the
ordinary case.
Keep Debian's `nftables.service` disabled (`systemctl disable
nftables`, without `--now`): at boot it loads `/etc/nftables.conf`, and
stopping or restarting it runs `nft flush ruleset`, which deletes every
table, Housecarl's included. `housecarl-ruleset.service` runs after it
at boot, which covers the ordinary case, but not a restart of
`nftables.service` later. Housecarl never reads or writes
`/etc/nftables.conf`; its ruleset is saved in
`/var/lib/housecarl/ruleset.nft`. The dashboard and `hc status` warn
while `nftables.service` is enabled.
Other programs' tables are left alone: fail2ban's (`inet f2b-table`),
Docker's, Incus's. Housecarl replaces only its own table, so they keep
their rules through every Housecarl change and restart, and nothing
needs restarting in a particular order. A packet must get past every
table on its hook, so a drop in any of them wins.
## Hits
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@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ directly (`--from 192.168.1.3`); a set is better when several rules share
them.
A **dynamic** set's entries are added at run time, each with a timeout,
and nftables removes them when it runs out, even with housecarld stopped:
and nftables removes them when it runs out, even with housecarld stopped.
It has no configured entries (validation refuses them); its timeout is
the default for entries added without one, and without a timeout they
stay until removed:
```sh
hc set add guests --dynamic --timeout 24h
@@ -193,8 +196,11 @@ hand, placed like any other:
hc rule add forward --raw 'iifname != "wan" ct state invalid ip daddr @trusted_v4 accept'
```
It is checked by nftables with the rest of the ruleset, and can use the
sets' nftables names (`@trusted_v4`). The importer makes raw rules from
It is used exactly as written: its text replaces the rule's zones,
addresses, services, action, limits and log, so a raw rule with any of
those set is refused (`raw_conflict`); write them in the text. It is
checked by nftables with the rest of the ruleset, and can use the sets'
nftables names (`@trusted_v4`). The importer makes raw rules from
what it can't translate. It goes into the ruleset as written: add
`counter` to it to count its packets.
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@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ are unique per kind, ignoring case.
|---|---|---|
| `set_entry` | error | an entry that isn't an address, prefix (without host bits) or range |
| `set_empty` | warning | a set (not dynamic) with no entries: rules using it match nothing |
| `set_dynamic_entries` | error | configured entries on a dynamic set: its entries come at run time |
| `set_timeout` | error | a timeout on a set that isn't dynamic, or under a second |
| `service_empty` | error | a service with no entries |
| `service_entry` | error | an entry that isn't `PROTO/PORTS` (`tcp`, `udp`, `sctp`; a port or range) or `icmp/TYPE`, `icmpv6/TYPE` with a type nftables knows |
@@ -77,6 +78,7 @@ These apply to rules, source NAT and redirects.
| `rule_chain` | error | a chain that isn't `input`, `forward`, `output` or `early` |
| `rule_action` | error | an action that isn't `accept`, `drop`, `reject` or `log` |
| `raw_rule` | error | a raw rule over several lines, or with `;` |
| `raw_conflict` | error | a raw rule with other fields set (zones, addresses, services, limits, log…): it is used as written, so they would be ignored |
| `early_conntrack` | error | connection states, limits or a connection limit in the early chain, which runs before connection tracking |
| `early_reject` | error | reject in the early chain: drop instead |
| `ct_state`, `ct_status` | error | an unknown connection state or status |
@@ -115,3 +117,13 @@ These apply to rules, source NAT and redirects.
| `snat_everything` | warning | no out zones and no sources: everything leaving the firewall is translated |
| `redirect_service` | error | no service, or one without TCP, UDP or SCTP ports |
| `redirect_to_port` | error | the local port isn't one port |
## The machine
These come from housecarld looking at the machine, not at the
configuration: the dashboard and `hc status` show them.
| Code | | When |
|---|---|---|
| `nftables_service` | warning, *host* | Debian's `nftables.service` is enabled: at boot it loads `/etc/nftables.conf`, and stopping or restarting it runs `nft flush ruleset`, deleting Housecarl's table too. Disable it with `systemctl disable nftables` (without `--now`) |
| `takeover_pending` | warning, *host* | the table you imported from is still in force beside Housecarl's, so a packet must get past both; `hc takeover TABLE` deletes it once Housecarl's rules are right |