Firewall

The firewall API offers a way for machine to machine interaction between custom applications and OPNsense, it is part of the core system.

Although the module does contains a basic user interface (in Firewall ‣ Automation), it’s mirely intended as a reference and testbed. There’s no relation to any of the rules being managed via the core system.

Tip

Use your browsers “inspect” feature to compare requests easily, the user interface in terms of communication is exactly the same as offered by the API . Rules not visible in the web interface (Firewall ‣ Automation) will not be returned by the API either.

Resources (AliasController.php) – extends : ApiMutableModelControllerBase

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	alias	add_item
POST	firewall	alias	del_item	$uuid
GET,POST	firewall	alias	export
GET	firewall	alias	get
GET	firewall	alias	get_alias_u_u_i_d	$name
GET	firewall	alias	get_geo_i_p
GET	firewall	alias	get_item	$uuid=null
GET	firewall	alias	get_table_size
POST	firewall	alias	import
GET	firewall	alias	list_categories
GET	firewall	alias	list_countries
GET	firewall	alias	list_network_aliases
GET	firewall	alias	list_user_groups
POST	firewall	alias	reconfigure
GET,POST	firewall	alias	search_item
POST	firewall	alias	set
POST	firewall	alias	set_item	$uuid
POST	firewall	alias	toggle_item	$uuid,$enabled=null
<<uses>>				model Alias.xml

Resources (AliasUtilController.php) – extends : ApiControllerBase

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	alias_util	add	$alias
GET	firewall	alias_util	aliases
POST	firewall	alias_util	delete	$alias
POST	firewall	alias_util	find_references
POST	firewall	alias_util	flush	$alias
GET	firewall	alias_util	list	$alias
GET	firewall	alias_util	update_bogons

Resources (CategoryController.php) – extends : ApiMutableModelControllerBase

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	category	add_item
POST	firewall	category	del_item	$uuid
GET	firewall	category	get
GET	firewall	category	get_item	$uuid=null
GET,POST	firewall	category	search_item	$add_empty=0
POST	firewall	category	set
POST	firewall	category	set_item	$uuid
<<uses>>				model Category.xml

Abstract [non-callable] (FilterBaseController.php)

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	filter_base	apply	$rollback_revision=null
POST	firewall	filter_base	cancel_rollback	$rollback_revision
GET	firewall	filter_base	get
GET	firewall	filter_base	list_categories
GET	firewall	filter_base	list_network_select_options
POST	firewall	filter_base	revert	$revision
POST	firewall	filter_base	savepoint
POST	firewall	filter_base	set
<<uses>>				model Filter.xml

Resources (FilterController.php) – extends : FilterBaseController

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	filter	add_rule
POST	firewall	filter	del_rule	$uuid
GET	firewall	filter	get_interface_list
GET	firewall	filter	get_rule	$uuid=null
POST	firewall	filter	move_rule_before	$selected_uuid,$target_uuid
GET,POST	firewall	filter	search_rule
POST	firewall	filter	set_rule	$uuid
POST	firewall	filter	toggle_rule	$uuid,$enabled=null

Resources (FilterUtilController.php) – extends : ApiControllerBase

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
GET	firewall	filter_util	rule_stats

Resources (GroupController.php) – extends : ApiMutableModelControllerBase

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	group	add_item
POST	firewall	group	del_item	$uuid
GET	firewall	group	get
GET	firewall	group	get_item	$uuid=null
POST	firewall	group	reconfigure
GET,POST	firewall	group	search_item
POST	firewall	group	set
POST	firewall	group	set_item	$uuid
<<uses>>				model Group.xml

Resources (NptController.php) – extends : FilterBaseController

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	npt	add_rule
POST	firewall	npt	del_rule	$uuid
GET	firewall	npt	get_rule	$uuid=null
GET,POST	firewall	npt	search_rule
POST	firewall	npt	set_rule	$uuid
POST	firewall	npt	toggle_rule	$uuid,$enabled=null

Resources (OneToOneController.php) – extends : FilterBaseController

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	one_to_one	add_rule
POST	firewall	one_to_one	del_rule	$uuid
GET	firewall	one_to_one	get_rule	$uuid=null
GET,POST	firewall	one_to_one	search_rule
POST	firewall	one_to_one	set_rule	$uuid
POST	firewall	one_to_one	toggle_rule	$uuid,$enabled=null

Resources (SourceNatController.php) – extends : FilterBaseController

Method	Module	Controller	Command	Parameters
POST	firewall	source_nat	add_rule
POST	firewall	source_nat	del_rule	$uuid
GET	firewall	source_nat	get_rule	$uuid=null
GET,POST	firewall	source_nat	search_rule
POST	firewall	source_nat	set_rule	$uuid
POST	firewall	source_nat	toggle_rule	$uuid,$enabled=null

Concept

The firewall plugin injects rules in the standard OPNsense firewall while maintaining visibility on them in the standard user interface.

We use our standard ApiMutableModelControllerBase to allow crud operations on rule entries and offer a set of specific actions to apply the new configuration. Since firewall rules can be quite sensitive with a higher risk of lockout, we also support a rollback mechanism here, which offers the ability to rollback this components changes.

The diagram above contains the basic steps to change rules, apply and eventually rollback if not being able to access the machine again. When calling savepoint() a new config revision will be created and the timestamp will be returned for later use. If the cancelRollback(savepoint) is not called within 60 seconds, the firewall will rollback to the previous state identified by the savepoint timestamp (if available).

Note

The examples in this document disable certificate validation, make sure when using this in a production environment to remove the verify=False from the requests calls

Tip

The number of versions kept can be configured as “backup count” in System -> Configuration -> History. This affectively determines within how many configuration changes you can still rollback, if the backup is removed, a rollback will keep the current state (do nothing).

Administration example

Administrative endpoints are pretty standard use of ApiMutableModelControllerBase, the example below searches for a rule named “OPNsense_fw_api_testrule_1”, when not found one will be added otherwise it will print the internal uuid. Inline you will find a brief description of the steps performed.

administrative_example.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3.7
import requests
import json

# key + secret from downloaded apikey.txt
api_key="3RhWOno+HwvtmT406I6zw8of8J6n9FOKlWK6U0B+K7stt/fDaJg7bjeF3QAshlScYqC+3o5THy3vQViW"
api_secret="uaBk27NKhQCZSDpfAlG6YJ473MzvsCNiED6kzbYuykzU05fCRkcJADhDm5nxbZt8yREC74ZpvD/vbcEx"

# define the basics, hostname to use and description used to identify our test rule
rule_description='OPNsense_fw_api_testrule_1'
remote_uri="https://192.168.1.1"

# search for rule
r = requests.get(
    "%s/api/firewall/filter/searchRule?current=1&rowCount=7&searchPhrase=%s" % (
        remote_uri, rule_description
    ),
    auth=(api_key, api_secret), verify=False
)

if r.status_code == 200:
    response = json.loads(r.text)
    if len(response['rows']) == 0:
        # create a new rule, identified by rule_description allowing traffic from
        # 192.168.0.0/24 to 10.0.0.0/24 using TCP protocol
        data = {"rule" :
                    {
                    "description": rule_description,
                    "source_net": "192.168.0.0/24",
                    "protocol": "TCP",
                    "destination_net": "10.0.0.0/24"
                    }
                }
        r = requests.post(
            "%s/api/firewall/filter/addRule" % remote_uri, auth=(api_key, api_secret), verify=False, json=data
        )
        if r.status_code == 200:
            print("created : %s" % json.loads(r.text)['uuid'])
        else:
            print("error : %s" % r.text)

    else:
        for row in response['rows']:
            print ("found uuid %s" % row['uuid'])

Tip

Since our model contains default values for most attributes, we only need to feed the changes if we would like to keep the defaults. In this case the TCP/IP version was IPv4 by default for example. In most cases one would like to set all relevant properties in case defaults change over time.

Apply / revert example

This example will disable the rule created in the previous example and apply the changes using a savepoint, since we’re not calling cancelRollback(savepoint) it will revert after 60 seconds to the original state.

savepoint_example.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3.7
import requests
import json

# key + secret from downloaded apikey.txt
api_key="3RhWOno+HwvtmT406I6zw8of8J6n9FOKlWK6U0B+K7stt/fDaJg7bjeF3QAshlScYqC+3o5THy3vQViW"
api_secret="uaBk27NKhQCZSDpfAlG6YJ473MzvsCNiED6kzbYuykzU05fCRkcJADhDm5nxbZt8yREC74ZpvD/vbcEx"

# define the basics, hostname to use and description used to identify our test rule
rule_description='OPNsense_fw_api_testrule_1'
remote_uri="https://192.168.1.1"

# search for rule
r = requests.get(
    "%s/api/firewall/filter/searchRule?current=1&rowCount=7&searchPhrase=%s" % (
        remote_uri, rule_description
    ),
    auth=(api_key, api_secret), verify=False
)

if r.status_code == 200:
    response = json.loads(r.text)
    if len(response['rows']) > 0:
        rule_uuid = response['rows'][0]['uuid']
        r = requests.post("%s/api/firewall/filter/savepoint" % remote_uri, auth=(api_key, api_secret), verify=False)
        if r.status_code == 200:
            sp_response = json.loads(r.text)
            # disable rule
            r = requests.post("%s/api/firewall/filter/toggleRule/%s/0" % (remote_uri, rule_uuid),
                              auth=(api_key, api_secret), verify=False
            )
            # apply changes, revert to sp_response['revision'] after 60 seconds
            r = requests.post("%s/api/firewall/filter/apply/%s" % (remote_uri, sp_response['revision']),
                              auth=(api_key, api_secret), verify=False
            )
            print("revert to revision %s in 60 seconds (%s changed)" % (sp_response['revision'], rule_uuid))
    else:
        print("rule %s not found" % rule_description)

Note

The savepoint will only revert this components changes, other changes won’t be affected by this revert, for example add an additional interface between savepoint and revert won’t be affected.