ufw-setup

UFW Setup

First-time UFW configuration tuned for a desktop, not a server. The principle: a sensible default that doesn't surprise the user by killing their printer / file sharing / smart-home discovery on day one. Add narrow allows only for services the user actually runs.

Pre-flight

1. Detect existing state.
   • command -v ufw — install with sudo apt install ufw if missing.
   • sudo ufw status verbose — if already active and has non-default rules, this is not a first-time setup. Surface that and route the user to ufw-maintain instead.
2. Detect services on the host that the user might want to keep reachable on LAN:
   • ss -tulnp 2>/dev/null — sockets currently listening.
   • Cross-reference with these well-known desktop services and confirm with the user before allowing each:
     • mDNS / Avahi — UDP 5353 (printer/AirPlay/Chromecast discovery)
     • KDE Connect — UDP 1714-1764, TCP 1714-1764
     • Syncthing — TCP 22000, UDP 22000, UDP 21027
     • Samba (file sharing) — TCP 139, 445, UDP 137, 138
     • CUPS (printer sharing) — TCP 631
     • SSH — TCP 22 (only if the user actually runs sshd)
     • VNC / RDP — case-by-case
3. Ask about scope. Should the allows be LAN-only (from 192.168.0.0/16, 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12) or wider? Default LAN-only.

Apply

Build the rule set in this order, then activate:

sudo ufw --force reset                       # clean slate (only if user confirms; surfaces this is destructive)
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing
sudo ufw logging low                         # low = blocked packets only; 'medium'/'high' is too noisy for desktops

For each opt-in service the user accepted, add a LAN-scoped allow:

# Examples — only add the ones the user picked
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 5353 proto udp comment 'mDNS LAN'
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 1714:1764 proto udp comment 'KDE Connect LAN'
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 1714:1764 proto tcp comment 'KDE Connect LAN'
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 22000 proto tcp comment 'Syncthing LAN'
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 22000 proto udp comment 'Syncthing LAN'
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 21027 proto udp comment 'Syncthing discovery LAN'
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 631  proto tcp comment 'CUPS LAN'

Always tag rules with comment '<purpose> <scope>' so future audits make sense.

Then enable:

sudo ufw --force enable
sudo ufw status verbose

Persist a snapshot

Write the resulting ruleset to:

${CLAUDE_USER_DATA:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/claude-plugins}/linux-av-manager/ufw/baseline-<ISO-timestamp>.rules

Source: sudo ufw status numbered > <path>. This baseline is the reference ufw-maintain diffs against later.

Also write to config.json:

"ufw": {
  "enabled": true,
  "baseline_path": "<path>",
  "lan_cidrs": ["192.168.0.0/16", "10.0.0.0/8"],
  "configured_at": "<ISO-8601>"
}

Notes

• Don't ufw allow ssh unless the host actually has sshd running. Most desktops don't.
• Don't enable IPv6 rules separately — Ubuntu's UFW config has IPv6 on by default (/etc/default/ufw IPV6=yes); rules apply to both stacks.
• Don't enable rate limiting (ufw limit) on a desktop — it's a server pattern.
• Don't open ports the user hasn't agreed to. The principle of this skill is conservative.
• If the user runs Docker, mention that Docker bypasses UFW by default — surface this as a known caveat, link to the ufw-docker workaround, but don't auto-apply it.