Firewalls and Servers
To use the Firewalls you have created, you need to attach them to servers that you want to protect. Firewalls filter all incoming traffic to your server by use of customizable rules. These rules act as guidelines to sift through traffic coming from unsecured or suspicious sources. Firewalls guard entry points called ports, where information exchanges with external sources.
Attaching Firewalls
Note: To make full use of this article, you must log in to the Hostwinds Client Area. Additionally, this article outlines the management of an essential section in your Cloud Control portal. To access your Cloud Control portal, you will need to click on the Cloud Control dropdown on the top of the Client portal dashboard menu.
To start, you must go to your Server settings, click on the Servers dropdown on the top menu of the Cloud Control home dashboard. In the dropdown, select the My Servers link to view a list of all of your servers. Click on the name of the server to which you would like to add a Firewall.
Once you have entered the individual server you would like to work on, click the Firewall Profile button on the server dashboard menu. Here you will be able to apply the Firewall of your choice to the server. Note that if you don't have a Firewall set to the server, it will use the default security group settings. The default security group is the hwdefault. This security group allows everything. As without this group, no traffic would be allowed to the instance from any direction.
To apply a previously created Firewall, click the change button to the right of the dashboard. It will present a pop-up with a dropdown showing all available Firewall options. Click the green Confirm button once you've selected the option you want.
Click on the Firewall Profile tab, and on the right side of the profile, click the Change button.
Adding Firewall Profiles
Click on the Create button dropdown to create a new firewall. In addition, the Create Firewall button will start the same process.
A pop-up prompt will appear and request the profile's name as well as a short description of the FireWall you wish to create. Enter both the title and description, click Create Firewall.
Once done, click the Create Firewall button. Your new Security Profile will be displayed. The name is a combination of a unique identifier and your chosen name.
Your new Security Profile displays in your FireWall Profiles List.
Select the Security Group you wish to apply to your instance.
Once selected, press the Confirm button to confirm the security group change.
Note: The default security group is the hwdefault. This security group allows everything. As without this group, no traffic would be allowed to the instance from any direction.
