These listed actions are available in a firewall rule.

With the BIG-IP^® Network Firewall, you use a context to configure the level of specificity of a firewall policy. For example, you might make a global context rule to block ICMP ping messages, and you might make a virtual server context rule to allow only a specific network to access an application.

Context is processed in this order:

1. Global
2. Route domain
3. Virtual server/self IP
4. Global drop or reject

The firewall processes policies and rules in order, progressing from the global context, to the route domain context, and then to either the virtual server or self IP context. Management port rules are processed separately, and are not processed after previous rules. Rules can be viewed in one list, and viewed and reorganized separately within each context. You can enforce a firewall policy on any context except the management port. You can also stage a firewall policy in any context except management. Management port rules are configured as inline rules specific to the management port.

Firewall context processing hierarchy example

1. On the Main tab, click Security > Network Firewall > Active Rules .
   The Active Rules screen opens.
2. In the Rules area, click Add to add a firewall rule to the list.
3. From the Context list, select Management Port.
4. In the Name and Description fields, type the name and an optional description.
5. From the State list, select the rule state.
   • Select Enabled to apply the firewall rule to the given context and addresses.
   • Select Disabled to set the firewall rule to not apply at all.
   • Select Scheduled to apply the firewall rule according to the selected schedule.
6. From the Schedule list, select the schedule for the firewall rule.
   This schedule is applied when you set the firewall rule state as Scheduled.
7. From the Protocol list, select the protocol to which the firewall rule applies.
   • Select Any to apply the firewall rule to any protocol.
   • Select the protocol name to apply the rule to a single protocol.
   Important: ICMP is handled by the BIG-IP system at the global or route domain level. Because of this, ICMP messages receive a response before they reach the virtual server context. You cannot create rule for ICMP or ICMPv6 on a self IP or virtual server context. You can apply a rule list to a self IP or virtual server that includes a rule for ICMP or ICMPv6; however, such a rule will be ignored. To apply firewall actions to the ICMP protocol, create a rule with the global or route domain context. ICMP rules are evaluated only for ICMP forwarding requests, and not for the IP addresses of the BIG-IP system itself.
8. In the Source list, specify addresses and geolocated sources to which this rule applies.
   • From the Address/Region list, select Any to have the rule apply to any packet source IP address or geographic location.
   • From the Address/Region list, select Specify and click Address to specify one or more packet source IP addresses or fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type single IP addresses or FQDNs into the Address field, then click Add to add them to the address list.
   • From the Address/Region list, select Specify and click Address List to select a predefined list of packet source addresses to which the rule applies. To use an address list with this rule, select the address list and click the Add button. Similarly, to remove the list from this rule, select the list and click the Delete button.
   • From the Address/Region list, select Specify and click Address Range to specify a contiguous range of packet source IP addresses to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type a start and end IP address in the fields, then click Add to add the IP address range to the address list.
   • From the Address/Region list, select Specify and click Country/Region to identify the geographic origin of packet sources, and to apply rules based on selected geographic locations. When selected, a field appears in which you can select a country. For many countries, an extra field appears after you select the country, in which you can select a state or province. If you do not select a specific state or province, the entire country is selected. After you select a geographic location, click Add to add it to the Source address list.
9. From the Source Port list, select the type of packet source ports to which this rule applies.
   • Select Any to have the rule apply to any packet source port.
   • Select Specify and click Port to specify one or more packet source ports to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type single port numbers into the Port field, then click Add to add them to the port list.
   • Select Specify and click Port Range to specify a list of contiguous packet source port numbers to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type the start and end ports into the fields, then click Add to add the ports to the port list.
   • Select Specify and click Port List to select a predefined list of packet source ports to which the rule applies. To use a port list with this rule, select the port list and click the Add button. Similarly, to remove the list from this rule, select the list and click the Delete button.
10. From the Destination Address/Region list, select the type of packet destination address to which this rule applies.
    • Select Any to have the rule apply to any IP packet destination address.
    • Select Specify and click Address to specify one or more packet destination addresses or fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type single IP addresses FQDNs into the Address field, then click Add to add them to the address list.
    • Select Specify and click Address List to select a predefined list of packet destination addresses to which the rule applies. To use an address list with this rule, select the address list and click the Add button. Similarly, to remove the list from this rule, select the list and click the Delete button.
    • Select Specify and click Address Range to specify a contiguous range of packet destination IP addresses to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type a start and end IP address in the fields, then click Add to add the IP address range to the address list.
11. From the Destination Port list, select the type of packet destination ports to which this rule applies.
    • Select Any to have the rule apply to any port inside the firewall.
    • Select Specify and click Port to specify one or more packet destination ports to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type single port numbers into the Port field, then click Add to add them to the port list.
    • Select Specify and click Port Range to specify a list of contiguous packet destination port numbers to which the rule applies. When selected, you can type the start and end ports into the fields, then click Add to add the ports to the port list.
    • Select Specify and click Port List to select a predefined list of packet destination ports to which the rule applies. To use a port list with this rule, select the port list and click the Add button. Similarly, to remove the list from this rule, select the list and click the Delete button.
12. From the Action list, select the firewall action for traffic originating from the specified source address on the specified protocol. Choose from one of the these actions:

    Option	Description
    Accept	Allows packets with the specified source, destination, and protocol to pass through the firewall. Packets that match the rule, and are accepted, traverse the system as if the firewall is not present.
    Drop	Drops packets with the specified source, destination, and protocol. Dropping a packet is a silent action with no notification to the source or destination systems. Dropping the packet causes the connection to be retried until the retry threshold is reached.
    Reject	Rejects packets with the specified source, destination, and protocol. When a packet is rejected the firewall sends a destination unreachable message to the sender.
    Accept Decisively	Allows packets with the specified source, destination, and protocol to pass through the firewall, and does not require any further processing by any of the further firewalls. Packets that match the rule, and are accepted, traverse the system as if the firewall is not present.

13. From the Logging list, enable or disable logging for the firewall rule.
    A logging profile must be enabled to capture logging info for the firewall rule.
14. Click Finished.
    The list screen and the new items are displayed.

When you create rules on the network firewall, it is possible that a rule can either overlap or conflict with an existing rule.

Redundant rule

A rule which has address, user, region, or port information that completely overlaps with another rule, with the same action. In the case of a redundant rule, the rule can be removed with no net change in packet processing because of the overlap with a previous rule or rules.

Conflicting rule

A conflicting rule is a special case of a redundant rule, in which address, user, region or port information overlaps with another rule, but the rules have different actions, and thus conflict.

Tip: A rule might be called conflicting even if the result of each rule is the same. For example, a rule that applies to a specific IP address is considered in conflict with another rule that applies to the same IP address, if one has an Accept action and the other has an action of Accept Decisively, even though the two rules accept packets.

On a rule list page, redundant or conflicting rules are indicated in the State column with either (Redundant) or (Conflicting).

On the rule list page, you can determine whether a rule is stale, infrequently used, or never used. A stale rule is one that has not been hit in a long time. In addition, a rule might never be hit, or might be hit infrequently.

On the active rules page, or the page of rules for a policy, the Count column displays the number of times a rule has been hit. A count of 0 might indicate a rule that will never be hit, and can be removed without changing packet processing. A rule with a low count, when other rules have a high count, might indicate a rule that is stale, and no longer needed.

Use the Latest Match column to confirm rule status. A status of Never indicates the rule has never been matched, and might be irrelevant. A very long time since the last match indicates a rule that is likely no longer needed.

You can view stale rules from the stale rules reporting page. Go to Security > Reporting > Network > Stale Rules .

The BIG-IP^® Network Firewall uses rule lists to collect multiple rules. Rule lists function differently depending on how you create them with Advanced Firewall Manager™ (AFM™).

If you create a rule list with Security > Network Firewall > Rule Lists > Create :

This type of rule list is defined with a name and optional description. Once you create a rule list of this type, you can create and add one or more individual firewall rules to it. You can only add firewall rules by creating them from within the rule list. This type of rule list cannot be used on its own, but must be selected in an Active Rules list, or in a Policy Rules list.

If you create a rule list with Security > Network Firewall > Active Rules > Add and select the Type as Rule List:

This type of rule list is defined with a name and optional description. You can specify a context (Global, Route Domain, Virtual Server, or Self IP). However, you cannot add individual rules to this rule list. Instead, you select a single rule list you have already created, or one of the predefined rule lists. This type of rule list is used to activate a rule list in the configuration.

If you create a rule list with Security > Network Firewall > Policies > policy_name > Add and select the Type as Rule List:

This type of rule list is defined with a name and optional description. You cannot specify a context as the context is determined by the policy. You cannot add individual rules to this rule list. Instead, you select a single rule list you have already created, or one of the predefined rule lists. This type of rule list is used to activate a rule list in a policy.