The default Fail2ban installation comes with two configuration files, /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf and /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/defaults-debian.conf. It is not recommended to modify these files as they may be overwritten when the package is updated.
Fail2ban reads the configuration files in the following order. Each .local file overrides the settings from the .conf file:
- /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf
- /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/*.conf
- /etc/fail2ban/jail.local
- /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/*.local
For most users, the easiest way to configure Fail2ban is to copy the jail.conf to jail.local and modify the .local file. More advanced users can build a .local configuration file from scratch. The .local file doesn’t have to include all settings from the corresponding .conf file, only those you want to override.
Create a .local configuration file from the default jail.conf file:
sudo cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.{conf,local}
To start configuring the Fail2ban server open, the jail.local file with your text editor :
sudo vim /etc/fail2ban/jail.local
Add the default header for the global settings below
[DEFAULT]
# here you can overwrite some defaults:
The file includes comments describing what each configuration option does. In this example, we’ll change the basic settings.
IP addresses, IP ranges, or hosts that you want to exclude from banning can be added to the ignoreip directive. Here you should add your local PC IP address and all other machines that you want to allowlist.
Uncomment the line starting with ignoreip and add your IP addresses separated by space:
ignoreip =
The values of bantime, findtime, and maxretry options define the ban time and ban conditions.
bantime is the duration for which the IP is banned. When no suffix is specified, it defaults to seconds. By default, the bantime value is set to 10 minutes. Generally, most users will want to set a longer ban time. Change the value to your liking:
bantime = 1d
To permanently ban the IP use a negative number.
findtime is the duration between the number of failures before a ban is set. For example, if Fail2ban is set to ban an IP after five failures (maxretry, see below), those failures must occur within the findtime duration.
findtime = 10m
maxretry is the number of failures before an IP is banned. The default value is set to five, which should be fine for most users.
maxretry = 5
Fail2ban can send email alerts when an IP has been banned. To receive emails, you need to have an SMTP installed on your server and change the default action, which only bans the IP to %(action_mw)s, as shown below:
action = %(action_mw)s
%(action_mw)s bans the offending IP and sends an email with a whois report. If you want to include the relevant logs in the email, set the action to %(action_mwl)s.
You can also adjust the sending and receiving email addresses:
destemail = admin@linuxize.com
sender = root@linuxize.com
Fail2ban uses a concept of jails. A jail describes a service and includes filters and actions. Log entries matching the search pattern are counted, and when a predefined condition is met, the corresponding actions are executed.
Fail2ban ships with a number of jail for different services. You can also create your own jail configurations.
By default, only the ssh jail is enabled. To enable a jail, you need to add enabled = true after the jail title. The following example shows how to enable the proftpd jail:
[proftpd]
enabled = true
port = ftp,ftp-data,ftps,ftps-data
logpath = %(proftpd_log)s
backend = %(proftpd_backend)s
The settings we discussed in the previous section, can be set per jail. Here is an example:
[sshd]
enabled = true
maxretry = 3
findtime = 1d
bantime = 4w
ignoreip = 127.0.0.1/8 23.34.45.56
The filters are located in the /etc/fail2ban/filter.d directory, stored in a file with the same name as the jail. If you have a custom setup and experience with regular expressions, you can fine-tune the filters.
Each time you edit a configuration file, you need to restart the Fail2ban service for changes to take effect:
sudo systemctl restart fail2ban
Fail2ban ships with a command-line tool named fail2ban-client which you can use to interact with the Fail2ban service.
To view all available options, invoke the command with the -h option:
fail2ban-client -h
This tool can be used to ban/unban IP addresses, change settings, restart the service, and more. Here are a few examples:
sudo fail2ban-client status sshd
sudo fail2ban-client set sshd unbanip 23.34.45.56
sudo fail2ban-client set sshd banip 23.34.45.56