Loading iptables automatically at startup

iptables rules are created and modified using iptables command, saved using iptables-save and we can load the saved files using iptables-restore command.

It is possible to create a script using the above commands to create and save an iptables file, and load it again at system startup. But there is an easier way.

iptables-persistent for Debian based systems

The package iptables-persistent takes over the task of loading the saved iptables rules. To do this, the rules saved in /etc/iptables/rules.v4 will be used for IPv4 which can be created by storing the iptables rules at the time of package installation.

To use iptables-persistent, install the package: sudo apt-get install iptables-persistent