TUFW: A Terminal UI for Your UFW Firewall

If you manage a Linux server, you've probably used UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall). It's the go-to tool for simplifying iptables, but let's be honest—it's still a command-line tool. You're running commands, checking status with text output, and hoping you remember the right syntax for rule management. What if you could manage your firewall with the same intuitive interface you get with tools like htop or ncdu?

That's exactly what TUFW delivers. It's a sleek, terminal-based user interface that wraps around UFW, giving you visual feedback and keyboard-driven control over your firewall configuration. No more guessing what rules are active or struggling with complex command syntax.

What It Does

TUFW is a Terminal User Interface (TUI) for the Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) system. Instead of working with UFW through traditional command-line commands, TUFW presents you with an interactive dashboard right in your terminal. You can view current rules, add new ones, delete existing rules, and enable or disable the firewall—all through a clean, navigable interface.

Why It's Cool

The beauty of TUFW isn't just that it looks good (though the clean TUI design is certainly nice). It's about making firewall management more accessible and less error-prone. When you can see all your rules in a structured format, you're less likely to make mistakes that could lock you out of your server.

The implementation is clever too—it's not replacing UFW, but building on top of it. This means you get the reliability of battle-tested UFW underneath with the usability of a modern interface on top. You can still use traditional UFW commands when needed, but for day-to-day management, the TUI makes everything more visual and straightforward.

For developers running personal servers, small VPS instances, or even local development environments, this removes the friction of firewall management. Need to quickly open a port for testing? Instead of looking up the exact UFW syntax, you can navigate through TUFW and get it done in seconds.

How to Try It

Getting started with TUFW is straightforward. The project is written in Go, so you'll need to have Go installed on your system:

git clone https://github.com/peltho/tufw.git
cd tufw
go build
./tufw

The interface should launch immediately, showing you your current firewall status and rules. Navigation is intuitive—use your arrow keys to move between sections and options. You can add new rules, delete existing ones, or toggle the firewall state without ever leaving the terminal.

Final Thoughts

TUFW feels like one of those tools that should have existed years ago. It doesn't reinvent firewall management, but it makes the existing tool dramatically more approachable. For anyone who's ever hesitated before modifying UFW rules or spent time parsing through text output to understand their current configuration, this is a game-changer.

It's particularly useful for developers who aren't security experts but need to manage basic firewall rules for their projects. The visual feedback and simple navigation reduce the cognitive load of server maintenance, letting you focus on what actually matters—building your application.

Give it a try on your next server setup. You might find yourself wondering how you managed UFW without it.

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