Nft

Nft is the successor to iptables.

There is only one book on the market I could find (08/2022) that currently deals with Nft, and that is Linux Firewalls by Steve Suehring (this page references the 4th edition).

Usage

First, you should know there is the handy tool

iptables-translate

which can convert an iptables rule to nft. Used like so:

iptables-translate -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j DROP

and it will give the nft equivalent.

Second, you should know that in order to block ipv4 and ipv6, you should use: inet. Some rules, will have nft insert rule ip bla bla bla or nft insert rule ip6 bla bla bla. If you use inet instead of ip or ip6 it will cover both protocols. (Page 84). Any example rule online that only uses ip is incorrect.

Third:

-I is nft insert
-A is nft add

Terrible... Add should be append. As with iptables, the order in which you execute the rules is important.

Fourth: you have to make your own tables, AND chains because f&*$ you that's why. What a mess.

Create tables/chains

Just copied and pasted from debian wiki. There are example tables in devuan in /usr/share/doc/nftables, but it's about as simple as Owrt's firewall (which is not simple at all) so good luck.

There is also the option to type your rules in /etc/nftables.conf. But I'm old fashioned and prefer to use cmd line rules.

Create a basic IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack table: Create a chain for input IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack traffic: A rule to check that all is fine (IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack):

nft add table inet filter
nft add chain inet filter input { type filter hook input priority 0\; }
nft add rule  inet filter input counter accept

Show all the previous:

nft list table inet filter

Gonna take a bit to memorize this.

Allow/Block a single port

Block the wan from accessing port 80:

nft insert rule inet filter INPUT tcp dport 80 counter reject

Allow the lan to access port 80:

nft insert rule inet filter INPUT ip saddr 192.168.1.0/24 tcp dport 80 counter accept

Delete all rules

iptables -F
vs
nft flush ruleset

fail. Should be just nft -F.

List rules

nft list table inet filter
vs 
iptables -L

Fail. (this assumes you used my instructions for a ipv4/ipv6 table [inet] named filter.)

The rule listing of nft is easy to read, and includes stats without the need for iptables -v -L. +1

Templates

After reading all the above nonsense, you just want something to copy and paste, here it is:

nft flush ruleset
nft add table inet filter
nft add chain inet filter input { type filter hook input priority 0\; }
nft add rule  inet filter input counter accept
nft insert rule inet filter input tcp dport 80 counter reject
nft insert rule inet filter input ip saddr 192.168.1.0/24 tcp dport 80 counter accept

The bare minimum to block/allow a port. Compared to:

iptables -F
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j REJECT
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -j ACCEPT

(gotcha: the table is named filter, but the chain that is type filter is distinct... Something like that, I forget exactly. Just beware.)

iptables vs nft: which is easier for the sysadmin?

I'm still undecided which is better. One thing to remember with nft is that the rules will start identical most of the time.

So a rule that is:

nft insert rule inet filter INPUT tcp dport 80 counter reject

Always has

nft insert rule inet

Which means you have to remember that part, cut it out, then focus on the rest of the rule. So all that matters is:

filter INPUT tcp dport 80 counter reject
vs:
-I INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -J REJECT

Which is better?

I'm trying to give nft a chance, but my initial impressions is that some firewall admin just vomited text upon the screen for nft compared to iptables hackeresqe lean text. Well, maybe in a couple years I'll memorize nft, and by then they can make a new firewall for me to learn again. Anyways, time will tell. Jury is still out on this one.