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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rafftechnologies.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Updated May 8, 2026

Features

Two layers, both always on

  • Raff Default Firewall (system) — applied automatically to every public network interface, blocks 7 dangerous ports, allows everything else. Cannot be disabled
  • Your Firewall Groups (custom) — optional rule sets you create and attach to specific VM public IPs. Both layers must allow a packet for it to pass
See Inbound vs outbound, layers, and rule format for the model.

Stateful filtering

  • Connection-tracking is built in — when an inbound rule allows a connection, replies on the same connection are auto-allowed without an explicit outbound rule
  • Same applies in reverse for outbound-initiated connections
  • Most workloads only need to define inbound rules

Public-interface only

  • Firewall Groups apply only to public IP traffic — IPv4 and IPv6
  • VPC traffic is not filtered by Firewall Groups; isolate at the VPC layer or with guest-OS firewalls instead
  • A VM with no public IP cannot have a Firewall Group attached (nothing to attach to)

Rule format

  • Per rule: protocol (TCP/UDP/ICMP/ALL), direction (INBOUND/OUTBOUND), optional port spec, optional source/destination CIDR, optional VPC scope, optional ICMP type
  • Port format: single (22), comma list (80,443), colon range (3000:4000), or empty for “all ports”
  • IP format: CIDR (0.0.0.0/0 for any, 192.168.1.100/32 for a single host, etc.)
  • Database template can scope DB-port rules to a specific VPC ID

Templates

Five pre-built rule sets in the create dialog’s Start from template dropdown:
TemplateInboundOutboundSource-IP scope
Web ServerTCP 22, TCP 80,443, ICMPALLAny
Database ServerTCP 22 (any), TCP 3306,5432ALLDB ports VPC-scoped
SSH OnlyTCP 22ALLAny
Allow AllALLALLAny (not for production)
Deny All(none)(none)n/a (lockdown)
Pick a template and tweak before saving, or start from Custom Rules for a blank slate.

Apply, edit, attach, detach

  • Edits propagate to the platform’s record immediately — but the guest VM picks them up only on reboot (see the warning under Limits)
  • A group can be attached / detached at any time
  • Multiple Firewall Groups can be attached to the same public IP — their allow lists union
  • Default-block sanitization runs at save: any rule covering TCP 135 / 139 / 445 / 5985–5986 or UDP 137–138 has those ports stripped before save

Limits

ItemLimit
Inbound rules per group40
Outbound rules per group40
Firewall Groups per accountNo hard cap published; subject to overall account capacity
Firewall Groups per public IPUnlimited in practice; one per IP is the common pattern
Source / destination per ruleOne CIDR — for multiple distinct ranges, use multiple rule rows
Comma-separated ports per ruleNo fixed limit; reasonable practice ~10
Port range syntaxColon — 3000:4000 (not AWS-style hyphen)
Group nameFree-form, must be unique per account, immutable after create
DescriptionOptional, free-form
Group renameNot supported today — pick the name carefully
A VM reboot is required after any firewall change. Attaching a group, detaching a group, or editing rules in an attached group all need a reboot of every affected VM for the new rules to take effect inside the guest. The platform record updates immediately; the guest network stack picks up the change only at boot.

Default Firewall — always-blocked ports

The system Default Firewall blocks TCP 135 / 139 / 445 / 5985–5986 and UDP 137–138 on every public interface, and Raff strips those ports from any user-rule range that covers them. Everything else inbound is allowed by default; ICMP (ping) is allowed; all outbound is unrestricted. For the full port list with the rationale per port, the visible-in-dashboard rules screenshot, and the Default-vs-Group precedence model, see Inbound vs outbound, layers, and rule format → What the Default Firewall blocks. If you genuinely need one of these ports, expose the service over a VPC instead and put a Firewall Appliance (OPNsense) in front. The public Default Firewall isn’t bypassable by design.

Pricing

ItemCost
Raff Default FirewallFree — applied automatically to every public interface
Your Firewall GroupsFree — no per-group, per-rule, or per-VM fees
Group attached to a VMFree
There’s no charge for using the firewall. The only related billable resources are the public IPs the group filters and any Firewall Appliance VM you deploy as a VPC gateway.

What’s not available today

  • Group rename — names are immutable; create a new group + re-attach to rename in practice
  • Hot-apply without reboot — a guest reboot is required for any rule change
  • Explicit deny rules — only allow rules; deny is the default for anything not matched
  • Rule comments / tags per rule — group-level Description only
  • Rule audit log per group — system-wide audit log captures changes, but not surfaced per group in the dashboard

See also

Inbound vs outbound

The model behind these limits.

Add rules

Port and IP formats with copy-pasteable examples.

Create a Firewall Group

Walk the create dialog.
Last modified on May 8, 2026