UFW vs TUFW: Which Linux Firewall Tool Should You Use?

Managing a firewall on Linux is one of those tasks that sounds scarier than it actually is. But here's the thing: the tool you choose to manage your firewall can make a huge difference in how easily you can secure your server.

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) has been the go-to firewall tool on Ubuntu and Debian systems for years. It takes the complex iptables commands that make most people's heads spin and turns them into simple, readable commands that actually make sense.

TUFW (Terminal UI for UFW) takes a different approach. Instead of typing commands, you navigate through menus and fill out forms right in your terminal. Think of it as putting a friendly face on UFW without leaving the command line.

In this guide, we'll look at both tools, how they work, and help you figure out which one makes sense for the way you work.

What is UFW?

UFW changed how people manage firewalls on Linux by making iptables actually usable. If you've ever looked at iptables commands, you know they're a nightmare of flags and parameters that you need a manual to decipher.

The beauty of UFW is its straightforward commands. Want to allow SSH access? It's just sudo ufw allow 22. That's it. No memorizing complex syntax or hunting through documentation for the right flags to use.

UFW comes pre-installed on Ubuntu and many other Debian-based systems, which means you can start using it immediately. It handles the common stuff really well - opening ports, blocking traffic, setting up basic rules. But it also has enough depth for more complex setups when you need them.

What is TUFW?

TUFW doesn't replace UFW. Instead, it wraps it in a terminal interface that you navigate with arrow keys and menus. Every action you take in TUFW gets translated into regular UFW commands behind the scenes.

The main idea behind TUFW is simple: why memorize commands when you can see your options laid out in front of you? Instead of remembering whether the protocol goes before or after the port number in your command, you just tab through form fields and fill in what you need.

This approach works really well if you don't manage firewalls every day. When you only touch your firewall once a month, having a visual interface beats having to look up commands each time. TUFW shows you what's possible without making you consult documentation.

Comparing UFW and TUFW side by side

The real difference between these tools isn't what they can do - it's how you interact with them. Since TUFW uses UFW under the hood, they have the same capabilities. What changes is the experience of actually using them.

Here's how they stack up in practice:

Working with UFW commands

UFW follows the standard command-line approach where you type commands and get text responses. If you've used Linux for a while, this feels natural and familiar.

The basic commands follow patterns that make sense once you've used them a few times:

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.100 to any port 3000

sudo ufw deny out to 203.0.113.0/24

When you want to see your current rules, you ask UFW to show you its status:

sudo ufw status verbose

Status: active
Logging: on (low)
Default: deny (incoming), allow (outgoing), disabled (routed)
New profiles: skip

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
22/tcp                     ALLOW IN    Anywhere
3000                       ALLOW IN    192.168.1.100

This text output might look basic, but it's actually powerful. You can pipe it to other commands, save it to files, or send it to monitoring systems. The simplicity makes it flexible.

Once you understand the command patterns, UFW becomes really efficient. You can knock out complex firewall changes in seconds by chaining commands together or using shell scripts.

Now that you've seen how UFW's command-line approach works, let's look at how TUFW presents the same functionality through its visual interface.

Navigating TUFW's interface

When you launch TUFW with sudo tufw, you get a split-screen interface that looks quite different from typing commands.

The left side shows your menu options. Each one has a letter in parentheses that you can press to jump straight to that action. You can also use arrow keys to move around and hit Enter to select something.

The menu gives you these options: - (/) Search a rule: Find specific rules quickly - (a) Add a rule: Create a new firewall rule - (e) Edit a rule: Change an existing rule - (d) Delete a rule: Remove the selected rule - (s) Disable ufw: Turn off the firewall - (r) Reset rules: Delete everything and start fresh - (q) Exit: Close TUFW

The right side shows your current rules in a table. You can see the port, action, source, and any comments you've added. When you choose to add or edit a rule, this area turns into a form where you fill in the details.

To move between form fields, you press Tab or use arrow keys. Dropdown menus open with Enter or spacebar. It feels a bit like filling out a web form, but in your terminal.

With the interface layout clear, you can start creating actual firewall rules to see how TUFW handles real security tasks.

Creating rules the visual way

Making firewall rules in TUFW means filling out forms instead of typing commands. This changes how you think about the process - instead of constructing a command with the right syntax, you're answering questions that TUFW asks you.

When you select "Add a rule" from the menu, you get a form with several fields. The Port field is where most rules start - you type in which port you want to control.

The Action dropdown shows you what you can do with traffic:

Each action does something different. ALLOW IN lets traffic through. DENY IN blocks it silently. REJECT IN blocks it but tells the sender it was rejected. LIMIT IN is special - it allows connections but blocks repeated attempts from the same IP, which helps stop brute force attacks.

Let's say you're running a web app on port 3000. You'd type 3000 in the Port field, leave Action as ALLOW IN, and maybe add a comment like "webapp" so you remember what this rule is for later.

If you want to restrict access to just your IP address, you fill in the From field with your IP. TUFW then creates a rule that only allows your specific address to connect:

The form approach has its ups and downs. On the plus side, you see all your options at once and don't need to remember command syntax. On the downside, it's slower than typing commands if you know what you're doing, and you can't automate it.

After creating rules in TUFW, you'll want to verify they're actually working as expected. Let's look at how both tools handle this.

Checking your firewall status

Both tools let you see your current firewall configuration, but they present the information differently.

With UFW, you ask for status and get a text table:

sudo ufw status verbose

Status: active
Logging: on (low)
Default: deny (incoming), allow (outgoing), disabled (routed)
New profiles: skip

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
22/tcp                     ALLOW IN    Anywhere
3000/tcp                   ALLOW IN    192.168.1.100
80/tcp                     ALLOW IN    Anywhere
443/tcp                    ALLOW IN    Anywhere
22/tcp (v6)                ALLOW IN    Anywhere (v6)
80/tcp (v6)                ALLOW IN    Anywhere (v6)
443/tcp (v6)               ALLOW IN    Anywhere (v6)

This text format is perfect for scripts and automation. You can grep through it, save it to logs, or pipe it into monitoring tools.

If you need to delete a rule, you can get a numbered list:

sudo ufw status numbered

This shows rule numbers that you can reference when deleting things.

TUFW shows the same information but organized visually:

The table layout makes it easier to scan through rules and spot patterns. But you can't easily copy this into other tools or search through it programmatically.

Understanding how your rules look is one thing, but knowing when something goes wrong is just as important.

Handling errors and mistakes

How tools tell you about mistakes makes a big difference in how frustrating they are to use.

UFW gives you immediate feedback when something's wrong:

sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.999 to any port 8080

ERROR: Bad source address

sudo ufw allow 70000

ERROR: Bad port

The error message appears right away and tells you exactly what's wrong. This helps you learn the correct syntax quickly.

TUFW has a weakness here. When you enter an invalid value, the rule just fails to save. No error message pops up. No indication of what went wrong. The form just stays open.

To figure out what happened, you need to run TUFW with logging enabled:

sudo /usr/local/bin/tufw -log /tmp/tufw_debug.log

Then you check the log file:

cat /tmp/tufw_debug.log

2025-11-27 14:45:12 ERROR: Invalid IP address format in From field: 192.168.1.999
2025-11-27 14:46:03 ERROR: Port number out of valid range: 70000

This extra step gets annoying, especially when you're not sure which field has the problem. It's probably TUFW's biggest usability issue.

Error handling matters most when you're learning, but once you know your way around, automation becomes more important.

Scripting and automation potential

If you need to automate firewall changes, UFW is your only real option. TUFW's interactive interface just doesn't work for automation.

UFW commands work perfectly in scripts:

#!/bin/bash

# Reset to clean state
sudo ufw --force reset

# Set defaults
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing

# Allow SSH from management network
sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/8 to any port 22 proto tcp comment 'Management SSH'

# Allow web traffic
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp comment 'HTTP'
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp comment 'HTTPS'

# Allow app ports
for port in 3000 3001 3002; do
  sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port $port proto tcp comment "App port $port"
done

# Turn it on
sudo ufw --force enable

echo "Firewall configured"

This script sets up your entire firewall from scratch. You can run it on dozens of servers or include it in deployment pipelines.

Configuration management tools like Ansible also work great with UFW:

---
- name: Configure UFW firewall
  hosts: webservers
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Allow SSH from management network
      ufw:
        rule: allow
        port: 22
        proto: tcp
        from_ip: 10.0.0.0/8
        comment: Management SSH

    - name: Allow HTTP and HTTPS
      ufw:
        rule: allow
        port: "{{ item }}"
        proto: tcp
      loop:
        - 80
        - 443

    - name: Enable UFW
      ufw:
        state: enabled

TUFW can't do any of this. It needs a human sitting at the keyboard, navigating menus and filling out forms. That's fine for one-off changes, but it doesn't scale.

Automation needs are clear-cut, but learning curves are more subjective and depend on your background.

Learning curves and getting started

How quickly you can become productive with a tool depends a lot on your experience level and how often you'll use it.

UFW requires learning a handful of commands. The basic patterns are:

sudo ufw allow <port>/<protocol>

sudo ufw allow from <source> to <destination> port <port> proto <protocol>

sudo ufw delete <rule-number>

Once you've used these a few times, they stick. The syntax is logical and consistent. But if you only touch your firewall every few months, you'll probably need to look up the exact syntax each time.

TUFW skips the memorization entirely. When you open it, you see all your options. The menus show what actions are available. The forms show what information you need to provide. You learn by exploring, not by reading documentation.

This makes TUFW much faster to pick up if you're new to firewall management or if you don't work with firewalls regularly. You can't really forget how to use it because everything's visible.

The trade-off is that TUFW doesn't teach you much about how firewalls actually work. You fill out forms without necessarily understanding what's happening underneath. UFW forces you to think about the concepts a bit more, which can be valuable learning.

Beyond individual learning, these tools need to fit into your actual work environment.

Fitting into your workflow

UFW works everywhere and integrates with everything. Because it's just a command-line tool, you can use it in scripts, pipe its output to other tools, and include it in any automation you already have:

sudo ufw status numbered | grep 3000

sudo ufw status verbose | mail -s "Firewall Status" admin@example.com

#!/bin/bash
# Backup UFW configuration
sudo ufw status verbose > /backup/firewall-rules-$(date +%Y%m%d).txt
sudo cp /etc/ufw/*.rules /backup/ufw-rules-$(date +%Y%m%d)/

This flexibility makes UFW work with your existing tools rather than requiring you to change how you work.

TUFW needs a proper terminal with full cursor control. It works fine over SSH, but network lag can make it feel sluggish. Some terminal emulators handle the interface better than others, which occasionally causes display glitches.

The interactive nature also means you can't easily share or review what you did. With UFW, your command history automatically documents every change. With TUFW, there's no record unless you manually note what you changed.

But TUFW does have one workflow advantage: consistency across different systems. If you manage servers across multiple distributions, TUFW gives you the same interface everywhere, even if the underlying UFW configurations differ slightly.

With workflow considerations in mind, let's get practical about when to use each tool.

Final thoughts

UFW and TUFW are not competing tools; they are different interfaces to the same underlying firewall system. Understanding this helps clarify when to use each one.

UFW remains essential for production environments. If you are automating anything, integrating with other tools, or managing multiple servers, you need UFW’s command-line interface. There is no way around it.

TUFW adds value when you need accessibility and visual guidance. It makes firewall management approachable for people who do not live in the terminal, and it is faster than UFW when you do not remember the exact command you need.

Many people end up using both. TUFW for quick checks and one-off changes. UFW for scripts and automation. This combination gives you the best of both worlds: visual convenience when you want it and automation power when you need it.

Your specific situation determines which tool you reach for most often. Think about how often you manage firewalls, whether you need automation, and what your team’s skill levels are. The answers to these questions make the choice clear.

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Securing a Linux server? See how iptables and UFW compare in power, complexity, and usability so you can choose the right firewall tool for your needs.

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