How to Stop and Disable Firewalld on Linux

Serena
21 May, 2025

Tutorial

Firewalld is a lightweight, command-line firewall tool normally used on Linux systems. While it is highly configurable and secure, there are situations where you might need to temporarily stop or permanently disable it, for example, when troubleshooting connectivity issues or testing alternative firewall software.

This guide shows how to stop Firewalld for the current session and prevent it from starting at boot.

Follow the guide:

Stop Firewalld (Temporary)
Stopping Firewalld stops the firewall until the next reboot (if it’s enabled) or until you manually restart it.
1. Log in to your server via SSH.
2. Check if Firewalld is active:
```
systemctl status firewalld
```
  Or for a simpler check:
```
systemctl is-active firewalld
```
3. Stop Firewalld:
```
systemctl stop firewalld
```
4. Confirm it’s stopped:
```
systemctl status firewalld
```
  Look for Active: inactive (dead).
5. To start Firewalld again:
```
systemctl start firewalld
```
Disable Firewalld (Permanent)
Disabling Firewalld prevents it from starting automatically on system reboot.
1. Check the current enable status:
```
systemctl status firewalld
```
2. Disable Firewalld at boot:
```
systemctl disable firewalld
```
3. Confirm that disabled:
```
systemctl status firewalld
```
4. To re-enable Firewalld later:
```
systemctl enable firewalld
```

When to Use This:

Troubleshooting network issues by temporarily eliminating firewall restrictions.
Testing other firewall tools like CSF without a separate testing environment.

That’s how you can stop and disable Firewalld on a Linux system. For additional support, seek help from our technical experts.

Read more information about How to Allow Ports Through the Windows Firewall