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OS X: Turn firewall on or off from the command line

Published: 10-05-2013 | Author: Remy van Elst | Text only version of this article


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This command lets you turn the build in OS X firewall on and off, on both for specific services or essential services. It works with OS X 10.5, 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8. It also works via Apple Remote Desktop.

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To turn the firewall off :

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf globalstate -int 0

To turn the firewall on for specific applications/services :

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf globalstate -int 1

To turn the firewall on for essential services like DHCP and ipsec, block all the rest :

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf globalstate -int 2    
Tags: apple , apple-remote-desktop , ard , firewall , mac , os-x , snippets