2장. Getting started with nftables

The nftables framework classifies packets, and it is the successor to the iptables, ip6tables, arptables, ebtables, and ipset utilities. It offers numerous improvements in convenience, features, and performance over previous packet-filtering tools, most notably:

The nftables framework uses tables to store chains. The chains contain individual rules for performing actions. The nft utility replaces all tools from the previous packet-filtering frameworks. You can use the libnftables library for low-level interaction with nftables Netlink API through the libnftnl library.

To display the effect of rule set changes, use the nft list ruleset command. To clear the kernel rule set, use the nft flush ruleset command. Note that this may also affect the rule set installed by the iptables-nft command, as it utilizes the same kernel infrastructure.