FAIL2BAN-CLIENT(1) User Commands FAIL2BAN-CLIENT(1)
NAME
fail2ban-client - configure and control the server
SYNOPSIS
fail2ban-client [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>
DESCRIPTION
Fail2Ban v1.1.0 reads log file that contains password failure report and
bans the corresponding IP addresses using firewall rules.
OPTIONS
-c, --conf <DIR>
configuration directory
-s, --socket <FILE>
socket path
-p, --pidfile <FILE>
pidfile path
--pname <NAME>
name of the process (main thread) to identify instance (default
fail2ban-server)
--loglevel <LEVEL>
logging level
--logtarget <TARGET>
logging target, use file-name or stdout, stderr, syslog or
sysout.
--syslogsocket auto|<FILE>
-d dump configuration. For debugging
--dp, --dump-pretty
dump the configuration using more human readable representation
-t, --test
test configuration (can be also specified with start parameters)
-i interactive mode
-v increase verbosity
-q decrease verbosity
-x force execution of the server (remove socket file)
-b start server in background (default)
-f start server in foreground
--async
start server in async mode (for internal usage only, don't read
configuration)
--timeout
timeout to wait for the server (for internal usage only, don't
read configuration)
--str2sec <STRING>
convert time abbreviation format to seconds
-h, --help
display this help message
-V, --version
print the version (-V returns machine-readable short format)
COMMAND
BASIC
start starts the server and the jails
restart
restarts the server
restart [--unban] [--if-exists] <JAIL>
restarts the jail <JAIL> (alias for 'reload --restart ...
<JAIL>')
reload [--restart] [--unban] [--all]
reloads the configuration without restarting of the server, the
option '--restart' activates completely restarting of affected
jails, thereby can unban IP addresses (if option '--unban' speci-
fied)
reload [--restart] [--unban] [--if-exists] <JAIL>
reloads the jail <JAIL>, or restarts it (if option '--restart'
specified)
stop stops all jails and terminate the server
unban --all
unbans all IP addresses (in all jails and database)
unban <IP> ... <IP>
unbans <IP> (in all jails and database)
banned return jails with banned IPs as dictionary
banned <IP> ... <IP>]
return list(s) of jails where given IP(s) are banned
status gets the current status of the server
status --all [FLAVOR]
gets the current status of all jails, with optional flavor or ex-
tended info
stat[istic]s
gets the current statistics of all jails as table
ping tests if the server is alive
echo for internal usage, returns back and outputs a given string
help return this output
version
return the server version
LOGGING
set loglevel <LEVEL>
sets logging level to <LEVEL>. Levels: CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING,
NOTICE, INFO, DEBUG, TRACEDEBUG, HEAVYDEBUG or corresponding nu-
meric value (50-5)
get loglevel
gets the logging level
set logtarget <TARGET>
sets logging target to <TARGET>. Can be STDOUT, STDERR, SYSLOG,
SYSTEMD-JOURNAL or a file
get logtarget
gets logging target
set syslogsocket auto|<SOCKET>
sets the syslog socket path to auto or <SOCKET>. Only used if
logtarget is SYSLOG
get syslogsocket
gets syslog socket path
flushlogs
flushes the logtarget if a file and reopens it. For log rotation.
DATABASE
set dbfile <FILE>
set the location of fail2ban persistent datastore. Set to "None"
to disable
get dbfile
get the location of fail2ban persistent datastore
set dbmaxmatches <INT>
sets the max number of matches stored in database per ticket
get dbmaxmatches
gets the max number of matches stored in database per ticket
set dbpurgeage <SECONDS>
sets the max age in <SECONDS> that history of bans will be kept
get dbpurgeage
gets the max age in seconds that history of bans will be kept
JAIL CONTROL
add <JAIL> <BACKEND>
creates <JAIL> using <BACKEND>
start <JAIL>
starts the jail <JAIL>
stop <JAIL>
stops the jail <JAIL>. The jail is removed
status <JAIL> [FLAVOR]
gets the current status of <JAIL>, with optional flavor or ex-
tended info
JAIL CONFIGURATION
set <JAIL> idle on|off
sets the idle state of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> ignoreself true|false
allows the ignoring of own IP addresses
set <JAIL> addignoreip <IP>
adds <IP> to the ignore list of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> delignoreip <IP>
removes <IP> from the ignore list of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> ignorecommand <VALUE>
sets ignorecommand of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> ignorecache <VALUE>
sets ignorecache of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> addlogpath <FILE> ['tail']
adds <FILE> to the monitoring list of <JAIL>, optionally starting
at the 'tail' of the file (default 'head').
set <JAIL> dellogpath <FILE>
removes <FILE> from the monitoring list of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> logencoding <ENCODING>
sets the <ENCODING> of the log files for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> addjournalmatch <MATCH>
adds <MATCH> to the journal filter of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> deljournalmatch <MATCH>
removes <MATCH> from the journal filter of <JAIL>
set <JAIL> addfailregex <REGEX>
adds the regular expression <REGEX> which must match failures for
<JAIL>
set <JAIL> delfailregex <INDEX>
removes the regular expression at <INDEX> for failregex
set <JAIL> addignoreregex <REGEX>
adds the regular expression <REGEX> which should match pattern to
exclude for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> delignoreregex <INDEX>
removes the regular expression at <INDEX> for ignoreregex
set <JAIL> findtime <TIME>
sets the number of seconds <TIME> for which the filter will look
back for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> bantime <TIME>
sets the number of seconds <TIME> a host will be banned for
<JAIL>
set <JAIL> datepattern <PATTERN>
sets the <PATTERN> used to match date/times for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> usedns <VALUE>
sets the usedns mode for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> attempt <IP> [<failure1> ... <failureN>]
manually notify about <IP> failure
set <JAIL> banip <IP> ... <IP>
manually Ban <IP> for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> unbanip [--report-absent] <IP> ... <IP>
manually Unban <IP> in <JAIL>
set <JAIL> maxretry <RETRY>
sets the number of failures <RETRY> before banning the host for
<JAIL>
set <JAIL> maxmatches <INT>
sets the max number of matches stored in memory per ticket in
<JAIL>
set <JAIL> maxlines <LINES>
sets the number of <LINES> to buffer for regex search for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> addaction <ACT>[ <PYTHONFILE> <JSONKWARGS>]
adds a new action named <ACT> for <JAIL>. Optionally for a Python
based action, a <PYTHONFILE> and <JSONKWARGS> can be specified,
else will be a Command Action
set <JAIL> delaction <ACT>
removes the action <ACT> from <JAIL>
COMMAND ACTION CONFIGURATION
set <JAIL> action <ACT> actionstart <CMD>
sets the start command <CMD> of the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> action <ACT> actionstop <CMD> sets the stop command <CMD> of
the
action <ACT> for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> action <ACT> actioncheck <CMD>
sets the check command <CMD> of the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> action <ACT> actionban <CMD>
sets the ban command <CMD> of the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> action <ACT> actionunban <CMD>
sets the unban command <CMD> of the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> action <ACT> timeout <TIMEOUT>
sets <TIMEOUT> as the command timeout in seconds for the action
<ACT> for <JAIL>
GENERAL ACTION CONFIGURATION
set <JAIL> action <ACT> <PROPERTY> <VALUE>
sets the <VALUE> of <PROPERTY> for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
set <JAIL> action <ACT> <METHOD>[ <JSONKWARGS>]
calls the <METHOD> with <JSONKWARGS> for the action <ACT> for
<JAIL>
JAIL INFORMATION
get <JAIL> banned
return banned IPs of <JAIL>
get <JAIL> banned <IP> ... <IP>]
return 1 if IP is banned in <JAIL> otherwise 0, or a list of 1/0
for multiple IPs
get <JAIL> logpath
gets the list of the monitored files for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> logencoding
gets the encoding of the log files for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> journalmatch
gets the journal filter match for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> ignoreself
gets the current value of the ignoring the own IP addresses
get <JAIL> ignoreip
gets the list of ignored IP addresses for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> ignorecommand
gets ignorecommand of <JAIL>
get <JAIL> failregex
gets the list of regular expressions which matches the failures
for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> ignoreregex
gets the list of regular expressions which matches patterns to
ignore for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> findtime
gets the time for which the filter will look back for failures
for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> bantime
gets the time a host is banned for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> datepattern
gets the pattern used to match date/times for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> usedns
gets the usedns setting for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> banip [<SEP>|--with-time]
gets the list of of banned IP addresses for <JAIL>. Optionally
the separator character ('<SEP>', default is space) or the option
' --with-time' (printing the times of ban) may be specified. The
IPs are ordered by end of ban.
get <JAIL> maxretry
gets the number of failures allowed for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> maxmatches
gets the max number of matches stored in memory per ticket in
<JAIL>
get <JAIL> maxlines
gets the number of lines to buffer for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> actions
gets a list of actions for <JAIL>
COMMAND ACTION INFORMATION
get <JAIL> action <ACT> actionstart
gets the start command for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> action <ACT> actionstop
gets the stop command for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> action <ACT> actioncheck
gets the check command for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> action <ACT> actionban
gets the ban command for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> action <ACT> actionunban
gets the unban command for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> action <ACT> timeout
gets the command timeout in seconds for the action <ACT> for
<JAIL>
GENERAL ACTION INFORMATION
get <JAIL> actionproperties <ACT>
gets a list of properties for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> actionmethods <ACT>
gets a list of methods for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
get <JAIL> action <ACT> <PROPERTY>
gets the value of <PROPERTY> for the action <ACT> for <JAIL>
FILES
/etc/fail2ban/*
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs via Debian bug tracking system http://www.debian.org/Bugs/ .
SEE ALSO
fail2ban-server(1) jail.conf(5)
Fail2Ban v1.1.0 April 2024 FAIL2BAN-CLIENT(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 05:03:13 CET 2025.