Fail2ban

Block brute-force attacks by banning IPs

🐧 Linux🍎 Mac🪟 Windows

Reviewed: 2026-06|Tested on: Kubernetes 1.29 · Terraform 1.8 · Ubuntu 22.04

What is this?

Fail2ban automatically blocks IP addresses that try to brute-force your server.

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Config files for Fail2ban

Where to create or edit the main configuration — paths below match the setup steps.

/etc/fail2ban/jail.local
Location: Fail2ban server
Jail rules and ban settings (override jail.conf)

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Step 01

Linux

1sudo apt-get install -y fail2ban
2sudo systemctl enable fail2ban && sudo systemctl start fail2ban

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Step 02

Linux

1sudo cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf /etc/fail2ban/jail.local
2sudo systemctl restart fail2ban

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Step 03

Linux

1sudo fail2ban-client status
2sudo fail2ban-client status sshd