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Goblin Gate wiki

Goblin Gate is a Linux firewall for homelabs, self-hosters and small offices: an enterprise-style config model (candidate, diff, commit, rollback), a modern web UI and a REST API for everything.

This wiki is the user guide. Each page answers "where do I find it, what does it do, what should I watch out for". If something here does not match what you see, please open an issue.

Start here

1. Installation: download the ISO, install it on a VM or a box.
2. First Setup: the setup wizard and the first things to check.
3. How Changes Work: read this one. Nothing you change in the UI takes effect until you commit, and every commit can be undone.

Everyday tasks

I want to...	Page
Allow or block traffic between networks	Firewall Policies
Name a device or a network once and reuse it	Objects
Add a VLAN or change an interface	Interfaces and VLANs
Open a port to a server at home	NAT, Port Forwards and UPnP
Give out addresses, name devices, local DNS	DHCP and DNS
Block ads, malware and phishing	Threat Feeds and DNS Filter
Detect and stop attacks	IPS and Goblin Sentry
Filter websites or apps for a network	Web Filter and App Control
Reach home from outside	VPN
Use two internet connections	Multi-WAN and Routing
Update, back up, restore	Updates and Backups
Log in over SSH, use the API or CLI	Remote Access: SSH, API and CLI
See devices, test a rule, capture packets, take snapshots	Tools: Devices, Simulator, Capture
Graph the box in Grafana	Prometheus and Grafana
Move from pfSense	Migrating from pfSense
Something does not work	Troubleshooting

Finding your way in the web UI

The sidebar groups pages like this (a page with tabs lists them in brackets):

• Dashboard
• Network (Interfaces, Addresses, Address Groups, Services, Service Groups, Port Forwards, UPnP, DHCP, DNS, Gateways, Gateway Groups, Static Routes)
• Policy & Objects: Firewall Policy, Schedules
• Security Profiles: Threat Feeds, DNS Filter, Web Filter, Application Control, IPS
• VPN: Tailscale, WireGuard, VPN Providers
• Log & Report
• System (General, Admins, API Tokens, Backup, Import, About), Revisions, Notifications, Plugins, Updates
• Goblin SOC (only with the Goblin Sentry plugin): Queue, Incidents, Rules, Blocks, Learning

The Changes button at the top right shows how many changes wait to be committed.

Wide tables (Firewall Policy especially) scroll sideways. The row actions (⋮) stay pinned at the right edge; right-clicking a policy row opens the same menu.