---
title: "firewalld: Mail Ports Wiped After Reload (IMAP + Webmail Outage)"
domain: troubleshooting
category: networking
tags: [firewalld, mail, imap, fedora, ports]
status: published
created: 2026-04-02
updated: 2026-04-02
---
# firewalld: Mail Ports Wiped After Reload (IMAP + Webmail Outage)

If IMAP, SMTP, and webmail all stop working simultaneously on a Fedora/RHEL mail server, firewalld may have reloaded and lost its mail port configuration.

## Symptoms

- `openssl s_client -connect mail.example.com:993` returns `Connection refused`
- Webmail returns connection refused or times out
- SSH still works (port 22 is typically in the persisted config)
- `firewall-cmd --list-services --zone=public` shows only `ssh dhcpv6-client mdns` or similar — no mail services
- Mail was working before a service restart or system event

## Why It Happens

firewalld uses two layers of configuration:
- **Runtime** — active rules in memory (lost on reload or restart)
- **Permanent** — written to `/etc/firewalld/zones/public.xml` (survives reloads)

If mail ports were added with `firewall-cmd --add-service=imaps` (without `--permanent`), they exist only in the runtime config. Any event that triggers a `firewall-cmd --reload` — including Fail2ban restarting, a system update, or manual reload — wipes the runtime config back to the permanent state, dropping all non-permanent rules.

## Diagnosis

```bash
# Check what's currently allowed
firewall-cmd --list-services --zone=public

# Check nftables for catch-all reject rules
nft list ruleset | grep -E '(reject|accept|993|143)'

# Test port 993 from an external machine
openssl s_client -connect mail.example.com:993 -brief
```

If the only services listed are `ssh` and the port test shows `Connection refused`, the rules are gone.

## Fix

Add all mail services permanently and reload:

```bash
firewall-cmd --permanent \
  --add-service=smtp \
  --add-service=smtps \
  --add-service=smtp-submission \
  --add-service=imap \
  --add-service=imaps \
  --add-service=http \
  --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify
firewall-cmd --list-services --zone=public
```

Expected output:
```
dhcpv6-client http https imap imaps mdns smtp smtp-submission smtps ssh
```

## Key Notes

- **Always use `--permanent`** when adding services to firewalld on a server. Without it, the rule exists only until the next reload.
- **Fail2ban + firewalld**: Fail2ban uses firewalld as its ban backend (`firewallcmd-rich-rules`). When Fail2ban restarts or crashes, it may trigger a `firewall-cmd --reload`, resetting any runtime-only rules.
- **Verify after any firewall event**: After Fail2ban restarts, system reboots, or `firewall-cmd --reload`, always confirm mail services are still present with `firewall-cmd --list-services --zone=public`.
- **Check the permanent config directly**: `cat /etc/firewalld/zones/public.xml` — if mail services aren't in this file, they'll be lost on next reload.

## Related

- [Linux Server Hardening Checklist](../../02-selfhosting/security/linux-server-hardening-checklist.md)
- [Mail Client Stops Receiving: Fail2ban IMAP Self-Ban](fail2ban-imap-self-ban-mail-client.md)