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Free / Open Source

Zwall Community

Zwall Community is the public open-source edition of Zwall — not a trial, not a hosted service, and not a demo. It includes a Manager you host, Agents, a web console, a REST API, zwallctl, eBPF firewalling, and virtualization visibility. You build it from source. It supports up to three registered Agents per Manager.

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Community source install

Community runtime

Operator

Browser / zwallctl

HTTPS REST /api/v1

CONTROL

Community Manager

Console · /api/v1 · PostgreSQL

ENFORCE

Agent 1

eBPF / XDP

ENFORCE

Agent 2

eBPF / XDP

ENFORCE

Agent 3

eBPF / XDP

Maximum 3 registered Agents

One Community Manager you host. Up to three registered Agents. A fourth Agent registration is rejected.
Edition

A real open-source edition

Zwall Community is the AGPL-3.0-only licensed public tree. It is a separate edition from Zwall Enterprise, not a time-limited Enterprise preview and not “Community plus a flag.” You operate the Manager. You enroll Agents. You keep the source, the database, and the TLS files.

Repository

github.com/zwall-net/zwall-community

License

AGPL-3.0-only

Source model

Source-first install you operate

Self-managed

You host the Manager

Manager boundary

Up to three registered Agents per Manager

Runtime

One Manager you host. Up to three Agents.

Operators talk to the Manager over HTTPS. The Manager stores policy, identity, and events in PostgreSQL and serves the console. Agents register, heartbeat, and synchronize policy. Packet enforcement runs on the Agent, close to the kernel, not in the browser.

Community Manager

1Admitted
2Admitted
3Admitted
4 Registration rejected

See the runtime map above.

What you can run

What ships in Zwall Community

These surfaces are part of Zwall Community as documented. This is not a performance rating and not an OS compatibility matrix.

Control plane

  • Manager you host, with a web console and REST API /api/v1
  • zwallctl as the operator CLI
  • Agents that register with that Manager (maximum three)

Kernel / dataplane

  • Kernel-near firewalling with eBPF and XDP
  • KVM/libvirt-aware virtualization visibility and enforcement
  • Central policy and event visibility

Operations / visibility

  • GeoIP, blocklists, brute-force detection, RBL, and notifications as shipped in Community
  • Prometheus metrics, shipped Grafana dashboards, operator-managed TLS, and PostgreSQL
Boundary

What Community does not include

Zwall Community is complete for its edition. These capabilities belong to Zwall Enterprise.

Community Agent limit

Zwall Community supports up to three registered Agents per Manager. A fourth registration is rejected. Already-registered Agents may continue to heartbeat. This is not an unlimited free tier.

  • Hosting Agent observation
  • AI Preview — operator-controlled, not autonomous
  • Signed-release database admission — Community is a source build

The full task map lives in Docs applicability. Community is not a deprecated edition.

Need one of these capabilities?

Evaluate Zwall Enterprise.

Start

How to evaluate Community

Community install is source-first. Official Community binary publication is not the documented path. There is no curl-pipe installer.

  1. 01

    GitHub

    Clone zwall-community on GitHub.

    View on GitHub
  2. 02

    Requirements

    Read system requirements — there is no published fully supported OS matrix.

    System requirements
  3. 03

    Build / Install

    Follow Community source install (build Manager, Agent, zwallctl, eBPF objects, and the web console; provide PostgreSQL and TLS files; migrate, then start).

    Community source install
  4. 04

    Manager + Agent

    Enroll Agents (stop at three).

    Agent enrollment
  5. 05

    Verify

    Run first verification — process, database, console, heartbeat.

    First verification

Community also ships an interactive scripts/setup.sh for guided Full, Core, or Agent-only setup. Treat it as the documented Community script, not as a one-click production promise.

Audience

Who Community is for

Zwall Community is for engineers and operators who will build it and run it themselves.

Evaluation

Confirm Manager, Agents, console, and Virtualization behavior from source.

Lab

Isolated lab and test environments.

Development

Development and testing on Linux hosts you control.

Small self-managed fleet

Up to three registered Agents per Manager.

Source exploration

Inspect the public tree under AGPL-3.0-only.

Editions

Community compared with Enterprise

If you need Hosting observation, AI Preview, signed-release admission, more than three Agents, or a commercial deployment conversation, evaluate Zwall Enterprise. Pricing for Enterprise is custom.

Task Zwall Community
Manager, console, /api/v1, zwallctl Yes
Virtualization Agent (KVM/libvirt) Yes, 3 Agents
Hosting Agent observation No
AI Preview No
Signed-release database admission No
License AGPL-3.0-only; Free / Open Source

Manager, console, /api/v1, zwallctl

Community Yes

Virtualization Agent (KVM/libvirt)

Community Yes, 3 Agents

Hosting Agent observation

Community No

AI Preview

Community No

Signed-release database admission

Community No

License

Community AGPL-3.0-only; Free / Open Source

Commercial path and the full two-column table: Pricing.

Source

Repository, license, and contribution

The canonical public repository is github.com/zwall-net/zwall-community. Zwall Community is licensed under AGPL-3.0-only.

Repository github.com/zwall-net/zwall-community LICENSE AGPL-3.0-only Contributing Contribution guidelines Security Security reporting policy

Follow the security policy in the repository for vulnerability reports. Do not send secrets through the website contact form.

Frequently asked questions

Is Zwall Community a real product edition?

Yes. It is the public open-source edition. It is not a trial, not a hosted service, and not a demo.

What will I actually run?

A Manager you host (PostgreSQL, console, REST API /api/v1, zwallctl) and up to three Agents. Packet enforcement runs on the Agent.

How do I start?

Clone the public repository, read system requirements, follow Community source install, enroll Agents, then run first verification. Commands live in Docs.

What is the 3-Agent limit?

Up to three registered Agents per Manager. A fourth registration is rejected. Already-registered Agents may continue to heartbeat.

Does Community include the Hosting Agent?

No.

Does Community include AI Preview?

No.

Can Community enforce on KVM/libvirt?

Yes. Virtualization exists in Community, inside the three-Agent limit.

Is there a curl-pipe installer?

No. Community is a source build. Official Community binary publication is not the documented path.

What license applies?

AGPL-3.0-only.

When should I look at Enterprise?

If you need Hosting observation, AI Preview, signed-release admission, more than three Agents, or a commercial deployment conversation. See Pricing.

Evaluate Zwall Community

Clone the public repository and follow Community source install, or talk to an Engineer if Enterprise is the better fit.

View on GitHub Community source install Talk to an Engineer

3 Agents per Manager