Create a global rule

Important We recommend that you create global rules only if you are familiar with networking protocols.

Global rules apply to all network communications and to applications which do not already have a rule.

To create a global rule:

  1. On the Home page, under Firewall, click Configure firewall.
    For information about the Home page, see About the Home page.
  2. Under Configurations, click Configure next to the location that you want to configure.
  3. Click the Global Rules tab.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Under Rule name, type a name for the rule.
    The rule name must be unique within the list of rules. Two global rules cannot have the same name.
  6. On Windows 8 or later, under Protocol, select the protocol you want to use.
  7. To apply the rule before any application rules or normal priority global rules, select the Higher priority than Application rules check box.
    For information on the order in which rules are applied, see About the order in which rules are applied.
  8. Under Select the events the rule will handle, select the conditions that the connection must match for the rule to apply.
  9. Under Select the action with which the rule will respond, select either Allow it or Block it.
  10. Do one of the following:
    • To allow other connections to and from the same remote address while the initial connection exists, select Concurrent connections. This option is only available for TCP rules.
    • To intelligently allow replies from the remote computer based on the initial connection, select Stateful inspection. This option is only available for UDP rules.
    Note On Windows 8 and later, these options are not displayed as Stateful inspection is always used and Concurrent connections are not supported.
  11. Under Rule description, click an underlined value.