CSF CSF Firewall closing down August 31, 2025 discussion thread

Looks like free scripts were released under open source licensing ~1hr ago https://github.com/waytotheweb/scripts. Digging into the details now Edit: compared the CSF Firewall GPLv3 open source code (v15.00) to the last configserver.com released code (v14.24) and wrote a summary at https://github.com/centminmod/configserver-scripts/blob/main/README-gpl-csf.md.

For Centmin Mod users CSF Firewall mirror, I bumped version to v14.25. Function wise as CSF Firewall, no difference in v14.24 vs v14.25 vs v15.00 GPLv3 release other than where and if it checks for updates.

• v14.24 checks download.configserver.com
• v14.25 Centmin Mod mirror checks download.centminmod.com which means when I update Centmin Mod mirror CSF Firewall version to v15.00 GPLv3, Centmin Mod CSF Firewall users automatically will get that update via CSF Firewall's native auto update routines or via manual command = csf -u. Centmin Mod mirror version allows me to later on update and direct CSF Firewall downloads to any other developers who want to take over CSF Firewall development as well
• v15.00 has all checks disabled

edit: testing Centmin Mod mirror version v15.01 right now

---

Code (Text):

csf -v
csf: v15.01 (generic)

csf -u
csf is already at the latest version: v15.01

Code (Text):

head -30 changelog.txt
ChangeLog:

15.01 - Changed license to GPLv3. Updated Centminmod.com Edition that retains the
        auto update routine to update via Centmin Mod mirror.    

        29th August 2025

15.00 - Changed license to GPLv3.

        29th August 2025

14.25 - Centminmod.com Edition. Prepared for ConfigServer shutdown (August 31, 2025)
        https://community.centminmod.com/threads/28985/

        Migrated from configserver.com to centminmod.com mirrors

        Updated all download server references

        2nd August 2025

Centmin Mod CSF Firewall mirror check only for v14.25 to v15.01 update

Code (Text):

csf -c
A newer version of csf is available - Current:v14.25 New:v15.01

Code (Text):

# update
csf -u

# version check
csf -v
csf: v15.01 (generic)

 

CSF version check

Centmin Mod versions below have been updated with an initial CSF Firewall version check notice when you first SSH login to your servers that will inform users of CSF Firewall changes and also report your CSF Firewall version. Run cmupdate command, to pull in this update feature.

• 140.00beta01
• 132.00stable
• 131.00stable
• 130.00beta01
• 124.00stable
• 123.09beta01

Examples

Example when CSF Firewall is v14.24 which is last original version that has download URL shutting down on August 31, 2025. If existing tools/csfcf.sh cronjob is detected, the notice will instruct you to let cronjob auto update and switch your CSF Firewall to Centmin Mod mirror. If you manually removed the /usr/local/src/centminmod/tools/csfcf.sh cronjob, the notice will inform you to manually run the /usr/local/src/centminmod/tools/csfcf.sh cronjob with auto argument flag to switch to Centmin Mod mirrored CSF Firewall version.

Existing /usr/local/src/centminmod/tools/csfcf.sh cronjob.

Code (Text):

crontab -l | grep 'csfcf.sh'
22 */12 * * * /usr/local/src/centminmod/tools/csfcf.sh auto >/dev/null 2>&1

Code (Text):

===============================================================================
* Nginx Update May Be Available via centmin.sh menu option 4
* see https://centminmod.com/nginx.html#nginxupgrade
===============================================================================
* Current Nginx Version:           1.27.5
* Latest Nginx Mainline Available: 1.29.0 (centminmod.com/nginxnews)
===============================================================================

===============================================================================
 Centmin Mod code updates available for /usr/local/src/centminmod
 to update, run cmupdate command in SSH & re-run centmin.sh once & exit
===============================================================================
 Current local server Centmin Mod branch installed: 140.00beta01
===============================================================================

===============================================================================
* Centmin Mod now hosts its own CSF Firewall mirror for continued support
* Details at https://community.centminmod.com/threads/28985/
===============================================================================
* Current CSF Version: 14.24
* Mirror CSF Version:  15.01
* Update available: Run cmupdate && let cronjob tools/csfcf.sh auto update CSF
===============================================================================

Example when CSF Firewall is already v15.01 which is latest Centmin Mod mirror download URL version.

Code (Text):

===============================================================================
 Centmin Mod local code is up to date at /usr/local/src/centminmod
 no available updates at this time...
===============================================================================
 Current local server Centmin Mod branch installed: 141.00beta01
===============================================================================

===============================================================================
* Centmin Mod now hosts its own CSF Firewall mirror for continued support
* Details at https://community.centminmod.com/threads/28985/
===============================================================================
* Current CSF Version: 15.01
* Mirror CSF Version:  15.01
* Your CSF version matches the mirror version
===============================================================================

 

You can wait or manually run the cronjob

Code (Text):

/usr/local/src/centminmod/tools/csfcf.sh auto >/dev/null 2>&1
csf -v

 

Looks good

Nice timing

Sad day today, configservers and CSF Firewall will be shutting down sometime in a few hours! I've been using CSF Firewall for nearly 2 decades since it first was launched with cPanel first and then with Centmin Mod

 

I thought I'd explore some AI research on CSF Firewall closure sentiment, discussions, and alternatives to see what the rest of the internet is discussing. Posted the AI research findings on my forked repo of official Configserver's GPLv3 open source repo at https://github.com/centminmod/configserver-scripts/tree/main/csf-shutdown-sentiment-alternatives. Enjoy

 

The 3 linked AI research docs I posted at https://github.com/centminmod/configserver-scripts/tree/main/csf-shutdown-sentiment-alternatives pretty accurately described what all major control panels are doing as well. DirectAdmin using self-hosted CSF v15.00 GPLv3 version for now and cPanel official stance is CSF is 3rd party and nothing to do with cPanel, so users have to figure out what they are going to do with CSF.

 

I thought I'd also share one solution I am working on for AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux 10 (EL10), which supports nftables instead of iptables - create a csfa wrapper for nfatbles https://community.centminmod.com/th...tive-csfa-nftables-wrapper-script-demo.29283/. CSF Firewall doesn't support nftables so won't work with EL10 operating systems.

 

Looks like cPanel working on their own fork for CSF Firewall based on open sourced version https://features.cpanel.net/c/202-firewall-configuration-tool

 

Looks like at least for cPanel their forked maintenance only CSF version is being released on Feb 18-20, 2026 https://support.cpanel.net/hc/en-us...vide-its-own-fork-of-CSF-starting-Feb-18-2026. Centmin Mod users still will use my own forked/mirrored CSF version though

 

Yeah for cPanel users they're being forced into cPanel's CSF fork which overrides any other CSF fork. Doesn't apply to Centmin Mod as we use our own CSF fork mirror so no change for Centmin Mod users.