Windows Firewall with Advanced Security

Purpose

Windows Firewall with Advanced Security helps to protect computers from unsolicited network traffic. The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security APIs make it possible to programmatically manage the features of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security by allowing applications to create, enable, and disable firewall exceptions. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is available only on Windows Vista and later.

Where applicable

The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security API is intended for situations in which a software application or setup program must operate with adjustments to the configuration of the networking environment in which it runs. For example, a service that needs to receive unsolicited traffic can use this API to create exceptions that allow the unsolicited traffic.

Developer audience

The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security API is designed for use by programmers using C/C++, Microsoft Visual Basic development system, Visual Basic Scripting Edition, and JScript development software. Programmers should be familiar with networking concepts such as stateful packet filtering, TCP/IP protocol concepts, and network address translation (NAT).

Run-time requirements

The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security API is supported on Windows Vista and later. For more specific information about which operating systems support a particular programming element, refer to the Requirements sections in the documentation.

In this section

Topic	Description
About Windows Firewall with Advanced Security	General information about the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security API.
Using Windows Firewall with Advanced Security	Best practices and code examples for using the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security API.
Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Reference	Documentation for Windows Firewall with Advanced Security API interfaces, enumerated types, and other code elements.