How can I configure Windows Firewall without turning the service on?

Question

I suddenly could not RDP into my server after rebooting it. Turned out the Firewall was blocking me, I remotely shut off the firewall service (parallels virtuozzo panel) and was able to RDP in. When I went to add my office IP to the firewall to allow me to connect, it won't launch the control panel unless I enable the Windows Firewall. If I do that, it kicks me off of RDP naturally. So how on earth can I configure this thing?

(cross-posted from Serverfault)

Answer 1

Use netsh – all settings are under the firewall context.

• To quickly open RDP, run netsh fire add port TCP 3389 "Remote Desktop"
• To manage other settings, run netsh, enter firewall, and use ? to list commands.

You can also edit the settings on Registry directly (regedit), under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy. (This even works over the network, assuming Remote Registry is running.)

• For Remote Desktop, under the key StandardProfile\GloballyOpenPorts\List add a string value named 3389:TCP with the data 3389:TCP:*:Enabled:Remote Desktop.

Answer 2

Take a look at the Local Security policy Admin tool. There is a section for Windows firewall.

Answer 3

You should be able to make settings changes in the Group Policy Editor without the service running.

GPEdit.msc -> Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> IP Security Policies.