Fail2ban on Plesk server does not block IPs: Couldn't load target No such file or directory

Symptoms

• Fail2ban does not block IP addresses.

• The following error can be found in /var/log/fail2ban.log for different jails:

  CONFIG_TEXT: fail2ban.actions [3632] iptables -w -X f2b-plesk-login -- stderr: "iptables v1.4.21: Couldn't load target `f2b-plesk-login':No such file or directory\n\nTry `iptables -h' or 'iptables --help' for more information.\niptables: No chain/target/match by that name.\niptables: No chain/target/match by that name.\n" \

Cause

Fail2ban chains were removed from iptables.

Resolution

1. Log in to Plesk.

2. Restart Fail2Ban service in Tools & Settings > Services Management > IP Address Banning (Fail2Ban):

   Note: In order to avoid the issue recurrence, it is strongly recommended to review fail2ban settings against the following points:

• Do not use excessively high bantime values (over 9999), in Tools & Settings > IP Address Banning (Fail2Ban) > Settings tab > IP address ban period.

• Do not use more than 1 banning action in fail2ban jails configuration, e.g. iptables-multiport and iptables-allports in the same jail.