How can I configure the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Windows Firewall from a command line?

A. Windows 2003 SP1 improves the Netsh command to let you specify the "firewall" argument to access the firewall configuration. Netsh lets you

• configure the default state of Windows Firewall (Off, On, On with no exceptions)
• configure which exceptions should be enabled, including the scope of each exception and whether exceptions are enabled on all interfaces or per-interface
• configure logging options
• configure the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) handling options
• manage the exceptions list

For example, to enable the firewall, use the command

netsh firewall set opmode enable