diff --git a/files/apts/ironic b/files/apts/ironic
index a749ad762e..b77a6b1a9b 100644
--- a/files/apts/ironic
+++ b/files/apts/ironic
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+iptables
 libguestfs0
 libvirt-bin
 openssh-client
diff --git a/files/rpms/ironic b/files/rpms/ironic
index 54b98299ee..6534095c20 100644
--- a/files/rpms/ironic
+++ b/files/rpms/ironic
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+iptables
 libguestfs
 libvirt
 libvirt-python
+net-tools
 openssh-clients
 openvswitch
 python-libguestfs
diff --git a/lib/ironic b/lib/ironic
index ec9447db14..b684b4410f 100644
--- a/lib/ironic
+++ b/lib/ironic
@@ -379,11 +379,16 @@ function enroll_vms {
     neutron port-delete $PORT_ID
 }
 
-function configure_tftpd {
-    # enable tftp natting for allowing connections to SERVICE_HOST's tftp server
+function configure_iptables {
+    # enable tftp natting for allowing connections to HOST_IP's tftp server
     sudo modprobe nf_conntrack_tftp
     sudo modprobe nf_nat_tftp
+    # nodes boot from TFTP and callback to the API server listening on $HOST_IP
+    sudo iptables -I INPUT -d $HOST_IP -p udp --dport 69 -j ACCEPT || true
+    sudo iptables -I INPUT -d $HOST_IP -p tcp --dport 6385 -j ACCEPT || true
+}
 
+function configure_tftpd {
     if is_ubuntu; then
         PXEBIN=/usr/lib/syslinux/pxelinux.0
     elif is_fedora; then
@@ -527,6 +532,7 @@ function prepare_baremetal_basic_ops {
     create_bridge_and_vms
     enroll_vms
     configure_tftpd
+    configure_iptables
 
     # restart nova-compute to ensure its resource tracking is up to
     # date with newly enrolled nodes
@@ -546,6 +552,10 @@ function cleanup_baremetal_basic_ops {
     sudo su $STACK_USER -c "$IRONIC_SCRIPTS_DIR/cleanup-nodes $IRONIC_VM_COUNT $IRONIC_VM_NETWORK_BRIDGE"
     sudo rm -rf /etc/xinetd.d/tftp /etc/init/tftpd-hpa.override
     restart_service xinetd
+    sudo iptables -D INPUT -d $HOST_IP -p udp --dport 69 -j ACCEPT || true
+    sudo iptables -D INPUT -d $HOST_IP -p tcp --dport 6385 -j ACCEPT || true
+    sudo rmmod nf_conntrack_tftp || true
+    sudo rmmod nf_nat_tftp || true
 }
 
 # Restore xtrace + pipefail