Remove every route and VPC endpoint association that depends on the firewall before deleting it. First record how traffic is routed now and how it should flow afterward; then change routes deliberately, satisfy AWS’s deletion prerequisites, and clean up policies and rule groups only when nothing still uses them. AWS warns that deleting a firewall cannot be reversed.
Why routing must come first
A Network Firewall endpoint can remain a target in VPC route tables, including route tables associated with endpoint associations in other VPCs. Deleting the firewall before removing those dependencies can fail, and removing a route without choosing its replacement can interrupt traffic or send it along an unintended path.
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AWS’s developer guide says, “You must remove the firewall from any VPC route tables that mention it.” The DeleteFirewall API reference also warns of the irreversible consequence: “You can’t revert this operation.” Treat deletion as the final step after you have mapped dependencies and chosen the intended traffic path.
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Start with an inventory, not a route edit. AWS recommends inspecting route tables in the Availability Zones where the firewall has subnet mappings. Record each route’s destination and target, and note what target should receive that traffic once the firewall is removed. AWS’s getting-started tutorial likewise recommends recording the original route settings before changing them.
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- Firewall subnet mappings: identify each mapped subnet and Availability Zone.
- Route tables: find routes targeting firewall endpoints, including route tables associated with subnets that send traffic through the firewall.
- Endpoint associations: identify VPC endpoint associations that use the firewall, including associations in VPCs beyond the firewall’s primary VPC.
- Ownership: note which account owns each association. If another account owns an association, coordinate with that owner; the firewall owner cannot assume it can delete it.
- Intended replacement path: document where each affected flow should go after inspection is removed, based on your architecture and security requirements.
Do not assume that all affected traffic is internet-bound or that the firewall has only one route table. AWS’s tutorial is a simple internet-gateway example; production paths may also involve NAT, Transit Gateway, centralized inspection, or other routing components.
2. Change routes to the intended post-firewall path
Update each affected route so its destination reaches the intended target without traversing the firewall. Make the change based on the route inventory and your network design, not by applying a generic replacement route to every VPC.
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Use AWS’s tutorial only as a topology-specific model
In AWS’s simple internet-gateway example, the tutorial restores the internet-gateway and customer-subnet route-table entries to their original targets, then removes the route-table configuration created for the firewall endpoint. That is a useful model when your environment matches that topology. It is not a universal recipe for ingress, egress, NAT, Transit Gateway, or centralized inspection designs; AWS notes that exact route changes depend on the architecture and components.
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Remove endpoint references before removing associations
For each endpoint association, remove route-table references to its endpoint before deleting the association. Apply the same sequence to associations outside the firewall’s primary VPC. If an association belongs to another account, ask its owner to remove the relevant routes and delete the association.
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3. Meet the firewall deletion prerequisites
Before requesting deletion, check the firewall’s configuration and route dependencies. AWS’s deletion guidance lists disabled logging as a prerequisite. The DeleteFirewall API requires DeleteProtection to be FALSE; if protection is enabled, disable it using the appropriate Network Firewall operation before deleting the firewall.
- Disable the firewall’s logging configuration.
- Disable delete protection if it is enabled.
- Verify that no affected route table still references the firewall endpoint or an endpoint association you intend to remove.
- Confirm endpoint associations have been removed, with their owners where necessary.
AWS notes that an endpoint route-table reference can prevent deletion of the firewall or an endpoint association. Clearing these dependencies first avoids treating a failed deletion as a routing problem.
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4. Delete the firewall, then review policies and rule groups
Once routes and associations no longer depend on the firewall endpoints and the deletion prerequisites are satisfied, delete the firewall. Because the API operation is irreversible, confirm that the route changes and replacement paths are intentional before submitting it.
After the firewall is deleted, review its firewall policy and rule groups. Delete only resources that are no longer referenced. AWS checks references when policy resources are deleted, and a policy that still has associations cannot be deleted. In its tutorial cleanup, AWS deletes the firewall before the policy and rule groups.
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5. Verify routing and deletion in every affected VPC
As an operational check, revisit route tables in every affected Availability Zone and VPC, confirm that each destination now points along the intended path, and inspect firewall and association status until deletion is complete. Validate traffic using the checks appropriate to your application and network design. There is no single route-verification checklist that fits every architecture.
AWS documentation says configuration changes can normally propagate within minutes, with brief inconsistency possible. That is general guidance about configuration propagation, not a guaranteed Network Firewall deletion duration; do not use it as a promise that a particular teardown will finish within a fixed time.
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