Iptables v1.4.14: can't initialize iptables table `nat': Table does not exist (do you need to insmod?)

Question

I'm trying to set iptable rules, and I got following error message when I use iptable :

iptables v1.4.14: can't initialize iptables table `nat': Table does not exist (do you need to insmod?) Perhaps iptables or your kernel needs to be upgraded. 

I'm using :

cat /etc/debian_version  7.4  uname -a Linux myserver 2.6.32-22-pve #1 SMP Mon Jul 15 08:36:46 CEST 2013 x86_64 GNU/Linux  uname -r 2.6.32-22-pve 

This is a virtual server hosted by a service provider.

What can I do to solve this?

Answer 1

I had the same problem with Debian 8. I fixed it by restarting the system. It seems that the error can occur if the kernel image was updated and the system was not restarted thereafter.

Answer 2

I had the same problem and this worked:

sudo modprobe ip_tables sudo echo 'ip_tables' >> /etc/modules 

http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3196