diff --git a/roles/fail2ban/README.md b/roles/fail2ban/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b0066e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/fail2ban/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Fail2ban
+
+Bans brute-force sources via UFW. Reads logs from the systemd journal (`backend = systemd`), so it works on both Arch and Debian.
+
+## Jails
+
+- `sshd`
+- `nginx-http-auth`
+
+## Notes
+
+- Logs to the journal (`logtarget = STDOUT` in `fail2ban.local`) — see `journalctl -u fail2ban`.
+- The systemd unit is hardened (`ProtectSystem=strict`); the drop-in lives at `/etc/systemd/system/fail2ban.service.d/override.conf` and is fully managed by the role.
+- Firewall/banaction is UFW on every host; jails ban via `ufw prepend reject`.
+
+## Variables
+
+See [defaults/main.yml](defaults/main.yml).
+
+## Verify
+
+```bash
+sudo fail2ban-client status
+sudo fail2ban-client set sshd banip 192.0.2.1 && sudo ufw status | grep 192.0.2.1
+sudo fail2ban-client set sshd unbanip 192.0.2.1
+```
diff --git a/roles/fail2ban/handlers/main.yml b/roles/fail2ban/handlers/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a53ce03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/fail2ban/handlers/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+- name: Restart fail2ban
+  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+    name: fail2ban
+    daemon_reload: true
+    state: restarted
diff --git a/roles/fail2ban/tasks/main.yml b/roles/fail2ban/tasks/main.yml
index 6346ab7..6606235 100644
--- a/roles/fail2ban/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/fail2ban/tasks/main.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,13 @@
     mode: "0700"
     recurse: true
 
+- name: Deploy fail2ban main config override (log to journald)
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: fail2ban.local.j2
+    dest: /etc/fail2ban/fail2ban.local
+    mode: "0600"
+  notify: Restart fail2ban
+
 - name: Install Fail2ban Config
   block:
     - name: General configuration
@@ -31,10 +38,6 @@
 
 - name: Service hardening (read-only root rights)
   block:
-    - name: Check if hardening configuration is already applied
-      ansible.builtin.stat:
-        path: /etc/systemd/system/fail2ban.service.d/override.conf
-      register: override_conf
     - name: Create configuration directory
       ansible.builtin.file:
         path: /etc/systemd/system/fail2ban.service.d
@@ -42,15 +45,15 @@
         owner: root
         group: root
         mode: "0700"
+
     - name: Apply hardening configuration
       ansible.builtin.template:
         src: hardened.fail2ban.conf.j2
         dest: /etc/systemd/system/fail2ban.service.d/override.conf
-      when: not override_conf.stat.exists
-    - name: Reload systemd
-      ansible.builtin.systemd:
-        daemon_reload: true
-      when: not override_conf.stat.exists
+        owner: root
+        group: root
+        mode: "0644"
+      notify: Restart fail2ban
 
 - name: Enable UFW
   community.general.ufw:
diff --git a/roles/fail2ban/templates/fail2ban.local.j2 b/roles/fail2ban/templates/fail2ban.local.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..707f163
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/fail2ban/templates/fail2ban.local.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[DEFAULT]
+logtarget = STDOUT
diff --git a/roles/fail2ban/templates/hardened.fail2ban.conf.j2 b/roles/fail2ban/templates/hardened.fail2ban.conf.j2
index bb6f1bc..26162e9 100644
--- a/roles/fail2ban/templates/hardened.fail2ban.conf.j2
+++ b/roles/fail2ban/templates/hardened.fail2ban.conf.j2
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@ PrivateDevices=yes
 PrivateTmp=yes
 ProtectHome=read-only
 ProtectSystem=strict
-ReadWritePaths=-/var/run/fail2ban
+RuntimeDirectory=fail2ban
+RuntimeDirectoryMode=0750
 ReadWritePaths=-/var/lib/fail2ban
-ReadWritePaths=-/var/log/fail2ban.log
 ReadWritePaths=-/var/spool/postfix/maildrop
 ReadWritePaths=-/run/xtables.lock
+ReadWritePaths=-/etc/ufw
+ReadWritePaths=-/var/lib/ufw
 CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_AUDIT_READ CAP_DAC_READ_SEARCH CAP_NET_ADMIN CAP_NET_RAW