Book Image

Learn pfSense 2.4

By : David Zientara
Book Image

Learn pfSense 2.4

By: David Zientara

Overview of this book

As computer networks become ubiquitous, it has become increasingly important to both secure and optimize our networks. pfSense, an open-source router/firewall, provides an easy, cost-effective way of achieving this – and this book explains how to install and configure pfSense in such a way that even a networking beginner can successfully deploy and use pfSense. This book begins by covering networking fundamentals, deployment scenarios, and hardware sizing guidelines, as well as how to install pfSense. The book then covers configuration of basic services such as DHCP, DNS, and captive portal and VLAN configuration. Careful consideration is given to the core firewall functionality of pfSense, and how to set up firewall rules and traffic shaping. Finally, the book covers the basics of VPNs, multi-WAN setups, routing and bridging, and how to perform diagnostics and troubleshooting on a network.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)

Configuring pfSense

In the previous chapter, we covered the installation of pfSense, as well as some basic configuration that should be enough to get your pfSense router/firewall up and running. There are some configuration steps, however, that while not strictly necessary, involve functionality that you may want to enable. You may want to utilize additional setup options, enable SSH login for non-console access to the command line, add interfaces, configure a DHCP server, or add VLANs. All of these steps are covered in this chapter. Since this chapter also involves IPv6 to a greater degree than in previous chapters, we will begin by briefly discussing IPv4 and IPv6 addressing.

Completing this chapter should provide you with an understanding of the following topics:

  • IPv4 and IPv6 addressing
  • Additional setup options
  • SSH login
  • How to add interfaces
  • How to configure pfSense to act...