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)

SSH login

In the previous chapter, we referred several times to configurations that can be done at the pfSense console. The same functionality is available via remote SSH login, if you enable it:

  1. To do so, navigate to System | Advanced. Make sure that the Admin Access tab is selected and scroll down to the Secure Shell section of the page.
  2. Check the Secure Shell Server checkbox to enable SSH login.
  3. If all you want to do is enable traditional login via the standard SSH port (22), then you can click on the Save button at the bottom of the page.
  4. If you want to change the login port, you can do so by entering a port number other than 22 in the SSH port edit box. Changing the SSH port is a good additional security measure, especially if you plan on making SSH login accessible from the WAN side of the firewall.
  5. If you set a strong password, SSH login should be pretty secure, but you...