Book Image

pfSense 2.x Cookbook - Second Edition

By : David Zientara
Book Image

pfSense 2.x Cookbook - Second Edition

By: David Zientara

Overview of this book

pfSense is an open source distribution of the FreeBSD-based firewall that provides a platform for ?exible and powerful routing and firewalling. The versatility of pfSense presents us with a wide array of configuration options, which makes determining requirements a little more difficult and a lot more important compared to other offerings. pfSense 2.x Cookbook – Second Edition starts by providing you with an understanding of how to complete the basic steps needed to render a pfSense firewall operational. It starts by showing you how to set up different forms of NAT entries and firewall rules and use aliases and scheduling in firewall rules. Moving on, you will learn how to implement a captive portal set up in different ways (no authentication, user manager authentication, and RADIUS authentication), as well as NTP and SNMP configuration. You will then learn how to set up a VPN tunnel with pfSense. The book then focuses on setting up traffic shaping with pfSense, using either the built-in traffic shaping wizard, custom ?oating rules, or Snort. Toward the end, you will set up multiple WAN interfaces, load balancing and failover groups, and a CARP failover group. You will also learn how to bridge interfaces, add static routing entries, and use dynamic routing protocols via third-party packages.

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Table of Contents (13 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Sections
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Initial Configuration
Initial Configuration
Introduction
Applying basic settings to General Setup
Identifying and assigning interfaces
Configuring a WAN interface
Configuring a LAN interface
Configuring optional interfaces from the console
Enabling SSH access
Generating authorized RSA keys
Configuring SSH RSA key authentication
Accessing the SSH
Configuring VLANs
Assigning interfaces from the console
Configuring a WAN interface from the console
Configuring a LAN interface from the console
Configuring optional interfaces from the console
Configuring VLANs from the console
2
Essential Services
Essential Services
Introduction
Configuring the DHCP server
Configuring the DHCP6 server
Configuring static DHCP mappings
Configuring the DHCP relay
Specifying alternate DNS servers
Configuring the DNS resolver
Configuring a stand-alone DHCP/DNS server
Configuring dynamic DNS
Adding a wireless access point
3
Firewall and NAT
Firewall and NAT
Introduction
Creating and using aliases
Creating a firewall rule
Setting a firewall rule schedule
Creating a floating rule
Creating a NAT port forwarding entry
Creating an outbound NAT entry
Creating a 1:1 NAT entry
Creating an NPt entry
Enabling UPnP and NAT-PnP
4
Additional Services
Additional Services
Introduction
Creating a captive portal without authentication
Creating a captive portal with voucher authentication
Creating a captive portal with User Manager authentication
Creating a captive portal with RADIUS authentication
Configuring NTP
Configuring SNMP
5
Virtual Private Networking
Virtual Private Networking
Introduction
Configuring the IPsec OpenVPN server – peer-to-peer
Configuring the IPsec VPN service – client/server
Connecting to the IPsec VPN service
Configuring the OpenVPN service
Connecting to the OpenVPN service
Configuring the L2TP VPN service
6
Traffic Shaping
Traffic Shaping
Introduction
Configuring traffic shaping using the traffic-shaping wizard
Configuring traffic shaping using floating rules
Configuring traffic shaping using Snort
7
Redundancy, Load Balancing, and Failover
Redundancy, Load Balancing, and Failover
Introduction
Adding multiple WAN interfaces
Configuring server load balancing
Configuring a CARP failover group
8
Routing and Bridging
Routing and Bridging
Introduction
Bridging interfaces
Adding a static route
Configuring RIP using routed
Configuring BGP using FRR
Configuring OSPF using FRR
9
Services and Maintenance
Services and Maintenance
Introduction
Enabling Wake-on-LAN
Configuring PPPoE
Configuring external logging with a syslog server
Using ping
Using traceroute
Using netstat
Using pfTop
Using tcpdump
Using tcpflow
10
Backing Up and Restoring pfSense
Backing Up and Restoring pfSense
Introduction
Backing up pfSense
Restoring pfSense
Updating pfSense
11
Determining Hardware Requirements
Determining Hardware Requirements
Determining our deployment scenario
Determining our throughput requirements
Determining our interface requirements
Choosing a standard or embedded image
Choosing a form factor
Summary
12
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
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Configuring a LAN interface from the console

This recipe describes how to configure the LAN interface from the Console menu.

Getting ready

In order to complete this recipe, the LAN interface must have previously been assigned to one of the available network interfaces.

How to do it...

  1. On the console menu, type 2 and press Enter.
  2. pfSense will prompt you for the number of the interface you want to configure. For the LAN interface, this will be 2, so type 2 and press Enter.
  3. pfSense will prompt you for the new LAN IPv4 address. Enter the new address and press Enter:

  1. pfSense will prompt you for the subnet bit count (the CIDR). Enter the bit count and press Enter.
  2. pfSense will prompt you for the new LAN IPv4 upstream gateway address. You don’t need to specify an upstream gateway, so just press Enter.
  3. pfSense will prompt you for the new LAN IPv6 address. If you want to specify an IPv6 address, type it here; otherwise, just press Enter.
  4. If you entered an IPv6 address, pfSense will prompt you for the subnet bit count (CIDR). Enter the bit count and press Enter.
  1. If you entered an IPv6 address, pfSense will prompt you for the new LAN IPv6 upstream gateway address. You don’t need to specify an upstream gateway, so just press Enter.
  2. pfSense will ask whether you want to enable the DHCP server on LAN. If you enter y, you will then be prompted for the start and end addresses of the IPv4 client address range. You can enter y and type the start and end addresses, or just enter n and set up DHCP later on (recommended).
  3. If you entered an IPv6 address, pfSense will ask if you want to enable the DHCP6 server on LAN. If you enter y, you will then be prompted for the start and end addresses of the IPv6 client address range. You can enter y and type the start and end addresses, or just enter n and set up DHCP6 later on (recommended).
  4. pfSense will ask you whether you want to revert to HTTP for the webConfigurator protocol. Unless you have a reason for not using HTTPS for the web GUI, type n and press Enter.
  5. The configuration process is now complete. The settings will be saved and pfSense will reload them.

How it works...

This recipe described how to set up a LAN interface’s IP address using the console instead of the web GUI. Note that this option also allows you to set up the DHCP (or DHCP6) server, although it does not provide as many options as the web GUI. As with configuring a WAN interface, you may find it necessary to do the configuration via the web GUI, as the console only provides limited options.

See also

  • The Assigning interfaces from the console recipe
  • The Configuring a WAN interface from the console recipe
  • The Configuring optional interfaces from the console recipe
  • The Configuring VLANs from the console recipe
  • The Configuring a LAN interface recipe
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