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)

Troubleshooting

If you implement static or dynamic routing or bridging on your network, at some point you are likely to encounter a situation that will put your troubleshooting skills to the test. We will first consider how to troubleshoot issues with routing.

The pfSense routing table is often a good place to start troubleshooting routing issues (under Diagnostics | Routes). Here, you can learn what routes exist, how they are configured, as well as how many times the route has been used. The table is divided into two sections (one for IPv4 traffic, and the other for IPv6 traffic. There are also several columns in the table. Some of the parameters in these columns are obvious, such as Destination, Use (which is the number of times a route was used), and Mtu (which is short for maximum transmission unit).

There is also a column called Flags; some of the more significant flags include...