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)

Aliases and virtual IPs

In this section, we will briefly consider two items from the firewall menu: aliases and virtual IPs. Of the two, you are more likely to utilize aliases, so we will look at them first.

Aliases

Aliases allow you to group ports, hosts, or networks into named entities that you can refer to in firewall rules, NAT rules, and in traffic-shaping. Judicious use of aliases will enable you to make changes in IP addresses, ports, and/or networks without making multiple configuration changes.

You cannot use aliases everywhere within the pfSense web GUI, but you will always know when you can: an edit box that is alias-friendly will have a red background. If you start to type the alias name into such a box, the autocomplete...