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.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
About Packt
Contributors
Preface
Index

Accessing the SSH


This recipe describes how to access the console from any Linux, macOS, or Windows computer.

Getting ready

The SSH server must be enabled and configured on your pfSense box. You must have an SSH client on your computer.An SSH client is installed by default on Linux and macOS. If you are using Windows, you need to install an SSH client such asPuTTY.

How to do it...

In Linux or macOS, follow these steps:

  1. Launch a Terminal window and type the following: ssh[email protected].
  2. If you are using the default configuration, you will be prompted for a password.
  3. If you are using RSA key authentication, the client will directly connect to the server, or you may be asked for a passphrase. If asked for a passphrase, use the one you created when creating the RSA key.
  4. If you configured SSH to use a different port, you can specify it using the -p option; for example,ssh -p 12345 [email protected].

In Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Launch PuTTY and, on the initial screen, enter the hostname or IP address of pfSense:

  1. Specify an alternate port if necessary.
  1. If you are using RSA key authentication, navigate toConnection | SSH | Auth | Private keyfile for authentication:
  1. You'll connect and be prompted for a username.
  2. You will then be prompted for a password, or if RSA authentication is used, you will connect directly, or be prompted for a passphrase.

How it works...

SSH allows access to the pfSense console from any computer or device that has an SSH client installed on it.

See also

  • TheEnabling SSH accessrecipe
  • TheGenerating authorized RSA keysrecipe
  • The Configuring SSH RSA auhenticationrecipe