|
1
|
pfSense Software Installation Media
|
|
2
|
===================================
|
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
Overview
|
|
5
|
--------
|
|
6
|
|
|
7
|
The pfSense project is a free network firewall distribution, based on the
|
|
8
|
FreeBSD operating system with a custom kernel and including third party free
|
|
9
|
software packages for additional functionality. pfSense software, with the help
|
|
10
|
of the package system, is able to provide the same functionality or more of
|
|
11
|
common commercial firewalls, without any of the artificial limitations. It has
|
|
12
|
successfully replaced every big name commercial firewall you can imagine in
|
|
13
|
numerous installations around the world, including Check Point, Cisco PIX, Cisco
|
|
14
|
ASA, Juniper, Sonicwall, Netgear, Watchguard, Astaro, and more.
|
|
15
|
|
|
16
|
pfSense software includes a web interface for the configuration of all included
|
|
17
|
components. There is no need for any UNIX knowledge, no need to use the command
|
|
18
|
line for anything, and no need to ever manually edit any rule sets. Users
|
|
19
|
familiar with commercial firewalls catch on to the web interface quickly, though
|
|
20
|
there can be a learning curve for users not familiar with commercial-grade
|
|
21
|
firewalls.
|
|
22
|
|
|
23
|
pfSense started in 2004 as a fork of the m0n0wall Project which ended
|
|
24
|
2015/02/15, though has diverged significantly since.
|
|
25
|
|
|
26
|
pfSense is Copyright 2004-2024 Rubicon Communications, LLC (Netgate) and
|
|
27
|
published under an open source license. (https://pfsense.org/license)
|
|
28
|
|
|
29
|
Read more at https://pfsense.org/ and support the team by buying bundled
|
|
30
|
hardware appliances or commercial support.
|
|
31
|
|
|
32
|
Contribute
|
|
33
|
----------
|
|
34
|
|
|
35
|
For information on how to contribute to the pfSense project, see
|
|
36
|
https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/blob/master/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
|
|
37
|
|
|
38
|
Installing pfSense Software (amd64)
|
|
39
|
-----------------------------------
|
|
40
|
|
|
41
|
The installation media can be inserted into the target device. When booted from
|
|
42
|
this disk, the installer will launch automatically. For more information on how
|
|
43
|
to install pfSense software, see the installation section of the online
|
|
44
|
documentation: https://www.netgate.com/docs/pfsense/book/install/index.html
|
|
45
|
|
|
46
|
Restoring an Existing Firewall Configuration (amd64)
|
|
47
|
----------------------------------------------------
|
|
48
|
|
|
49
|
An existing configuration file (config.xml) can be restored during the
|
|
50
|
installation process. Place a copy of the config.xml file on this FAT partition,
|
|
51
|
in this directory or under X:\conf\config.xml where X: is the letter of this
|
|
52
|
drive.
|
|
53
|
|
|
54
|
At the end of the installation process, this file will be copied to the target
|
|
55
|
drive and used in place of the default configuration. Packages will be restored
|
|
56
|
after the firewall boots with the new configuration in place.
|
|
57
|
|
|
58
|
Alternately, the installer can attempt to recover an existing config.xml file
|
|
59
|
from the target disk before it formats the drive during the installation
|
|
60
|
process.
|
|
61
|
|
|
62
|
For more information on these features, see the online documentation at
|
|
63
|
https://www.netgate.com/docs/pfsense/backup/automatically-restore-during-install.html
|
|
64
|
|
|
65
|
Installing pfSense Software (ARM)
|
|
66
|
---------------------------------
|
|
67
|
|
|
68
|
ARM systems use recovery images and not an installation disk. The process is
|
|
69
|
similar, however, details of this process may vary by model. View the
|
|
70
|
appropriate recovery instructions for each model at
|
|
71
|
https://www.netgate.com/docs/pfsense/solutions/
|
|
72
|
|
|
73
|
Restoring an Existing Firewall Configuration (ARM)
|
|
74
|
--------------------------------------------------
|
|
75
|
|
|
76
|
ARM systems can restore an existing configuration using the External
|
|
77
|
Configuration Locator (ECL) feature. Place a copy of config.xml on the FAT
|
|
78
|
partition under X:\config\config.xml where X: is the letter of this drive.
|
|
79
|
|
|
80
|
After the recovery process completes, remove this drive and reboot the device.
|
|
81
|
After a few moments, insert the drive again. The firewall device will boot from
|
|
82
|
its internal disk but will find the configuration on this FAT partition, then
|
|
83
|
restore it to the firewall in place of the default settings.
|
|
84
|
|
|
85
|
For more information on these features, see the online documentation at
|
|
86
|
https://www.netgate.com/docs/pfsense/backup/automatically-restore-during-install.html
|