PfSense

pfSense

pfSense

Firewall/Router software distribution

pfSense is a firewall/router computer software distribution based on FreeBSD. The open source pfSense Community Edition (CE) and pfSense Plus is installed on a physical computer or a virtual machine to make a dedicated firewall/router for a network.[3] It can be configured and upgraded through a web-based interface, and requires no knowledge of the underlying FreeBSD system to manage.[4][5]

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Overview

The pfSense project began in 2004 as a fork of the m0n0wall project by Chris Buechler and Scott Ullrich. Its first release was in October 2006.[6] The name derives from the fact that the software uses the packet-filtering tool, PF.[7]

Notable functions of pfSense include traffic shaping, VPNs using IPsec or PPTP, captive portal, stateful firewall, network address translation, 802.1q support for VLANs, and dynamic DNS.[8] pfSense can be installed on hardware with an x86-64 processor architecture. It can also be installed on embedded hardware using Compact Flash or SD cards, or as a virtual machine.[9]

WireGuard protocol support

In February 2021, pfSense CE 2.5.0 and pfSense Plus 21.02 added support for a kernel WireGuard implementation. Support for WireGuard was temporarily removed in March 2021 after implementation issues were discovered by WireGuard founder Jason Donenfeld.[10][11][12] The July 2021 release of pfSense CE 2.5.2 version re-included WireGuard.[13]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Releases — Versions of pfSense and FreeBSD". netgate.com. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  2. [2]
    "pfSense adopts Apache 2.0 License". Serve The Home (Loyolan Ventures, LLC). 19 June 2016.
  3. [3]
    Ot, Anina (2021-02-03). "6 Reasons Why You Should Be Using pfsense Firewall". MUO.
  4. [4]
    "You should be running a pfSense firewall". InfoWorld. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. [5]
    Miller, Sloan (26 June 2008). "Configure a professional firewall using pfSense". Free Software Magazine (22). Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  6. [6]
    Fields, Robert (28 October 2016). "Happy 10th Anniversary to pfSense Open Source Software". Netgate Blog.
  7. [7]
    Mobily, Tony (14 August 2007). "Interview with Jeff Starkweather, Chris Buechler and Scott Ullrich". Free Software Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  8. [8]
    "pfSense® CE functions".
  9. [9]
    "How to Install pfSense Firewall on Ubuntu and CentOS?". Geekflare. 2020-02-06.
  10. [10]
    Salter, Jim (2021-03-15). "In-kernel WireGuard is on its way to FreeBSD and the pfSense router". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  11. [11]
    "Releases — 21.02/21.02-p1/2.5.0 New Features and Changes". docs.netgate.com. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  12. [12]
    Kumar, Rohit (2021-03-19). "pfSense and FreeBSD Pull Back on Kernel WireGuard Support". ServeTheHome. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  13. [13]
    "pfSense CE 2.5.2-RELEASE Now Available". www.netgate.com.

Further reading
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