How to Install & Run pfSense Firewall on System?

pfSense is an open source firewall software distribution based on FreeBSD. It can be installed on machine as well on system . It can be managed through WEB Interface as well as through terminal. It supports the feature like DHCP Server, DNS Server, NATTING & VPN etc. It also supports installation of third-party packages like Snort, Squid & NMAP etc. through its Package Manager.

This tutorial shows how to Install pfSense Firewall on your system. To do so follow the steps shown below

Step 1 -> Go to pfSense Official Website & download the ISO file

Open https://www.pfsense.org/download/ & download the Image file

Step 2 -> Open Virtual Box, add, boot the Image & select option ‘1’ press ENTER

Step 3 -> Select ‘Accept these settings’

Step 4 -> Select ‘Quick/Easy Install’ & press ‘OK’

Step 5 -> Select ‘Standard Kernel’ & after installation press ‘Reboot’

Step 6 -> Remove the ISO file from Virtual Box & boot the Virtual Hard Disk. Press ‘F1’ to Boot

Step 7 -> After Booting process it will prompt for firewall interface settings as shown below

Should VLANs be setup now [y|n] ? n —- select ‘n’

Enter the WAN interface name or ‘a’ for auto-detection
(em0 em1 or a) : em0 —- select ’em0′ (If you don’t know select ‘a’ i.e., auto-detection)

Enter the LAN interface name or ‘a’ for auto-detection
NOTE : this enables full Firewalling/NAT mode.
(em1 a or nothing if finished) : em1 —- select ’em1′ (If you don’t know select ‘a’ i.e., auto-detection)

The interface will be assigned as follows:
WAN -> em0
LAN  -> em1

Do you want to proceed [y|n]? y —- Select ‘y

 

Step 8 -> Now we’ll login from WEB interface
Default IP for LAN is : 192.168.1.1/24

Default Username & Password of pfSense are mentioned below

Username : admin
Password : pfsense

Step 9 -> After Login select ‘Next’ & setup the Hostname & Domain name of the Firewall

Step 10 -> Select the Timezone & change the default admin password of the Firewall

Hence, Successfully Installed