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pfSense

Version of the FreeBSD operating system
The main dashboard of pfSense 2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT
Developer	Rubicon Communications, LLC (Netgate)
OS family	FreeBSD
Working state	Current
Source model	Closed source and open source
Released to manufacturing	Oct 2006
Latest release	Community Edition: 2.7.2 (amd64) / December 7, 2023; 12 months ago (2023-12-07) Plus: 23.09.1 / December 7, 2023; 12 months ago (2023-12-07)
Repository	github.com/pfsense/pfsense
Platforms	32-bit (discontinued in 2.4.x); 64-bit Intel / AMD
Default user interface	Web
License	Apache License 2.0 (Applies to pfSense CE)
Official website	pfsense.org
Support status
Supported by the community Paid commercial support

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. It can be configured and upgraded through a web-based interface, and requires no knowledge of the underlying FreeBSD system to manage.

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. The name derives from the fact that the software uses the packet-filtering tool, PF.

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. 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.

OPNsense

In January 2015, the OPNsense project was started by forking the version of pfSense at that time.

In November 2017, a World Intellectual Property Organization panel found Netgate, the copyright holder of pfSense, utilized OPNsense' trademarks in bad faith to discredit OPNsense, and obligated Netgate to transfer ownership of a domain name to Deciso.

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. The July 2021 release of pfSense CE 2.5.2 version re-included WireGuard.

See also

• Comparison of firewalls
• List of router and firewall distributions

References

1. ^ "Releases — Versions of pfSense and FreeBSD". netgate.com. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
2. "pfSense adopts Apache 2.0 License". Serve The Home (Loyolan Ventures, LLC). 19 June 2016.
3. Ot, Anina (2021-02-03). "6 Reasons Why You Should Be Using pfsense Firewall". MUO.
4. "You should be running a pfSense firewall". InfoWorld. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
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. Fields, Robert (28 October 2016). "Happy 10th Anniversary to pfSense Open Source Software". Netgate Blog.
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. "pfSense® CE functions".
9. "How to Install pfSense Firewall on Ubuntu and CentOS?". Geekflare. 2020-02-06.
10. Fischer, Werner (2018-11-21). OPNsense: the "open" firewall for your datacenter. Retrieved 2024-10-11 – via media.ccc.de.
11. "WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2017-1828". WIPO. November 12, 2017.
12. Salter, Jim (2021-03-15). "In-kernel WireGuard is on its way to FreeBSD and the pfSense router". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
13. "Releases — 21.02/21.02-p1/2.5.0 New Features and Changes". docs.netgate.com. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
14. Kumar, Rohit (2021-03-19). "pfSense and FreeBSD Pull Back on Kernel WireGuard Support". ServeTheHome. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
15. "pfSense CE 2.5.2-RELEASE Now Available". www.netgate.com.

Further reading

• Mastering pfSense, Second Edition Birmingham, UK: Packt Publishing, 2018. ISBN 978-1788993173. By David Zientra.
• Security: Manage Network Security With pfSense Firewall Birmingham, UK: Packt, 2018. ISBN 978-1789538991. By Manuj Aggarwal.

External links

• Official website

• 2004 software
• BSD software
• Firewall software
• Free routing software
• FreeBSD
• Gateway/routing/firewall distribution
• Operating system distributions bootable from read-only media
• Products introduced in 2004
• Routers (computing)
• Wireless access points