Would like to setup a Dual Boot with pfsense on a Lap top.
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Mmm, this is either a troll or you have misunderstood the purpose of pfSense entirely.
If you are trying to protect a Windows install using pfSense on the same hardware you are doing it wrong. It's technically possible if you used virtualisation.
The only reason you would ever install it dual-boot like this would be for testing.
Steve
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Thinking this through logically, why would you want to?
A dual boot system puts or more operating systems on a PC with each running individually. As opposed to a VM which allows many to run at once.
A router is 24/7. When in PC mode the router does not exist on a dual boot system. A 24/7 PC with virtual machines running allows everything to run at once.
However, that brings up security issues which are a different discussion.
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The only sort of dual boot that would really make any sense for pfsense box would be able to boot previous version on failed update. Or something in new version wasn't working how you need it to work.
Some routers/switches support such an option..
But dual booting normal OS or a Firewall distro doesn't really make a lot of sense at all.
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Yup, you might dual boot 2.5 and 2.4.5p1 for example. I could imagine dual booting pfSense with CentOS or something just to test hardware compatibility.
I suspect our friend above didn't read the right docs, thought it was a software firewall for Windows and attempted to install it as such resulting in much frustration. They would not be the first.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Would like to setup a Dual Boot with pfsense on a Lap top.:
Mmm, this is either a troll or you have misunderstood the purpose of pfSense entirely.
@Steve , We should give him the benefit of the doubt and maybe he (a good person) had a really bad day.
But there are also bad people who enjoys the suffering of others.
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The point that I was trying to make was that of the pointlessness of having a firewall on a HDD and nothing else. Why would anyone bother with that? - The whole idea, surely, of a software firewall is to run it alongside the operating system, not to stick it on a seperate HDD.
...but playing along with the curious argument that the firewall is actually supposed to be all alone on a HDD, what then? - How can it possibly protect anything when it is sat there with no operating system and absolutely nothing to protect?
Reading between the lines of the replies received thus far, though (thanks, - they are appreciated), I get the impression that, possibly, the idea is to use pfSense, once installed, as a pass-through device; effectively turning a spare HDD into the equivalent of a hardware router and then using that as a bridge device between the internet and the local network. Would that be correct?
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Exactly that. pfSense is a router/firewall. It replaces whatever router you may have currently, Netgear, Cisco etc. It can be run on a standard PC with two NICs but also runs on more specialist hardware like this.
Also see: https://www.pfsense.org/getting-started/
Steve
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@stephenw10 Thanks, but that, to me, seems to be a hellishly complex (and expensive) way to implement a network filter. At least I now understand what pfSense are trying to do with their software, because no-one (reviewer, website, or weblogger) makes it at all clear how to implement it or that it comes with a minimum requirement of 2 NICs and a HDD (or equivalent).
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You don't actually need two NICs, you can use VLANs with one NIC and a managed switch.
Or install it in a VM as discussed above.
It really depends on what you're trying to do. Filter traffic for a whole office of PCs? Setup a VPN to allow all those PCs to connect to some remote site? It would be crazy to try to do that with software firewalls and VPN connections on each PC.Steve
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@stephenw10 I am still in the process of trying to patch VirtualBox sufficiently to a: get it working and, b: get it working with IPv6; so I may see about patching-in pfSense at some point, too, - thanks.
My setup is (now) a virtual linux webserver with Windows PC. Next will be a MAC (but they do not like virtual, apparently); so depending on how things progress I will either attempt to patch-in pfSense or I will simply buy a hardware box (which would, unfortunately, have to be one of the dearer models because of my networking requirements).
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I have run numerous pfSense instances in VBox with no issues. I would expect it to 'just work' there.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Good, - thanks, - but based on my unpleasant experiences with both VirtualBox and VMWare (especially) I do not expect the problem to be with pfSense.
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Since I got a Proxmox host setup I hardly ever use VBox anymore. I can recommend that, it was a game-changer for me.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Looks interesting, - another installer that requires an entire install device to itself, but if there is a chance that I can run my webserver without crippled IPv6 and DNSSEC it has got to be worth a look. - Thanks.
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Yeah it needs a dedicated host to run on, it's a true hypervisor.
But that means it moves all that load off you desktop. It also means you can physically position it anywhere there is Ethernet and power so it can be big and load etc. And it can be always on to host VMs that need that.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Would like to setup a Dual Boot with pfsense on a Lap top.:
Since I got a Proxmox host setup I hardly ever use VBox anymore. I can recommend that, it was a game-changer for me.
Steve
Love Proxmox, did you also use it for gaming like steam with video card pass through?
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Nope!
I have it running on a virtually silent low power NUC.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Would like to setup a Dual Boot with pfsense on a Lap top.:
Nope!
I have it running on a virtually silent low power NUC.
Steve
I am planning to do the same changing my server with low power server. My energy bill is unbearable.
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@stephenw10 I have now managed to install pfSense (thanks), but it is useless unless I can run it inside of something else (not possible to get it working alongside anything), and ProxMox is the worse pile of crp I have ever tried to use. - It has to be run from the command line ...and expects to be configured via a browser(???). I am not even going to ask. - The more I explore these hypervisors the more I wonder at the seriously fcked sense of humour behind these products.
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@2RTzC5KbQGH4aG said in Would like to setup a Dual Boot with pfsense on a Lap top.:
It has to be run from the command line ...and expects to be configured via a browser(???)
And how else would you design a headless VM host to be managed? Which btw is exactly how pfsense is managed via a browser.. ;)
As to run from the cmdline.. I take that to mean the box has no actual gui?? Well no shit why would I want my hypervisor to waste resources on a gui..
