This walkthrough will install pfSense on VirtualBox. The network diagram below shows what our virtual environment will look like at the end. Note that the IP addresses may be slightly different and you may choose to only install one Windows VM, base on your host system resources.
pfSense is an open-source firewall and router software distribution based on FreeBSD. It is widely used for securing networks, managing traffic, and providing advanced networking services in both home and enterprise environments. pfSense offers a web-based interface for configuration, making it accessible even to users with limited command-line experience. It supports a wide range of features including firewall rule sets, network address translation (NAT), VPN (such as IPsec and OpenVPN), DHCP, DNS services, and VLANs, making it a versatile solution for building secure and segmented network infrastructures.
Download pfSense from the link below.
Download pfSense Community Edition
After going to the link select Download.
Under Select Image Type drop down, select AMD64 ISO/Virtual Machines.
Sign in or Create an Account.
Once signed in, Complete the Order.
Select Download Now
The downloaded file is a G-Zip compressed file. You can uncompress it with 7-zip.
After downloading and uncompressing, create the pfSense VM. Open VirtualBox Manager and select “New”.
Name the Virtual Machine and select where you want the VM to be stored when completed.
Go to where the .iso file was downloaded and select Type as BSD, Subtype is FreeBSD, and Version is FreeBSD (64-bit)
Skip over unattended Install and go to the Hardware tab. Configure memory and CPU and select next.
Go to the Hard Disk tab and expand disk space to 20GB and click Finish.
Go back to VirtualBox Manager and highlight pfSense and select Settings.
Go to System. Uncheck Floppy and move Hard Disk and Optical up on the list. Ensure that Hard Disk is at the top of the list. If not, it will cause an infinite loop and will continue to restart the installation process.
Go to Audio and uncheck Enable Audio.
Go to network. Choose Adaptor 1 and then select Bridged. In VirtualBox, a Bridged Adapter connects the virtual machine (VM) directly to the same physical network as the host machine. This means the VM acts like a separate physical device on the network, just like any other computer connected to the router or switch. When you select “Name”, if your host has a wireless connection, choose a wireless adaptor name. Conversely, if it has a wired connection choose a wired adaptor name. Most likely VirtualBox will automatically choose the name when you select Bridged; however, be sure it is consistent with the type of network connection your host has. Lastly, set adaptor type to Paravirtualized Network.
Go to Adapter 2. Enable network adapter. Select Attached to “Internal Network”, change the name to “LAN 0”, and change the Adaptor type to Paravirtualized Network.
Go to Adaptor 3. Enable network adapter. Enable network adapter. Select Attached to “Internal Network”, change the name to “LAN 1”, and change the Adaptor type to Paravirtualized Network.
Disable USB ports.
No other changes are required and now we can start pfSense.
Select Accept
Select OK
Select OK
Select OK.
Select OK
Select continue
Select Continue
Select install CE (Community Edition)
Select OK
Select OK
Click OK
Click Yes
Click OK
Installation will begin. Be patient it will take a few minutes.
Select OK after installation.
Reboot the VM
When the system is being rebooted it will ask if VLANS need to be set up first. Answer by typing “n”. Be aware that text continue to scroll before you get a chance to answer; however, just answer “no” it does not matter if other text has gone by after the question.
We will now configure the network adaptors.
We will be asked to name the interfaces. Name the interfaces“vtnet0”, “vtnet1”, and “vtnet2” and then select “y” to continue.
See the settings below. We will not change the WAN IP; however, we will change the other IP addresses.
Select option 2.
Select 2 again to configure the LAN interface
Select n
Enter 10.0.1.1 for the IP address for the LAN interface.
Enter 24
Select Enter
Respond with no
Select enter
Respond with y
Enter the IP range for the DHCP server starting with 10.0.1.11 and ending with 10.0.1.245. This leaves IP addresses at the begining and the end of the range for static IP addresses.
Respond with no
This shows the IP address for the adaptor we just configured. Select Enter
Now we will repeat the same for the other interface using 10.0.3.1.
Select option 2 to set IP address
Select 3 for the OPT1 adaptor.
Select n to not configure IPv4 via DHCP
Enter the IP of 10.0.3.1
Enter 24 for subnet bit count
Select enter
Select n for DHCP6
Select enter for none for IPv6
Select y for enabling DHCP server
Give it an IP range of 10.0.3.11 and 10.0.3.245.
Select no for webConfigurator protocol.
Select Enter
Power it down safely by entering option 6.
We can now get rid of the ISO file. Go to setting —> Storage —> Select the pfSense Installer —> Go to the dropdown beside the disk icon and select “remove disk from virtual drive”.
This completes the initial installation and configuration.