How To Install PfSense Firewall On a Hard Disk Drive

Procedure

1. Download pfSense.
2. Write pfSense installer image to a USB pen.
3. Attach hard disk to an external USB universal drive adapter.
4. Install pfSense on a hard disk.
5. Complete the installation.
6. After installation attach back hard to the net5501 router.
7. Configure the serial console.
8. Configure the firewall

Step 1: Download pfSense

1. Visit this page to grab the correct version:Type the following wget command:
   $ wget wget http://files.uk.pfsense.org/mirror/downloads/pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.4-RELEASE-i386.img.gz
$ wget https://files.pfsense.org/hashes/pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.4-RELEASE-i386.img.gz.md5
$ ls
$ md5sum -c pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.4-RELEASE-i386.img.gz.md5Sample outputs:

   -rw-r--r--  1 vivek  staff  99324384 Jul 27 04:32 pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.4-RELEASE-i386.img.gz
   -rw-r--r--  1 vivek  staff        91 Jul 27 04:34 pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.4-RELEASE-i386.img.gz.md5
   pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.4-RELEASE-i386.img.gz: OK

   Step 2: Wrtie pfSense memstick image

   Use the dd command as follows as root user:
   # gzip -dc pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.4-RELEASE-i386.img.gz | dd of=/dev/sdc bs=1M

   Step 3: Boot from a usb stick/pen

   I've attached both bookable USB pen and hard disk to my Dell laptop. Turn on the laptop. Press F12 to select boot menu (check your bios settings for more info). Select USB storage device:
   

   Fig.02: USB storage boot mode

   Step 4: Installation

   pfSense will start installation from a USB pen. You will be prompted as follows to start an installer:
   

   Fig.03: Press i to invoke the installer now (click to enlarge)
   
   Next accept the console settings (or change it as per your need):
   
   

   Fig.04 The installer console can be changed to use a different font, screenmap, or keymap (click to enlarge)
   
   At the Select Task prompt, choose "Custom Install". If you select "Quick/Easy Install", the installer will install pfSense on the first located disk. I've multiple disk in my laptop. So I selected the "Custom Install" option:
   
   

   Fig. 05: Select task as "Custom Install" (click to enlarge)
   
   Finally, select a disk. I'm going to install it on my WDC-160 GB SATA 2.5 hard disk which is connected to my laptop via an external USB universal drive adapter:
   
   

   Fig. 06: Select a disk to install pfSense (click to enlarge)
   
   Now, the installer will continue wiping the selected disk WDC and installing pfSense. Copying files may take some time to finish. Feel free to click the following images to see the exact steps:
   

   

   Would like to format WDC disk?

   

   Select disk geometry (accept default)

   
   

   

   Confirm disk formatting

   

   Partition disk as per your need

   
   

   

   Create slices

   

   Format slices

   
   

   

   The disk was partitioned

   

   Make sure you install bootloader on this WDC disk

   
   

   

   Bootloader was successfully installed

   

   Select partition to install pfSense

   
   

   

   Confirm it

   

   Parition was formatted

   
   

   

   Set / and swap area (defaults are fine)

   

   Installing pfSense

   
   

   

   For Soekris embedded device select NO VGA/Keyboard option i.e. use serial console to see boot options

   

   Reboot the system?

   
   

   

   Note down the default config LAN IP and username/password.

   Step 5: Install hard disk in your embedded soekris device

   You need to mount WDC 160 GB hard disk on your embedded soekris server. Once installed you can boot the device and continue with firewall configuration.

   Step 6: Connecting to the serial console

   The primary console interface of the Soekris boards is the external serial port on my net5501. The soekris default port speed set to 19200 baud. But, pfSense set it to 115200 baud. You can use any one of the following command to (assuming a serial line on /dev/ttyUSB0):
   $ cu -l /dev/tty00 -s 115200
   OR
   $ screen /dev/ttyS0 115200
   Sample outputs:

   

   Fig.07: pfSense headless (console) option menu.

   NOTE: To change the BIOS speed from default to 115200 on the net5501 router:
   Press control-P to jump into the comBIOS monitor and set the speed:
   > set ConSpeed=115200
   > reboot

   Step 7: Configure the firewall

   Type the following url:
   http://192.168.1.254/
   OR
   http://192.168.1.1
   Here is my firewall:

   

   Fig.08: Fully configured and working pfSense setup (click to enlarge)

   You can use the same technique to install Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD or any other operating system on hard disk drive