The Book of PF: A No-Nonsense Guide to the Open BSD Firewall

Build a more secure network with PF.

The OpenBSD packet filter, PF, is central to the OpenBSD and FreeBSD network toolbox. With more services placing high demands on bandwidth and an increasingly hostile Internet environment, no sysadmin can afford to be without PF expertise.

The fourth edition of The Book of PF covers the most up-to-date developments in PF, including new content on IPv6, dual stack configurations, the “queues and priorities” traffic-shaping system, NAT and redirection, wireless networking, spam fighting, failover provisioning, logging, and more. 

You’ll also learn how to:

• Create rulesets for all kinds of network traffic, IPv4 and IPv6 both, whether crossing a simple LAN, hiding behind NAT, traversing DMZs, or spanning bridges or wider networks
• Set up wireless networks with access points, and lock them down using authpf and special access restrictions
• Maximize flexibility and service availability via CARP, relayd, and redirection
• Build adaptive firewalls to proactively defend against attackers and spammers
• Harness OpenBSD’s latest traffic-shaping system to keep your network responsive, or use ALTQ and Dummynet configurations on FreeBSD to full effect
• Stay in control of your traffic with monitoring and visualization tools (including NetFlow)

The Book of PF is the essential guide to building a secure network with PF. With a little effort and this book, you’ll be well prepared to unlock PF’s full potential.

Covers OpenBSD 7.x, FreeBSD 14.x, and NetBSD 10.x

Peter N. M. Hansteen is a DevOps (formerly sysadmin) consultant and writer based in Bergen, Norway. A longtime Freenix advocate, Hansteen is a frequent lecturer on OpenBSD and FreeBSD topics. He also occasionally contributes articles to websites and magazines, and blogs on mainly networking related topics at That Grumpy BSD Guy. Hansteen was a participant in the original RFC 1149 implementation team. The Book of PF is an expanded follow-up to his very popular online PF tutorial.