How to Install OPNsense on NetBSD

OPNsense is a popular open-source firewall and security platform that offers a wide range of features and functionalities. If you want to install OPNsense on NetBSD, the process is quite simple and straightforward.

Pre-requisites

  • NetBSD operating system installed on your computer
  • A stable and reliable internet connection
  • A web browser

Steps to Install OPNsense on NetBSD

  1. First, download the latest stable release of OPNsense from the official website (https://opnsense.org/download/) and save it to the desired location on your computer.

  2. Once you have downloaded the OPNsense image, use the following command to check the SHA256 checksum and compare it to the value shown on the download page:

    $ cd /path/to/the/downloaded/image
$ sha256sum -c SHA256

  3. Now insert a USB drive with at least 2 GB of space into your computer.

  4. Use the fdisk command to locate the device name of your USB drive:

    # fdisk -l

    This command will display a list of all connected disks on your system. Identify the USB drive by its size and format (e.g., /dev/sdb).

  5. Create a bootable USB using the following command (replace OPNsense-<version>-OpenSSL-serial-amd64.img with the actual name of the OPNsense image file):

    # dd if=./OPNsense-<version>-OpenSSL-serial-amd64.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M

    Note: Replace /dev/sdX with the device name of your USB drive.

  6. Safely remove the USB drive from your computer and connect it to the target NetBSD machine.

  7. Power on your NetBSD machine, and press the F12 key (or the key that opens the boot menu) to select the bootable USB drive.

  8. Select the "OPNsense-serial" option from the boot menu to start the OPNsense installation.

  9. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process, including setting up network interfaces, hostname, and passwords.

  10. Once the installation is complete, you can access the OPNsense web interface by opening a web browser and navigating to the IP address of the NetBSD machine.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed OPNsense on NetBSD.