Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, 2nd edition [Paperback]

Jacek Artymiak (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 8391665119 | ISBN-13: 978-8391665114 | Publication Date: November 1, 2003 | Edition: 2

Written by Jacek Artymiak, a frequent contributor to ONLamp.com, Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF is the first and only print publication devoted solely to the subject of the pf packet filter used in OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and NetBSD operating systems. Topics covered include: firewall design, ruleset syntax, packet normalization (scrubbing), packet redirection (masquerading), packet filtering, bandwidth management (ALTQ), load balancing, and more. The author maintains a web site and a mailing list for the readers of his book.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The first and only print publication devoted solely to the subject of the pf packet filter used in OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and NetBSD operating systems.

About the Author

Jacek Artymiak has been working with Unix systems since 1991. He has written books on other Unix-class systems and is a frequent contributor to the O'Reilly Networks sites, where he often writes about OpenBSD and PF.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Jacek Artymiak; 2 edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8391665119
• ISBN-13: 978-8391665114
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent hands-on guide to Pf on OpenBSD or other BSDs, December 30, 2004

By 

Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, 2nd edition (Paperback)

I was an early buyer of the first edition of 'Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF' (BFWOAP), but I am confident my opinion applies to the second edition as well. BFWOAP is the perfect book for anyone looking to build an firewall with Pf. Since Pf is now part of FreeBSD, NetBSD, and DragonFly BSD, this book will be helpful to anyone looking to use Pf on those platforms.

I like the direct approach taken by author Jacek Artymiak. With few exceptions he ensures the reader is provided enough descriptions and working examples to implement Pf in an operational environment. Too often authors discuss important topics but fail to follow through on implementation. I was able to follow the author's instructions and build a variety of Pf firewalls. I found sections describing packet normalization, packet redirection and forwarding (via 'dup-to'), and prioritization to be most helpful.

The author's blog indicates he is working on a new firewall book that expands beyond OpenBSD and Pf. I hope he is working with an established publisher to ensure his next book has a wider audience.

If you're mainly interested in creating firewalls using Pf, this book is for you. If you want to know more about OpenBSD, I recommend Michael Lucas' 'Absolute OpenBSD' or 'Secure Architectures with OpenBSD' by Brandon Palmer and Jose Nazario.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have!, June 17, 2004

By 

"cldpeak" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, 2nd edition (Paperback)

Indispensable book for building invisible firewalls (bridges), packet filtering, NAT and routing devices. Rock solid guide! Includes the basics for beginners such as hardening the OS, (though with OpenBSD it's a short list) and avoiding gateway IP configuration mistakes. Saved me DAYS scouring the manual pages or web. Covers advanced topics such as firewall/network designs, packet filtering, allowing FTP, patching, secure levels, creating maintenance users, anti-spoofing, automated firewalls, bandwidth shaping and load balancing, logging and analysis, authpf, firewall testing and management AND did I mention using spamd to filter spam? Obviously this book has not had any bench time in my office. Simply the best way to get up and running on OpenBSD networking. Note, you can support OpenBSD and still purchase from Amazon by going through the link: http://www.openbsd.org/books.html

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quirky but good, like everything about OpenBSD, July 19, 2004

By 

Christopher Brown (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, 2nd edition (Paperback)

First - I like the book and I think anyone wishing to get a better grasp on OpenBSD administration should have it, and should have Absolute OpenBSD and Secure Architectures with OpenBSD as well.
The portions directly about building firewalls and about configuring pf are great, but the book suffers from its attempt to be all things to all people. Chapter 2 is a truncated version of something from "Building Internet Firewalls" by Zwicky, et. al. Chapter 3 and most of Chapter 4 could have been left to a more general administration guide. The rest is dynamite. There is in-depth coverage of NAT, CBQ and bandwidth shaping, and authpf. If you are building a firewall of any complexity, this book is a must have.