A few simple steps to get you going

The minimum specification to run all OPNsense standard features that do not need disk writes, means you can run all standard features, except for the ones that require disk writes, e.g. a caching proxy (cache) or intrusion detection and prevention (alert database).

The recommended specifications to run all OPNsense® standard features ensure that every feature is functional and suitable for most use cases.

Depending on your hardware and use case different installation files are provided to Install OPNsense®. Select the right version for your system.

• Download OPNsense®

The easiest method of installation is the USB-memstick installer. If your target platform has a serial interface choose the “serial image. 64-bit and 32-bit install images are provided. The following examples apply to both.

Write the image to a USB flash drive (>= 1GB), either with dd under FreeBSD or under Windows with physdiskwrite (or Rufus).

Before writing an (iso) image you need to unpack it first (use bunzip2).

FreeBSD

dd if=OPNsense-##.#.##-[Type]-[Architecture].[img|iso] of=/dev/daX bs=16kWhere X = the device number of your USB flash drive (check dmesg)

Linux

dd if=OPNsense-##.#.##-[Type]-[Architecture].[img|iso] of=/dev/sdX bs=16kWhere X = the IDE device name of your USB flash drive (check with hdparm -i /dev/sdX) (ignore the warning about trailing garbage – it’s because of the digital signature)

OpenBSD

dd if=OPNsense-##.#.##-[Type]-[Architecture].[img|iso] of=/dev/rsd6c bs=16kThe device must be the ENTIRE device (in Windows/DOS language: the ‘C’ partition), and a raw I/O device (the ‘r’ in front of the device “sd6”), not a block mode device.

Mac OS X

sudo dd if=OPNsense-##.#.##-[Type]-[Architecture].[img|iso] of=/dev/rdiskX bs=64kWhere r = raw device, and where X = the disk device number of your CF card (check Disk Utility) (ignore the warning about trailing garbage – it’s because of the digital signature)

Windows

physdiskwrite -u OPNsense-##.#.##-[Type]-[Architecture].[img|iso].imgA simple alternative for writing image under windows is Rufus a tool to create bootable USB sticks with a nice GUI.

Configure your system to boot from USB.

Default behaviour is to start the Live environment, to install log in with user installer and password opnsense.

The installation process involves a few simple steps

1. Configure console – The default configuration should be fine for most occasions.
2. Select task – The Quick/Easy Install option should be fine for most occasions. For installations on embedded systems or systems with minimal diskspace choose Custom Installation and do not create a swap slice. Continue with default settings.
3. Are you SURE? – When proceeding OPNsense will be installed on the first hard disk in the system.
4. Reboot – The system is now installed and needs to be rebooted to continue with configuration.

WARNING: You will lose all files on the installation disk. If another disk is to be used then choose a Custom installation instead of the Quick/Easy Install.

After installation go to firmware page in the GUI and install the vmware-tools or xen-tools plugin for maximum performance and compatibility.

Port Assignments
By default the system will be configured with 2 interfaces LAN & WAN. The first network port found will be configured as LAN and the second will be WAN.

IP ranges & DHCP
The WAN port will have a dhcp client and expects to be assigned an IP adress.
The LAN port will have a dhcp server, a static ip of 192.168.1.1/24 and offers ip adresses in the range of 192.168.1.100-200.

Users & Passwords
Default user: root / password: opnsense

Also good to know
For security reasons ssh is disabled by default and the console access is password protected.