Teddgram said
I was used to using IPTables in Linux, so making a transition to PF was a little of a struggle for me. This book was very helpful for getting me started, but I wish it had more examples on how to complete various situations. A couple of times I had to Google my questions to complete my firewall config.
Christopher M. Buechler said
Hansteen has put together a mostly well written, OS-independent guide to PF. He states he "made a conscious decision early on to introduce you to its methods via interesting and useful configurations, rather than make this book the complete reference", and I feel this book mostly accomplishes that goal. He points to the man pages as the complete reference, though I disagree on that to some extent, as they lack detailed coverage and practical usage examples in some areas.
There is no introductory coverage of any of the BSDs, which is fine for the scope of the book and those topics are already well covered elsewhere, but don't expect to pick this up and get anywhere with it if you have no prior BSD experience. You'll first need to seek resources on your BSD of choice and have a decent understanding of the OS. Basic networking knowledge is also a prerequisite.
There are some areas that are covered very minimally, to the extent that without seeking additional material, you will likely have difficulty with your implementation unless it is very basic. I agree with most of the complaints noted in Betjlich's review. Given the stated scope of the book, I'm not quite as critical. I do think the stated scope is too limited though.
This book is adequate if you want to get up and running with a basic configuration. Anything more complex will leave you seeking additional resources.
I think this is a worthwhile read if you want to setup a PF firewall, and understand the limits of a book that comes in at 134 pages excluding the appendices. The second edition could be much better though.
Dave Walz-Burkett said
If you're looking for information about the OpenBSD packet filter program "pf", you may have noticed a gaping hole on bookstore shelves. Two books that I have read on pf are "Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, 2nd Edition" by Jacek Artymiak and the No Starch Press title, "The Book of PF", by Peter N.M. Hansteen.
"The Book of PF" is by far the easier of the two books to digest and will help you get up to speed very quickly. It's a short book, weighing in at 145 pages. The example rule sets are simple to follow and very thoroughly documented.
Hansteen helps you navigate through pf's basic configuration and then takes you through more advanced topics like wireless networks and how to deal with 'bigger or trickier networks'. There is also a treatment of OpenBSD's spamd program, designed to help you combat spam on your network.
You'll find a chapter on Alternate Queuing (ALTQ) and Common Address Redundancy Protocol (CARP). ALTQ provides a way to shape the traffic on your network and was integrated into pf for the OpenBSD 3.3 release. CARP was added to OpenBSD in release 3.5 to address the issue of high availability and uninterrupted service.
A chapter covering Logging, Monitoring, and Statistics helps bring it all together for the network administrator. Hansteen closes out the text with a chapter titled "Getting Your Setup Just Right" that provides a last-minute review of some of the most important configuration options.
If you're interested in "The Book of PF", most likely you're already familiar with OpenBSD - one of the most secure operating systems available today. If you're ready to enhance OpenBSD's default security, pick up a copy of this book and spend some time with the pf program.
Michael R. Schenck said
This book is great for all types of OpenBSD users. If you just want a to build a home router with better performance and more control, then this book is all you'll need. If you're looking to build an enterprise load balancer, this book is an excellent resource that you'd be hard pressed to live with out.
Brett Hoff said
Mr. Hansteen, Did a rather good job of putting this book together. The chapters flowed well and one led into the next in a very logical manner. I especially found useful the sections on Round-robin and setting up wireless (Chapter 4 and 7).
Although I make a business of building firewalls I will be keeping this book close at hand. Sadly I only gave 3 stars as I felt the editing could have been better I found several errors with the sample scripts and rules and found it lacking with one or two advanced areas for the professionals would have made this a 5 star easy.
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