Setting up an OpenBSD 7.4 Firewall Device

andrewmemoryblog@gmail.com (Andrew's Memory Blog) — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 23:59:39 -0700

My PC Engines ALIX running the (mumble) version of OpenBSD has been a great firewall. But now that it looks like PC Engines is wrapping up, it’s time to find something new. For a while I’ve suspected that the ALIX is a little underpowered. It’s harder to find 4G CF cards these days. Plus I want something with a HDMI port so I can put it on a KVM switch and don’t need to worry about serial port speeds.

So… here’s the order of operations:

Here goes!

Building an ALIX firewall

andrewmemoryblog@gmail.com (Andrew's Memory Blog) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 23:02:03 -0700

It’s been a long time since I updated my firewall. Right now it’s a PC Engines ALIX 2c2 that I’ve been really happy with. I used flashdist and put OpenBSD 4.4 on it.

I think that’s a winning combination, but it’s time to upgrade. First, I want to go to OpenBSD 5.1. Next, flashdist has been replaced with flashrd, which is easier to install and use, and more appropriate for larger CF cards.

I started by getting an ALIX 2d2 (just one more IDE header than the 2c2, not much change). I bought it from mini-box.com, and I also picked up the custom enclosure for it and a power supply.

I already had a 4 GB CF card: a Kingston 4GB elite pro 133X, which was new when I built the original firewall. Make sure you have a good CF writer. I’ve had failures with cheapies, but got a Kingston FCR-HS219/1 and that worked.

There are a number of steps to get a working firewall. They are:

Guide on Andrew's Memory Blog

Setting up an OpenBSD 7.4 Firewall Device

Building an ALIX firewall