How to Install OPNsense on Debian Latest

OPNsense is a FreeBSD-based open-source firewall and routing platform. In this tutorial, we will go through the process of installing OPNsense on Debian Latest.

Prerequisites

Before starting, you will need:

• A server running Debian Latest.
• A working internet connection.
• Root access to the server.

Step 1 - Download OPNsense Image

• Go to the OPNsense website and download the latest OPNsense image from https://opnsense.org/download/.
• Choose the appropriate image for your architecture (i386 or amd64).

Step 2 - Install Required Packages

OPNsense requires some additional packages to be installed. To install the required packages, run the following command:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install qemu uml-utilities bridge-utils wget

Step 3 - Create a Bridge Network

OPNsense requires a virtual bridge network to function properly. To create a virtual bridge network, run the following command:

sudo brctl addbr opnbridge

Step 4 - Prepare Disk Image for OPNsense

• Create a disk image for OPNsense using the following command:

qemu-img create -f qcow2 opnsense.qcow2 2G

• Download the OPNsense image to the current directory using wget:

sudo wget https://opnsense.org/download/OPNsense-21.1.8-OpenSSL-vga-amd64.img.bz2

• Decompress the image:

sudo bunzip2 OPNsense-21.1.8-OpenSSL-vga-amd64.img.bz2

• Convert the image to the qcow2 format:

sudo qemu-img convert -O qcow2 OPNsense-21.1.8-OpenSSL-vga-amd64.img opnsense.qcow2

• Resize the disk image to 10 GB:

sudo qemu-img resize opnsense.qcow2 +8G

Step 5 - Launch the OPNsense Image

Launch the OPNsense image with the following command:

sudo qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 1024 -smp 2 -netdev \
user,id=unet,hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22 -device \
virtio-net-pci,netdev=unet -device virtio-scsi \
-device scsi-hd,drive=opndisk \
-drive file=opnsense.qcow2,if=none,id=opndisk \
-device virtio-blk,drive=opndisk \
-netdev bridge,id=labbr,br=opnbridge \
-device virtio-net-pci,netdev=labbr

Step 6 - OPNsense Configuration

• Once the VM is up and running, you will see the OPNsense console prompt.
• Press 1 and hit Enter to start the installer.
• Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
• Once the installation is complete, reboot the system.
• The OPNsense web interface will be available on https://your-server-ip.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed OPNsense on Debian Latest!

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