Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, 2nd Edition

Rating:
Summary: Quirky but good, like everything about OpenBSD
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent hands-on guide to Pf on OpenBSD or other BSDs
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Must Have!
Review: 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

Rating:
Summary: Must Have!
Review: 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

Rating:
Summary: If you're into pf, this is the book for you
Review: Jacek Artymiak is well known in the community for his series of excellent online articles about pf and OpenBSD security in general.

This book is, simply, the best and most comprehensive source of information about pf. Whether you are just considering using pf or are already an experienced user, this book is a great introduction, tutorial and reference. I enjoyed reading it very much.

The second edition covers all the new features introduced with OpenBSD 3.4.

Rating:
Summary: Must have for any PF user
Review: this is a great book for anyone interested in a free, functional firewall. PF is an awesome firewall, OpenBSD a rock solid platform. If you want to make the most of pf on obsd, you are going to want this book. A brief introduction to installation of obsd, then onward to configuring packet forwarding & filtering. Alot of shortcuts exist that can save you time. Queueing is discussed and working examples of pf.conf files are in the back of the book. A DEFINTE 'must have'.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Book on pf
Review: Well - I teach firewalling for the Social European Fund courses, and I decided that, for a lot of reason, PF was the ultimate firewall to teach.

This book is the one i chose to suggest to my students: the subject is analized in depth, clearly and with practical examples that help the reader.

It's a must have, as long as you want to use PF for firewalling.