Introduction

When setting up a new FreeBSD server, there are a number of optional steps you can take to get your server into a more production-friendly state. In this guide, we will cover some of the most common examples.

We will go over how to set up a simple, easy-to-configure firewall that denies most traffic. We will also make sure that your server’s time zone accurately reflects its location. We will set up NTP polling in order to keep the server’s time accurate and, finally, we will demonstrate how to add some extra swap space to your server.

Before you get started with this guide, you should log in and configure your shell environment the way you’d like it. You can find out how to do this by following this guide.

How To Configure a Simple IPFW Firewall

The first task that we will tackle is setting up a simple firewall to secure our server.

FreeBSD actually supports and includes three separate firewalls, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. These are called pf, ipfw, and ipfilter. In this guide, we will be using ipfw because we can easily get up-and-running with a secure, stateful firewall. Continue reading Recommended Steps for New FreeBSD 10.1 Servers →