Gateways and Static Routes in pfSense 2.

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October 3, 2013 by maximumdx Leave a Comment
In this article, I will continue my look at some of the new features of pfSense introduced with the
latest release (2.1). This time, I will examine some of the updates to the routing functions found
under System -> Routing: gateways, static routes, and gateway groups.
Configuring Gateways

Default gateways in pfSense 2.1
When you navigate to System -> Routing, and click on the Gateway tab, the first thing you
will notice is that whereas in the past, there was one gateway created by default (Interface WAN
Dynamic Gateway), now there are two: [1] Interface WAN_DHCP Gateway, and [2] Interface
WAN_DHCPv6 Gateway. The former gateway, as you might have guessed, uses IPv4, whereas
the latter uses IPv6. Both gateways seem to be created by default regardless of whether you
actually have any IPv6 interfaces.

Configuring gateways under pfSense 2.1.
If you click on the plus button, you can add a new gateway. The options are substantially the
same as they were under pfSense 2.0.3 (I refer you to my article on pfSense gateway
configuration), with one exception: there is a new option called Address Family. Here, you
can choose either IPv4 or IPv6, underscoring the extent to which pfSense 2.1 has added support
for IPv6. If you click on the Advanced button, you will see that Frequency Probe has been
renamed Probe Interval (this is the interval at which ICMP probe will be sent, to see if the
gateway is still up), but otherwise, the Advanced options are identical to what they were under
2.0.3.


Configuring Routes
If you click on the Routes tab and click on the plus button, you will see once again that the
options for creating a static route are similar to the options under 2.0.3, with one exception: once
again, its the addition of support for IPv6. With a possible CIDR of 1 to 129, the Destination
Network can be either an IPv4 or IPv6 address. The Gateway can be either a default gateway
(WAN_DHCP or WAN_DHCP6), a user-defined gateway, the IPv4 loopback (127.0.0.1) or the
IPv6 loopback (::1). If youve created static routes before, this is easy.
Configuring Gateway Groups

Creating a gateway group in pfSense 2.1
If you click on the Group tab and click on the plus button to add a gateway group, you will
find the options are almost identical to those under 2.0.3. Under Gateway Priority, however,
there is one new option: in addition to Tier, there is Virtual IP; this field selects what
virtual IP should be used when this group applies to a local Dynamic DNS, IPsec or OpenVPN
endpoint.
As you can see, a common motif in our exploration of pfSense 2.1 is the degree to which IPv6
support has been added. As the IPv4 address pool nears exhaustion, this was an essential
upgrade. Im sure I will come across other interesting features, however, as I continue my look at
the new pfSense.