s References Show pf-enable reference statistics (pid/name of enabler, token, timestamp). Release the pf enable reference represented by the token passed. Here’s how they are documented in pfctl(8): -E Enable the packet filter and increment the pf enable reference count. These two flags, -E and -X, are absent from pfctl on other BSDs. # is disabled only when the last enable reference is released. # PF via -E and -X as documented in pfctl(8). # each component which utilizes PF is responsible for enabling and disabling PF will not be automatically enabled, however. Note that the latest OpenBSD version is 5.6 (as of January 2015) and the configuration syntax for PF changed around 4.6/4.7.Īpple has enhanced PF so that various system components might choose to enable and disable PF, as indicated by the following snippet in /etc/pf.conf: # This file contains the main ruleset, which gets automatically loaded Like FreeBSD 9.X and later, OS X appears to use the same version of PF as OpenBSD 4.5.

PF in OS X, however, appears to be based on the FreeBSD port of PF, but with some notable additions (see below). PF (Packet Filter) is OpenBSD’s system for filtering TCP/IP traffic and doing Network Address Translation. IPFW was deprecated in OS X 10.7, and was completely removed in OS X 10.10 it was replaced with PF. Mac OS X 10.6 (and earlier) came with IPFW, a port of FreeBSD’s stateful firewall. See below, and in the sample pf.conf.ĭon’t forget to read the onboard man pages. Remember, pf won’t work even if you load it, unless it’s Enabled. It contains IPv6 settings as well as IPv4, and some settings that I’m working on as an experiment.

That is, the sample pf.conf that follows this “tutorial” which in some cases is inaccurate… but mine works. When the new release appears, I’ll check and update this post. This set of configurations are valid for OSX though, up to at least the latest macOS High Sierra Version 10.13.6.

These include the following.Īpache 2.4, Postfix, Dovecot, Spamassassin, Amavis and numerous other small binaries needed to support them, and other things I’m doing. It IS running all the components of a server that I have either built myself or added with Homebrew. What you should do is copy your pf.conf into a file that won’t be destroyed, for example, your domain-name.pf.conf and then, if your plist file, use that file name, not pf.conf. However, you should be aware that an OS Update will wipe out your existing pf.conf … very bad, because you won’t notice. This post is material that comes from a slightly earlier version but is very relevant none the less.

Firewall for mac opensource