1 .\" $OpenBSD: pfsync.4,v 1.14 2004/03/21 19:47:59 miod Exp $
2 .\" $DragonFly: src/share/man/man4/pfsync.4,v 1.6 2007/11/03 18:37:42 swildner Exp $
4 .\" Copyright (c) 2002 Michael Shalayeff
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32 .Nd packet filter states table logging interface
38 interface is a pseudo-device which exposes certain changes to the state
41 State changes can be viewed by invoking
46 If configured with a physical synchronisation interface,
48 will also send state changes out on that interface using IP multicast,
49 and insert state changes received on that interface from other systems
52 By default, all local changes to the state table are exposed via
54 However, state changes from packets received by
56 over the network are not rebroadcast.
57 States created by a rule marked with the
59 keyword are omitted from the
67 interface will attempt to collapse multiple updates of the same
68 state into one message where possible.
69 The maximum number of times this can be done before the update is sent out
75 and the example below for more details)
77 Each packet retrieved on this interface has a header associated
80 The header indicates the version of the protocol, address family,
81 action taken on the following states and the number of state
82 table entries attached in this packet.
83 This structure, defined in
84 .In net/pf/if_pfsync.h
86 .Bd -literal -offset indent
87 struct pfsync_header {
94 .Sh NETWORK SYNCHRONISATION
95 States can be synchronised between two or more firewalls using this
96 interface, by specifying a synchronisation interface using
98 For example, the following command sets fxp0 as the synchronisation
100 .Bd -literal -offset indent
101 # ifconfig pfsync0 syncif fxp0
104 State change messages are sent out on the synchronisation
105 interface using IP multicast packets.
106 The protocol is IP protocol 240, PFSYNC, and the multicast group
109 It is important that the synchronisation interface be on a trusted
110 network as there is no authentication on the protocol and it would
111 be trivial to spoof packets which create states, bypassing the pf ruleset.
112 Ideally, this is a network dedicated to pfsync messages,
113 i.e. a crossover cable between two firewalls.
115 There is a one-to-one correspondence between packets seen by
119 interface, and packets sent out on the synchronisation interface, i.e.\&
120 a packet with 4 state deletion messages on
122 means that the same 4 deletions were sent out on the synchronisation
124 However, the actual packet contents may differ as the messages
125 sent over the network are "compressed" where possible, containing
126 only the necessary information.
128 .Bd -literal -offset indent
129 # ifconfig pfsync0 up syncif fxp0 maxupd 64
130 # tcpdump -s1500 -evtni pfsync0
132 .Sh USING PFSYNC WITH CARP
136 can be used together to provide automatic failover of a pair of firewalls
137 configured in parallel.
138 One firewall handles all traffic \- if it dies or
139 is shut down, the second firewall takes over automatically.
141 Both firewalls in this example have three
144 sis0 is the external interface, on the 10.0.0.0/24 subnet; sis1 is the
145 internal interface, on the 192.168.0.0/24 subnet; and sis2 is the
147 interface, using the 192.168.254.0/24 subnet.
148 A crossover cable connects the two firewalls via their sis2 interfaces.
149 On all three interfaces, firewall A uses the .254 address, while firewall B
151 The interfaces are configured as follows (firewall A unless otherwise
154 Interfaces configuration in
156 .Bd -literal -offset indent
157 network_interfaces="lo0 sis0 sis1 sis2"
158 cloned_interfaces="carp0 carp1"
159 ifconfig_sis0="10.0.0.254/24"
160 ifconfig_sis1="192.168.0.254/24"
161 ifconfig_sis2="192.168.254.254/24"
162 ifconfig_carp0="vhid 1 pass foo 10.0.0.1/24"
163 ifconfig_carp1="vhid 2 pass bar 192.168.0.1/24"
165 pfsync_syncdev="sis2"
169 must also be configured to allow
174 The following should be added to the top of
176 .Bd -literal -offset indent
177 pass quick on { sis2 } proto pfsync
178 pass quick on { sis0 sis1 } proto carp keep state
181 If it is preferable that one firewall handle the traffic,
184 on the backup firewall's
186 interfaces should be set to something higher than
188 For example, if firewall B is the backup, its
189 carp1 configuration would look like this:
190 .Bd -literal -offset indent
191 ifconfig_carp1="vhid 2 pass bar advskew 100 192.168.0.1/24"
194 The following must also be added to
195 .Pa /etc/sysctl.conf :
196 .Bd -literal -offset indent
197 net.inet.carp.preempt=1
213 device first appeared in
215 and was imported into
217 by Devon H. O'Dell and Simon Schubert.