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Building an IPv6 Firewall with OpenBSD

Building an IPv6 Firewall with OpenBSD (PDF, 1.78MB)Published: 01 Mar, 2002
Created by
Eric Millican

IPv6, or IP version 6, has been in development and for several years. It is designed to be the long overdue replacement for IPv4, the current version of IP currently in use across the Internet, and in private networks which are not connected to the Internet. This paper is intended to be a how-to for IPv6 firewalls running on OpenBSD 3.0. It will cover the basics of installing OpenBSD, setting up a tunnel to the 6Bone, and configuring the Packet Filter firewall included with OpenBSD. This paper will not cover IPv6 firewalls as they apply to mobile IP, but only to hard-wired LANs. The OpenBSD installation will be performed via FTP. It is presumed that the user will have at least some familiarity with IPv4. Familiarity with IPv4 firewalls will also be helpful. I have decided upon OpenBSD 3.0 for two reasons. First is its security track record. Second is the new Packet Filter firewall included with 3.0. Out of all the open source firewalls I have used, it is my opinion that Packet Filter has the best support for IPv6.