IPFilter

IPFilter (commonly referred to as ipf) is an open-source software package that provides firewall services and network address translation (NAT) for many Unix-like operating systems. The author and software maintainer is Darren Reed. IPFilter supports both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols, and is a stateful firewall.

IPFilter is delivered with FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solaris 10 & 11 and illumos. It used to be a part of OpenBSD, but it was removed in May 2001 due to problems with its license,^[1] after negotiations between Theo de Raadt and Reed broke down. DragonFly BSD removed its support for IPFilter in May 2011.

IPFilter can be installed as a runtime-loadable kernel module or directly incorporated into the operating system kernel, depending on the specifics of each kernel and user preferences. The software's documentation recommends the module approach, if possible.

Operating systems that are known to support IPFilter include the following:

• AIX 5.3 ML05
• BSD/OS-1.1 – 4
• DragonFly BSD 1.0–2.10 (no support since May 2011)
• FreeBSD 2.0.0–11.0
• illumos
• IRIX 6.2, 6.5
• HP-UX 11.00
• Linux kernel 2.4–2.6
• NetBSD 1.0–7.0
• OpenBSD 2.0–2.9 (no support since May 2001)
• OpenSolaris
• OpenIndiana
• QNX 6 port
• Solaris 2.3–11
• SunOS 4.1.3–4.1.4
• Tru64 UNIX 5.1a
• UnixWare 7.1.4 (MP2 and above)

See also

• iptables
• ipfw
• NPF (firewall)
• PF (firewall)

References

External links

• IPFilter Source Code
• The IPFilter FAQ by Phil Dibowitz
• IPFilter How-To
• FreeBSD handbook – The IPFILTER (IPF) Firewall