FreeBSD "/etc/rc.firewall" shell script for configuring ipfw
Mac OS X's ipfirewall tab in the Sharing Preferences Pane

ipfirewall or ipfw is a FreeBSD IP, stateful firewall, packet filter and traffic accounting facility. ipfw is authored and maintained by FreeBSD volunteer staff members. Its syntax enables use of sophisticated filtering capabilities and thus enables users to satisfy advanced requirements. It can either be used as a loadable kernel module or incorporated into the kernel; use as a loadable kernel module where possible is highly recommended[citation needed]. ipfw was the built-in firewall of Mac OS X until Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in 2011 when it was replaced with the OpenBSD project's PF. Like FreeBSD, ipfw is open source. It is used in many FreeBSD-based firewall products, including m0n0wall and FreeNAS. A port of an early version of ipfw was used since Linux 1.1 as the first implementation of firewall available for Linux, until it was replaced by ipchains. A modern port of ipfw and the dummynet traffic shaper is available for Linux (including a prebuilt package for OpenWrt) and Microsoft Windows. wipfw is a Windows port of an old (2001) version of ipfw.

Alternative user interfaces for ipfw

SoftwareDeveloperFirst public releaseLatest stable versionCost (USD)Open sourceLicenseUser interfacePlatform(s)
Firewalk XPliris?2.3.7US$ 34.99NoProprietary / SharewareGUIMac OS X v10.2, Mac OS X v10.3 (PowerPC)
Flying Buttress (known as BrickHouse prior to v1.4)Brian HillMarch 23, 20011.4 (2005-12-31)US$ 25.00NoProprietary / SharewareGUIMac OS X v10.0, Mac OS X v10.1, Mac OS X v10.2, Mac OS X v10.3, Mac OS X v10.4 (PowerPC)
ImpasseGlucose Development CorporationQ2 20021.3US$ 10.00NoProprietary / SharewareGUIMac OS X v10.1, Mac OS X v10.2 (PowerPC)
Norton Personal Firewall for MacintoshSymantec20053.0.3US$ 49.95NoProprietary (Symantec Software License Agreement)GUIMac OS X v10.1.5, Mac OS X v10.2, Mac OS X v10.3, Mac OS X v10.4.11 (PowerPC)
QtfwRyzhyk EugeneyAugust 23, 20010.5 (2002-09-20)No costYesBSDGUIBSD and POSIX operating systems with the Qt toolkit. Ported to Windows for wipfw.
sunShield ProsunProtecting Factory?2.0.3 'L' (2007-11-09)US$ 29.95NoProprietary / SharewareGUIMac OS X v10.4, Mac OS X v10.5 (universal binary)
WaterRoofHany El Imam20073.7No costYesGPL / DonationwareGUIMac OS X v10.4, Mac OS X v10.8 (universal binary)
YpFwClaudio Favi, CAIA2004?No costYes?Text modeFreeBSD v3.4 or higher with Python v2.2 or higher

See also

External links

  • of the FreeBSD Handbook.
  • - including versions for Linux, OpenWrt and Windows
  • Windows port of an old (2001) version of ipfw