Latest Tech Articles
Installing munin-node on OPNsense
How to install OPNSense on PCEngines’ APU2
How to install Webmin on OPNSense
Configuring static IP address and virtual interfaces in Webmin
Disable BIND recursion while keeping local queries resolvable
Override dhclient and use manual DNS entries
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Installing munin-node on OPNsense
Since OPNsense is more vanilla FreeBSD it is a lot simpler to install additional FreeBSD software on it than on pfSense.
One piece of additional software that can be useful, especially for monitoring and statistics purposes, is munin.
How to install OPNSense on PCEngines’ APU2
I have been looking for a good alternative which could handle my gigabit internet connection and I believe I made a good choice going with PCEngine’s APU2 embedded system.
I tried following various tutorials dedicated for installing both pfSense and OPNsense on this device, however they didn’t quite work on the APU (or in my case), so I tried a personal method which proved successful.
How to install Webmin on OPNSense
Webmin is not part of the OPNSense repository packages, however as OPNSense is more vanilla FreeBSD than pfSense it is relatively easy to install additional packages.
For compatibility and stability reasons the FreeBSD repository is disabled by default, but it can be enabled…
Configuring static IP address and virtual interfaces in Webmin
When assigning multiple IP addresses to a single server by using virtual interfaces on the same single main interface it is necessary to switch to a static IP configuration.
Doing network configuration remotely is a bit risky but with the correct sequence of steps it is possible to switch from DHCP to static IP without any downtime.
Disable BIND recursion while keeping local queries resolvable
For security and efficiency reasons, a hosting system DNS server should not answer recursive queries (solve DNS requests for domains it is not authoritative for).
However, the DNS server needs to accept recursive queries for the services hosted on the same system for these services to work correctly and be able to resolve forward and reverse hosts/IPs.
Override dhclient and use manual DNS entries
In some instances using the ISP’s DNS service is not desirable. Maybe for speed or maybe for privacy concerns a trusted DNS provider is preferred instead.
While the DNS settings can be manually changed after each (re)connection, applying a permanent solution requires a bit of file fiddling.
