PfSense

PfSense acts as a router and a firewall for the virtual machines we will be using. Since we are going to be using machines that are vulnerable by design, and running active attacks, we are going to need a bit more security. Travel to the PfSense download page, select the amd64 Architecture, and then the DVD Image (ISO) Installer. Click the Download button. The PfSense image is compressed, so we need to utilize the 7zip program to extract the .vmdk file.

Once the file is extracted, we will begin to create our PfSense machine. To do so, open up the VirtualBox software and click the New button. On the screen that pops up, we can name the machine. PfSense should be fine. If you have a preference on where you want the virtual machine saved, you can do so by changing the folder. In the ISO drop down, we are going to select the .iso file that we extracted from the zipped file. In the Type drop down, we want to select BSD, followed by FreeBSD (64-bit) for the Version, and click Next.

On this page, titled Hardware, we can leave the Base Memory at 1024 MB. We do, however want to change the processors for this machine to 2 (two). Once we have this set up, we can click next to the Virtual Hard Disk. No changes are necessary here, so we can click next once more. Click finish.

One last thing we have to change are the network settings for PfSense. Click the Settings button at the top of the machine details. In the left hand pane, we will select the Network tab. Here the Adapter 1 can be left for a moment. We want to select the Adapter 2 tab and click the box for Enable Network Adapter. Select Internal Network from the Attached to: drop down, and give it the name Internal LAN. Click the okay button, and we can run the machine.

Now go ahead and start the pfsense machine because we still need to install the operating system from the .iso we downloaded earlier. Once the machine loads you will be met with a copyright screen and you may notice that clicking with your mouse does not cause anything to happen. To interact and navigate this machine you will need to use your keyboard. Once you hit accept you should choose the option Install and then choose the keymap that is best for you (in most cases default is best). The last important step will be to choose your partitioning method. For this machine you will want to choose AUTO (UFS) BIOS. Once the OS is installed go ahead and shutdown the machine by closing the window.

Once the installation is complete you will need to remove the installation media from the VM otherwise instead of booting the installation we made pfsense will try to install again. To do this go to setting choose storage and remove the .iso from the device list. Now you should be able to run the pfsense machine as intended. Don't worry about needing to log in for now as just powering the machine will let it function as your "router/firewall".

If there is no internet for the PfSense, shutdown the machine. Open the settings back up, and change Adapter 1 from NAT to Bridged.