

Linux is a bigger ecosystem than FreeBSD. iXsystems started de-emphasizing FreeBSD for its TrueNAS Scale-Out Project.

In Ubuntu/ Debian “apt install wireguard” is all one needs to do to get started.īeyond the immediate impacts of having a re-implementation of the feature, there is a reason other traditional open-source FreeBSD-based projects are moving to Linux. WireGuard was integrated into the Linux kernel and is trivial to install on most popular distributions. At the same time, this is a very good example of where the problem would not exist if pfSense was based on a Linux solution. Beyond the politics of open source, pfSense has worked well. Final WordsĪt STH, we have been using pfSense for years. There is work being done to rectify the solution since the kernel-mode implementation is something that a lot of folks want. At the same time, the current guidance is to not use the FreeBSD 13 nor pfSense 2.5 kernel WireGuard at this point. So the idea that it will be pulled indefinitely makes little sense. Of course, this is effectively an important feature for FreeBSD and pfSense. It is not a great solution to find out that, for example, Jumbo frame enablement can cause security vulnerabilities in a VPN solution that is designed to provide security. The flare-up over the past week, in an abridged form, is that even after public comment and review, the code that was integrated into FreeBSD was found to be sub-standard when subjected to post-deployment review. The Netgate team hired a developer to add the feature to pfSense and then it was contributed to FreeBSD, set for FreeBSD 13. Still, at some point, this needs to be a kernel-mode implementation. Most Linux distributions have supported WireGuard for some time, and OPNsense, as an example, has had userland WireGuard support. The WireGuard VPN implementation was designed as a kernel-mode solution and then was contributed to FreeBSD. That is if we are being forthright here, one of the biggest new features in pfSense 2.5. pfSense and FreeBSD Pull Back on Kernel WireGuard Supportįor those who may recall, with pfSense 2.5 we got WireGuard VPN support. As a result, the feature is effectively being pulled from FreeBSD 13 and pfSense in a major blow to the ecosystem. Mainly, the integrity of the WireGuard VPN code was called into question. This week we had a bit of an update from the FreeBSD community and Netgate.
