m0n0wall was an embedded
firewall
Firewall may refer to:
* Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts
* Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...
distribution of
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...
, one of the
BSD operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
descendants. It provides a small image which can be put on
Compact Flash
CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994.
CompactFlash became one of the most successful of the e ...
cards as well as on
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...
s and
hard disk
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magn ...
s. It runs on a number of embedded platforms and generic PCs. The PC version can be run with just a
Live CD
A live CD (also live DVD, live disc, or live operating system) is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading f ...
and a
floppy disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined ...
to store configuration data, or on a single Compact Flash card (with an
IDE adapter). This eliminates the need for a hard drive, which reduces noise and heat levels and decreases the risk of system failure through elimination of moving parts found in older hard drives.
On February 15, 2015 Manuel Kasper announced the "m0n0wall project has officially ended. No development will be done anymore, and there will be no further releases," encouraging "all current m0n0wall users to check out
OPNsense and contribute if they can."
Features
m0n0wall provides for a
web
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
-based configuration and uses
PHP exclusively for the
GUI
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
and
bootup
In computing, booting is the process of starting a computer as initiated via hardware such as a button or by a software command. After it is switched on, a computer's central processing unit (CPU) has no software in its main memory, so some ...
configuration. Additionally, it adopts a single
XML
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...
file for configuration parameters.
Some functions of m0n0wall are:
* Stateful packet filter
firewall
Firewall may refer to:
* Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts
* Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...
*
IPsec
In computing, Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a secure network protocol suite that authenticates and encrypts packets of data to provide secure encrypted communication between two computers over an Internet Protocol network. It is used in ...
and
PPTP
The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is an obsolete method for implementing virtual private networks. PPTP has many well known security issues.
PPTP uses a TCP control channel and a Generic Routing Encapsulation tunnel to encapsulate PP ...
VPNs
* Inbound and Outbound
Network Address Translation
*
Captive portal
A captive portal is a web page accessed with a web browser that is displayed to newly connected users of a Wi-Fi or wired network before they are granted broader access to network resources. Captive portals are commonly used to present a landin ...
*
Traffic shaper
* Inbound and Outbound port filtering
* Support for
802.1q
IEEE 802.1Q, often referred to as Dot1q, is the networking standard that supports virtual local area networking (VLANs) on an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network. The standard defines a system of VLAN tagging for Ethernet frames and the accompanying pro ...
compatible VLANs
* Multiple IP addresses on LAN and WAN ports
* IPS
Hardware
m0n0wall is installed on embedded hardware designed and manufactured by some companies.
Derivatives
;Similar hardware requirements:
t1n1wall 2015 fork of m0n0wall after it was discontinued.
SmallWall Another 2015 fork of m0n0wall after its end-of-life, no activity since 2016.
m0n0wall mod Original m0n0wall with additional features (DHCP+PPTP, DHCP+PPPoE, static+PPPoE, L2TP, WAN eth interface), no activity since 2013.
;Extended hardware requirements:
*
OPNsense: Forked from pfSense in 2015.
*
pfSense
pfSense is a firewall/ router computer software distribution based on FreeBSD. The open source pfSense Community Edition (CE) and pfSense Plus is installed on a physical computer or a virtual machine to make a dedicated firewall/router for ...
: Forked from the m0n0wall project in 2004, first released in 2006.
;Other usages (not a firewall):
*
AskoziaPBX: An embedded telephone system.
*
XigmaNAS: NAS
Network-attached storage
Network-attached storage (NAS) is a file-level (as opposed to block-level storage) computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. The term "NAS" can refer to both the tech ...
distro using FreeBSD, uses portions of m0n0wall web
GUI
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
. Formerly NAS4Free.
See also
*
Comparison of firewalls
Comparison or comparing is the act of evaluating two or more things by determining the relevant, comparable characteristics of each thing, and then determining which characteristics of each are similar to the other, which are different, and t ...
*
List of router or firewall distributions
References
External links
*
*
{{Firewall software
2003 software
BSD software
Firewall software
Free routing software
FreeBSD
Gateway/routing/firewall distribution
Routers (computing)