Install Zedmos on OPNsense, AimDefense or pfSense in about ten minutes.

Zedmos is installed with a short-lived install link that you generate yourself, in your own account at console.zedmos.com. Already have an account? Sign in and go straight to Step 2. Otherwise open the page and click Create a new Console account (1).

The sign-up form (second picture) asks for:

• 1 Organisation — your company, or the customer this firewall belongs to.
• Full Name and 2 E-mail — the address you sign in with. Use one you read.
• 3 Password — at least 8 characters with an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter and a digit; the checklist under the field turns green as you type.
• 4 Tick the box: the account is for an organisation, and you accept the Terms and the Privacy Notice.
• 5 Register & Sign in — the account is created and you land on the console’s Home page.

Rather not choose a password? Google or Microsoft under the form open the same account with your work login.

On the console’s Home page, click + Install Link (1) in the Fleet header. A small window opens; fill it in and the console hands you the command you will paste on the firewall in Step 4.

In the window (second picture):

• 1 Firewall platform — pick what the box runs: OPNsense, AimDefense or pfSense. The installer the firewall downloads is chosen from this. AimDefense uses the same image and package repository as OPNsense.
• 2 Max uses — how many firewalls may install with this one link: 1 to 3.
• 3 Valid for — how many minutes the link works: 20 at most.
• Note (optional) — a reminder such as the branch name; it is recorded with the link.
• 4 Generate.

The window now shows the install command (third picture, 1). Click Copy (2) and keep it ready. It is shown only once: after Done it cannot be displayed again — if you lose it, simply generate a new link.

We start at the firewall console — the black-screen menu you see when you plug a monitor and keyboard into your OPNsense or pfSense box (or open the console of your virtual machine). The screenshots here are from OPNsense; on pfSense the same steps apply.

OPNsense and pfSense both show a numbered list of options like Logout, Reboot system, Halt system and Shell. We want option 8) Shell so we can run a single install command.

Type 8 and press Enter. You should now see a prompt that looks like root@OPNsense:~ # — or, on pfSense, [2.8.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense]/root:. That's the shell — it's where we'll paste the installer in the next step.

Paste the command you copied in Step 2 into the shell and press Enter.

It looks like this — yours ends in a different long token:

$ fetch -o - https://www.zedmos.com/install/<your-token> | sh

What this does, in plain English: it downloads the installer over HTTPS and runs it straight away. The token at the end was issued by your console account: it works only for the minutes and the number of uses you set in Step 2, and then it is spent. Paste it exactly as the console gave it to you.

The installer prints a short notice on screen and then asks one yes/no question before it copies any files. You can scroll through the notice if you like, but the only thing you need to do is answer the final question.

At the bottom of the screen you'll see: “Do you want to install the Zedmos plugin from the Zedmos repository now? [y/N]”.

Type y and press Enter to start the installation.

The installer copies the Zedmos package onto your OPNsense or pfSense box, writes a few sensible default config files, and registers your firewall in our free public threat-intelligence pool. You don’t have to type anything during this step.

You’ll see lines like:

• [Zedmos] Created policies.json (fresh install) — your starting policy file.
• [zedmos-auto-enroll] Hub minted token tier=free — your firewall just joined the free CTI hub.
• DONE — engine has CTI access (tier=free) — installation complete.

When the prompt comes back, the shell part of the installation is finished. You can close this window — everything else happens in your browser.

Switch to your browser, log in to the firewall web interface, and refresh the navigation. On OPNsense a new red Zedmos entry appears in the left menu; on pfSense you'll find Zedmos under Services. Either way the sub-items are the same — Dashboard, Live Sessions, Policies, Settings and Feedback. Click any one and the Setup Wizard opens automatically on first launch.

The Welcome screen on the right shows a short summary of what the wizard will configure: database, deployment mode, network interfaces and the subscription plan. On the right side you also see a System Overviewpanel summarising your hardware (CPU, RAM, interfaces). That's purely informational — nothing to fill in here.

Tick the box “I have read and accept the demo usage terms” and click Next → at the bottom right to begin.

This step adds the firewall to the Console account you created in Step 1, so it appears on the console’s Home page and you can watch and manage it from anywhere.

Flip the toggle on and enter the e-mail address of that account — the one you signed up with. The firewall registers itself and shows up in your fleet.

Want to look at the firewall on its own first? Leave the toggle off and click Next →; you can link it later under Settings → Console.

Zedmos stores events, flow records and analytics locally on the firewall. This step asks where to put them.

You have three options on the screen:

• SQLite Database (default, recommended). A single file on disk, no setup, perfect for up to about 100 devices on the network. This is the right pick for almost every home and small-office install.
• Elasticsearch Local. Installs a local Elasticsearch — useful when you have many devices and want richer search.
• Elasticsearch (remote cluster). Point at an existing enterprise Elasticsearch you already operate.

If you're not sure: keep SQLite selected and click Next →.

This step has two parts: how Zedmos sits in the path (deployment mode), and which interfaces it should watch (and what each one means).

Deployment mode — pick one

• Monitor mode.Zedmos only watches, it never blocks. Good for a first run when you want to see what's on your network without changing anything.
• Routed mode (default). Zedmos forwards packets and can block bad ones. This is what most home and small-office users want — full protection, full visibility.
• Bridge mode. Zedmos sits transparently between two network cards (L2). Advanced; use it only if you know you need it.

Interfaces — which ones to protect

Tick every network card you want Zedmos to inspect. For each one, click Set Security Zone and pick a zone:

• WAN = the side that faces the internet (the cable from your modem / ISP).
• LAN = your trusted home or office network (PCs, phones, printers, Wi-Fi).

A typical home setup is: em0 = WAN, em1= LAN. Pick at least one interface — you can't move to the next step otherwise.

Pick the licence this firewall runs under. Free is pre-selected and gives you every feature on up to three firewalls for thirty days; Licensed takes the key from your quote.

• Free (pre-selected). Every feature, up to three firewalls, one organisation, for thirty days — evaluated on your own traffic rather than a demo dataset. The firewall is enrolled in the public threat-intelligence pool automatically. Nothing to type.
• Licensed. Enter the 16-character key issued with your Team or MSP subscription. Keys are issued against a quote, which names the tier, the firewall count and the term — see How licensing works for what each tier covers.

Click Next → with Free Plan selected.

You made it. The final screen confirms your configuration is ready. All that's left is to apply it.

On the right you'll see a What's Next?panel pointing to the Dashboard, Policies, Devices and Settings pages — that's where you'll spend time after installation.

Click the big green Save & Apply Configuration button. Zedmos writes your choices to disk, starts the engine, and the wizard closes. After a few seconds, refreshing the page shows the live Dashboard.