Package installation can be done either within the web GUI or from the console. Since we already covered the steps involved in installing a package from the GUI, we will only provide a brief overview before discussing CLI installation.

To install a package using the pfSense web GUI, navigate to System | Package Manager and click on the Available Packages tab. This tab contains a table listing all the available packages. There is also a search box at the top of the page, so if you know at least part of the name and/or description of the package for which you are looking, you can type it into the search box. The adjacent drop-down box allows you to search the name, description, or both.

Each entry in the packages table has three columns: Name, Version, and Description:

• Name: The name of the package. This column also links to the package's official website, if one exists.
• Version: The current version of the package. This column links to the GitHub repository for the project, if available.
• Description: A brief description of the package, along with any notes and warnings. There is also a section in this column called Package Dependencies, which lists any dependencies the package has (each package is its own dependency, so there is at least one item listed for each package). Each dependency listed provides a link to the www.freshports.org entry for the package, which provides more information about it.

To install a particular package, refer to the following points:

1. Find the package's listing in the table and click on the Install button to the right of its description.
2. Once you do, you will be presented with a new page with a Confirm button.
3. Click this button to confirm installation, and the package will install. Most packages should take no more than a few minutes to install.

You can also install packages at the command line. To do so, type in the following at the command prompt:

pfSsh.php playback installpkg "some package"

This should result in the following command line output:

Starting the pfSense developer shell…
Installing package "some package" … Done

It does not provide as much feedback about the status of package installation as you would get from installing packages within the web GUI, but it gets the job done, and you could easily write a script to install several packages at the same time to automate the process.

To uninstall a package at the command line, type the following:

pfSsh.php playback uninstallpkg "some package"

And to list available packages, type the following:

pfSsh.php playback listpkg

Once you have installed a package, it should appear on the Installed Packages tab of Package Manager in the web GUI. Each package's entry looks similar to its entry on the Available Packages tab, with a few significant differences:

• The Name column has an icon to the left of the name. A check mark icon indicates that the package is up to date, while circular arrows indicate that the package can be updated (in this case, clicking on the circular arrows icon updates the package).
• The Actions column has several options. Clicking on the trash can icon uninstalls the package, clicking on the arrows icon reinstalls the package, and clicking on the lowercase i icon (when available) redirects you to the package's website for more information.