m0n0wall is a specialized implementation of FreeBSD designed for routers and firewalls. It weighs in at well under 10 megabytes, but you still get a complete operating system, firewall, Web administration, traffic shaping, DNS server, DHCP server, SNMP, support for DynDNS updates and a whole lot more. m0n0wall offers a nice pointy-clicky interface for setting up a stout ipfilter firewall. For ultimate power, however, you really want to know how to write rules from scratch.

ipfilter rule syntax is not like iptables rules, which look like they came from the mind of a demented programmer. Instead, they are closer to natural language. This example is the unrestricted rules for the localhost (lo) interface:

pass in quick on lo0 all pass out quick on lo0 all

A default deny inbound policy looks like this:

block in all

But ipfilter won't stop here; it will parse all the rules that follow this one. ipfilter stops on the last match. So what if you want to block all incoming traffic, with no exceptions? Use the quick keyword:

block in quick all

The quick keyword is a mighty tool, and one that is better used as specifically as possible. For example, you can block all traffic from a particular host or network, and allow all the rest: