pfsense-vshell 1.0.1

A command line tool to run remote shell commands on pfSense without SSH

Introduction

pfSense vShell is a command line tool that enables users to remotely enter shell commands without enabling sshd. This allows administrators to automate installation of packages, enable sshd, and make other backend changes out of the box.

Installation

pfSense vShell requires Python3/Pip3 for installation

To install:
pip3 install pfsense-vshell

To uninstall:
pip3 uninstall pfsense-vshell

Examples

Below are some examples of common use cases for pfsense-vshell. Please note, authentication may be passed in via inline argument (specify -u followed by your username, and -p followed by your password), or interactive prompt (if -u or -p are not specified). Inline authentication allows commands to be scripted easily, whereas interactive authentication will secure password input and allow users to specify multiple commands (like an actually shell)

1: Run a single shell command (with inline authentication)

$ pfsense-vshell 127.0.0.1 --command "cat /etc/version" -u admin -p pfsense
2.4.5-RELEASE

2: Start an interactive virtual shell session to run multiple commands (with interactive authentication)

$ pfsense-vshell 127.0.0.1 --virtual-shell
Please enter username: admin
Please enter password:
---Virtual shell established---
admin@127.0.0.1:/usr/local/www $ uname -a
FreeBSD pfSense.localdomain 11.3-STABLE FreeBSD 11.3-STABLE #236 21cbb70bbd1(RELENG_2_4_5): Tue Mar 24 15:26:53 EDT 2020#     [e-mail]:/build/ce-crossbuild-245/obj/amd64/YNx4Qq3j/build/ce-crossbuild-245/sources/FreeBSD-src/sys/pfSense  amd64
admin@127.0.0.1:/usr/local/www $ exit
---Virtual shell terminated---

3: Run a single command to enable sshd on pfSense (with interactive password input)

$ pfsense-vshell 127.0.0.1 --command "pfSsh.php playback enablesshd" -u admin

4: Run a single command to install a package on pfSense (with inline authentication)

$ pfsense-vshell 127.0.0.1 --command "pkg install -y pfSense-pkg-nmap" -u admin -p pfsense

5: Display pfSense vShell version

$ pfsense-vshell --version
pfsensevshell v0.0.1 Darwin/x86_64

Restrictions

• Interactive commands cannot be run within pfSense vShell, there is no way to add additional input after you have run your command. If the command does not return a return code within 90 seconds the command will timeout.
• Some older versions (pre-2.3) may not work properly. Always test functionality for running against production systems.
• Virtual shell sessions will automatically close after 90 seconds of non-activity. The timeout timer will reset after every command input.
• By default, you are placed in the webConfigurator's web-root directory (/usr/local/www/). You cannot change directories. Any file interaction will be relative to this directory if not absolute.
• By default, any command run within pfSense vShell has root access. There is no way to change this so be careful.
• Your pfSense user must have access to the Diagnostics > Command Prompt page within the webConfigurator.