Follow the steps here to set up and configure the pfSense firewall:

1. When we boot our system with the pfSense CD/DVD or USB device, the splash screen appears as shown here. Press 6 to Configure Boot Options:

2. In the next screen, again press 6 to turn on Verbose then press 1 to return to the previous screen.

When back on the first screen, press Enter to boot pfSense.

3. pfSense will start booting. During the booting process, we get a screen as shown here:

Press I to install pfSense. Choose the option quickly within the 20 seconds count.

4. The next screen asks you to Configure Console. Choose the option Accept these settings and press Enter to continue.
5. In the next screen, choose Quick/Easy Install, if new to pfSense, otherwise you can choose Custom Install for more advanced options during the installation process.
6. Press OK to continue with the installation. The installation process will start now.
7. During the installation, you will be asked to choose which kernel configuration to install. Select Standard Kernel as we are installing pfSense on a Desktop or PC. If installing on an embedded platform such as router boards, we can choose the option, Embedded kernel.
8. After this, the installation will continue. Once complete, select Reboot  and press Enter to complete the installation.

9. During the reboot process, the default username and password of pfSense will be displayed as shown:

10. After rebooting, we now have to configure our interface cards according to the network configuration. The name of the two interfaces will be displayed as shown. These names may be different in your case:

11. Now you will be asked Do you want to set up VLANs now?  Enter n for NO at this moment.
12. Now we need to enter the interface name to be used for WAN. In our case it is  le0. Enter the name as per your configuration.

13. Next enter the name of the interface to be used for LAN. For our example, it is le1:

Then press Y to proceed with the settings.

14. Once the interface has been set, we will get the pfSense menu as shown here:

If the IP addresses for the WAN and LAN interface are not set properly up to this step, we can set the IP address manually by choosing option  2  from the preceding menu.

15. Choose the interface to configure and then provide the IP address for the same:

16. Next, enter the subnet and the default gateway:

17. Follow the same steps for the LAN interface. When done, a link will be shown on the screen, which can be used to access the pfSensewebConfigurator  interface:

In our case it is http://192.168.1.115.

18. Now access this link from any browser on a system on the same local network as the pfSense system. Once we access the link, we get a login screen as shown here:

Enter the default username admin and default password pfsense to log in. These details can be changed later after logging in.

Once logged in successfully, we get the main dashboard of pfSense: