Lorene Melone
How To Set Up pfSense Network on Proxmox: A Complete Guide – Part 1
This guide tries to walk through setting up your Proxmox VE environment for pfSense, which can be kinda tricky if you’re not used to how network configs work. Stuff like creating Linux bridges, assigning network cards, all that. Sometimes it’s not obvious what’s needed, and yeah, Proxmox has its quirks.
Prerequisites
Before diving in, make sure you’ve got:
- Access to your Proxmox VE server web UI.
- Admin credentials — because you’ll be messing with network configs, so don’t do this without proper permissions.
- A basic understanding of networking — IPs, bridges, LAN/WAN, the usual.
Step 1: Log into Your Proxmox Environment
So, fire up your browser, hit the IP address of your Proxmox server, and log in with your admin account. Easy enough, but sometimes the web UI can be slow or unresponsive; patience helps.
Step 2: Navigate to the Network Section
Once logged in, look to the left sidebar for your data center (probably called btnhd or whatever). Then, switch to the Network tab in the middle pane. There, you’ll see all your network cards and existing bridges. If not, you might need to refresh or check your server’s network state.
Step 3: Edit the Management Network Card
This is a good first step—make sure your main network interface (likely vmbr0) is set up correctly.
- Select
vmbr0. - Hit Edit.
- Usually, it’s just good to add a comment, like
Management MGMT, so you remember what’s what. - Click OK.
- Don’t forget to click Apply Configuration at the top and confirm, or your changes won’t stick. Sometimes, you gotta reboot the server for these to apply cleanly, especially if you’re changing primary network interfaces.
On some setups, applying config fails the first time — then just reapply or reboot. Not exactly intuitive, but hey.
Step 4: Create a WAN Linux Bridge
This is the Internet-facing side your pfSense will connect to for WAN — like your router’s connection.
- Click Create and pick Linux Bridge.
- Name it (leave default or something like vmbr1), then set the Bridge Port to your second NIC (probably
ens4f1or similar). Make sure you check your actual NIC names viaip link showin the terminal if you’re unsure. - Add a comment, e.g.,
WAN. - Hit Create.
- Apply the change and confirm, same as before.
Fun fact: sometimes, this doesn’t work the first time for unknown reasons. Reapplying, or a quick reboot of the network service (`systemctl restart networking` or just rebooting the server) can fix it.
Step 5: Create a LAN Linux Bridge
This one is for the local side your pfSense handles inside your network.
- Again, Create > Linux Bridge.
- Name it something like vmbr2 or just leave default and add a comment
LAN. - It probably won’t have a Bridge Port by default; that’s okay — you’ll connect it to your pfSense VM later or assign it manually.
- Click Create.
- Apply & confirm.
On some setups, if you don’t assign the LAN bridge to a virtual NIC or VM, it’s kinda useless; so, plan to do that afterward.
Extra Tips & Common Issues
Some quick advice if things go sideways:
- Always double-check that you click Apply Configuration after every change — sounds obvious, but forgeting that is why stuff breaks.
- When adding new bridges, verify the correct NICs are selected with
ip link show— man, Linux naming can be weird. - If nothing’s working after setup, consider restarting the network services or just rebooting. Proxmox’s network config sometimes refuses to refresh cleanly.
- Check if your Proxmox’s physical NICs are configured in the OS properly.
Conclusion
Basically, once your network bridges are set up and applied, your pfSense VM can be connected to these bridges for WAN and LAN. That’s the core of making it behave like a real router in your lab or network.
And yeah, expect some fiddling – network configs on virtualization platforms tend to be less straightforward than they should. But when it finally works, it’s totally worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Linux bridge in Proxmox?
Think of it as a virtual switch inside your server — it lets multiple virtual machines talk to each other or the outside network without extra fuss. Works sorta like a physical switch, but inside Proxmox.
Can I create multiple WAN and LAN bridges?
Yep, that’s pretty common for advanced setups — maybe you have multiple ISPs, or separate segments inside your network.
How do I access pfSense once it’s installed?
Usually through the LAN IP — like 192.168.1.1. Just hook a PC into the LAN network, open a browser, and go there. Default credentials are often admin/pfsense, but change that ASAP.
Summary
- Make sure you apply network configs after each change.
- Use terminal commands like
ip link showto verify NIC names. - Be ready to reapply or reboot if things act funny.
- Know your NICs and bridge names — it saves a lot of headache.
Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone. Because yeah, network stuff in Proxmox can be a pain sometimes, but at least now there’s a clear-ish path forward.