Bridge LAN ports to act like a switch
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In step 4 device bridge0 gets all the LAN attributes (including the IP address) when bridge0 is assigned to LAN.
If in the step 5 I set the configuration type to "none", all LAN interfaces remain without an IP address. So, how do operate a network device connected to one of these interfaces?
But your physical interfaces are members of a bridge and the bridge has an IP address so (effectively) all the bridge members have the bridge IP address.
Ok but how do I view and change the IP address of Bridge0 so that it has 192.168.1.254 as IP?
In other words, it is possible to have this configuration:
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10.0.0.1 –-> WAN Gateway
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192.168.1.1 ---> LAN Gateway (in order to access the firewall with this IP address)
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192.168.1.254 ---> Bridge0
If so, how do I do this?
Thanks
Bye
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Ok but how do I view and change the IP address of Bridge0 so that it has 192.168.1.254 as IP?
Assuming you followed Steve's instructions, go to web page Interfaces -> LAN, set IP address or other attributes then click on Save (to update the configuration file) and Apply (to update the running system).
But if you followed Steve's instructions, why do you need to change the IP address?
If you change the IP address of the pfSense interface on which you are accessing the system I expect you will find it necessary to restart pfSense and then adjust the IP address on the system you are using to access pfSense so that they are both the same IP subnet (get new DHCP lease if the client uses DHCP, change static IP address otherwise).
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Ok but how do I view and change the IP address of Bridge0 so that it has 192.168.1.254 as IP?
In other words, it is possible to have this configuration:
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10.0.0.1 –-> WAN Gateway
-
192.168.1.1 ---> LAN Gateway (in order to access the firewall with this IP address)
-
192.168.1.254 –-> Bridge0
If so, how do I do this?
Thanks
Bye
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Ok but how do I view and change the IP address of Bridge0 so that it has 192.168.1.254 as IP?
Why?
If LAN is assigned to bridge0 and LAN is configured to have IP address 192.168.1.1 then bridge0 gets 192.168.1.1.
It is possible to assign multiple IP addresses to an interface, but do you really need that?
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In your original post, here, you asked about configuring your machine to have 1 WAN port and the other 4 ports configured as a single LAN. That is what I have explained.
Do you now want to have 1 WAN, 1 LAN and the three other ports configured as a switch? (a different interface)Steve
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I would simply like to create a bridge that joins the 4 network cards in order to create a 192.168.1.x network. I tried to follow the stephenw10 method, but, after completing the step 5, I can not longer access my firewall in any way with my computer that has Windows 7 SP1 64 bit. How come?
Thanks
Bye
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after completing the step 5, I can not longer access my firewall in any way with my computer that has Windows 7 SP1 64 bit. How come?
It is almost impossible to say because you haven't told us exactly what you have done and you haven't told us how you are attempting to access the firewall and what response you are getting.
1. How are you trying to access the firewall? (ping? web? … ) What response do you get?
2. Have you tried connecting the Windows system to another port that is a member of the bridge? What response do you get then?
3. You asked about setting LAN interface to 192.168.1.254 when it was apparently previously set to 192.168.1.1. There was no explanation why you wanted to do this. PERHAPS you didn't quite follow Steve's instructions and have ended up with inconsistencies in your network. In a small number of cases I have found my pFsense sometimes has seemed to need to be rebooted after "significant" changes to IP addresses. Have you rebooted pfSense? Have you verified your Windows system and the pfSense LAN interface are on the same IP subnet?
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In order for you to accomplish what you wish you have to make changes that will possibly lock you out if you don't think clearly about what you do and how each step will affect the setup.
Keep in mind that you have to keep a reachable interface at all times.
When you decide on what LAN subnet you wish to use Id create one of the physical interfaces with another temporary subnet. Build the bridge, give it its address, add the remaining interfaces to it and verify they work, and configure the rest of the firewall from the bridge including adding the final interface that was given the original temporary address. because once you make that interface "none", it will be useless until you add it to the bridge.
My guess is that unless you left a way to configure via the wan interface that you need to start over.
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after completing the step 5, I can not longer access my firewall in any way
You are able to access it after step 4 though?
If you have locked yourself out of the box for whatever reason, and rebooting does not solve it, you can temporarily disable the firewall from the console. Described here:
http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/I_locked_myself_out_of_the_WebGUI,_help!#Remotely_Circumvent_Firewall_Lockout_by_Temporarily_Changing_the_Firewall_RulesOnce you have access modify your firewall rules to prevent the lockout.
Steve
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In practice, after step 4, I have to restart the firewall from the console to perform step 5 via web.
Instead, after step 5, Windows 7 identifies the connection as a public network unidentified. Then, Internet no longer works and I can not access longer the firewall via web with the IP address 192.168.1.1.
So, anyone have any idea on how to fix this?
Thanks
Bye
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Windows 7 complains because the MAC of the bridge interface is regenerated each time at boot, because it's not a real NIC.
To prevent this happening you can set a MAC address for the bridge interface which will be used every time. You can do this under Interface: Lan: (assuming LAN is assigned as bridge0).See: http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,54666.0.html
Steve
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Windows 7 complains because the MAC of the bridge interface is regenerated each time at boot, because it's not a real NIC.
To prevent this happening you can set a MAC address for the bridge interface which will be used every time. You can do this under Interface: Lan: (assuming LAN is assigned as bridge0).See: http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,54666.0.html
Steve
In the Interface: Lan window, I have to insert the MAC address of the network card of the computer or a network card of the firewall?
Thanks
Bye
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No. Do not use one of the existing MAC addresses. Make up a MAC and use that. It doesn't matter what the address is just that you have defined one to use to prevent pfSense choosing a new one each time at boot.
Steve
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No. Do not use one of the existing MAC addresses. Make up a MAC and use that. It doesn't matter what the address is just that you have defined one to use to prevent pfSense choosing a new one each time at boot.
Steve
How do I create a valid MAC address?
Thanks
Bye
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It simply has to be the correct length of hexidecimal figures. For example you could use: 00:11:22:33:44:55
That would be obviously fake which is useful to anyone trying to diagnose a problem later.
See screenshot from my Status: Interfaces: page.Steve
![bridge status.jpg](/public/imported_attachments/1/bridge status.jpg)
![bridge status.jpg_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/bridge status.jpg_thumb) -
Ok but how do I view and change the IP address of Bridge0 so that it has 192.168.1.254 as IP?
In other words, it is possible to have this configuration:
-
10.0.0.1 –-> WAN Gateway
-
192.168.1.1 ---> LAN Gateway (in order to access the firewall with this IP address)
-
192.168.1.254 –-> Bridge0
If so, how do I do this?
Thanks
Bye
I think you are mis-understanding this. When you create a bridge the NIC doesnt have an IP anymore, the bridge actually has the ip, and the bridge represents any or all of the nic's in the bridge.
So you will end up like this:
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10.0.0.1 –-> WAN Gateway
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192.168.1.1 ---> Bridge0 / LAN Gateway (in order to access the firewall with this IP address)
There is no need for an additional IP.
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I tried to insert a fictitious MAC address to the LAN interface before including it in the Bridged0 but, then, Windows 7 still identify the connection between my computer and the firewall as an unidentified network and thus I have the same problems as before . So when I have to insert this MAC?
Thanks
Bye
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Well, yes it will be un-identified initially, but once you mark that network at private, then it should stay that way.
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Well, yes it will be un-identified initially, but once you mark that network at private, then it should stay that way.
No, the problem is that Windows 7 identifies the connection as a public network not identified even if I restart the firewall from console. Unfortunately, Windows 7 does not allow to change the network type, and then I can no longer access the firewall via web and the internet. So, how do I fix this?
Thanks
Bye
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See my screenshot a few posts back for how it should be setup. My interface is named LAN5, yours will be named LAN.
You need to insert the fake MAC onto LAN after you have assigned it as bridge0. The problem is that Windows looks at the MAC address of the DHCP server. The DHCP server is running on LAN (bridge0) so the MAC changes at every boot and Windows warns you that you have connected to a new, unknown, DHCP server.
Steve
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Also once you have completed the above steps, you WILL get an 'unidentified network' popup, but once you accept it there it should not come up again.
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See my screenshot a few posts back for how it should be setup. My interface is named LAN5, yours will be named LAN.
You need to insert the fake MAC onto LAN after you have assigned it as bridge0. The problem is that Windows looks at the MAC address of the DHCP server. The DHCP server is running on LAN (bridge0) so the MAC changes at every boot and Windows warns you that you have connected to a new, unknown, DHCP server.
Steve
It is possible to disable this DHCP server on LAN (Bridge0). If so, how do I do this?
Thanks
Bye
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You can disable the dhcp server. It won't help though. Unless you have spoofed the MAC on LAN Windows will still see it as a new network.
Are you using all static IPs.
Steve
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See my screenshot a few posts back for how it should be setup. My interface is named LAN5, yours will be named LAN.
You need to insert the fake MAC onto LAN after you have assigned it as bridge0. The problem is that Windows looks at the MAC address of the DHCP server. The DHCP server is running on LAN (bridge0) so the MAC changes at every boot and Windows warns you that you have connected to a new, unknown, DHCP server.
Steve
It is possible to disable this DHCP server on LAN (Bridge0). If so, how do I do this?
Thanks
Bye
You probably don't want to do this. When you make the bridge you are essentially replacing Lan0 and Lan1, and Lan2, etc with Bridge0. Nothing will be running directly on Lan0, 1, etc anymore, everything that WAS running on lan0, 1, etc will now be running on bridge0.
So, if you previously had DHCP before and would like to keep it you will need to have it enabled. This is not 'another' DHCP server, this is the DHCP server.
Now, if you were not using DHCP in the first place at all, then yes you would want to disable it.
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I have found the main problem:
Starting from the default parameters of pfSense and performing the initial setup to make sure that the LAN and WAN interfaces are working with the type of static address, I tried to insert the MAC address of my computer or a MAC fictitious in the MAC address field of the LAN interface of pfSense. Applying these changes and restarting the firewall from the console, Windows 7 SP1 64-bit identifies the connection as a public network not identified. How come?
Thanks
Bye
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Because the MAC has changed. However if you then reboot the box again you should find that Windows connects without a warning as the MAC will remain whatever you set it to be.
Windows maintains a list of known networks with the MAC addresses of whatever it talks to on those networks. If it starts talking to a new MAC that isn't in the list it warns you.Steve
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Because the MAC has changed. However if you then reboot the box again you should find that Windows connects without a warning as the MAC will remain whatever you set it to be.
Windows maintains a list of known networks with the MAC addresses of whatever it talks to on those networks. If it starts talking to a new MAC that isn't in the list it warns you.Steve
the problem is that, even if I restart the firewall from the console with the new MAC, Windows identifies the new connection directly as a public network not identified without the possibility to change its type.
So, how do I change its type?
Thanks
Bye
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Because the MAC has changed. However if you then reboot the box again you should find that Windows connects without a warning as the MAC will remain whatever you set it to be.
Windows maintains a list of known networks with the MAC addresses of whatever it talks to on those networks. If it starts talking to a new MAC that isn't in the list it warns you.Steve
the problem is that, even if I restart the firewall from the console with the new MAC, Windows identifies the new connection directly as a public network not identified without the possibility to change its type.
So, how do I change its type?
Thanks
Bye
But, after it's set, do the Windows boxes keep notifying you again, later. From what I understand, it should do it once after you set the MAC, but once Windows identifies it, as long as you don't change the Bridge MAC again, it shouldn't keep bothering you.
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Because the MAC has changed. However if you then reboot the box again you should find that Windows connects without a warning as the MAC will remain whatever you set it to be.
Windows maintains a list of known networks with the MAC addresses of whatever it talks to on those networks. If it starts talking to a new MAC that isn't in the list it warns you.Steve
the problem is that, even if I restart the firewall from the console with the new MAC, Windows identifies the new connection directly as a public network not identified without the possibility to change its type.
So, how do I change its type?
Thanks
Bye
But, after it's set, do the Windows boxes keep notifying you again, later. From what I understand, it should do it once after you set the MAC, but once Windows identifies it, as long as you don't change the Bridge MAC again, it shouldn't keep bothering you.
Dropping for a moment the creation of the switch, how do I set a MAC address to the LAN interface preventing Windows 7 from identifying this connection as unidentified public network?
Thanks
Bye
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If you are not using a bridge at all then you should not have to do anything with the MAC address of the LAN NIC. It will always use the real MAC read fro the card itself. Windows should only ask you once 'what type of network are you connecting to?'.
Are you still using all statically assigned IPs?
If it's seeing new networks each time you have a different problem.
What hardware are you running?
Steve
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If you are not using a bridge at all then you should not have to do anything with the MAC address of the LAN NIC. It will always use the real MAC read fro the card itself. Windows should only ask you once 'what type of network are you connecting to?'.
Are you still using all statically assigned IPs?
If it's seeing new networks each time you have a different problem.
What hardware are you running?
Steve
I had done the test without bridge only to understand something.
I always use the static IP.
My firewall is http://www.firewallhardware.it/en/appliance_utm2.html . By chance, is there some parameters of the BIOS that could cause my problem?
Thanks
Bye
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Hmm, well there are quite a few people using that Jetway motherboard and your appliance has the nicer Intel daughter board which is said to be very good. No one has reported similar problems.
At this point you might consider the cause is something different. How many different Windows 7 machines have you tested this with?
Otherwise please post some screenshots of your not working bridge config. You could post your config.xml after you have removed any information you don't want public, passwords IPs etc. We can get a much clearer idea from that.
Steve
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Hmm, well there are quite a few people using that Jetway motherboard and your appliance has the nicer Intel daughter board which is said to be very good. No one has reported similar problems.
At this point you might consider the cause is something different. How many different Windows 7 machines have you tested this with?
Otherwise please post some screenshots of your not working bridge config. You could post your config.xml after you have removed any information you don't want public, passwords IPs etc. We can get a much clearer idea from that.
Steve
For the moment, I'm trying on 10 Windows 7 machine.
I can not understand what snapshots you want? Where is the config.xml file? How do I view it?
Thanks
Bye
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"Unfortunately, Windows 7 does not allow to change the network type"
What? You can change the network type whenever you want.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43629-network-location-set-home-work-public-network.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71408-unidentified-networks-set-private-public.htmlNow are these win 7 boxes part of a domain?
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"Unfortunately, Windows 7 does not allow to change the network type"
What? You can change the network type whenever you want.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43629-network-location-set-home-work-public-network.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71408-unidentified-networks-set-private-public.htmlNow are these win 7 boxes part of a domain?
No, the computers are in a workgroup.
Thanks
Bye
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Well then there is no reason why you could not change the type of network your connected too. And it for sure would have NOTHING to do with pfsense if you couldn't
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Where is the config.xml file? How do I view it?
The config.xml file can be obtained using the backup function under Diagnostics: Backup/Restore:
It contains everything about your pfSense install. Including some stuff you probably don't want to post publically so you should remove that it you do post it here.I am confused though. :-
Please tell me what state your box is in. Did you get the bridge setup correctly in switch mode? What is working? What is not working?Steve
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Where is the config.xml file? How do I view it?
The config.xml file can be obtained using the backup function under Diagnostics: Backup/Restore:
It contains everything about your pfSense install. Including some stuff you probably don't want to post publically so you should remove that it you do post it here.I am confused though. :-
Please tell me what state your box is in. Did you get the bridge setup correctly in switch mode? What is working? What is not working?Steve
I have noticed that, until step 4 of your procedure, my computers can access the firewall and get onto the Internet. While if I perform step 5, I can not do anything more.
So, I have attached the config.xml configuration file of my firewall so that you can understand where is the problem.
Also, I noticed that, with this configuration, I can not open the 31950 port even if the firewall log shows that it is open. How come?
Thanks
Bye
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Ah OK. Thanks for that.
Two things I notice straight away:Your WAN has a /8 subnet which is far too large. It should probably be /24.
Your WAN address is in a private IP range so you must have 'Block private networks' unchecked in Interfaces: WAN:
I'm not sure if you have done that already from the config file.
Edit: Now I see you have have unchecked that so ignore that remark.
Is your WAN connected to another router? If so you will need to have port 31950 forwarded on that also.I see you have not yet added em1 to the bridge, is that because this file is taken after step 4 in my instructions?
Adding the interface to the bridge as in step 5 should have no effect of the other interfaces. Perhaps you are adding it incorrectly? Is there anything connected to em1?I see you have not spoofed the MAC address yet in this file.
Steve
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I believe that you need to be using DHCP, otherwise windows will not allow you to change from public network type. However if you set the bridge MAC to the same as the real mac on the NIC then Windows clients should not even know you changed anything.