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    Pfsense with 3 NICS

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      I think you screenshot from ESXi was cropped incorrectly, I can't see much of it.  ;)

      I agree with what others have said. You do not need a physical NIC to get connectivity. You do not need to bridge the two LANs to get connectivity, and in fact briding the LANs largely negates the point of having two separate LANs.

      Steve

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      • J
        Jamerson
        last edited by

        @doktornotor:

        @johnpoz:

        Physical nic??  What??

        Hopefully he's not going to try to physically hammer the physical NIC to the virtual machine.  :o

        haha you are really funny guy !!  :o

        @stephenw10:

        I think you screenshot from ESXi was cropped incorrectly, I can't see much of it.  ;)

        I agree with what others have said. You do not need a physical NIC to get connectivity. You do not need to bridge the two LANs to get connectivity, and in fact briding the LANs largely negates the point of having two separate LANs.

        Steve

        Steve,
        I have 3 Virtual NIC on the PFSENSE,
        one is on the group of Vswitch 1 which is the WAN of the ESXI
        second one is the VSWITCH 2 which is LAN1
        and 3rd one is on the Vswitch 3 which is LAN 2

        I understand I don't need a Physical NIC to get the connectivity,
        Why when I remove the Physical NIC from the VSwitch 2 /3  the connectivity drops down ?
        attached is a screenshot of the Network Diagram on the ESXI.
        that why I've attached a Physical NIC to LAN1 otherwise it won't work

        on the Physique side , i will have a physical computers that will be a member of the domain controller that is running on the ESXI and need to have the access to the LAN 1 subnet over the WAN
        Like Physique computer on the room will need to have access to 192.168.4.0/24 and need to use the PFSENSE as it gateway.

        Thank you

        LAN.jpg
        LAN.jpg_thumb

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        • johnpozJ
          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
          last edited by

          You DO NOT need a bridge!! You DO NOT need a physical nic connected to your vswitch.

          Remove the BRIDGE!  And you will be good.

          I run this exact setup.  Multiple physical lans, and one that is only vms (dmz)  I have no bridge in pfsense (you would not normally bridge 2 different address space segments).. My box in dmz can use the internet and is blocked from talking to lan or wlan because that is how I setup the firewall rules.  But lan or wlan can talk to dmz (this is normally how a dmz is setup)

          You have seen my esxi setup in previous - and you can see it in the background in the attached.

          So my workstation that is on lan (via physical nic connection in esxi to that lan vswitch) on 192.168.1.100 can ping the dmz win7 box.  See it attached on vswitch where pfsense also has interface (dmz 192.168.3.253) and w7 box is on 192.168.3.100/24 can ping google, but it can not ping the 192.168.1.100 machine because my firewall rules for dmz says you can go anywhere you want other than locals.  That is what the ! in front of it means "not" locals.  Locals is an alias in pfsense that includes 192.168.1.0/24 and 192.168.2.0/24 and my openvpn networks.  So per my firewalls rules on my lan I can go to the dmz.. But dmz can only "create" connections to networks that are NOT my local networks.  This common setup for a "dmz" segment.

          edit:  Seems I went over the attachment size for my dmz rules - see next post

          confignophynic-vswitch.png
          confignophynic-vswitch.png_thumb

          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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          • johnpozJ
            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
            last edited by

            Here is my dmz firewall rules showing ! locals as dest

            dmzfirewallrules.png
            dmzfirewallrules.png_thumb

            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              To be fair you do need a physical NIC on vSwitch1 if you have physical machines that need to connect to that subnet.

              If however you are only getting general internet connectivity with that in place then it sounds like the VMs on vSwitch1 are using some external route and not the pfSense VM for there gateway.

              Steve

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              • johnpozJ
                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                last edited by

                From what I have been able to make out of this thread.. He only wants vms on this esxi host to connect through pfsense (vm) to the real network via pfsense wan connection.  If that is the case then the only vswitch that needs connectivity to the physical world is vswitch that pfsense wan is connected too.

                Think of the physical nic you connect to a vswitch as just normal uplink you use in real switches.  If you have machines on switch1 and machines on switch2 how do you connect them..  You run a wire between the switches.

                This is really all that connecting a physical nic in esxi to a vswitch does - it connects that vswitch to the real world switch the wire from that nic runs too.

                Your vmkern portgroup would need a physical connection or you would not be able to manage the esxi host box.  From your other drawings this is the same vswitch you have pfsense wan connected too.  Your other lan and dmz segment vswitches only need physical connectivity if you as stated by stephen you have real world machines on those segments.

                An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                • D
                  doktornotor Banned
                  last edited by

                  @Jamerson:

                  Why when I remove the Physical NIC from the VSwitch 2 /3  the connectivity drops down ?

                  P.S. Removed the BS bridge yet, or still feel like wasting more of our time with that nonsense?

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                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                    last edited by

                    If you would let one of us teamviewer in we could have this fixed in like 3 minutes..  And we are on page 4 ;)

                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      @Jamerson:

                      i will have a physical computers that will be a member of the domain controller that is running on the ESXI and need to have the access to the LAN 1 subnet over the WAN
                      Like Physique computer on the room will need to have access to 192.168.4.0/24 and need to use the PFSENSE as it gateway.

                      He does say 'over the WAN' here but I discounted that because he implies that real machines need to be in the 192.168.4.X subet which is LAN1/vSwitch1.

                      Steve

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                      • johnpozJ
                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                        last edited by

                        But he stated this as well
                        "LAN 1 and LAN 2 are not attached to Physical NIC, "

                        I if he even knows what he wants, I think it is getting lost in translation.. Maybe he would have better luck with someone that speaks his native language?

                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                        • J
                          Jamerson
                          last edited by

                          @johnpoz:

                          But he stated this as well
                          "LAN 1 and LAN 2 are not attached to Physical NIC, "

                          I if he even knows what he wants, I think it is getting lost in translation.. Maybe he would have better luck with someone that speaks his native language?

                          if i remove the physical NIC from vSwitch 1,
                          my Physical Machines in the office will be able to communicat with LAN 1 ( 192.168.4.1 ) even it doesn't have Physique NIC ?

                          when you say remove the bridgen ? which one you mean?
                          on the interfaces there is no bridgen.
                          attached is a screenshot of my bridgen

                          bridgen.jpg
                          bridgen.jpg_thumb

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                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            @Jamerson:

                            if i remove the physical NIC from vSwitch 1, my Physical Machines in the office will be able to communicat with LAN 1 ( 192.168.4.1 ) even it doesn't have Physique NIC ?

                            No. You need a physical NIC on vSwitch1 to allow that. We just needed confirmation that was what you're trying to do.

                            @Jamerson:

                            on the interfaces there is no bridgen.

                            Ok, so you removed it already? In your much earlier out put of 'ifconfig' it showed a bridge.

                            Steve

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                            • johnpozJ
                              johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                              last edited by

                              "my Physical Machines in the office will be able to communicat with LAN 1 ( 192.168.4.1 ) even it doesn't have Physique NIC ?"

                              And these physical machines are on 192.168.4.0/24 or are they on the wan that your pfsense is connected too 192.168.2.0/24 I think?

                              An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                              If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                              Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                              SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                Ah, very good question. Yes, you mentioed via WAN earlier, did you mean that?

                                Steve

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                                • J
                                  Jamerson
                                  last edited by

                                  @johnpoz:

                                  "my Physical Machines in the office will be able to communicat with LAN 1 ( 192.168.4.1 ) even it doesn't have Physique NIC ?"

                                  And these physical machines are on 192.168.4.0/24 or are they on the wan that your pfsense is connected too 192.168.2.0/24 I think?

                                  the physical Machines are using PFsense as Gateway,
                                  on the WAN side I have just the ESXI and the ISP Modem,
                                  all other machines are connecting to the internet through the PFSENSE( Virtual or Physiques)
                                  all my network is going through the Pfsense.

                                  Steve yes this exactly what I want :).

                                  thank you so much

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                                  • johnpozJ
                                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                                    last edited by

                                    Well then are you working.. If you removed the bridge and have firewall rules correct, change your lan2 pfsense IP to be .1 vs .0 you should be up and running.

                                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                                    • J
                                      Jamerson
                                      last edited by

                                      @johnpoz:

                                      Well then are you working.. If you removed the bridge and have firewall rules correct, change your lan2 pfsense IP to be .1 vs .0 you should be up and running.

                                      this what I did and it working thank you so much for your help.
                                      to do this my PFSENSE LAN1 required a Physique NIC ? right
                                      as showed on  my screenshot the Vswitch 1 has attached Physique NIC.

                                      my question is , is it possible to have Pfsense ( I mean LAN1 ) accessible to the physique machines even Vswitch 1 doesn't have a Physique NIC ?

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        Only if those machines are somehow routed through the pfSense WAN with appropriate firewall and port forwarding rules.
                                        No, is probably the answer. If you wish to have physical machines connected to LAN1 and using pfSense as their gateway to the internet you need to have a physical NIC connected to vSwitch1 to get that real traffic into the virtual network.

                                        Steve

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                                        • P
                                          podilarius
                                          last edited by

                                          If they are connected to LAN, then they will so long as the rules exist. They will be on LAN subnet and accessing LAN1 resources either by IP of configured DNS name. They have do go through pfSense as a route to get to LAN1 resources. There will not be a direct path.

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                                          • J
                                            Jamerson
                                            last edited by

                                            John Steve, and all
                                            thank you so much for your help and help me get to know the product.
                                            really guys appreciate it.
                                            I own you a drink guys :)

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