Bridging problems

Borage

Definitely false.

Okay, please tell me how you did this. :)

I installed the following pfSense release.

http://snapshots.pfsense.org/FreeBSD_releng/10.1/amd64/pfSense_RELENG_2_2/livecd_installer/pfSense-LiveCD-2.2-RC-amd64-20150102-1450.iso.gz

Take a look here and see that bridge0 is not even a valid interface.

 WAN (wan)       -> em0        -> v4: 10.1.1.2/24
                                  v6/DHCP6: 2001:xxx:xxx:xxx:e94d/64
 LAN1 (lan)      -> em1        -> v4: 192.168.1.4/24
 LAN2 (opt1)     -> em2        -> 
 LAN3 (opt2)     -> em3        -> 
 LAN4 (opt3)     -> em4        -> 
 LAN5 (opt4)     -> em5        -> 
 LAN (opt5)      -> bridge0    -> v4: 192.168.1.5/24
 0) Logout (SSH only)                  9) pfTop
 1) Assign Interfaces                 10) Filter Logs
 2) Set interface(s) IP address       11) Restart webConfigurator
 3) Reset webConfigurator password    12) pfSense Developer Shell
 4) Reset to factory defaults         13) Upgrade from console
 5) Reboot system                     14) Disable Secure Shell (sshd)
 6) Halt system                       15) Restore recent configuration
 7) Ping host                         16) Restart PHP-FPM
 8) Shell

Enter an option: 1

Valid interfaces are:

em0    00:0c:29:d0:e9:4d   (up) Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.6
em1    00:0c:29:d0:e9:57   (up) Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.6
em2    00:0c:29:d0:e9:61   (up) Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.6
em3    00:0c:29:d0:e9:6b   (up) Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.6
em4    00:0c:29:d0:e9:75   (up) Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.6
em5    00:0c:29:d0:e9:7f   (up) Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.6

Do you want to set up VLANs first? 

If you are not going to use VLANs, or only for optional interfaces, you should
say no here and use the webConfigurator to configure VLANs later, if required.

Do you want to set up VLANs now [y|n]?

stephenw10

Hmm, I've never tried to do it from the console. It's definitely possible via the webgui though.

You have a subnet conflict there, LAN and OPT5 are in the same subnet. Normally all the bridge members are assigned as type 'none' and only the bridge itself has an IP.

Steve

Borage

@stephenw10:

Hmm, I've never tried to do it from the console. It's definitely possible via the webgui though.

Please tell me how, because I cannot find it.

Edit: I had to unassign LAN interface em1 from the bridge before it was possible to assign LAN to the bridge interface bridge1. That means that you need at least four interfaces before it is even possible to do this from the web gui. One NIC for WAN and three interfaces for LAN.

@stephenw10:

You have a subnet conflict there, LAN and OPT5 are in the same subnet. Normally all the bridge members are assigned as type 'none' and only the bridge itself has an IP.

Steve

It was just for a test, If I pull the network cable from LAN1 then I lose the connection with the bridge. That's why I need to assign LAN to the bridge interface.

jahonix

@Borage:

@stephenw10:

Hmm, I've never tried to do it from the console. It's definitely possible via the webgui though.

Please tell me how, because I cannot find it.

At Interfaces | (assign) | Bridges

Give Lan an otherwise unused interface first, setup the bridge with the interfaces you need and swap out the Lan interface when done.
I sometimes create an additional (VLAN) interface for this task on hardware like APUs with a limited number of NICs, but that's not needed in your case.

stephenw10

You can do it with three interfaces but doing everything in the correct order becomes critical. It's very easy to end up locked out of the webgui. ;)

Steve

jahonix

Sure, pfSense hardly holds you from shooting in your own foot. ;)

Borage

I cannot understand why you must assign at least two network adapters to the bridge when it is created. In other manufacturers such as MikroTik routers it is possible to create a bridge without assigning any network adapter. One network adapter should be enough to create a bridge in pfSense.

doktornotor

Doing this from GUI is troublesome if you are actually using the to-be-bridged interface to connect in the first place. Probably better to just edit and import a config and let the box reboot… Relevant parts:


	 <interfaces><lan><enable><if>bridge0</if>

			 <spoofmac><ipaddr>10.20.31.254</ipaddr>
			<subnet>24</subnet></spoofmac></enable></lan> 
		 <opt1><if>vr0</if>
			 <enable><spoofmac></spoofmac></enable></opt1> 
		 <opt2><if>vr1</if>
			 <enable><spoofmac></spoofmac></enable></opt2> 
		 <opt3><if>vr2</if>
			 <enable><spoofmac></spoofmac></enable></opt3></interfaces> 

	 <bridges><bridged><members>opt1,opt2,opt3</members>

			 <maxaddr><timeout><maxage><fwdelay><hellotime><priority><proto>rstp</proto>
			 <holdcnt><ifpriority><ifpathcost><bridgeif>bridge0</bridgeif></ifpathcost></ifpriority></holdcnt></priority></hellotime></fwdelay></maxage></timeout></maxaddr></bridged></bridges>

stephenw10

@Borage:

I cannot understand why you must assign at least two network adapters to the bridge when it is created.

Well the pfSense bridge facility is just a front end on the FreeBSD bridge driver:
@https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=bridge&apropos=0&sektion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+10.1-RELEASE&arch=default&format=html:

The if_bridge driver creates a logical link between two or more IEEE 802 networks that use the same (or ``similar enough'') framing format.

Creating a one interface bridge seems a bit illogical although I see where your coming from.

Steve

Borage

@doktornotor:

Doing this from GUI is troublesome if you are actually using the to-be-bridged interface to connect in the first place. Probably better to just edit and import a config and let the box reboot…

I thought about it, but decided to administer pfSense over the WAN interface.

@stephenw10:

Creating a one interface bridge seems a bit illogical although I see where your coming from.

Probably, but in this case it would only be temporary until the configuration is completed.