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    Problem with VMworkstation and Pfsense

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Virtualization
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    • G
      grim
      last edited by

      @bjaffe:

      From the LAN interface you can only ping external addresses, no DNS, no internet , no nothing.( only accessible web page is webconfigurator )

      From the webconfigurator via Ping i can ping google.com from both LAN and WAN interface, but from my Laptop i cannot.

      I'm a little confused by these two statements. If you go to Diagnostics > Ping > Source address = LAN.. can you successfully ping google.com? 8.8.8.8? The WAN Gateway?
      Are you missing the LAN net to any rule under Firewall > Rules > LAN? If you're able to reach google via ping from the LAN interface of pfSense directly (firewall generated traffic) and not the laptop, usually it would be filtering the traffic. Did you check the firewall logs (Status > System logs > Firewall)?

      If your laptop can ping 8.8.8.8 and not google, I would check DNS, are you using the DNS resolver? Is it in forwarding mode? If it is, do you have DNS servers setup in System > General Setup?

      WAN is static ipv4. (WAN IP and WAN gateway pingable from lan)

      Is the WAN address public?

      Behind the pfsesne there is a tplink with DDWRT

      So is the laptop that you're testing from behind the tplink? Is this device NATting? If so, it would be hitting a double NAT and your firewall rules under LAN would need to be Source = any rather than "LAN net" because it wouldn't take into account the double NAT.

      I'm a little confused by these two statements. If you go to Diagnostics > Ping > Source address = LAN.. can you successfully ping google.com? 8.8.8.8? The WAN Gateway?
      -Yes
      -From laptop only  8.8.8.8, from Win7 VM both 8.8.8.8 and google.com (DNS resolver works, tried both resolver and forwarder)

      • Wan public IP
      • Firewall rules OK work for the win7 VM

      So is the laptop that you're testing from behind the tplink? Is this device NATting? If so, it would be hitting a double NAT and your firewall rules under LAN would need to be Source = any rather than "LAN net" because it wouldn't take into account the double NAT.

      • Tried withouth the TPlink, laptop directly to LAN port same issue
      • TPLink was primary in NAT (was working, double nat )but now in bridge mode also worked before
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      • B
        bjaffe
        last edited by

        Okay, so DNS isn't working from the laptop? That's the main problem? And also, everything is working from the windows 7 VM right?

        If so, what's the DNS server on the laptop pointing to?
        Are the laptop and the win7 VM on the same LAN in the same subnet?
        Can you try changing the DNS server on the laptop to 8.8.8.8 and see if you can ping google.com?

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        • G
          grim
          last edited by

          @bjaffe:

          I just now saw the diagram…. just look at the last thing I said in my previous reply, you'll most likely need to go to Firewall > Rules > LAN and change the Source = LAN net to Source = Any... it'll probably work then.

          Doesn't work tried :/

          If i do this with no changes to the Pfsense the VM have internet and everything, just change from workstation from bridge to VMnet 19, win7 also connected to host only Vmnet 19

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          • G
            grim
            last edited by

            @bjaffe:

            Okay, so DNS isn't working from the laptop? That's the main problem? And also, everything is working from the windows 7 VM right?

            If so, what's the DNS server on the laptop pointing to?
            Are the laptop and the win7 VM on the same LAN in the same subnet?
            Can you try changing the DNS server on the laptop to 8.8.8.8 and see if you can ping google.com?

            DNS on laptops points to pfsense LAN
            the same settings are on win7 vm also same DNS
            Tried 8.8.8.8 on laptop, problem persists

            same IP, gateway,mask, DNS on laptop and on VM when i try

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            • G
              grim
              last edited by

              Also on Pfsense there are 4 DNS : 2 ISP dns , 8.8.8.8 and 1 Open dns
              When i nslookup from pfsense all 4 DNS respond

              Also noticed when i nslookup from laptop

              DNS server : LAN IP
              DNS server Name : UnKnown

              Nslookup From VM

              DNS server: LAN IP
              DNS server name: Pfsense hostname

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              • B
                bjaffe
                last edited by

                If i do this with no changes to the Pfsense the VM have internet and everything, just change from workstation from bridge to VMnet 19, win7 also connected to host only Vmnet 19

                This leads be to believe it's some sort of network filtering problem. Can you redraw the diagram with the full IP assignments / netmasks?

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                • G
                  grim
                  last edited by

                  like i said same settings :/

                  The setup was running for more than a month with IPsec VPN, squid , snort ect. configured

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                  • B
                    bjaffe
                    last edited by

                    This paints a very clear picture. I don't think I can actually help you here… seems like a problem with the virtual environment rather than with pfSense itself.

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                    • G
                      grim
                      last edited by

                      @bjaffe:

                      This paints a very clear picture. I don't think I can actually help you here… seems like a problem with the virtual environment rather than with pfSense itself.

                      When you bridge a physical nic to a VM you assign it to different VMnet networks. in my case WAN - VMnet 17 - PciE nic and LAN -  VMnet 18 - Pci Nic
                      i also tried changing these networks :(

                      From the laptop i can only ping public ip's not hostnames and i can open webconfigurator
                      From the Vm full internet access

                      Thank you for your fast and dedicated support tho

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                      • G
                        gjaltemba
                        last edited by

                        Sounds like the dns client on the laptop is not working properly.

                        Did you try
                        ipconfig /flushdns
                        tracert 8.8.8.8

                        Problem started after a reboot. If possible, restart all network devices to get a clean start.

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                        • G
                          grim
                          last edited by

                          @gjaltemba:

                          Sounds like the dns client on the laptop is not working properly.

                          Did you try
                          ipconfig /flushdns
                          tracert 8.8.8.8

                          Problem started after a reboot. If possible, restart all network devices to get a clean start.

                          That was one of the first things i've tried I flush after every change, laptop directly to wan cable has no problems, nor the vm

                          I've rebooted everything even the virtualizator + server
                          The problem is not in the laptop , the problem started on all infrastructure behind pfsense, I use the laptop on the lan port to exclude it so we don't bother troubleshoot there

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                          • G
                            grim
                            last edited by

                            Another thing i noticed is that when the problem occurs the PFsense FW log is spammed with blocked entries
                            source WAN ip 192.168.1.1 destination 224.0.0.1 which is a muticast address

                            Even tho my WAN ip is a public ip not 192.168.1.1

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                            • KOMK
                              KOM
                              last edited by

                              Just a guess but after you moved the vm, you might have to go and reassign the interfaces again via the console menu.  You shouldn't have to do this when just moving it's target folder, but you never know.

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                              • G
                                grim
                                last edited by

                                @KOM:

                                Just a guess but after you moved the vm, you might have to go and reassign the interfaces again via the console menu.  You shouldn't have to do this when just moving it's target folder, but you never know.

                                I will try this later , even tho from the webconfigurator both interfaces are with the correct mac :/
                                And when i powered up the old VM ( the original) the problem was there.

                                Next thing i will try, when i have time is a clean install with basic settings and restore module by module to try if the fault is there…

                                Because fine tuning of the proxy, av, ipsec, IPS, user control and other shit took me so much time :<

                                another thing some services go through, maybe they are not DNS dependent.

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                                • M
                                  MasterX-BKC- Banned
                                  last edited by

                                  most likely the fault is in vmware workstation, or windows, config wise.  they can be tricky to understand.

                                  if you restore a known working config, after that it must be one of those 2, i have numerous pfsense units running under vmware ESXi with zero problems at all.

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                                  • A
                                    AndroBourne
                                    last edited by

                                    It may not be related but aside from all the DNS stuff. I had a similar issue on my LAN when I first configured my VM PFSense box.

                                    All this kinda sounds like a virtual adapter issues. I would try to blow out the original adapter and then recreate it and see if that works. My issue actually ended up being that the article I was reading about configuring the PFSense in a VM stated to use the Legacy VM adapters which actually caused my issue (same one you were having). I changed the virtual adapter from legacy to the standard adapter and issue went away.

                                    Of course that is going to all depend on the version of PFSense you are running and the types of NICs you have. I would recommend you try both ways (legacy and non legacy) in the VM adapter settings and if that changes anything for you.

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                                    • G
                                      grim
                                      last edited by

                                      Problem solved,

                                      Symantec was blocking the traffic on the host  :o i don't know how but disabling the AV solved the problem…

                                      Thank you all for the support.

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