Unable to start pfSense login screen

satimis · Apr 8, 2016, 12:40 PM

Hi all,

VirtualBox
Host - Ubuntu 14.04 desktop

I followed;
How to install pfsense in Virtualbox
http://rumyittips.com/how-to-install-pfsense-in-virtualbox/

to install pfSense on a VM

After installation finished I couldn't start pfSense login screen

On terminal it popup following options

–-----
......
......

FreeBSD/amd64 (pfSense.localdomain) (ttyv0)

*** Welcome to pfSense 2.2.6-RELEASE-pfSense (amd64) on pfSense ***

WAN(wan) ->em0 ->v4/DHCP4: 192.168.8.2/24
LAN(lan) ->em1 ->v4: 192.168.1.1/24
0)Logout(SSH only) 9)pfTop
1)Assign Interfaces 10)Filter Logs
2)Set interfaces(s) IP address 11)Restart webConfigurator
3)Reset webConfigurator password 12)pfSemse Developer Shell
4)Reset to factory default 13)Upgrade from console
5)Reboot system 14)Enable Secure Shell (sshd)
6)Halt system 15)Restore recent configuration
7)Ping host 16)Restart PHP-FPM
8)Shell

Enter an option:

Pls refers to attached screenshot

Please advise which option shall I select? Thanks

Regards
satimis

muswellhillbilly · Apr 8, 2016, 3:05 PM

This is the standard console you will see once you've finished installation. What you choose to do at this point is up to you. If you want to view the web management gui, point your browser to your LAN address (192.168.1.1) and log in with your admin credentials. If you haven't changed the default details, the login is 'admin' with password 'pfsense'.

satimis · Apr 8, 2016, 3:52 PM

@muswellhillbilly:

This is the standard console you will see once you've finished installation. What you choose to do at this point is up to you. If you want to view the web management gui, point your browser to your LAN address (192.168.1.1) and log in with your admin credentials. If you haven't changed the default details, the login is 'admin' with password 'pfsense'.

Thanks for your advice.

I haven't done any configuration yet.

However I could neither connect it on Host browser running http://192.168.1.1 nor ping 192.168.1.1 on Host terminal

Edit:
Connection
FTTH (500mbps) -> ONT (4 ports) -> 2 PCs-Virtual Machine
(Dynamic IP)

ONT-Huawei HG8045

Oracle VirtualBox
Host Ubuntu 14.04 desktop
VMs Ubuntu 14.04 desktop/Ubuntu 14.04 server/Windows 10 etc.
(PC-4/8 cores, RAM-8/32G, HDD-SSD 1TB, about 20 VMs running on each Virtual Machine)

ONT assigned IP – 192.168.8.2/3/4/5 etc.

satimis

Derelict · Apr 8, 2016, 3:51 PM

Then you have something wrong in your virtual environment, switching, etc.

satimis · Apr 8, 2016, 4:02 PM

@Derelict:

Then you have something wrong in your virtual environment, switching, etc.

But pfSense can ping Host 192.168.8.3

Derelict · Apr 8, 2016, 5:17 PM

@satimis:

@Derelict:

Then you have something wrong in your virtual environment, switching, etc.

But pfSense can ping Host 192.168.8.3

Different NIC.

What is the IP address of the workstation you are testing from?

Can pfSense ping that?

satimis · Apr 9, 2016, 5:10 AM

@Derelict:

Different NIC.

What is the IP address of the workstation you are testing from?

Host

eth0
inet addr:192.168.8.3

Can pfSense ping that?

Yes, pfSense can ping Host IP and public IP.

This PC (say PC-1), running Oracle VirtualBox, has been working for sometimes without problem.

Previous network connection;
ISP -> FTTC (static IP, 100mbps) -> Router -> PC -> VMs

Host
/etc/network/interfaces```

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

The primary network interface

interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual

add bridge ports

auto br0
iface br0 inet static
address 192.168.0.200
dns-nameservers xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (ISP dns)
network 192.168.0.0
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.0.255
gateway 192.168.0.1
bridge_ports eth0
bridge_fd 9
bridge_hello 2
bridge_maxage 12
bridge_stop off


New network connection;
ISP -> FTTH (dynamic IP, 500mbps) -> ONT -> PC -> VMs

Host
/etc/network/interfaces```

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

After installing pfSense I couldn't start VMs with following warning popup:


Could not start the machine ub1404dkPC1A01 because the following physical network interfaces were not found:
br0 (adapter 1)
You can either change the machine's network settings or stop the machine.


Result Code: 
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: 
SessionMachine
Interface: 
ISession {7844aa05-b02e-4cdd-a04f-ade4a762e6b7}

Even having changed Network
from: Bridged Apdater
to: NAT

I have another PC (say PC-2) with similar config on this network
ISP -> FTTH (dynamic IP, 500mbps) -> ONT -> PC -> VMs

All VMs are working after changing from:"Bridged Apdater" to: "NAT" on Network, able to connect Internet.

Did I make mistake on installation?

I can create another pfSense VM and mark it "pfSense-1" to test. Then there will be 2 pfSenses on this PC? Can it work? OR I have to delete the current pfSense?

Regards
satimis

A Former User · Apr 11, 2016, 4:11 AM

For my virtual box I set the first adapter as NAT, and a second as Host. Relised that the default gate on the Host virtual adapter is 192.168.56.1 (in my case since its the default VirtualBox setup) if you set the LAN interface ip in the pfSense console to anthing other than ending with a one; it'll work when you have it like this. You could also go into virtualbox network adapter settings to edit the default.
At times I do have to do a mix of options 11/16 or even both. I don't remember if I fix this as it only happens on my Mac and not on the same VM copy I have on my Windows Machine.

satimis · Apr 11, 2016, 4:27 AM

@crisdavid:

For my virtual box I set the first adapter as NAT, and a second as Host.

Did you refer to pfSense network?

I can't set "Host-only Adapter"
Invalid settings detected

A Former User · Apr 12, 2016, 3:02 PM

Go into the virtualbox preferences, network tab, and create a host network adapter (green adapter looking icon on the right corner of the window with a plus sign on it). Go back to your virtual machine settings, add the second adapter (as a host adapter), then insure that it doesn't give the invalid settings. It should automatically choose the newly created adapter(vboxnet0). Lastly if you leave the defaults that you need to set the lan interface as 192.168.56.2, you can also say no to setting up DHCP. GUI should come right up.

satimis · Apr 13, 2016, 12:16 AM

@crisdavid:

Go into the virtualbox preferences, network tab, and create a host network adapter (green adapter looking icon on the right corner of the window with a plus sign on it). Go back to your virtual machine settings, add the second adapter (as a host adapter), then insure that it doesn't give the invalid settings. It should automatically choose the newly created adapter(vboxnet0). Lastly if you leave the defaults that you need to set the lan interface as 192.168.56.2, you can also say no to setting up DHCP. GUI should come right up.

Hi crisdavid,

Thanks for your advice which works here.

Performed following steps:-

-> Preference -> Network -> Host-only Networks
Adds new-host-network
vboxnet0

and

Set "Adapter 2" of pfSense and all VMs as follows;
Attached to:[Host-only Adapter]
Name:[vboxnet0]

Now on VM's browser;
http://192.168.1.1

popup pfSense login page
User - admin
Pass - pfsense

starts "Status: Dashboard"

But it doesn't work Host. I can't figure out a solution.

Regards
satimis

A Former User · Apr 13, 2016, 12:46 AM

Can you provide a screenshot? Haven't hit this bump you have, even when virtualising it within a Ubuntu VM

satimis · Apr 13, 2016, 1:01 AM

@crisdavid:

Can you provide a screenshot? Haven't hit this bump you have, even when virtualising it within a Ubuntu VM

Please refers to attached photos

satimis

A Former User · Apr 13, 2016, 2:46 PM

Is your first adapter still a bridge adapter? or is it NAT adapter?

If you go to the update tab from the GUI and go into the update page. Try to just save the page again (attachments below); I understand this is 2.3 but I can't remember if this was still there on 2.2.6
I encountered this when on the beta of 2.3 (before the release) might help you the same.

P.S. I'm virtualizing a ubuntu machine and running another virtual box instance of pfsense to help with your problem since I don't have a spare PC. I'm just currently in class and just spun up my pfSense Testing VM on my mac to provide the visuals :P

satimis · Apr 13, 2016, 3:00 PM

@crisdavid:

Is your first adapter still a bridge adapter? or is it NAT adapter?

If you go to the update tab from the GUI and go into the update page. Try to just save the page again (attachments below); I understand this is 2.3 but I can't remember if this was still there on 2.2.6
I encountered this when on the beta of 2.3 (before the release) might help you the same.

P.S. I'm virtualizing a ubuntu machine and running another virtual box instance of pfsense to help with your problem since I don't have a spare PC. I'm just currently in class and just spun up my pfSense Testing VM on my mac to provide the visuals :P

Thanks for your advice.

My Status Dashboard looks different to yours. I couldn't find Update and Update Settings under System

My pfSense was installed on;
pfSense-LiveCD-2.2.6-RELEASE-amd64-20151221-1450.iso

My first adapter is still a bridge adapter
Name: eth0

satimis

A Former User · Apr 13, 2016, 3:04 PM

You can try to use a NAT adapter instead.
I also noticed you're on UTC time (Not sure if that makes a big deal) but could help to set pfSense to use local time. Unfortunately i'm trying to figure out where and how I was able to switch the time to use that :/.

satimis · Apr 13, 2016, 3:35 PM

@crisdavid:

You can try to use a NAT adapter instead.
I also noticed you're on UTC time (Not sure if that makes a big deal) but could help to set pfSense to use local time. Unfortunately i'm trying to figure out where and how I was able to switch the time to use that :/.

Set both pfSense and VMs
1st adapter - NAT
2nd adapter - Host-only Adapter
Name: vboxnet0

It is the same, nothing changed.

Host still can't ping pfSense 192.168.1.1 but pfSense can ping Host 192.168.8.3

Actually pfSense is working. I'm now searching document to configure it as a physical router assigning IP to VMs to allow them to be browsed on Internet

MettleMonkey · Mar 10, 2017, 9:46 PM

Old thread, but I just figured out the answer for myself

I could install and setup pfSense just fine, it got a DHCP IP on the WAN and 192.168.1.1 on the LAN, but I couldn't ping the box, or hit https://192.168.1.1 in a browser!

The key is to configure VirtualBox's host-only networks; not just the network adaptors for the VM, but VBox's configuration for the networks themselves

Go to: VirtualBox -> Preferences -> Network -> Host-only networks

For me vboxnet0 (the one you get by default is configured as)

192.168.0.1
255.255.255.0
DHCP Enabled

I'm pretty sure this means that if you setup the LAN interface on the VM to be a "Host-only Adapter", your host machine gets assigned an IP address of 192.168.0.1 on the virtual network that VBox sets up for you. This means you're on a separate subnet than the LAN interface of pfSense

TL;DR The Fix:

Configure host-only network "vboxnet1" (or any of the other host-only networks if you're already using vboxnet1 for other VMs) with the following:

192.168.1.77 (or whatever IP you want your host to appear as on the network)
255.255.255.0
DHCP Disabled

The make sure that the LAN adapter on your pfSense VM is a "Host-only Adapter" and that it's using "vboxnet1" (or whatever network you configured above)

Reboot/re-install and http://192.168.1.1 should work now

VBox   : 5.1.16
pfSense: 2.3.3
MacOS X: 10.12.2