Hello everyone,
NOTE: in my message below, I make assumptions and guesses based on my research, but it’s very possible it’s full of mistakes and misunderstandings on my part…
To preface:
I am pretty new to OPNsense (although I had just a bit of experience with pfSense), and entirely new to Proxmox VE.
In the past, I used this FW4B from Protectli as a Firewall/Router by installing pfSense directly on it. Recently, I started to discover and understand the possibilities and benefits of using something like Proxmox. In the coming future, I intend to build a DIY machine to run Proxmox with a few VMs, for my Homelab. For now, I just want to learn and become more comfortable with it (Proxmox) with hardware I already have. Hence, the use of this FW4B, on which I intend to run maybe just one other VM, since it’s a small machine.
The goal:
I have a good quality fiber internet uplink, and I’d like to put the internet router in bridge mode, and use the Protectli FW4B as my router/firewall instead. The FW4B would run Proxmox with an OPNsense VM, and OPNsense would be the router/firewall. The hardware has 4 NICs. I’d like to use the first as WAN, where my uplink arrives. Of the 3 other NICs, one should be used for a TP-Link AP that will serve WiFi in the house, and the 2 others will be used for the LAN network (maybe 2 different networks, but that’s a secondary and not pressing concern).
The Problem:
It’s already hard enough to understand all the new concepts and systems/softwares, on top of which I add the fact that I can’t seem to find tutorials or explanations for my specific needs. I already installed Proxmox, created a VM for OPNsense, but I’m stuck at understanding how to configure the network properly in the network part of the Proxmox node, to suit my needs. The CPU of the FW4B (an Intel J3160), doesn’t support vt-d, so I can’t use IOMMU, which means I need to use Linux Bridges instead, to be able to configure the network of Proxmox, and ‘transfer’ it to the OPNsense VM, so that I can configure the Network there.
Another Note:
I know that this setup might have bottlenecks, and that this hardware is not ideal. It’s not meant to last, but I’d like to learn how it works, and I think it will help me understand my network needs better, and choose hardware accordingly when I build my next Proxmox machine.
Thank you in advance to anyone that takes the time to read this message, and for any advice or explanation on how I should proceed.
Best regards,
Charlie
NOTE: in my message below, I make assumptions and guesses based on my research, but it’s very possible it’s full of mistakes and misunderstandings on my part…
To preface:
I am pretty new to OPNsense (although I had just a bit of experience with pfSense), and entirely new to Proxmox VE.
In the past, I used this FW4B from Protectli as a Firewall/Router by installing pfSense directly on it. Recently, I started to discover and understand the possibilities and benefits of using something like Proxmox. In the coming future, I intend to build a DIY machine to run Proxmox with a few VMs, for my Homelab. For now, I just want to learn and become more comfortable with it (Proxmox) with hardware I already have. Hence, the use of this FW4B, on which I intend to run maybe just one other VM, since it’s a small machine.
The goal:
I have a good quality fiber internet uplink, and I’d like to put the internet router in bridge mode, and use the Protectli FW4B as my router/firewall instead. The FW4B would run Proxmox with an OPNsense VM, and OPNsense would be the router/firewall. The hardware has 4 NICs. I’d like to use the first as WAN, where my uplink arrives. Of the 3 other NICs, one should be used for a TP-Link AP that will serve WiFi in the house, and the 2 others will be used for the LAN network (maybe 2 different networks, but that’s a secondary and not pressing concern).
The Problem:
It’s already hard enough to understand all the new concepts and systems/softwares, on top of which I add the fact that I can’t seem to find tutorials or explanations for my specific needs. I already installed Proxmox, created a VM for OPNsense, but I’m stuck at understanding how to configure the network properly in the network part of the Proxmox node, to suit my needs. The CPU of the FW4B (an Intel J3160), doesn’t support vt-d, so I can’t use IOMMU, which means I need to use Linux Bridges instead, to be able to configure the network of Proxmox, and ‘transfer’ it to the OPNsense VM, so that I can configure the Network there.
Another Note:
I know that this setup might have bottlenecks, and that this hardware is not ideal. It’s not meant to last, but I’d like to learn how it works, and I think it will help me understand my network needs better, and choose hardware accordingly when I build my next Proxmox machine.
Thank you in advance to anyone that takes the time to read this message, and for any advice or explanation on how I should proceed.
Best regards,
Charlie