Virtualizing pfSense


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Hello,

 

I want to virtualize my router on unRaid using pfSense. Yes, I know about the disadvantages. I already have a quad port NIC built in and sperated from unRaid using this guide:

But now I want to try the actual installation, but that doesn´t work. I created a VM with the FreeBSD template and passed through my NIC. The problem is, that it doesen´t boot from the pfSense Image, instead there only is the "UEFI Interactive Shell v2.1". Im using this Image: pfSense-CE-2.3.4-RELEASE-amd64.iso (The CD Iso installer). Normally you can press any key before to boot from the image (with Windows), but thats not the case here.

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On 3.6.2017 at 5:56 PM, 1812 said:

What squid said.

 

 

I run pfsense for my firewall. no issues. and if I need to take the array down, then I power on my backup pfsense router.

What do you mean with a backup pfSense router? I also need something as a bakup. I have some Terra Black Dwarf Securepoint firewalls laying around, they run great with pfsense. How can I setup a backup router, is there any good guide that you can recommend?

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2 hours ago, hahaa24 said:

What do you mean with a backup pfSense router? I also need something as a bakup. I have some Terra Black Dwarf Securepoint firewalls laying around, they run great with pfsense. How can I setup a backup router, is there any good guide that you can recommend?

 

No guide. Just make a second pfense device. This is a bit of a janky way to do it, but his is how I accomplish it:

 

after my cable modem (which does not provide firewall/dhcp) i put in a dumb 4 port hub. 1 line in from the cable modem, 2 lines out. 1 of those goes to my active pfsense firewall, which then connects to a LB4Mm switch for the local network. The second line from the dumb hub goes in to a powered down pfsense device, which also goes back out to the same LB4m for local access.

 

When I take the array offline, the pfsense vm shuts down, during which time I power on the backup device. It is set to use the same dhcp address range as the main one, so the devices only see blip of downtime while the backup device boots (about a minute.)

 

Not the most elegant solution, but it works until unRaid decides to let us keep vm's running while the array is down.

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8 hours ago, 1812 said:

 

No guide. Just make a second pfense device. This is a bit of a janky way to do it, but his is how I accomplish it:

 

after my cable modem (which does not provide firewall/dhcp) i put in a dumb 4 port hub. 1 line in from the cable modem, 2 lines out. 1 of those goes to my active pfsense firewall, which then connects to a LB4Mm switch for the local network. The second line from the dumb hub goes in to a powered down pfsense device, which also goes back out to the same LB4m for local access.

 

When I take the array offline, the pfsense vm shuts down, during which time I power on the backup device. It is set to use the same dhcp address range as the main one, so the devices only see blip of downtime while the backup device boots (about a minute.)

 

Not the most elegant solution, but it works until unRaid decides to let us keep vm's running while the array is down.

how long does your server take to reboot and for pfsense to power up?  Mine used to take around 25 mins, but it's now about 15 mins which is fine for me - I just do it when the family are asleep or eating

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1 hour ago, DZMM said:

how long does your server take to reboot and for pfsense to power up?  Mine used to take around 25 mins, but it's now about 15 mins which is fine for me - I just do it when the family are asleep or eating

 

power to post 1-2 minutes, unraid load is about 1 minute, then about 4 minutes or so for the dockers to finish freaking about about not being able to update (the more you have set to autorun, the longer it takes to get to vm booting,) then 1 minute or so for the pfsense vm to boot.

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11 hours ago, 1812 said:

 

power to post 1-2 minutes, unraid load is about 1 minute, then about 4 minutes or so for the dockers to finish freaking about about not being able to update (the more you have set to autorun, the longer it takes to get to vm booting,) then 1 minute or so for the pfsense vm to boot.

ahh I have a lot of dockers which is probably why my reboot takes so long - I'm going to look into disabling some of them now to help in the future.

 

Thanks

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