To connect to the LAN interface of the pfsense firewall and use the webConfigurator I need a virtual machine on the LAN Vnet. I am going to install Ubuntu Desktop in Proxmox to act as the Linux admin workstation for my lab network. The desktop version will give me a web browser to access the firewall, and later I can add the machine to the networks Active Directory domain.

Install Ubuntu Desktop in Proxmox

Prerequisite: Installing a Network Firewall Using Pfsense in Proxmox

I covered the step by step instructions with screenshots for creating a virtual machine in Proxmox in the post linked above. From this post on I will list the settings used for each machine instead of walking through each step.

Linux Admin Workstation:

  • Name: UbuntuDesktop
  • Start on boot: no
  • ISO image: ubuntu-22.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso
  • System: defaults
  • Disk size: 40GB
  • CPU: 1 socket / 2 cores
  • Memory: 2048MB
  • Network: LANnet / MTU 1450

On boot you will see the Install screen for Ubuntu where you select the language and install Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Desktop install screen with language select and try or install Ubuntu options.
Install screen for Ubuntu Desktop

I kept the default options throughout the install with the exception of selecting “minimal installation” instead of “normal installation”.

Updates and other software screen. Select minimal installation instead of normal installation.
Selecting minimal installation on the updates and other software screen

Post Install Actions

After installing Ubuntu, I needed to check my network configuration to ensure the MTU settings were correct and I had network connectivity to the firewall and to the WAN by pinging one of my hosts.

Wired network settings in Ubuntu GUI showing MTU of 1450
Confirm MTU is set to 1450 for VXLAN
Ubuntu terminal showing three successful pings to the vmhost. Access is available through the firewall to the WAN.
Successful ping to the vmhost outside of the VXLAN and through the firewall

Login to the pfsense webConfigurator

Now I navigate to the pfsense webConfigurator address and login to finish setting up the pfsense software.

pfsense webConfigurator page showing next steps to finish software configuration
Pfsense webConfigurator initial page on first load to finish software configuration

I set my hostname and domain to pfsense and the globomantics.local domain I will use for Pluralsight courses.

Example pfsense hostname and domain configuration screen.
Configure hostname and domain

For my network I am unchecking the box to block RFC1918 private networks. My simulated WAN is using the network 172.16.1.0/24 which falls in this range. If I left this checked I would not be able to access anything inside the network.

Uncheck the block RFC1918 private networks option in pfsense webConfigurator
Uncheck block RFC1918 private networks

After finishing these steps, I checked for updates and then finished the configuration. On my network the interfaces reset to 1500 MTU and I had to manually change them back on the shell to regain access. This was covered in the previous post. You can also set the MTU in the webConfigurator on each interface.

pfsense Interface configuration showing LAN interface enabled with MTU set to 1450
Setting the MTU in the webConfigurator

Now my first workstation is online and the initial firewall setup is complete. I am ready to set up the DMZ and configure DNS for my Globomantics network. These topics are the next couple of posts.

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