How to Configure pfSense on Proxmox Dedicated Server

How to Configure pfSense on Proxmox Dedicated Server

Bare-metal firewalls are the traditional approach, but virtualizing pfSense on top of Proxmox VE has become the standard way to secure a dedicated server — routing all inbound traffic through a dedicated firewall VM before it reaches any of your other workloads.

What the guide covers

• Network architecture — separating WAN (vmbr0, tied to the physical NIC) from an internal-only LAN bridge (vmbr1)
• VM provisioning — correct CPU type (Host, for AES-NI passthrough), VirtIO NICs, memory, and disk settings for a firewall workload
• Interface assignment — mapping vtnet0/vtnet1 correctly on first boot so you don't lock yourself out
• The throughput fix most guides skip — disabling hardware checksum offload, which otherwise causes major packet loss under VirtIO
• Hardening the hypervisor — removing the Proxmox host's public IP from the WAN bridge and putting management access entirely behind pfSense, reachable only over VPN

By the end, you'll have a segmented, hardened network running on a single dedicated server — no extra hardware required.

👉 Read the full tutorial: https://www.fitservers.com/tutorials/configure-pfsense-virtual-firewall-proxmox-dedicated-server/