HOWTO: Bridging > VLAN to LAN > remotely

[pablo]

Hi everyone,

I am sure everyone knows the power of having OPNsense use a centralized, open-format configuration file.  I thought I'd share how I plan on implementing Bridging without the need to be physically in front of my router.

Background
We're introducing a Raspberry Pi in our outdoor enclosure to monitor temperature and other goodies.  It will be connected to a Smart Switch and presented to the router via a VLAN.

We want to Bridge the VLAN with the LAN.

Problem
During the Bridge creation, there's a step when access to the GUI via the VLAN is lost.

Solution
When I was proving out OPNsource as a viable solution, I created a virtualized test lab.  It simulates my needs:  N-Cable Modems, houses connected to their respective Cable Modem, etc. etc.

My lab allows me to slurp in a modified Production XML backup to simulate Production. 

A simple sed script is used to change the Interface names from Production and my lab.  After running the script, the config file is ready for my lab machine.

I was able to create the Bridge in my lab, diff the before and after XML files to confirm that I can import the config to Production.  After importing, Production should come up with the Bridge set up.

By doing it above, the only outage will be when I reboot Production with the new config file.

I absolutely love how the XML file strives to abstract the functionality.  By doing it this way, it makes the above possible.  Thank you smart people who developed OPNsense.  I truly appreciate the thinking behind it.

Very cool!