Firewall appliance templates (pfSense and OPNsense)
A firewall appliance template (pfSense or OPNsense) builds a VM that is your firewall. Picking that OS family changes the create wizard: no cloud-init, no SSH-key inject, and the integrated firewall UI is not offered.
For the click-by-click create flow, see Create a firewall VM in a Cloud Pool. To put a regular VM behind one of these appliances, see Put a VM behind an external firewall.
What changes in the wizard
| Topic | What you see |
|---|---|
| Login credentials | Badge VENDOR DEFAULT. Username is the built-in account (read-only). Password cannot be set here — use the image's vendor default and change it after first login. |
| SSH keys | Hidden. Keys are not injected. |
| Network interfaces | Help text: these appliances typically need two adapters — first WAN (public), second LAN (private). You can add more. Roles are labeled WAN, LAN, then Optional 1, Optional 2, and so on. |
| External firewall | Hidden. The template already is the appliance. |
| Attach firewalls | The hypervisor / organization firewall picker is hidden. |
Default usernames
| Family | Username |
|---|---|
| pfSense | admin |
| OPNsense | root |
Log in with that user and the vendor default password, then change the password immediately after first boot.
SDN addressing
If a NIC uses SDN, the appliance may use the network's gateway address. The platform reserves it — set that address in the appliance Web Console on first boot.
After the VM exists
On the VM Firewall tab you see an explanation only:
This VM is an external firewall appliance. Integrated firewalls have been disabled for this VM.
There is no Firewall enabled toggle and no Add rule. That UI is removed, not greyed out. Finish WAN/LAN IPs and the vendor password change in the console — the portal does not walk those appliance screens.
Related guides
- Create a firewall VM in a Cloud Pool
- Put a VM behind an external firewall
- Create a virtual machine in a Cloud Pool
- Firewalls for Cloud Pools
- Start, stop, reset, and open the console
Still stuck?
Open a support ticket from Support → Tickets if the template is missing, first-boot console never appears, or the Firewall tab still shows the integrated rule editor on an appliance VM.
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