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vxlan proxmox setup (ip-transit)

Proxmox VXLAN Tunnel Setup

Requirements

Before starting, make sure you have:

  • A working Proxmox installation
  • Root access to your node
  • The remote endpoint IP
  • Basic networking knowledge

Misconfiguration may result in loss of network connectivity.

VXLAN allows you to create a Layer-2 overlay network over Layer-3 infrastructure, commonly used for connecting multiple hosts or data centers.

Tunnel Configuration

The configuration is done inside:

/etc/network/interfaces

Insert the VXLAN configuration template below and adjust the variables.

Variables appear inside < > and must be replaced with your actual values.

Variables

Variable Description
<VXLAN_ID> VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI), must match on both endpoints
<Local Endpoint> Local server public IP
<Remote Endpoint> Remote server public IP
<VXLAN Interface> VXLAN device name (example: vxlan10)
<Bridge Name> Proxmox bridge name (example: vmbr10)
<VXLAN Port> UDP port used by VXLAN (default: 4789)
<Physical Interface> Network interface used for transport (example: eno1)

VXLAN Configuration Template

auto vxlan10
iface vxlan10 inet manual
    mtu 1450
    pre-up ip link add vxlan10 type vxlan \
        id <VXLAN_ID> \
        dev <Physical Interface> \
        remote <Remote Endpoint> \
        local <Local Endpoint> \
        dstport <VXLAN Port>
    post-down ip link del vxlan10

Bridge Configuration

Create a bridge so VMs and containers can use the VXLAN network.

auto vmbr10
iface vmbr10 inet manual
    mtu 1450
    bridge_ports vxlan10
    bridge_stp off
    bridge_fd 0

Example Configuration

Example setup:

  • Local node: 192.0.2.10
  • Remote node: 192.0.2.20
  • VXLAN ID: 100
  • Interface: eno1
auto vxlan10
iface vxlan10 inet manual
    mtu 1450
    pre-up ip link add vxlan10 type vxlan id 100 dev eno1 \
        remote 192.0.2.20 local 192.0.2.10 dstport 4789
    post-down ip link del vxlan10

auto vmbr10
iface vmbr10 inet manual
    mtu 1450
    bridge_ports vxlan10
    bridge_stp off
    bridge_fd 0

Apply Configuration

Restart networking or bring interfaces up manually.

ifdown vmbr10 2>/dev/null
ifdown vxlan10 2>/dev/null
ifup vxlan10
ifup vmbr10

Using VXLAN in Proxmox VMs

  1. Open VM settings
  2. Select Network Device
  3. Choose Bridge: vmbr10

Your VM will now be connected to the VXLAN overlay network.

Troubleshooting

Check VXLAN interface

Check bridge

Verify connectivity

ping <remote-vxlan-ip>

Capture VXLAN packets

tcpdump -i <physical-interface> udp port 4789

Notes

  • Default VXLAN port is 4789
  • VXLAN adds ~50 bytes overhead, so MTU should typically be 1450
  • Firewalls must allow UDP 4789
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