Wake on LAN for Proxmox Node

This guide explains how to set up your Proxmox node to respond to Wake-on-LAN (WoL) messages, allowing you to start your server remotely using a “magic packet.”

installing tools

First, you’ll need to install the required tool ethtool on your Proxmox node. Open a terminal or go to your node’s shell and run:

❯ sudo apt install ethtool

Get your interface name

❯ ip a s

The output will list all your network interfaces. In this case, we’re looking for an interface that’s currently in use. For example:

eno1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq master vmbr0 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether XXXXXXXXXXX brd XXXXXXXXXXX
    altname enp1s0f0

Here, eno1 is the name of the network interface.

Check If Wake-on-LAN is Enabled

Before enabling Wake-on-LAN, it’s a good idea to check if it is already active on your interface. Run:

❯ ethtool eno1 | grep Wake-on

The output will look like this:

        Supports Wake-on: pumbg
        Wake-on: d

In this example, Wake-on-LAN is disabled (d stands for “disabled”). We will enable it.

Enable wake-on-lan

To enable the wake on lan we use the ethool and specify the insterface on which we want to enable it

❯ ethtool -s eno1 wol g

Updating the Network Interfaces File

To make sure that Wake-on-LAN stays enabled after a reboot, we need to add this configuration to the network interfaces file. Open the file using:

❯ nano /etc/network/interfaces

Look for your interface (in our case eno1) and add the following line below the iface configuration:

post-up /usr/sbin/ethtool -s enp6s0 wol g

The section for eno1 should now look something like this:

auto eno1
  iface eno1 inet manual
  post-up /usr/sbin/ethtool -s eno1 wol g

This ensures that WoL will remain enabled after reboots.

Reload Proxmox Network Settings

To apply the changes, reload the network configuration from the Proxmox GUI. Go to your Proxmox node, then navigate to System > Network. Find your WoL-enabled interface (eno1), click “Edit,” and add the “Autostart” flag. Save the changes.

Testing Wake-on-LAN

Now that the configuration is set, you can test it. Turn off your Proxmox node and use a WoL tool to send a magic packet to the node’s network interface. I’m using the built-in WoL feature in ipfire to send the magic packet.

If your Proxmox node powers up, the Wake-on-LAN setup is complete and working correctly.