diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 473948f2..96806758 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 - port-mapping now go via the loadbalancer (serverlb) by default
   - the `--port` flag has the `proxy` opt (see new nodefilter syntax above) set by default
   - to leverage the old behavior of direct port-mappings, use the `direct` opt on the port flag
+  - the nodefilter `loadbalancer` will now do the same as `servers:*;agents:*` (proxied via the loadbalancer)
 
 ### Fixes
 
diff --git a/pkg/client/loadbalancer.go b/pkg/client/loadbalancer.go
index fe1989b4..c6bec707 100644
--- a/pkg/client/loadbalancer.go
+++ b/pkg/client/loadbalancer.go
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ func GetLoadbalancerConfig(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtime, cluste
 	file = bytes.Trim(file[512:], "\x00") // trim control characters, etc.
 
 	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(file, &cfg); err != nil {
-		return cfg, err
+		return cfg, fmt.Errorf("error unmarshalling loadbalancer config: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	return cfg, nil
diff --git a/pkg/config/transform.go b/pkg/config/transform.go
index cc812374..b1850d14 100644
--- a/pkg/config/transform.go
+++ b/pkg/config/transform.go
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ import (
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
+var (
+	DefaultTargetsNodefiltersPortMappings = []string{"servers:*:proxy", "agents:*:proxy"}
+)
+
 // TransformSimpleToClusterConfig transforms a simple configuration to a full-fledged cluster configuration
 func TransformSimpleToClusterConfig(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtime, simpleConfig conf.SimpleConfig) (*conf.ClusterConfig, error) {
 
@@ -171,8 +175,18 @@ func TransformSimpleToClusterConfig(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtim
 
 	// -> PORTS
 	for _, portWithNodeFilters := range simpleConfig.Ports {
+		log.Tracef("inspecting port mapping for %s with nodefilters %s", portWithNodeFilters.Port, portWithNodeFilters.NodeFilters)
 		if len(portWithNodeFilters.NodeFilters) == 0 && nodeCount > 1 {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Portmapping '%s' lacks a node filter, but there's more than one node", portWithNodeFilters.Port)
+			log.Infof("portmapping '%s' lacks a nodefilter, but there's more than one node: defaulting to %s", portWithNodeFilters.Port, DefaultTargetsNodefiltersPortMappings)
+			portWithNodeFilters.NodeFilters = DefaultTargetsNodefiltersPortMappings
+		}
+
+		for _, f := range portWithNodeFilters.NodeFilters {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(f, "loadbalancer") {
+				log.Infof("portmapping '%s' targets the loadbalancer: defaulting to %s", portWithNodeFilters.Port, DefaultTargetsNodefiltersPortMappings)
+				portWithNodeFilters.NodeFilters = DefaultTargetsNodefiltersPortMappings
+				break
+			}
 		}
 
 		filteredNodes, err := util.FilterNodesWithSuffix(nodeList, portWithNodeFilters.NodeFilters)
@@ -180,23 +194,18 @@ func TransformSimpleToClusterConfig(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtim
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
+		nn := ""
+		for _, n := range filteredNodes["proxy"] {
+			nn = strings.Join([]string{nn, n.Name}, ",")
+		}
+		log.Debugf("Filtered nodes: %#v", nn)
+
 		for suffix, nodes := range filteredNodes {
 			portmappings, err := nat.ParsePortSpec(portWithNodeFilters.Port)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing port spec '%s': %+v", portWithNodeFilters.Port, err)
 			}
 
-			for _, n := range nodes {
-				if n.Role == k3d.LoadBalancerRole && n.Name == newCluster.ServerLoadBalancer.Node.Name {
-					log.Infoln("loadbalancer in filtered list for port mappings: defaulting to all servers and agents as upstream targets")
-					var err error
-					nodes, err = util.FilterNodes(newCluster.Nodes, []string{"agents:*", "servers:*"})
-					if err != nil {
-						return nil, err
-					}
-				}
-			}
-
 			if suffix == "proxy" || suffix == util.NodeFilterSuffixNone { // proxy is the default suffix for port mappings
 				if newCluster.ServerLoadBalancer == nil {
 					return nil, fmt.Errorf("port-mapping of type 'proxy' specified, but loadbalancer is disabled")
@@ -222,6 +231,16 @@ func TransformSimpleToClusterConfig(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtim
 
 	}
 
+	// print generated loadbalancer config
+	if log.GetLevel() >= log.DebugLevel {
+		yamlized, err := yaml.Marshal(newCluster.ServerLoadBalancer.Config)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Errorf("error printing loadbalancer config: %v", err)
+		} else {
+			log.Debugf("generated loadbalancer config:\n%s", string(yamlized))
+		}
+	}
+
 	// -> K3S NODE LABELS
 	for _, k3sNodeLabelWithNodeFilters := range simpleConfig.Options.K3sOptions.NodeLabels {
 		if len(k3sNodeLabelWithNodeFilters.NodeFilters) == 0 && nodeCount > 1 {
diff --git a/pkg/util/filter.go b/pkg/util/filter.go
index 7ddb04ba..1f9e5d70 100644
--- a/pkg/util/filter.go
+++ b/pkg/util/filter.go
@@ -77,7 +77,9 @@ func FilterNodesWithSuffix(nodes []*k3d.Node, nodefilters []string) (map[string]
 			suffix = sf
 		}
 
-		result[suffix] = make([]*k3d.Node, 0) // init map for this suffix
+		if _, ok := result[suffix]; !ok {
+			result[suffix] = make([]*k3d.Node, 0) // init map for this suffix, if not exists
+		}
 
 		filteredNodes, err := FilterNodes(nodes, []string{nf})
 		if err != nil {
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ func FilterNodesWithSuffix(nodes []*k3d.Node, nodefilters []string) (map[string]
 
 		log.Tracef("Filtered %d nodes for suffix '%s' (filter: %s)", len(filteredNodes), suffix, nf)
 
-		result[suffix] = filteredNodes
+		result[suffix] = append(result[suffix], filteredNodes...)
 	}
 
 	return result, nil