Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Interface Timer Suggestion?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    12 Posts 3 Posters 1.2k Views 3 Watching
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • stephenw10S Offline
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      You could probably achieve that by setting ppp to9 dial-on-demand and using a scheduled firewall rule to prevent demand whenever you don't want/need it.

      Steve

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • D Offline
        deanfourie
        last edited by

        Thanks guys, I should point out that im using a ethernet upstream gateway which is my internet gateway, which is the 4G router and does not support bridge mode.

        Not sure if this makes a difference.

        JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • JKnottJ Offline
          JKnott @deanfourie
          last edited by

          @deanfourie

          One other possibility is to get an ordinary timer and a 5 port switch. Place the switch between pfsense and your connection and have the timer turn it on & off as needed.

          PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
          i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
          UniFi AC-Lite access point

          I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

          D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D Offline
            deanfourie @JKnott
            last edited by

            @jknott yea I did think of this, more of a AC power timer plug or something, would be much easier and cleaner if I could control the actual interface itself.

            JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • JKnottJ Offline
              JKnott @deanfourie
              last edited by

              @deanfourie

              As I mentioned, shell scripts will do it. I haven't done much with scripts on BSD, but I have on Linux. You can have a script run at the appropriate time and use the ifconfig command to enable or disable the interface.

              PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
              i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
              UniFi AC-Lite access point

              I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

              D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • D Offline
                deanfourie @JKnott
                last edited by

                @jknott great thanks for the reply.

                So using the Cron plugin, I would just issue commands as I would in Linux? Do they need to be run as root?

                So a Cron job to run at desired time/interval

                ifconfig ue0 down

                Can I also issue other commands like this such as reboot and shutdown 0 etc?

                Thanks

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • stephenw10S Offline
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Yes, no and yes!

                  Just make sure to use the full path to the command. The user Cron runs as does not have the same paths as admin/root.

                  Personally I would look at using scheduled firewall rules and dial on demand though. It's a 'cleaner' solution if it works for you. All contained in the main config.

                  Steve

                  D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • D Offline
                    deanfourie @stephenw10
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10 Ok I have tested the commands in the command prompt, entered the commands and executed them and they worked fine. Tested

                    ifconfig ue0 down
                    ifconfig ue0 up
                    reboot

                    all commands worked fine in command prompt, should I still use relative paths in cron?

                    Ideally, would like to figure out why pfSense keeps crashing.

                    Thanks

                    JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • JKnottJ Offline
                      JKnott @deanfourie
                      last edited by

                      @deanfourie

                      Cron is the usual method for time related activities. It runs as root and use the full path from /.

                      PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                      i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                      UniFi AC-Lite access point

                      I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • stephenw10S Offline
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        @deanfourie said in Interface Timer Suggestion?:

                        should I still use relative paths in cron?

                        Yes, use the full path. That's the most common reason custom cron jobs fail. The cron user does not have the same paths as root which is what the command prompt runs as.

                        Steve

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • First post
                          Last post
                        Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.