Please Help - Unable to Mount FS or locate config.xml (2.5.2)
-
Error message here: https://imgur.com/JC7XSnF
Link to reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/PFSENSE/comments/q9skdk/please_help_unable_to_mount_fs_or_locate
I have pfsense 2.5.2 running on a Protectli box from a USB stick. I was using the internet normally, and all of a sudden it was gone - unable to reach my default gateway. Unfortunately I'm relatively new to this whole thing, and now I have no idea what to do - I'm trying to locate my config.xml so I can do a fresh install, but there doesn't appear to be a /cf or /conf in /.
Is it possible either the usb drive or the disk failed? I can use the system but with caveats. Fsck reports clean but won't restore on reboot. Is there a way I can check logs to figure out if a disk went bad? I believe it's on zfs.
"find . config.xml" gives me no such file or directory.
Sorry for incoherent messaging - kind of panicking right now.
I want to reinstall fresh if possible, but I don't want to make things worse.
-
@hinterlight
Do you already to a filesystem check in the meantime as suggested on reddit?When you do a fresh install, the pfSense installer should give you an option to restore the config from a connected device. But maybe the data are corrupted.
-
@viragomann I've been running the command "fsck -y /" multiple times, and it comes back clean, but upon rebooting I get the same error.
What is the expected output?
-
@hinterlight
So possibly your USB stick is broken down.
Running pfSense on USB flash sticks isn't recommended anyway. You should better get an SSD. -
@viragomann I posted some updates in the reddit thread. I misspoke - pfsense is installed on a less than a year old mSATA SSD.
Now I'm trying to mount a new usb drive (to copy config.xml) and the filesystem is stuck in read only mode, and when I try "mount -o rw /" to put it in read write, it tells me that the filesystem is not clean, so I need to run fsck... which doesn't fix my problem. I want to cry. I can't remove my config.xml because I can't get the usb stick properly mounted.
-
You are still seeing that same error after running fsck?
But you are now able to see the config file?
Do you have a serial console on that box?
I assume you had not enabled Auto Config Backup?
Steve
-
Hi Steve,
You are still seeing that same error after running fsck?
Yes - fsck reports clean after running "fsck -y /" multiple times.
But you are now able to see the config file?
Yes, but stuck in read only mode so I can't write it to a flash drive. I am probably doing something wrong here though.
"mount -o -rw /" is the command that fails.
Do you have a serial console on that box?
I unfortunately do not know. I am working directly on it via keyboard/monitor.
I assume you had not enabled Auto Config Backup?
How would I check this?
Thank you so much for your help.
-
Quick update: I was able to rescue the config file by forcing read/write operations. I'm going to try RMAing the bad SSD and reinstalling pfsense on a new drive with the old config.
