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    pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot

    General pfSense Questions
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    • S
      SteveITS Galactic Empire @MakOwner
      last edited by

      @makowner said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

      services starting unprompted/unconfigured

      Check to see if the router booted. The service was enabled by default but if stopped, no it shouldn't even be able to start on its own. We have a dozen or two routers with it stopped that haven't started up again...I had updated them to 21.05.x in late summer and "knowing" 21.09 was coming soon I lazily just stopped the service instead of installing the patch for pcscd.

      Another option would be the service watchdog package but that would have to have been installed.

      Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
      When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
      Upvote šŸ‘ helpful posts!

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      • N
        nattygreg
        last edited by

        Hi guys, I know some of us are battling a fanthom. But here is a solution that I think will work for most of us, STOP PCSCD from the shell command, then apply the patch by Jimp through system patches or through the shell command, either will work, I have tried both.
        Restart the pfsense box, your memory while it will not max out might be still high as in my case. What you want to do next is go to system logs and change compression from bzip to none, if you are running pfsense on ZFS since you are using and encrypted file system it is not necessary to encrypt an already encrypted file. Now I'm at 17% of my 8gig memory and not spiking. I am running pfblocker and atleast 15-20 blocklist, in python mode.

        The only thing I have left to figure out which you guys may help me to figure out is the high temperature been running at 70 degree celsius for a while, running intel chip.

        bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • bingo600B
          bingo600 @nattygreg
          last edited by bingo600

          @nattygreg said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

          if you are running pfsense on ZFS since you are using and encrypted file system it is not necessary to encrypt an already encrypted file.

          Are you sure that ZFS is setup to do encryption ?
          I don't think mine is (default ZFS install).

          That said , if your physical access to the box is reasonable , i don't see a need for encrypting the pfSense disk(s).

          The only thing I have left to figure out which you guys may help me to figure out is the high temperature been running at 70 degree celsius for a while, running intel chip.

          High temp is usually a result of high cpu usage/load.

          /Bingo

          If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

          pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

          QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
          CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
          LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

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          • S
            SteveITS Galactic Empire @bingo600
            last edited by

            @bingo600 I think nattygreg meant compression. See note:

            https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/releases/22-01_2-6-0.html#general

            Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
            When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
            Upvote šŸ‘ helpful posts!

            bingo600B N 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • bingo600B
              bingo600 @SteveITS
              last edited by bingo600

              @steveits said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

              @bingo600 I think nattygreg meant compression. See note:

              https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/releases/22-01_2-6-0.html#general

              I had a suspicion that he meant compression, since he mentioned bzip.
              But he wrote encryption.

              But according to this:
              7c1d1961-fe4b-4705-af80-17a1ff717bb9-image.png

              It is only during log rotating that the log is compressed.
              And IMHO that would only mean extra memory usage during rotating.

              If you are really tight on memory, it might save you some memory during the compress, but as mentioned :

              29c86f84-d9d2-4709-aae1-90ff23d8bceb-image.png

              It will be CPU Cycles during the log compression , that is the "Big winner" here.

              I can't see the real relation to "saving/freeing memory" , in disabling log compression

              /Bingo

              If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

              pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

              QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
              CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
              LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

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              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                It's possible to run an encrypted filesystem but the biggest problem with doing so is you nede to enter the decryption key at every boot. Obviously that's a significant issue on a firewall, especially if it's remote!

                Steve

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                • N
                  nattygreg @bingo600
                  last edited by

                  @bingo600 yes it says so in the pfsense documentation

                  bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • N
                    nattygreg @SteveITS
                    last edited by

                    @steveits yes Steve compression of log files

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • bingo600B
                      bingo600 @nattygreg
                      last edited by

                      @nattygreg said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

                      @bingo600 yes it says so in the pfsense documentation

                      What does it say in the documentation ??

                      What are we talking about here ?

                      If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                      pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                      QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                      CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                      LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                      N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • N
                        nattygreg @bingo600
                        last edited by

                        @bingo600 that ZFS install of pfsense is already compress so there is no need to compress the logs again, unbound for me was using 7775M until I turn off bzip, now unbound uses 703M. And my memory usage is hovering at 15-17% and this is with pfblocker running around 20. Blocklist in python mode.

                        With the installed patch for pcscd, it prevents it from starting up after a reboot.

                        Still have one issue- maybe u can help with my i5-240M embedded cpu in my 1u still Carrie’s a temperature of 68-70 degrees Celsius.

                        I have two exhaust fans from notua running in it and the regular fan on the cpu

                        bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • bingo600B
                          bingo600 @nattygreg
                          last edited by

                          @nattygreg said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

                          @bingo600 that ZFS install of pfsense is already compress so there is no need to compress the logs again, unbound for me was using 7775M until I turn off bzip, now unbound uses 703M.

                          So you are telling me that log rotating with bzip2 consumes 7GB of Ram ?

                          That would clearly be an issue i would report to Netgate.

                          If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                          pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                          QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                          CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                          LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

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                          • N
                            nattygreg @bingo600
                            last edited by

                            @bingo600 when I check they are aware, these are the work around until it’s fix in 2.6 CE, when I was in 2.4.5 I never had these issue, but because I’m a phenatic for making sure my home is secured I upgraded and wish I hadn’t but I can not see my self going backward so we search and find solution until the release of 2.6. Those fixes that I suggest has brought my memory usage down.

                            I’m running 2.5.2 CE

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                            • S
                              SteveITS Galactic Empire @bingo600
                              last edited by

                              @bingo600 said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

                              you are telling me that log rotating with bzip2 consumes 7GB of Ram

                              I don't know about 7 GB RAM usage but I've run into slower-CPU routers with half a dozen bzip processes running, using CPU, I/O, and RAM. It's noticeable when the CPU gets maxed out.

                              @nattygreg said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

                              these are the work around until it’s fix in 2.6 CE

                              Technically the release notes I linked say they will disable log compression on new installations with ZFS, not that they will change the setting on existing routers.

                              pcscd will however be optional by default.

                              Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                              When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                              Upvote šŸ‘ helpful posts!

                              bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • bingo600B
                                bingo600 @SteveITS
                                last edited by

                                @steveits said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

                                I don't know about 7 GB RAM usage but I've run into slower-CPU routers with half a dozen bzip processes running, using CPU, I/O, and RAM. It's noticeable when the CPU gets maxed out.

                                Hmmm ...

                                Since they mention bzip2 log rotate in the docs , i would have expected it to be a rare occurrence. But if the CPU (or disk) is constrained, i can see the compression taking some time. I think my logs on my linux server are rotated every 24 hr's.

                                /Bingo

                                If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                                pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                                QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                                CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                                LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

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                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Generally if you see that it's because something is massively spamming the log file in question. That's what happens if you kill pcscd while ipsec is running. The log file reaches it's maximum size and is compressed/rotated faster than the system can do it.

                                  Steve

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                                  • bingo600B
                                    bingo600 @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10
                                    Will IPSEC still be available (aka. can i still make an ipsec VPN tunnel) if I have "patched" the pcscd "out".

                                    /Bingo

                                    If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                                    pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                                    QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                                    CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                                    LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                                    S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      SteveITS Galactic Empire @bingo600
                                      last edited by

                                      @bingo600 said in pcscd daemon is enabled after reboot:

                                      Will IPSEC still be available (aka. can i still make an ipsec VPN tunnel) if I have "patched" the pcscd "out".

                                      yes

                                      Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                                      When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                                      Upvote šŸ‘ helpful posts!

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

                                        It's disabled by default in 2.6 (using this same method) and that is now the current release!

                                        N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                        • N
                                          nattygreg @stephenw10
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10 are you running 2.6 if so is there any caveats

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                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            I've been running 2.6 for months, on numerous boxes, no significant issues.

                                            There seems to be some potential problems if you're running in Hyper-V. Some users are seeing throughput reduced (significantly) in VMs there.

                                            Steve

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