Netgate 7100 1U isn't registering the WAN automatically

T145

Going through the initial setup of a Netgate 7100 1U detailed in its documentation and contrasting those instructions with the ones provided for general pfSense firewall configuration, it's stated that the WAN port (ETH1) should be connected to a modem and all other LAN ports can be connected to other devices. However I'm not getting a WAN IP for some reason.

There are no instructions given to set up firewall rules to allow WAN passthrough, but is this required?

stephenw10

No, you don't need firewall rules on the WAN to get an IP address there.

What sort of connection is it? DHCP? PPPoE?

Do you see the port linked?

Do you see any errors in the logs?

Steve

T145

@stephenw10 The initial setup guide was followed with the only changes made being to the hostname and DNS servers, so it's DHCP.

As for the WAN's assigned port given under the "Interfaces" section, it's listed as being "Port 1."

Regarding error messages, these seem suspicious:

/rc.linkup: The command '/usr/local/sbin/unbound -c /var/unbound/unbound.conf' returned exit code '1', the output was '[1667666676] unbound[72364:0] error: bind: address already in use [1667666676] unbound[72364:0] fatal error: could not open ports'

/rc.reload_all: The command '/sbin/dhclient -c /var/etc/dhclient_wan.conf lagg0.4090 > /tmp/lagg0.4090_output 2> /tmp/lagg0.4090_error_output' returned exit code '15', the output was ''

From other logs it seems like IPv6 might be causing hiccups, but I'm not sure.

stephenw10

The first error is usually Unbound trying to start twice. It's ugly but usually only cosmetic and wouldn't stop WAN pulling an IP anyway.
That second error is more of an issue. dhclient must run on WAN to pull a lease.
Do you see link LEDs lit on the Eth1 port?
What does it show for the port status in Interfaces > Switches > Ports?

If you resave the WAN interface does it generate the same dhclient error?

T145

@stephenw10 Yes the LEDs on the bottom-left of the ports are lit. Strangely enough it said that the port was up.

Since this was a log error I decided to check option 10 in the console settings, and that combined with switching the WAN port connectivity into the second of my two modem ports got an IP up!

However, attempting to update the firewall through the console produces this log:

Enter an option: 13

>>> Creating automatic rollback boot environment... done.
>>> Updating repositories metadata...
Updating pfSense-core repository catalogue...
pkg-static: https://firmware.netgate.com/pkg/pfSense_plus-v22_05_amd64-core/meta.txz: No address record
repository pfSense-core has no meta file, using default settings
pkg-static: https://firmware.netgate.com/pkg/pfSense_plus-v22_05_amd64-core/packagesite.pkg: No address record
pkg-static: https://firmware.netgate.com/pkg/pfSense_plus-v22_05_amd64-core/packagesite.txz: No address record
Unable to update repository pfSense-core
Updating pfSense repository catalogue...
pkg-static: https://firmware.netgate.com/pkg/pfSense_plus-v22_05_amd64-pfSense_plus_v22_05/meta.txz: No address record
repository pfSense has no meta file, using default settings
pkg-static: https://firmware.netgate.com/pkg/pfSense_plus-v22_05_amd64-pfSense_plus_v22_05/packagesite.pkg: No address record
pkg-static: https://firmware.netgate.com/pkg/pfSense_plus-v22_05_amd64-pfSense_plus_v22_05/packagesite.txz: No address record
Unable to update repository pfSense
Error updating repositories!
ERROR: Unable to compare version of pfSense-repo

And just from the main login screen the firewall is listed as unable to connect to the internet. After getting a WAN IP is there something else I need to do in order to have it update properly?

stephenw10

That implies it's unable to resolve any DNS queries.

By default pfSense uses Unbound locally to resolve DNS with DHCP provided servers as a fall back. It could be that Unbound really isn't running. Check Status > Services. Try to start it if it isn't. If it won't start check the system and resolver logs for errors.

Steve

T145

@stephenw10 After slapping Unbound a couple times everything started working! I've upgraded my modem too after having the firewall functional and it's still going strong.

Thanks for the help!