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    Need Guidance Regarding Updates

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • S
      SteveITS Galactic Empire @guardian
      last edited by

      @guardian Have to reinstall to downgrade, sorry. Or Plus has boot environments on ZFS.

      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 👍 helpful posts!

      G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • G
        guardian Rebel Alliance @SteveITS
        last edited by

        @steveits said in Need Guidance Regarding Updates:

        @guardian Have to reinstall to downgrade, sorry. Or Plus has boot environments on ZFS.

        I had heard that once 2.7.0 drops, they ditch all the 2.6.0 packages/install media.
        I keep a copy of the install media, and would have made a backup of the config, so reinstall would not be a problem.
        What about the packages? I have no way of keeping a copy of the install files for the plugins.
        Am I missing something, or am I correct that there is no way to go back to the original install if I want my packages back?

        If you find my post useful, please give it a thumbs up!
        pfSense 2.7.2-RELEASE

        S 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • S
          SteveITS Galactic Empire @guardian
          last edited by

          @guardian Install 2.6, change the update branch to Previous (2.6) and you can restore a 2.6 backup, or install packages.

          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 👍 helpful posts!

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

            @guardian BTW, for a couple prior versions go to https://www.pfsense.org/download/, leave Architecture blank, and click Download.

            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 👍 helpful posts!

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

              Yup, that. And the repo branches are still present. You can still reinstall packages etc.

              ZFS BE are available in CE there just isn't a GUI front end on it. You can still use bectl.
              However you cannot roll back to a BE snap of 2.6 or 22.01 because the loader from newer versions will not be compatible. Code was added in 22.05 to allow that so you can roll back from 23.01 to 22.05 but not to earlier versions.

              Steve

              G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • G
                guardian Rebel Alliance @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @steveits said in Need Guidance Regarding Updates:

                @guardian BTW, for a couple prior versions go to https://www.pfsense.org/download/, leave Architecture blank, and click Download.
                Thanks.... I did't know that. I've made a note for future references.

                @stephenw10 said in Need Guidance Regarding Updates:

                Yup, that. And the repo branches are still present. You can still reinstall packages etc.

                So just for clarity -- If I reinstall an old version and the old config, it will still have access to / be able to download/reinstall the packages that were installed when the config file was saved. Is that correct?

                ZFS BE are available in CE there just isn't a GUI front end on it. You can still use bectl.
                However you cannot roll back to a BE snap of 2.6 or 22.01 because the loader from newer versions will not be compatible. Code was added in 22.05 to allow that so you can roll back from 23.01 to 22.05 but not to earlier versions.

                I am not currently using a ZFS boot -- but maybe I should consider a full wipe / reformat with ZFS and use the licensed verion (I'm a home user, so I guess I qualify for a free license). Any feeling for how much CPU load/memory usage the ZFS filesystem adds? I'm currently running a J1900 with 4GB. OpenVPN and pfBlocker are likely the biggest CPU drains other than routing a bunch of VLANS. It's a home network, so there aren't a lot of simultaneous heavy traffic streams.

                Thoughts?

                If you find my post useful, please give it a thumbs up!
                pfSense 2.7.2-RELEASE

                S stephenw10S keyserK 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  SteveITS Galactic Empire @guardian
                  last edited by

                  @guardian said in Need Guidance Regarding Updates:

                  If I reinstall an old version and the old config, it will still have access to / be able to download/reinstall the packages that were installed when the config file was saved. Is that correct?

                  I would set the update branch version before doing the restore, though.

                  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 👍 helpful posts!

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

                    @guardian said in Need Guidance Regarding Updates:

                    So just for clarity -- If I reinstall an old version and the old config, it will still have access to / be able to download/reinstall the packages that were installed when the config file was saved. Is that correct?

                    Yes. Just set the repo branch to match the installed version.

                    I would not expect to see any issues running ZFS on that hardware.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • keyserK
                      keyser Rebel Alliance @guardian
                      last edited by

                      @guardian said in Need Guidance Regarding Updates:

                      I am not currently using a ZFS boot -- but maybe I should consider a full wipe / reformat with ZFS and use the licensed verion (I'm a home user, so I guess I qualify for a free license). Any feeling for how much CPU load/memory usage the ZFS filesystem adds? I'm currently running a J1900 with 4GB. OpenVPN and pfBlocker are likely the biggest CPU drains other than routing a bunch of VLANS. It's a home network, so there aren't a lot of simultaneous heavy traffic streams.

                      Thoughts?

                      Nothing measurable. It will use slightly more memory but nothing to worry about if you have 4Gigs available. However: 'm not sure how ZFS is brought to use when licensing + from CE.
                      ZFS is an option at install time, and you start out on CE.

                      Love the no fuss of using the official appliances :-)

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

                        @keyser New installs of CE use ZFS. The boot environment GUI is in Plus.

                        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 👍 helpful posts!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
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