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    Checking for updates slow with IPv6 enabled if 'Prefer IPv4 over IPv6' is not checked

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • 4
      4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
      last edited by

      I noticed last night that checking for updates is running extremely slow on my pfSense system.

      The Web UI is timing out after a few minutes when checking for updates or listing installed packages. Using option 13 on the console works but takes several minutes to complete.

      I just checked 'Prefer IPv4 over IPv6' and now option 13 completes in just a few seconds and I can readily recreate the problem by unchecking the option again.

      Has anyone seen this before? As far as I known it hasn't been going on long. I am pretty diligent about checking for package updates at least once a week. And I can't think of any recent changes to the system that I might have made to cause this. I'm curious what might be causing this and how to fix it.

      FWIW, I've confirmed that I can (still) reach IPv6 sites with my laptop, I can ping IPv6 addresses from the pfSense console and my ISP is Spectrum.

      S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • 4
        4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
        last edited by

        Despite being able to reach and browse other sites via IPv6 I seem to be unable to reach the pfsense pkg server over ipv6. I found a few online sites that let you perform a ping6 from a remote system and contrary to my result they seem to have no problem. Not really sure what to make of it.

        $ ping -c 3 -6 www.redhat.com
        PING www.redhat.com(g2600-1408-c400-188d-0000-0000-0000-0d44.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:188d::d44)) 56 data bytes
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-188d-0000-0000-0000-0d44.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:188d::d44): icmp_seq=1 ttl=53 time=23.5 ms
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-188d-0000-0000-0000-0d44.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:188d::d44): icmp_seq=2 ttl=53 time=25.5 ms
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-188d-0000-0000-0000-0d44.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:188d::d44): icmp_seq=3 ttl=53 time=23.2 ms
        
        --- www.redhat.com ping statistics ---
        3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2003ms
        rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 23.191/24.060/25.533/1.046 ms
        
        $ ping -c 3 -6 www.apple.com
        PING www.apple.com(g2600-1408-c400-1882-0000-0000-0000-1aca.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:1882::1aca)) 56 data bytes
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-1882-0000-0000-0000-1aca.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:1882::1aca): icmp_seq=1 ttl=53 time=30.8 ms
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-1882-0000-0000-0000-1aca.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:1882::1aca): icmp_seq=2 ttl=53 time=33.3 ms
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-1882-0000-0000-0000-1aca.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:1882::1aca): icmp_seq=3 ttl=53 time=33.8 ms
        
        --- www.apple.com ping statistics ---
        3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2002ms
        rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 30.766/32.631/33.843/1.338 ms
        
        $ ping -c 3 -6 www.microsoft.com
        PING www.microsoft.com(g2600-1408-c400-078c-0000-0000-0000-356e.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:78c::356e)) 56 data bytes
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-078c-0000-0000-0000-356e.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:78c::356e): icmp_seq=1 ttl=53 time=27.0 ms
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-078c-0000-0000-0000-356e.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:78c::356e): icmp_seq=2 ttl=53 time=32.6 ms
        64 bytes from g2600-1408-c400-078c-0000-0000-0000-356e.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com (2600:1408:c400:78c::356e): icmp_seq=3 ttl=53 time=30.0 ms
         
        --- www.microsoft.com ping statistics ---
        3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2003ms
        rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 26.951/29.866/32.601/2.310 ms
        
        $ ping -c 3 -6 www.google.com
        PING www.google.com(bi-in-f147.1e100.net (2607:f8b0:4004:c08::93)) 56 data bytes
        64 bytes from bi-in-f147.1e100.net (2607:f8b0:4004:c08::93): icmp_seq=1 ttl=104 time=22.0 ms
        64 bytes from bi-in-f147.1e100.net (2607:f8b0:4004:c08::93): icmp_seq=2 ttl=104 time=25.7 ms
        64 bytes from bi-in-f147.1e100.net (2607:f8b0:4004:c08::93): icmp_seq=3 ttl=104 time=21.2 ms
        
        --- www.google.com ping statistics ---
        3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2004ms
        rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 21.182/22.955/25.675/1.952 ms
        
        $ ping -c 3 -6 pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com
        PING pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com(2610:160:11:18::207) 56 data bytes
        
        --- pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com ping statistics ---
        3 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 2053ms
        
        $ ping -c 3 -4 pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com
        PING  (208.123.73.207) 56(84) bytes of data.
        64 bytes from 208.123.73.207 (208.123.73.207): icmp_seq=1 ttl=49 time=61.2 ms
        64 bytes from 208.123.73.207 (208.123.73.207): icmp_seq=2 ttl=49 time=61.8 ms
        64 bytes from 208.123.73.207 (208.123.73.207): icmp_seq=3 ttl=49 time=70.5 ms
        
        ---  ping statistics ---
        3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2003ms
        rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 61.177/64.468/70.475/4.254 ms
        
        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • S
          SteveITS Galactic Empire @4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
          last edited by

          @4nvxr3whbnqyshwe Ive seen this sort of thing posted before. IIRC it’s usually when a name resolves to IPv6 but IPv6 is broken. I wasn’t clear ,are you pinging from pfSense? There is a ping test on the Diagnostics menu.

          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!

          4 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • 4
            4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE @SteveITS
            last edited by

            @steveits The above examples are from a laptop behind the netgate.

            But I'm seeing similar from the netgates CLI, with a few examples below. I haven't managed to find another site that doesn't work other than pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com and I'm trying to understand why this one server isn't working for, so far as I can tell so far, just me.

            root: ping -c 3 -6 pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com
            PING6(56=40+8+8 bytes) 2606:a000:bfc0:2:b84c:7143:2f47:9c89 --> 2610:160:11:18::207
            
            --- pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com ping6 statistics ---
            3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss
            
            root: ping -c 3 -6 www.google.com
            PING6(56=40+8+8 bytes) 2606:a000:bfc0:2:b84c:7143:2f47:9c89 --> 2607:f8b0:4002:802::2004
            16 bytes from 2607:f8b0:4002:802::2004, icmp_seq=0 hlim=117 time=29.802 ms
            16 bytes from 2607:f8b0:4002:802::2004, icmp_seq=1 hlim=117 time=24.452 ms
            16 bytes from 2607:f8b0:4002:802::2004, icmp_seq=2 hlim=117 time=21.150 ms
            
            --- www.google.com ping6 statistics ---
            3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
            round-trip min/avg/max/std-dev = 21.150/25.135/29.802/3.565 ms
            
            root: ping -c 3 -4 pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com
            PING pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com (208.123.73.207): 56 data bytes
            64 bytes from 208.123.73.207: icmp_seq=0 ttl=50 time=58.520 ms
            64 bytes from 208.123.73.207: icmp_seq=1 ttl=50 time=58.165 ms
            64 bytes from 208.123.73.207: icmp_seq=2 ttl=50 time=65.285 ms
            
            --- pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com ping statistics ---
            3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
            round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 58.165/60.657/65.285/3.276 ms
            
            4 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • 4
              4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE @4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
              last edited by

              traceroute6 goes out to lunch at ae-11.edge5.WashintonDC12.Level3.net whereas v4 proceeds and reaches fw1-zcolo.netgate.com

              root: traceroute6 pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com
              traceroute6 to pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com (2610:160:11:18::207) from 2606:a000:bfc0:2:b84c:7143:2f47:9c89, 64 hops max, 28 byte packets
               1  * * *
               2  lag-54.grnrnc0711h.netops.charter.com  14.688 ms  28.137 ms  18.051 ms
               3  lag-24.drhmncev02r.netops.charter.com  12.267 ms  13.733 ms *
               4  * * *
               5  lag-12.asbnva1611w-bcr00.netops.charter.com  29.523 ms * *
               6  lag-12.vinnva0510w-bcr00.netops.charter.com  19.093 ms
                  lag-22.vinnva0510w-bcr00.netops.charter.com  17.595 ms
                  lag-32.vinnva0510w-bcr00.netops.charter.com  17.857 ms
               7  ae-11.edge5.WashintonDC12.Level3.net  29.987 ms  43.889 ms *
               8  * * *
               9  * * *
              ...
              
              root: traceroute pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com
              traceroute to pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com (208.123.73.207), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
               1  066-026-064-001.inf.spectrum.com (66.26.64.1)  9.989 ms  10.604 ms  26.831 ms
               2  lag-54.grnrnc0711h.netops.charter.com (174.111.103.36)  36.974 ms  35.569 ms  26.734 ms
               3  lag-24.drhmncev02r.netops.charter.com (24.25.62.132)  18.485 ms  11.796 ms  16.078 ms
               4  lag-31.rcr01drhmncev.netops.charter.com (24.93.64.184)  18.166 ms  14.496 ms  13.844 ms
               5  lag-415.asbnva1611w-bcr00.netops.charter.com (107.14.18.106)  16.994 ms
                  lag-15.asbnva1611w-bcr00.netops.charter.com (66.109.6.80)  31.212 ms
                  lag-12.asbnva1611w-bcr00.netops.charter.com (66.109.10.176)  16.868 ms
               6  lag-22.vinnva0510w-bcr00.netops.charter.com (66.109.3.25)  28.980 ms
                  lag-12.vinnva0510w-bcr00.netops.charter.com (66.109.6.31)  19.052 ms  12.205 ms
               7  ae-11.edge5.WashintonDC12.Level3.net (4.68.37.213)  49.540 ms *  21.420 ms
               8  * * *
               9  ZAYO-BANDWI.ear5.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.14.49.2)  68.016 ms  55.914 ms  50.155 ms
              10  ae0.aus01-mls-dc-core-a.infr.zcolo.com (64.20.229.158)  66.949 ms  52.707 ms
                  ae0.aus01-mls-dc-core-b.infr.zcolo.com (64.20.229.166)  65.401 ms
              11  net66-219-34-194.static-customer.corenap.com (66.219.34.194)  62.245 ms  61.453 ms
                  net66-219-34-198.static-customer.corenap.com (66.219.34.198)  56.060 ms
              12  fw1-zcolo.netgate.com (208.123.73.4)  55.074 ms  49.428 ms  52.096 ms
              
              GertjanG S 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • GertjanG
                Gertjan @4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
                last edited by

                @4nvxr3whbnqyshwe

                [23.01-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.next-to.me]/root: ping -c 3 -6 pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com
                PING6(56=40+8+8 bytes) 2a01:cb19:907:a600:92ec:77ff:fe29:392a --> 2610:160:11:18::207
                16 bytes from 2610:160:11:18::207, icmp_seq=0 hlim=53 time=133.871 ms
                16 bytes from 2610:160:11:18::207, icmp_seq=1 hlim=53 time=136.850 ms
                16 bytes from 2610:160:11:18::207, icmp_seq=2 hlim=53 time=132.996 ms
                
                --- pfsense-plus-pkg00.atx.netgate.com ping6 statistics ---
                3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
                round-trip min/avg/max/std-dev = 132.996/134.572/136.850/1.649 ms
                

                It tend to say : works for me.

                'me' is my pfSense 23.01 and everything else needed to have a transparent IPv6 connection to the Internet.
                Most ISP's have done a great job for IPv4 : it mostly works.
                IPv6 : it's a mess. One ISP implemented it the needed RFC's in mind.
                Other didn't do that, or "forgot" to activate their peering - because of $$$$ ? so some destinations work, others ... well ... as said, a mess.

                And then there is this new situation : as there is no IPv6 notion of what RFC1918 is, your ISP router could hand over real IPv6 addresses (starting with a '2') to every device that is connected to it.
                One of these devices is pfSense, so, fine, it gets an IPv6 assigned.
                Your WAN is happy : it now looks like :

                WAN (wan)       -> ix3        -> v4/DHCP4: 192.168.10.4/24
                                                 v6/DHCP6: 2a01:cb19:907:a600:dead:beef:fe29:39
                

                But pfSense wants more, it also needs a so called /64 for each LAN.
                For example :
                I've a
                2a01:cb19:907:a601:0:0:0:1 ->2a01:cb19:907:a601:0:0:0:ffff (an entire /64 as 0:0:0:1 to 0:0:0:ffff is a /64) for my first LAN.
                2a01:cb19:907:a602:0:0:0:1 ->2a01:cb19:907:a602:0:0:0:ffff (an entire /64 as 0:0:0:1 to 0:0:0:ffff is a /64) for my second LAN.

                My ISP gives 'me' a /56 , so I can have 256 (one or two less, though) /64 blocks (prefixes) numbered 01 to 255 ($ff).
                These prefixes, like 2a01:cb19:907:a601::/64 on my LAN, can be sued by the dhcp6d server so it can hand out IPv6 (the ones started with '2', as these are routable).

                IPv6 is not plug and play when you chain routers up one after another.

                No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                Edit : and where are the logs ??

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  SteveITS Galactic Empire @4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
                  last edited by

                  @4nvxr3whbnqyshwe said in Checking for updates slow with IPv6 enabled if 'Prefer IPv4 over IPv6' is not checked:

                  traceroute6 goes out to lunch at ae-11.edge5.WashintonDC12.Level3.net

                  Though it may seem unlikely, it's possible there's a routing/peering issue at level3.net. I've seen cases where IPv6 had packet loss and IPv4 did not.

                  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!

                  4 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • 4
                    4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE @SteveITS
                    last edited by

                    I had the same thought. I tried using Centurylinks (I guess L3,Lumen,Centuylink are all the same now) looking glass site to try making sense of it, but frustratingly it doesn't seem to provide a response for any ipv6 address, even though it appears it should accept one: https://lookingglass.centurylink.com/

                    I've tried from HE and some other looking glass servers and haven't spotted anywhere the pkg server doesn't respond from. It's frustrating that I can't seem to find anything else that doesn't work for me to indicate a problem here, or anywhere else that the pkg server isn't reachable to indicate a problem elsewhere.

                    I'm a very light user of IPv6, having mostly turned it on to educate myself. I haven't paid IPv6 much mind in quite awhile, and have had no problem until the last few days. In the end I can prefer IPv4 and work around the problem and not be missing much.

                    GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • GertjanG
                      Gertjan @4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
                      last edited by

                      @4nvxr3whbnqyshwe said in Checking for updates slow with IPv6 enabled if 'Prefer IPv4 over IPv6' is not checked:

                      I've tried from HE ...

                      I've been using their IPv6 for a long time.
                      'Speed' wasn't an issue for me, just the IPv6 connectivity. They are ... well ... I guess they invented IPv6. They really 'own' all the cables all over the globe.

                      With this setup : Configuring IPv6 Through A Tunnel Broker Service your IPv6 is 100 % on your side. Because you use a IPv6 tunnel over IPv4, your IPv6 connection will be 100 % - I never, the last 10 years or so (?), had issues with my 'pkg' (pfSense) or any other LAN IPv6 device.
                      More then half of all my traffic (company) is IPv6 these days - as my ISP finally 'supports' IPv6.
                      If the he.net connection works, but not your ISP, then probably your ISP -or whatever lies behind them, is to blame.

                      But again, as I've shown in my previous post, IPv6 is more as 'select IPv6' on WAN and your done.
                      the thing is : if pfSEnse 'thinks' is has an IPv6 connection on it's WAN, and because all OSs prefer be far IPv6 over IPv4, it will use IPv6.
                      The "will fall back to IPv4 if IPv6 doesn't work out / time outs" isn't always the case.
                      'pkg' (pfSense) is probably a good example here.

                      No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                      Edit : and where are the logs ??

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

                        Yes, this should work fine over IPv6:

                        [23.05-DEVELOPMENT][admin@fw1.stevew.lan]/root: pkg -6 update
                        Updating pfSense-core repository catalogue...
                        pfSense-core repository is up to date.
                        Updating pfSense repository catalogue...
                        pfSense repository is up to date.
                        All repositories are up to date.
                        

                        But, yes, it will try to use IPv6 if it thinks it has a route but something is broken. And that can be a problem.

                        Steve

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • O
                          orien
                          last edited by

                          I'm so glad you posted this! I just noticed this exact issue pop up in the last week or so. I'm also on Spectrum and preferring ipv4 does indeed resolve it for me as well.

                          4 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • 4
                            4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE @orien
                            last edited by

                            @orien Thanks for confirming I'm not completely crazy. I tried contacting Spectrum support once and it yielded less positive results than chewing on broken glass.

                            I found a Lumen/L3 email address via whois yesterday and fired off a quick message. I am not expecting much, but maybe they can diagnose and correct it.

                            It was also suggested elsewhere to maybe contact Netgate support since they operate their own ASN and it could be an issue between them/zcolo and L3/Lumen. I have not made this effort yet and I do not know how receptive they would be to investigating it.

                            Someone on the Reddit thread I created said they had a similar problem with AT&T Fiber, so while anecdotal evidence suggests few folks are affected, it does not seem restricted to Spectrum.

                            https://www.reddit.com/r/ipv6/comments/1308p7n/cant_access_ipv6_address_for_pfsense_package/

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • 4
                              4NVXr3wHBnQYsHwE
                              last edited by

                              Someone on Reddit was able to get in touch with Spectrum Enterprise Tech Support and get this fixed for them. It is fixed for me now as well.

                              https://www.reddit.com/r/ipv6/comments/1308p7n/comment/jillrhc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

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

                                It's a miracle! 😁

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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