[SOLVED] Unable to Install or Upgrade Packages

kburk

Last night I just did a full reinstall on my 6100 via console/USB and I'm no longer seeing this issue. While doing the install you can choose an option to Recover config.xml which makes the installation fairly quick. I would have liked to provide more troubleshooting details to figure out what was causing this, but I needed to get this working again so I can install packages again.

tman222

@kburk - thanks for following up and letting us know that a reinstall fixes this issue.

In my case I am running non-Netgate hardware so a direct reinstall of 23.05 is unfortunately not possible. I believe I'd have to start with 2.6 CE again, then go to 23.01 , and finally 23.05. I'd like to avoid that if possible, if there is another way to resolve this issue.

Dobby_

@tman222 said in Unable to Install or Upgrade Packages:

I'd like to avoid that if possible, if there is another way to resolve this issue.

If you have a config backup you may be better
to go with the fresh install, that way isn`t longer!!!

Fresh install 2.6 is may be around 15 minutes
plus two time upgrading then the 23.01 and
23.05 and at this point I would install packages
and the config backup all in all you will perhaps
end up with 30 minutes pending on the internet speed and system power (GHz). But then you may be getting "zfs" on top and will be false free ready
without any kind of errors shown around.

And tomorrow if something occurs is weekend.

tman222

This bring up one other idea - I do have ZFS snapshots including one from 23.01 taken prior to upgrading. Does it make sense to go back to a 23.01 snapshot and attempt the upgrade again to see if that might resolve the issue?

tman222

Ok, I was able to upgrade the package System Patches just fine from the shell using:

pkg-static install -yf pfSense-pkg-System_Patches

So the issue seems to be isolated to performing pfSense package upgrades/installs from the WebGUI.

tman222

Looking at the discussion here:

https://forum.netgate.com/topic/180271/23-01-23-05-upgrade-failed/50

Could one solution be registering / re-registering the machine for pfSense Plus?

dmitri

@tman222 I've tried that (re-registering with my old token) a few times and that didn't solve my problem. Unless we need to get a new token? When I register the system with the old token the system seems to accept it without errors.

I'm on the 23.05 RC version, trying to upgrade to the latest 23.05 RELEASE.

tman222

Thanks @dmitri for the feedback, this is helpful. If you have to chance to try it out, I would get a new token as well, register, and see if the issue still persists. Interestingly, for me the issue didn't appear until after I had upgraded to 23.05 from 23.01.

dmitri

@tman222 YEP! That solved my issue! I got a new key and after registration, I was able to see all the available packages and upgrade to the current 23.05 RELEASE. I've completed the upgrade and everything seems to be running smoothly.

Netgate should mention that somewhere on the upgrade troubleshooting page.

tman222

Thanks @dmitri for following up - this is great to hear! I think we are getting closer to a solution now. Hopefully all it takes to resolve these errors is just a new pfSense Plus activation token vs. having to perform a complete reinstall.

Zetro

@tman222 I am having the identical issue, and a re-activation of my token did not resolve it.

When trying to remove, or reinstall a package (in this case, NUT) I receive the same error that you get:

Another instance of pfSense-upgrade is running. Try again later

and then I also receive the same error in my System Log:

/pkg_mgr_installed.php: The command '/usr/local/sbin/pfSense-repo-setup' returned exit code '1', the output was 'pfSense-repoc-static: invalid signature failed to read the repo data. failed to update the repository settings!!!'

This is a net-new issue that cropped up after upgrading from 23.01 to 23.05 this weekend.

I have yet to find a workaround, I am hoping to avoid a reinstall if possible.

tman222

Hi @Zetro - when you re-activated your token, did you use an existing token or did you get a new token? If existing, do the issues/error still occur if you activate with a new token? Thanks in advance.

dmitri

@Zetro just to confirm: when you go to System > Register the box to enter your key is greyed-out and you cannot enter the new key?

In my case my old key was getting accepted without errors, but wouldn’t solve the problem, and the box remained active. However, when I ordered and got the new key and entered it, the box is no longer active and my issues have been resolved.

delphin_007

My 6100 has an issue looking similar to what tman22 described.
I contacted Netgate service and we had several mail traffic. Now they seem to come close to reason for problem.
They are working at solution.
Update is coming soon.

tman222

@delphin_007 said in Unable to Install or Upgrade Packages:

My 6100 has an issue looking similar to what tman22 described.
I contacted Netgate service and we had several mail traffic. Now they seem to come close to reason for problem.
They are working at solution.
Update is coming soon.

Thanks @delphin_007 for the feedback. Glad to hear that this being looked at internally as well. Looking forward to an update/resolution soon.

packagingrichard

@delphin_007 Thanks for keeping is in the loop, my 6100 on 23.05 also just hit the same issue

/pkg_mgr_installed.php: The command '/usr/local/sbin/pfSense-repo-setup' returned exit code '1', the output was 'pfSense-repoc-static: invalid signature failed to read the repo data. failed to update the repository settings!!!'

Surprisingly it only did this after successfully installing one package, attempting a second threw the error.

delphin_007

My 6100 shows the error since firmware-update + update 23.01 -> 23.05.
I also have access to a 4100 of a girlfriends house. It runs also with 23.05 (but WITHOUT firmware-update which was not shown as available). The problem is NOT present there.
Both configurations are nearly similar.

Zetro

@tman222

Yep - the re-activation with a new key instantly fixed it. Thank you again, I missed that in the steps

delphin_007

I made an interesting check to come closer to the prob.

At first look at the desktop GUI start page and note the Netgate Device ID.
Then go to the CLI via GUI menu and insert the command:
pfSense-repoc -D
In outcoming data you will also find the Netgate Device ID.
Compare these two !
To make it complete: input the same command in a seperate terminal CLI (NOT via GUI !) like Putty. And also compare the output Netgate Device ID.
Are the 3 ID´s identical ? Usually they should...

Seems to be especially interesting for original Netgate 6100 with the latest firmware 03.00.00.03t-uc-18

rsagris

I'm in the same boat, I can't install any packages due to "Another instance of pfSense-upgrade is running. Try again later" locking out updates from the WebGUI.

This has been an ongoing problem going back to at least v2.5, where either checking for system updates would stall the Web interface, or I couldn't install/update/upgrade packages due to persistent "Another instance of pfSense-upgrade is running. Try again later" that not even restart would clear. It happened on v2.6 on a fresh/pristine install. Package installs started off being extremely slow, taking an inordinate amount of time to go through each package dependency (download speeds were fine), then grinding to a halt with the WebGUI eventually stalling the browser window.

I'm running pfsense+ now and I ran into this issue on 23.01, on a fresh install, and now again on an updated 23.05 install (which I had not installed any packages at all on v23.01 before upgrading to 23.05), I was able to install 8 packages before this error cropped up. Now it won't go away after multiple restarts.