SG2100 stuck on update or package install

SteveITS

@michael_samer AFAIK there's no way to lock in a version. "Previous" is "current - 1" so will roll forwards when a new version is released...because I've upgraded an old version to Previous before (then moved on to Current). One of the Netgate team can correct me if I'm wrong.

I imagine if you could figure out what files are updated when changing branches you could update them on another router. But it is also saved in the config file IIRC, so not sure what would happen at, say, a restart.

stephenw10

Yes there are backend issues as I suspected. Should be resolved imminently....

stephenw10

If you select the 'previous' branch the install should remain on that. We only ever update the stable branch in the repo package.

However 22.05.1 is a special case, it was the very first version to use dynamic repos so we can set exactly hat branches are offered to devices running specifically that version.

michael_samer

@stephenw10 I'd be glad to be able to select any version (without Inet, see last picture) or another one than latest stable:
as soon as I connected the box to the Inet it got stuck to 23.05 as only version as you can see in the attached pic.

Looks like the newer SG2100 are nothing I'd (and me as representativ: my company) support any longer.

When do you think the backend problem will be solved? You expect than, that the repo list is more filled than?

SteveITS

@stephenw10 said in SG2100 stuck on update or package install:

If you select the 'previous' branch the install should remain on that. We only ever update the stable branch in the repo package.

Oh, if one is on, say, 22.05, and the branch is set to Current, then the repos will pull down and offer 23.05 and 23.01? (and later, 23.09 and 23.05, etc.) But if one selects Previous while 23.05 is Current, then that router says on 23.01 forever? Did not know that. https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/upgrade-guide.html#branch-tracking-snapshots does not mention that. :) "Always learning" as they say.

stephenw10

Ok that should be fixed now. You should see Previous (22.05.1) or Current (23.05.1)

Let us know if you do not.

Steve

stephenw10

@SteveITS said in SG2100 stuck on update or package install:

Oh, if one is on, say, 22.05, and the branch is set to Current, then the repos will pull down and offer 23.05 and 23.01? (and later, 23.09 and 23.05, etc.) But if one selects Previous while 23.05 is Current, then that router says on 23.01 forever

Exactly that. On versions without dynamic repos (before 22.05.1) we would update the repo pkg to point stable at the new version when it's released. It will see that and pull in the new repo pkg from the new version. In that you can update from a much older version by refreshing the upgrade page until it reaches the current stable repo.

With dynamic repos we can set each version specifically so everything can be updated immediately. But in both cases if you set Previous it will stay there until you choose to upgrade.

Steve

michael_samer

@SteveITS Hi Steve
that's exactly my point: I never chosen any version, as:
a) without Internet connection there is no menue
b) as soon as I stuck on Internet (or allowed it) it got stuck on 23.05=latest stable as there's no other option as you can see in my pictures.

I'd hoped that without Inet connect it would offer two or three choices, i locked onto one and then I'd offer Inet and the autoupdate to that specific version.

I'll check now your fixes

michael_samer

@stephenw10 Now I see both options and locked the "previous stable" which is 22.05.1 in my case (shouldn't it be 23.01 btw. from the usual way?) I'll give it 10 min, then I'm going to reboot and try to install a package and see

stephenw10

You should be good if you want to stay on 22.05.1 now.

I'm looking into an issue upgrading to 23.05.1...

stephenw10

The options there are 'stay on the currently installed version' or 'upgrade to the latest release'.

We could probably add 23.01 in there if there's a use case but it normally wouldn't be once 23.05 had been released.

Steve

michael_samer

@stephenw10 Both options are what is needed for me now. Packages now install smoothly so I'm on my way now. I'll try to store our config into the current "locked" version and see if the import runs on the usual tracks.

michael_samer

@stephenw10 That's what disturbed me most, as there was no way to escape this deadlock: no old version, new version offered but not able to update (gui+shell). That was the staring point to this thread. I wondered why nobody else had this problem before or even mentioned....

stephenw10

Yes, it's because 22.05.1 is an edge case. It was only ever created to allow for some hardware changes before 23.01 was ready. Since 23.01 was released most of the 2100s that were installed with 22.05.1 would have been upgraded and anything newer would have had 23.01 by default.

There's a problem with upgrades we're looking into now....

stephenw10

Ok, because of differences in the pkg system you cannot upgrade to 23.05.1 directly. So you should now see 23.01 as the only upgrade option. From there you can upgrade to 23.05.1.

If you find it is failing to upgrade on a system then was on-line today it may have pulled in the newer pkgs. If that's the case set the upgrade repo back to 22.05.1 and then run at the command line:

pkg-static clean -ay; pkg-static install -fy pkg pfSense-repo pfSense-upgrade

That will restore the original pkgs and you can then set the branch to 23.01 and upgrade.

Steve

michael_samer

@stephenw10 I see on my testdevice 23.05.1 (latest) and 22.05.1 (previous), which is unusal. I'm muchg aware of the bis step from FBSD12 to 14 with 22.x to 23.01, so before then we have to check all old systems for the ZFS Update and the maybe too small /boot.

The Import and pkg uninstall+reinstall worked as I'd expected it from last week. The points that concerned me most are solved so far.

Thanks for the help!

stephenw10

If those devices were supplied loaded with 22.05.1 the loader partition should be large enough to upgrade to 23.01. I just tested that here.

Steve

rcoleman-netgate

Additionally @michael_samer if they are running ZFS they will be big enough, too.

michael_samer

@stephenw10 said in SG2100 stuck on update or package install:

If those devices were supplied loaded with 22.05.1 the loader partition should be large enough to upgrade to 23.01. I just tested that here.

Steve

This about 60 (SG3100) boxes are 1-5 years old in widely spreaded around (and ZFS more by luck than wisdom). Very rarely reinstalled with a newer build, but updated as usual. I'm glad I read about the 23.01 Rollout and its size problems. Anyway we are aware of it and that's OK. So no Enerprise Rollout (dynfi) but one by one.

You will surely read from me, if got stuck again, but in most cases I get things running on my own :-)

stephenw10

The EFI loader issue only affected aarch64 devices (1100 or 2100) so any 3100s should be fine. Though 3100s (arm32) cannot run ZFS so maybe that was a typo?