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    Unable to check for updates from dashboard

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • GertjanG
      Gertjan @callinectes
      last edited by

      @callinectes said in Unable to check for updates from dashboard:

      watch the 2.7.0 devel versions

      Strange.
      That version doesn't exist any more since the end of June, as 'dev' became 'Release'.
      On the other hand, if it can't update any more, it also can't update the list with available versions.

      What about the the easy way out :
      Get an USB drive, goto pfsense download - download your version 2.7.0.
      Build teh USB drive.
      Export the current config.
      Boot the pfSEnse device from USB, install pfSense, 'all clean'.
      When it reboot ... check that it shows a 'future version' (or ancient 2.6.0)
      Check that the available package list populates.
      Now, import your config.
      Reboot.
      Be very patient, as packages get installed in the background.
      When you are sure it's done, do a reboot for good manners.
      After reboot : test and check most needed and important system functionalities.

      Make a post-it, and paste it on the pfSense box : "stay away from bleeding edge technology".

      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
      • GertjanG Gertjan referenced this topic on
      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        It is possible to recover from there but it requires some command line shenanigans.

        What update branches do you see offered in System > Update?

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        • C
          callinectes @stephenw10
          last edited by

          @stephenw10 It appears the way I would assume it would if 2.7.0 was installed. The drop down shows:

          • Latest stable version (v2.7.0)
          • DEVEL version (devel)
          • PREVIOUS version (v2.6.0)
          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            OK, that's good, it has the correct repo pkg. Make sure the branch is set to 'Latest stable version (v2.7.0)'.

            Check what version of pkg you have:

            pkg-static info pkg
            

            Then check for older cached versions:

            ls /var/cache/pkg/pkg*
            

            You will probably have version 1.20.4 installed and hopefully have an older version available.

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            • C
              callinectes @stephenw10
              last edited by stephenw10

              @stephenw10 Output, in order:

              pkg-static info pkg
              pkg-1.20.2
              Name           : pkg
              Version        : 1.20.2
              Installed on   : Tue Jul 11 22:53:08 2023 EDT
              Origin         : ports-mgmt/pkg
              Architecture   : FreeBSD:14:amd64
              Prefix         : /usr/local
              Categories     : ports-mgmt
              Licenses       : BSD2CLAUSE
              Maintainer     : pkg@FreeBSD.org
              WWW            : https://github.com/freebsd/pkg
              Comment        : Package manager
              Options        :
                      DOCS           : off
              Shared Libs provided:
                      libpkg.so.4
              Annotations    :
                      FreeBSD_version: 1400093
                      build_timestamp: 2023-07-11T22:24:13+0000
                      built_by       : poudriere-git-3.3.99.20220831
                      port_checkout_unclean: no
                      port_git_hash  : 09a785875a27
                      ports_top_checkout_unclean: yes
                      ports_top_git_hash: c959ae811528
                      repo_type      : binary
                      repository     : pfSense
              Flat size      : 38.8MiB
              Description    :
              Package management tool
              
              WWW: https://github.com/freebsd/pkg
              
              ls /var/cache/pkg/pkg*
              /var/cache/pkg/pkg-1.17.5_3.pkg
              /var/cache/pkg/pkg-1.17.5_3~b8e15d34b2.pkg
              /var/cache/pkg/pkg-1.19.1_1.pkg
              /var/cache/pkg/pkg-1.19.1_1~d54ac0ca75.pkg
              /var/cache/pkg/pkg-1.20.2.pkg
              /var/cache/pkg/pkg-1.20.2~269d0c3235.pkg
              
              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                Ok, good. Make sure the update branch is set to Latest stable (2.7) again. Then force the pkg downgrade at the command line with:

                pkg-static add -f /var/cache/pkg/pkg-1.19.1_1.pkg
                

                Then recheck for upgrades.

                C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • C
                  callinectes @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10 Awesome - appears that worked:
                  "
                  dd0f5a29-ee58-48f3-89cd-0f5f28c02f49-image.png
                  "
                  I can't run the upgrade right now but I believe you've helped me across the only hurdle. Greatly appreciated!

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

                    Nice 👍

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • N
                      Nibblet
                      last edited by

                      Any updates for me.. ?

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

                        You're still seeing the dash report 'unable to check' but everything working at the CLI?

                        Have you tried setting IPv4 as preferred?

                        N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • N
                          Nibblet @stephenw10
                          last edited by

                          @stephenw10 That is correct. Upgrade from 2.6.0 to 2.7.0 worked fine from the CLI, but the dashboard and the update (system -> update) menu item are still showing "Unable to check for updates"

                          Sadly I cannot change to IPv4 as preferred as - due to the need to resolve items internally, and the complete lack of 'internal' IPv4 - this is why I need to perform 'smoke and mirrors' tricks to emulate the netgate update system in order to then point to proxies in areas of our network that DO have IPv4 connectivity out.

                          If there is a way to tell the update check widget to ignore system resolvers and use an internet based system (similar to squids dns_nameservers directive) then I could do this.

                          This is why I was wanting to know the underlying mechanism that the update widget is employing to check - as, whatever it is seems different from the pkg/pkg-static command line utilities as these are working fine.
                          This is a diagram of the setup - the DNS server has a 'dummy' version of the netgate SVC records that return a DNS name for the pkg servers, and the proxy is used to reach these. The proxy is squid and has the afor-mentioned DNS directive such that the proxy can resolve internet entries and reach them, yet still be part of the internal domain.

                          This used to work for the widget, but broke somewhere during 2.6.0 and after the transition from files00 and files01 to the new domain name

                          alt text

                          S stephenw10S 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S
                            SteveITS Galactic Empire @Nibblet
                            last edited by

                            @Nibblet re DNS for pfSense: https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/config/general.html#dns-resolution-behavior

                            Re: IPv4: https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/config/advanced-networking.html#prefer-ipv4-over-ipv6
                            “ this option causes the firewall itself to prefer sending traffic to IPv4 hosts instead of IPv6 hosts when a DNS query returns results for both.” Doesn’t affect LAN devices.

                            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!

                            N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • N
                              Nibblet @SteveITS
                              last edited by

                              @SteveITS I guess the point here is - that the firewall should never actually get an IPv4 A record response.
                              The DNS server in this example is not recursive and doesn't actually have A records to return.

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @Nibblet
                                last edited by

                                @Nibblet said in Unable to check for updates from dashboard:

                                this is why I need to perform 'smoke and mirrors' tricks to emulate the netgate update system in order to then point to proxies in areas of our network that DO have IPv4 connectivity out.

                                Ha well that seems likely to be involved in this error situation!

                                We are digging into a problem internally though, specifically when using external proxies. Do you have a proxy configured in pfSense?

                                If you run pkg-static -d update via Diag > Command Prompt does it fail there when it succeeds at the real command line?

                                Steve

                                N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • N
                                  Nibblet @stephenw10
                                  last edited by Nibblet

                                  @stephenw10 Really weirdly, it has all started working again. Nothing changed from the perspective of DNS/proxy settings - very strange.

                                  Also, running the update -d command would have worked, except of course that these servers were already updated..

                                  Of note - these are in production with around 40-50 people actively connecting through them so I REALLY don't like running arbitrary commands that update packages. Hopefully this will put to bed that whatever pkg (and pkg-static) and the 'check of updates' widget are doing is different, and the widget is not calling the pkg (or pkg-static) command but rather doing its own thing - do you know where the source code for this widget would be? is there a specific package I can look the sources up for?

                                  DBG(1)[33734]> pkg initialized
                                  Updating pfSense-core repository catalogue...
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> PkgRepo: verifying update for pfSense-core
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Pkgrepo, begin update of '/var/db/pkg/repo-pfSense-core.sqlite'
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Request to fetch pkg+https://pkg.pfsense.org/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-core/meta.conf
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> opening libfetch fetcher
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch > libfetch: connecting
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetching from: https://pkg01-atx.netgate.com/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-core/meta.conf with opts "i"
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetcher chosen: https
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Request to fetch pkg+https://pkg.pfsense.org/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-core/packagesite.pkg
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> opening libfetch fetcher
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch > libfetch: connecting
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetching from: https://pkg01-atx.netgate.com/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-core/packagesite.pkg with opts "i"
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetcher chosen: https
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Request to fetch pkg+https://pkg.pfsense.org/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-core/packagesite.txz
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> opening libfetch fetcher
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch > libfetch: connecting
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetching from: https://pkg01-atx.netgate.com/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-core/packagesite.txz with opts "i"
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetcher chosen: https
                                  pfSense-core repository is up to date.
                                  Updating pfSense repository catalogue...
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> PkgRepo: verifying update for pfSense
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Pkgrepo, begin update of '/var/db/pkg/repo-pfSense.sqlite'
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Request to fetch pkg+https://pkg.pfsense.org/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-pfSense_v2_7_0/meta.conf
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> opening libfetch fetcher
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch > libfetch: connecting
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetching from: https://pkg00-atx.netgate.com/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-pfSense_v2_7_0/meta.conf with opts "i"
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetcher chosen: https
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Request to fetch pkg+https://pkg.pfsense.org/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-pfSense_v2_7_0/packagesite.pkg
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> opening libfetch fetcher
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch > libfetch: connecting
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetching from: https://pkg00-atx.netgate.com/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-pfSense_v2_7_0/packagesite.pkg with opts "i"
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetcher chosen: https
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Request to fetch pkg+https://pkg.pfsense.org/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-pfSense_v2_7_0/packagesite.txz
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> opening libfetch fetcher
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch > libfetch: connecting
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetching from: https://pkg00-atx.netgate.com/pfSense_v2_7_0_amd64-pfSense_v2_7_0/packagesite.txz with opts "i"
                                  DBG(1)[33734]> Fetch: fetcher chosen: https
                                  pfSense repository is up to date.
                                  All repositories are up to date.

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

                                    Huh, weird.

                                    The pkg update command only updates the local cached list against the repo. pkg upgrade is required to actually upgrade anything. pkg update gets run every time it checks so everytime you visit the dashboard for example. It is generally safe to run.

                                    Anyway glad you're back up and running.

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                                    • W
                                      walidbz
                                      last edited by

                                      i run pfsense 2.7.0 and i want to upgrade pkg from 1.19.1 to 1.20.6 but an error occurs :
                                      ld-elf.so.1: Shared object "libssl.so.30" not found, required by "pkg"
                                      if anyone knows how can i fix this please help me .
                                      thank you

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

                                        You have to use pkg-static if you are already using a newer version of pkg. But in 2.7 you should be running 1.19.1_2 unless you had the dev branch set at some point.

                                        Steve

                                        W 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • W
                                          walidbz @stephenw10
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10 thank you
                                          But i did not undrestand what i am supposed to do !!

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

                                            If you have a newer version of pkg installed than the base you have to use pkg-static instead of pkg.

                                            So for example:

                                            [2.7.0-RELEASE][admin@pfsense.fire.box]/root: pkg-static info -x pkg
                                            pfSense-pkg-Shellcmd-1.0.5_3
                                            pfSense-pkg-Status_Traffic_Totals-2.3.2_3
                                            pfSense-pkg-System_Patches-2.2.4
                                            pfSense-pkg-iperf-3.0.3
                                            pfSense-pkg-nmap-1.4.4_7
                                            pfSense-pkg-openvpn-client-export-1.9
                                            pkg-1.19.1_2
                                            

                                            But as you can see there you should have pkg version 1.19.1_2 in 2.7. Why are you trying to install 1.20.6? What version do you have now?

                                            W 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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