Downgrade from 23.05.1 to CE 2.7.2 not working
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Hi all,
normally it would be time to upgrade, but due to Netgate's great move to upset Homelab users it's more complicated this time as I need to convert back to CE 2.7.2
From the docs it should be as easy as taking a backup of the 23.05.1 config, renaming it to "config.xml", connecting it as an USB device to the new VM and run the installer. The installer mentions it has found the config.xml and has copied it into the restore area, but the following reboot mentions that config.xml is corrupt and has 0 bytes and the installation breaks.
I've checked the file right on the FAT32 formatted stick and it's absolutely fine.
Can someone give me a hint how to proceed with this issue?
Sorry for the angry emoji in the first phrase, but I'm really officially pi**ed by Netgates behavior. I was fine with CE before in my homelab and I waited around 9 months with all these advertisings and "we give it for free to home lab guys" bla bla. A clear statement "it'll cost 130 bucks/year" and everyone had the option to decide. Now it's a bunch of unnecessary work and anger to convert to Plus and then back again. The right move would've been to leave it to existing homelab users as it is.
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@jacotec Take the USB stick out of the equation and try again? I've restored many configs and have never used local media. I just get the box on the LAN and then browse to it, hit Restore and feed it the config file (which doesn't need to be renamed btw.)
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@KOM I wanted to keep issues and downtime as low as possible, but that did not work. In fact it is pfsense itself which destroys the file on the USB media. That method is definitive broken.
Finally I did it the old method, configured LAN so I could gain access to the browser and then restored the config. That worked, but for the price of some downtime. Back to 2.7.2 CE now. Thanks for your response
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Hmm, you're saying that after pfSense tries to recover the config automatically the file on the USB drive is removed/damaged?
Was that using the file at install time or pulling it in at first boot after install (the ECL)?
Steve
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Hi @stephenw10
at install time, I had it as "config.xml" attached on a USB stick during first boot from the ISO. -
Hmm, and it erased the file somehow? First time I've ever heard that reported.
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@stephenw10 Yap, it did. Procedure was:
- 8GB USB flash drive, formatted FAT32
- Stored my config as file "config.xml" on it
- Checked on the PC that the config was fine and readable in Notepad++
- Plugged it into my server (Dell R720)
- USB Device passthrough to the pfsense VM
- Booted pfsense from install ISO
- Installer recognized the USB drive and also the config.xml, it wrote that config.xml was copied into the restore area before showing the "Reboot now" screen
- Acknowledged the reboot
- At startup it wrote that the config.xml is corrupt (0 Byte) and it died into the login screen
- Pulled the USB stick, checked on the PC and found the config.xml file on the stick empty with 0 Bytes length
I did that several times, always with the same result and with the 2.7.0 and the 2.7.2 install ISO.
