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    Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • J
      jrey @MikeHalsey
      last edited by jrey

      @MikeHalsey

      I wasn't thinking the php issue, because it it would likely show up in an more obvious fashion -- usually something like

      PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of ....

      the other you can see in the pfblockerng.log file

      Firewall -> pfBlockerNG -> Logs

      Screen Shot 2024-09-03 at 3.55.43 PM.png

      select the pfblockerng.log file in the list - scroll to the end, then go back until you see the pfSense Table Stats section.. yours should say 400000 on the top number, based on the setting value you indicated it was set to, what is the bottom number ?

      Edit: You will also see in the same log file - that part I quoted earlier about unbound restarting ..

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • J
        jrey @MikeHalsey
        last edited by

        @MikeHalsey

        huh I just noticed according to your screen capture - you have no lists showing in the pfBlockerNG dashboard.

        Screen Shot 2024-09-03 at 4.18.46 PM.png

        and your DNSBL is "unknown" --

        there should be a summary there --- like this..
        Screen Shot 2024-09-03 at 4.23.13 PM.png

        the bottom five on mine are all DNSBL related. (non have refreshed since Sep 1, no new data)
        the others are the top are just other lists building alias tables.
        either way I don't see this "Summary" in your screen capture.

        just for reference what version of pfBlockerNG are you running ?

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

          @MikeHalsey

          Humm ... I missed the boat ...

          From where I left :

          03378a63-31e0-498d-9e0f-917c8392001f-image.png

          Yeah, that pretty bad.
          There are moment that unbound restarts every minute.
          New info : you have many and/or big DNSBL lists.
          What is your pfBlockerng setting :

          02b5260e-a7aa-4250-a2d7-cd085ad73434-image.png

          ?
          Unbound mode - so unbound loads this pretty huge file at each startup

          35284974-3364-4989-8f93-2ee1ae623892-image.png

          Or Python mode ? = way faster.

          Anyway : your mission is, if you accept it : finding out why unbound restarts that often.

          If presume you use KEA as the DHCP server (is that so ?), so it's not the dreaded dhcp_leases process that restarts unbound on every incoming DHCP lease or lease renew.
          Is it an interface that goes down and up again, thus restarting all process, and unbound ?
          Some other event ?

          What I do understand now : your DNS experience is pretty bad as it is restarting all the time, and thanks to the big DNSBL lists it takes a long time to restart.
          Result : most of the time, your DNS isn't working. It takes all day to 'stop' and 'start'.
          And you were looking to restart it even more often ... (oh lol - like putting out the fire with a bucket of gasoline ^^)

          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 1
          • bmeeksB
            bmeeks
            last edited by bmeeks

            Is perhaps DHCP client registration in DNS enabled on the firewall? If so, that can result in unbound restarts each time a DHCP client obtains or renews its lease. If enabled, that can contribute to a bunch of unbound DNS Resolver restarts. Combine that with large DNSBL lists and you could have a perfect storm essentially killing DNS resolution on the network for large intervals of time.

            S GertjanG 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • S
              SteveITS Galactic Empire @bmeeks
              last edited by

              @bmeeks said in Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue:

              result in unbound restarts each time a DHCP client obtains or renews its lease

              FWIW to all, this was/will be finally changed, in Kea, in 24.08.
              https://www.netgate.com/blog/improvements-to-kea-dhcp ๐Ÿ‘

              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 ๐Ÿ‘ helpful posts!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                Yup, going to be so much better!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • GertjanG
                  Gertjan @bmeeks
                  last edited by

                  @bmeeks

                  Very true and I would have mentioned that potential issue right away.

                  But seeing this :

                  9a951365-b31a-4ef8-b711-ec947a94a0db-image.png

                  I've deducted that he is using KEA, and KEA should disable the dhcpleases process that restarts unbound on every ISC DHCP lease or lease renewal.
                  Let's be sure :

                  @MikeHalsey can you run :

                  ps ax | grep 'dhcpd.leases'
                  

                  ?

                  as if this return something like

                  97385  -  Is        0:00.02 /usr/local/sbin/dhcpleases -l /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases -d brit-hotel-fumel.net -p /var/run/unbound.pid -u /var/unbound/dhcpleases_en
                  .......
                  

                  then the case is solved.

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

                  M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • M
                    MikeHalsey @Gertjan
                    last edited by

                    @Gertjan said in Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue:

                    ps ax | grep 'dhcpd.leases'

                    The result was...

                    8208 - Is 0:00.01 /usr/local/sbin/dhcpleases -l /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases -d home.arpa -p /var/run/unbound.pid -u /var/unbound/dhcpleases_entries.conf -h /etc/hosts
                    86231 - S 0:00.01 sh -c ps ax | grep 'dhcpd.leases' 2>&1
                    86634 - S 0:00.01 grep dhcpd.leases

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

                      @MikeHalsey

                      Ok.
                      Call Houston.
                      You have a problem.


                      The solution :
                      Go here and select "ISC DHCP" :

                      1d7cf27e-c1d5-452f-bce9-1c4a9009fcf7-image.png

                      and Save.

                      Now go to Services > DNS Resolver > General Settings

                      and locate

                      28bcf6d2-d470-47c2-928b-c8adfc8cea86-image.png

                      and remove the check from "DHCP Registration". This simple check, if set will activate the dhcpdleases process that restart unbound xx per hour.
                      Extra info : It's not checked by default ... and you can image why.

                      Save the new unbound settings.
                      Apply ( !! ) the new unbound settings.

                      Now, if you want to, you can go back to KEA : reverse the first step.
                      My advise : you dion't need to, ISC DHCP works very well.

                      Test phase :
                      You know how to check the unbound restarts.
                      Test during a couple of days.
                      You will notice the difference : DNS now behaves correcly.


                      and WTF : with KEA, dhcpdleaeses is still started ?? Netgate ?!!

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

                      M 4 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • M
                        MikeHalsey @Gertjan
                        last edited by

                        @Gertjan Done, I'll let you know how it goes ๐Ÿ˜Ž many thanks

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • M
                          MikeHalsey @Gertjan
                          last edited by MikeHalsey

                          @Gertjan Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! That seems to have fixed it ๐Ÿ˜Ž Spotify now seems to be responding to me immediately, all of the speakers are still there, and the music isn't stopping every 20 seconds like it was the last few days.

                          The constant restarts have stopped too. Here's hoping but it's looking good and I can't thank everybody who helped, enough ๐Ÿซก

                          Screenshot_5-9-2024_15058_192.168.1.1.jpeg

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • M
                            MikeHalsey @Gertjan
                            last edited by

                            @Gertjan Actually, scrub that. It fixed it for all of 5 minutes then the problem started again ๐Ÿ˜”

                            2024-09-05_15-09-24.jpg

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • M
                              MikeHalsey @Gertjan
                              last edited by

                              @Gertjan hmm... so far it's stable again, so I suppose that could have been cause by a pfBlocker update check. I'll run it for a day or three and report back ๐Ÿซก

                              GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • GertjanG
                                Gertjan @MikeHalsey
                                last edited by Gertjan

                                @MikeHalsey said in Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue:

                                could have been cause by a pfBlocker update check

                                These can happen every hour max (I think).
                                Anyway, as most lists are updated maybe ones a week, or even less frequent-, I've set :

                                1b91222f-eee5-4da5-96fc-d5b0ae9e5a22-image.png

                                so pfBlockerng can restart unbound ones a week max.

                                Be ware : the list with : "who can restart unbound" isn't empty yet.

                                For example, when you hook up to a LAN or (actually any interface port) not a switch that is always powered on, but something else, every time you shut down this device, and the power it up again, the interface gets activated : this will restart unbound, and a lot of other processes as well.

                                Now you know all the reasons why unbound restarts (for 99,x %).

                                Btw : you've checked that the dhcpdleases process doesn't run anymore ?

                                Illustration :

                                e545e99d-cc3b-4092-ae3e-d90762eff1d5-image.png

                                Every dip in the stats is an unbound restart.
                                That's more often as ones a week, true, because it was the admin (me - so that's another reason why unbund restart : it's the admin ๐Ÿ˜– ) doing so while testing settings so I can take screen captures to show them on the forum.
                                When I'm not there, my unbound doesn't restart anymore.

                                It will behave like this :

                                857cfe45-d1b6-44e0-96b9-0db07cc81938-image.png

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

                                M J 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • M
                                  MikeHalsey @Gertjan
                                  last edited by

                                  @Gertjan Yeah, I thought it could be pfBlocker too, so I've set those things you mentioned to weekly, and set the main pfBlocker update to once a day at 2am.

                                  There's been no restarts of Unbound now for almost an hour and all seems good... so far.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • J
                                    jrey @Gertjan
                                    last edited by

                                    I can't specifically speak to EasyList and how ofter it changes. However ADs_Basic, changes often more than once a week. (Of course you can choose when to check it)
                                    However, unbound will only restart (assuming pfBlocker is configured properly) when one of the DNSBL lists has a changed. Not just because it checked. I check ADs_Basic daily (and other lists). As I said before, unbound can still go days between needing a restart.
                                    my unbound restarted because of a list change on Sept 1 at midnight, and again on Sept 5 (this morning) in the days between it just kept running.
                                    The entire restart of unbound takes a couple of seconds, you would never know in most cases.
                                    In fact the only way I know is by the dashboard (if I'm running it) and graylog (which is always running) Your last dashboard image, didn't even show any lists. Does it now? and what is the time stamp of the list reload.

                                    my dashboard shows the update time (this morning)
                                    Screen Shot 2024-09-05 at 10.15.54 AM.png

                                    so they all reloaded this morning... looks fine to me (compare this to the previous screen shot and they all said Sep 1) nothing changed in-between, nothing restarted unbound.

                                    The graylog shows me the pid changed (different colour) but it also never skipped.
                                    Screen Shot 2024-09-05 at 10.19.24 AM.png

                                    orange is pid before, different pid after the reload is blue.
                                    Notice the time slot (5 minutes) bands where there is both blue and orange. that's when it restarted.

                                    here is the same data on a 2 second time slice, unbound restarting at the colour transition, you should never even notice, nor should any device on your network.

                                    Screen Shot 2024-09-05 at 10.32.51 AM.png

                                    bmeeksB GertjanG 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • bmeeksB
                                      bmeeks @jrey
                                      last edited by

                                      @jrey said in Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue:

                                      here is the same data on a 2 second time slice, unbound restarting at the colour transition, you should never even notice, nor should any device on your network.

                                      One caveat I would offer --
                                      Be careful of time comparison examples (such as the 2 seconds in your post). This will be very dependent on the underlying hardware a particular user is running on. Another obvious variable is the size of the chosen list or lists. So long as the comparison is apples-to-apples (meaning same exact hardware and same exact DNSBL lists), then time comparisons are pertinent.

                                      I've just sometimes seen posters assume that everyone should see the same performance with some feature as they do. That is not the case unless the parameters are very closely matched.

                                      J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • GertjanG
                                        Gertjan @jrey
                                        last edited by

                                        @jrey said in Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue:

                                        I can't specifically speak to EasyList and how ofter it changes. However ADs_Basic, changes often more than once a week. (Of course you can choose when to check it)
                                        However, unbound will only restart (assuming pfBlocker is configured properly) when one of the DNSBL lists has a changed. Not just because it checked. I check ADs_Basic daily (and other lists). As I said before, unbound can still go days between needing a restart.

                                        ๐Ÿ‘ 10/10 ! Nice. You've done your home work.

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

                                        J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • J
                                          jrey @bmeeks
                                          last edited by jrey

                                          @bmeeks said in Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue:

                                          Be careful of time comparison examples (such as the 2 seconds in your post).

                                          sure, but I'm running a 2100 same as the OP. 2 second reload of unbound is "normal" here.

                                          Edit: and the op has never answered the questions about the list size of list as seen in the pfblockerng.log (or other questions unless I missed those answers) so yes there still could be other "variables" as well.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • J
                                            jrey @Gertjan
                                            last edited by

                                            @Gertjan said in Netgate 2100 blocking? Spotify issue:

                                            10/10 ! Nice.

                                            Missed this --- was it a test? ๐Ÿ˜Š

                                            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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