Updating pfBlockerNG-devel on 23.09 caused instability. Upgrading to 23.09.1 (w/ 3.2.0_8) solved it.

jc1976 · Sep 25, 2024, 2:10 PM

i have another firewall that i manage and it shows the update to 3.2.0_8..

obviously i want to skip that upgrade.. is it possible to upgrade directly to 3.2.0_17, bypassing 3.2.0_8 so I don't have to deal with it's problems?

stephenw10 · Sep 25, 2024, 2:18 PM

3.2.0_8 is OK. That's the package version for the non-devel package.

The problem versions were _15 and _16 but that was only ever the development package. Neither of those should be available anywhere now. You should only see no update for non-dev or _17 for the devel.

jc1976 · Sep 25, 2024, 3:03 PM

@stephenw10

I use the dev version on both firewalls. both firewalls have the same configuration and the one that blew up on me was for _8.

as of this moment, looking at installed packages, mine says it's on 3.2.0_8, with a prompt to update.
this was the same on my other firewall that i had to repair.

i don't see anything to indicate the update would be to 3.2.0_17.

am i reading this wrong? I always thought the version shown in the package manager is the version it would be updated to.

my fear is that being this is my firewall at my office that many others are dependent on, i can't risk the downtime so i just want to be sure that it will update to the latest repaired version without any issue.

thanks!!

stephenw10 · Sep 25, 2024, 3:20 PM

Well the safest option is to do nothing. Just don't update it.

If you mouse-over the update symbol in the package manager it shows what version is available:

🔒 Log in to view

jc1976 · Sep 25, 2024, 3:39 PM

@stephenw10

ahh, didn't know about the mousing-over part.. so yeah, i see it..

Thanks!!

Raffi_ · Sep 25, 2024, 4:32 PM

@jc1976

my fear is that being this is my firewall at my office that many others are dependent on, i can't risk the downtime so i just want to be sure that it will update to the latest repaired version without any issue.

lol I had this issue on the office firewall when I first ran into it. I can assure you there was no downtime. Everything still worked as intended including my OpenVPN for remote access. Just the GUI access and the pfblocker update was an issue. I'm not entirely sure if pfblocker was still functional during this time, but that was really not a big deal if it was down for the few minutes it took me to resolve this issue. Pfblocker was back up after the update and then force reload.

tordini · Oct 4, 2024, 2:32 PM

@Raffi_ Thx, thx and thx for your advice, This saved my day. I didn't use ssh but the built in command promt. Killed every pid associating with "pkg delete yes pfSense-pkg-pfblockerNG-devel" and finally
I could use the dashboard again. What a relief, and the package was removed from package manager.
Now I installed the none dev version of pfblock. It's been two days of nervousness since my firewall is in a production environment. Many thx Raffi_, my command vas kill pid_nr & pkg delete --yes pfSense-pkg-pfblockerNG-devel. I created an account here on netgate only to express my gratitude.

Raffi_ · Oct 4, 2024, 2:32 PM

@tordini

Now I installed the none dev version of pfblock. It's been two days of nervousness since my firewall is in a production environment. Many thx Raffi_, my command vas kill pid_nr & pkg delete --yes pfSense-pkg-pfblockerNG-devel. I created an account here on netgate only to express my gratitude.

I haven't been on these forums for some time. Is the pfblockerNG-devel an actual development version now? I'm getting the feeling it is now, but it wasn't in the past. In the past it was just the name given to the latest version.

When you installed pfblockerNG non dev, did all your config and settings carry over?

stephenw10 · Oct 4, 2024, 2:36 PM

The config is the same for both packages. It will carry across if you uninstall/install either.

Raffi_ · Oct 4, 2024, 2:42 PM

@stephenw10 said in Updating pfBlockerNG-devel on 23.09 caused instability. Upgrading to 23.09.1 (w/ 3.2.0_8) solved it.:

The config is the same for both packages. It will carry across if you uninstall/install either.

Thanks, good to know.

Is the dev version an actual dev version now? In other words, is the non dev version recommended for production environments ?

stephenw10 · Oct 4, 2024, 2:48 PM

It still is the development version, new features/fixes are added there first. However it's now much closer to the non-dev package. A while ago it was a long way ahead but that's no longer the case.

tordini · Oct 7, 2024, 5:19 AM

@Raffi_ Yes sir, it worked perfectly, no error and no hickups

Raffi_ · Oct 9, 2024, 4:34 PM

@tordini thanks, I switched over to the non-devel package also and it's working fine.

The only minor issue I have now is the percentage of domains blocked counter on the dashboard is pegged at 100% which is wrong. I had this issue a long time ago, I ignored it back then and I'll do the same now.