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    Can't login to GUI

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      If you fail to login 3 times from the same source IP it will get locked out by sshguard. When that happens you won't be able to connect at all. You won't see the login screen. What you're seeing is not that.

      https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/config/advanced-admin.html#login-protection

      JonathanLeeJ chudakC 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • JonathanLeeJ
        JonathanLee @stephenw10
        last edited by JonathanLee

        @stephenw10 I learned that the hard way :)

        Make sure to upvote

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • chudakC
          chudak @stephenw10
          last edited by

          @stephenw10 said in Can't login to GUI:

          If you fail to login 3 times from the same source IP it will get locked out by sshguard. When that happens you won't be able to connect at all. You won't see the login screen. What you're seeing is not that.

          https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/config/advanced-admin.html#login-protection

          Does it expose any GUI level option?

          thx it's great!

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

            @chudak said in Can't login to GUI:

            Does it expose any GUI level option?

            Not sure what you're asking there?

            There are tuning options for it in the GUI. You can whitelist IPs to prevent them being blocked.

            chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • chudakC
              chudak @stephenw10
              last edited by

              @stephenw10 said in Can't login to GUI:

              @chudak said in Can't login to GUI:

              Does it expose any GUI level option?

              Not sure what you're asking there?

              There are tuning options for it in the GUI. You can whitelist IPs to prevent them being blocked.

              Where please?

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

                In Sys > Adv > Admin. As shown in that linked doc.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • S
                  SteveITS Galactic Empire @chudak
                  last edited by SteveITS

                  @chudak said in Can't login to GUI:

                  The system is back to normal without me doing anything today !!!

                  So you didn't do anything to fix it? Did you ever find a cause?

                  I just ran into what seems like the same thing, on one router. GUI log in succeeds ("... /index.php: Successful login for user 'admin' from...") but I can't get past the login page. I can log in via SSH.

                  I do not see anything useful in system.log or nginx.log, just normal logins and GET/POST. No failed login attempts that I see.

                  Edit: 24.03
                  Edit: trying direct URLs (/firewall_rules.php) still shows the login page

                  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!

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                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    Hmm. From multiple browsers and/or client devices?

                    S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • S
                      SteveITS Galactic Empire @stephenw10
                      last edited by SteveITS

                      @stephenw10 said in Can't login to GUI:

                      Hmm. From multiple browsers and/or client devices?

                      Well I tried it from a private window in Firefox, and also deleted site/URL cookies in the main window. It does work from Chrome though on my PC. Not sure how that is possible...

                      Also it works in Firefox if I use a FQDN name, like https://router-building.example.net, or IP address, instead of https://router-building, which I've used for 10+ years.

                      Edit: closing Firefox doesn't help.

                      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 0
                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        Hmm, I've seen that if you have multiple firewalls resolving to the same IP. Like one behind the other with port forwards. You can only log into one at a time.

                        Not exactly what you describe though....

                        S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • S
                          SteveITS Galactic Empire @stephenw10
                          last edited by

                          @stephenw10 No port forwarding in use here. There are two nested routers (office and building) but with unique IPs.

                          Given it is URL dependent, it smells like a cookie problem but a private window or deleting cookies should fix that. I have never seen a different browser work differently than a new private window.

                          Could there be something on the web server end that doesn't release for a while, yet survives a webconfigurator restart? (OP said it fixed itself overnight...)

                          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 0
                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            Yup it sure does feel like a cookie issue... ๐Ÿค”

                            S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • S
                              SteveITS Galactic Empire @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              Just for the record, today a Firefox private window lets me log in with the "short name" but the regular browser window still does not. So it changed behavior somewhat.

                              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!

                              chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • chudakC
                                chudak @SteveITS
                                last edited by

                                @SteveITS said in Can't login to GUI:

                                Just for the record, today a Firefox private window lets me log in with the "short name" but the regular browser window still does not. So it changed behavior somewhat.

                                Have you tried killing all associated states?

                                S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • S
                                  SteveITS Galactic Empire @chudak
                                  last edited by

                                  @chudak said in Can't login to GUI:

                                  Have you tried killing all associated states?

                                  My browser was closed overnight so nothing should be retained that long. I can connect fine, it's just that a successful login (since it doesn't fail) leaves me on the login page. A purposefully failed login shows the expected error message.

                                  The only cookie is the PHPSESSID cookie and deleting that doesn't help.

                                  Obviously it's not a problem if I can log in with the IP or longer name, just weird. I suppose I could try restarting the router, but would need to do that late some night.

                                  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!

                                  S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • S
                                    SteveITS Galactic Empire @SteveITS
                                    last edited by

                                    FWIW, restarting the router didn't help. ๐Ÿคท

                                    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!

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

                                      @SteveITS

                                      I'll start over :
                                      When you use http://192.168.1.1/ you have access.
                                      When you use http://pfsense.something.tld/ you see an error.

                                      Check this :

                                      nslookup pfsense.something.tld
                                      

                                      did you get back 192168.1.1 ?
                                      Also an IPv6 ?

                                      You were using certificates ? Auto signed ? Known CA signed ?
                                      Is/ was this certificate using HSTS ?

                                      What browser ? Browser DNS settings ? Browser extension ?

                                      When trying to access, run this in a console or SSH :

                                      tail -f /var/log/system.log /var/log/nginx.log
                                      

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

                                      S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • S
                                        SteveITS Galactic Empire @Gertjan
                                        last edited by

                                        @Gertjan said in Can't login to GUI:

                                        When you use http://192.168.1.1/ you have access.
                                        When you use http://pfsense.something.tld/ you see an error.

                                        Not quite.
                                        I can log in using the IP.
                                        I can log in using router-building.something.tld.

                                        I cannot log in using just "router-building"...no error but I can't get past the login page.

                                        DNS is fine since I have the router backgrounds color coded.

                                        pfSense self-signed cert.

                                        There's no IPv6 returned for either name.

                                        Firefox. As noted above other browsers work and (after waiting overnight that day) a Firefox private window now works.

                                        Logging shows only the expected GET and POST requests, and "php-fpm[29026]: /index.php: Successful login for user 'admin' from: x.x.x.x (Local Database)" even though I stay on the login page.

                                        It's weird because it's both relatively new and easily worked around. We replaced this router maybe a year ago so it's not like it's a new install. And I first noticed it last week meaning it's new since Dec. 12 which is the last config I saved.

                                        And just to clarify it's specific to this router, notably not our office's router.

                                        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!

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

                                          @SteveITS said in Can't login to GUI:

                                          I cannot log in using just "router-building"...no error but I can't get past the login page.

                                          When I fire up a bowser and type just this + enter :
                                          c29e4458-d80f-4ad2-9d13-8c044c4b3cbb-image.png

                                          it will shows this :

                                          0acfec15-9671-45b1-bbc9-5fc32560f670-image.png

                                          I presume the browser correctly, presumes that I wanted to search for the term 'pfsense' as 'pfsense' by itself is an invalid URL.

                                          Btw : while typing pfsense, my browser will auto complete to form a possible correct URL :

                                          23e5978f-24b1-47ef-aa8a-cd1a89e2011f-image.png

                                          Using just this :

                                          @SteveITS said in Can't login to GUI:

                                          "router-building"

                                          can't be right as "router-building" isn't listed like "router-building" in the certificate used by pfSense.
                                          "router-building", like my "pfsense" is an invalid URL.

                                          Anyway, I'm still a bit puzzled why you would see a login pfSense page - so DNS resolving went fine - but you can't login.
                                          Check with browser dev tools to see what it is posting to the server ?

                                          Did you have a look at the /var/log/nginx.log (web server log).
                                          Ask it to show more details here (log settings page) :

                                          6690b5bb-6b01-4108-84df-88e2c1477967-image.png

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

                                          S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • S
                                            SteveITS Galactic Empire @Gertjan
                                            last edited by

                                            @Gertjan said in Can't login to GUI:

                                            can't be right as "router-building" isn't listed like "router-building" in the certificate used by pfSense.
                                            "router-building", like my "pfsense" is an invalid URL.

                                            Windows will resolve partial hostnames even if "dig" will not. It appends the configured default domain to the query. If you enter "https://pfsense" instead, your browser shouldn't search for that as a search string.

                                            The cert fails validation but as a self-signed cert it fails for any other hostname anyway.

                                            Errors are logged already, there just aren't any.

                                            To be clear I don't really think this is a pfSense issue, but I have no idea what could be causing it. It was fine for a decade or more and then stopped working. The PHPSESSID cookie value does change between logins, but that happens using other hostnames also.

                                            I guess I'll let it sit a while and use other hostnames, maybe it will fix itself like it broke itself.

                                            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!

                                            GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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