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    Wireguard fails after reboot (2.8.0)

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

      Yes you won't see anything in the pkg_log, that only covers the pkg install, but I'd expect to see something logged in the main log. For example when I restart it I see in the main log:

      Aug 16 02:15:46 	php-fpm 	77985 	/status_services.php: The command '/usr/local/etc/rc.d/wireguardd stop' returned exit code '1', the output was ''
      Aug 16 02:15:47 	kernel 		wg0: changing name to 'tun_wg0'
      Aug 16 02:15:47 	kernel 		tun_wg0: link state changed to UP
      Aug 16 02:15:47 	php_wg 	19350 	/usr/local/pkg/wireguard/includes/wg_service.inc: Gateway, none 'available' for inet6, use the first one configured. 'GIF0_TUNNELV6' 
      

      If any of those things failed with an error I'd expect to see that there too.

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      • M Offline
        Misterb @Buffalo0207
        last edited by

        @Buffalo0207 The problem seems to be remarkably similar to one discussed in 2023 Wireguard Site-to-Site Gateways disabled after reboot - service not starting

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        • B Offline
          Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
          last edited by

          @stephenw10 Can you tell me exactly where the main log is and I will download it for you. I also have WinSCP, so can access it from there if this is easier.

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          • B Offline
            Buffalo0207 @Misterb
            last edited by

            @Misterb Thanks for this. I will add a cron job to automatically install the WG package.

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            • stephenw10S Offline
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              It should appear in the main system log in Status > System Logs > System > General. For example:
              Screenshot from 2025-08-17 15-58-07.png

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              • B Offline
                Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @stephenw10 This is immediately after I rebooted without reinstalling WG. Let me know if you need another one after WG has been reinstalled.

                EaseUS_2025_08_18_01_32_52.png

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                • stephenw10S Offline
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  So what new logs appear there if you try to start WG when it fails?

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                  • B Offline
                    Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                    last edited by Buffalo0207

                    @stephenw10 This is immediately after I tried restarting WG (and fails) from the UI Service Status page, without restarting dpinger.

                    EaseUS_2025_08_18_02_00_48.png

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                    • stephenw10S Offline
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      Hmm, that was some time it booted?

                      It's triggering a bunch of rc.bootup events which seems odd. Perhaps you have something preventing it ever reaching 'bootup complete'.

                      Do you see 'bootup complete' in the system logs after booting?

                      Do you see /var/run/booting still present?

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                      • B Offline
                        Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @stephenw10 Can you tell me exactly where I can see this information?

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                        • stephenw10S Offline
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          Bootup Complete should appear in the main system log like:
                          Screenshot from 2025-08-20 15-17-33.png

                          You can check the boot file from the CLI like:

                          [2.8.0-RELEASE][admin@t70.stevew.lan]/root: ls /var/run
                          charon.ctl                                      ld-elf.so.hints
                          charon.pid                                      ld-elf32.so.hints
                          charon.vici                                     log
                          charon.wlst                                     logpriv
                          check_reload_status                             miniupnpd.pid
                          cron.pid                                        nginx-webConfigurator.pid
                          daemon-charon.pid                               ntpd.pid
                          daemon_sshguard.pid                             openvpn_server1.pid
                          devd.pid                                        pfSense_version
                          devd.pipe                                       pfSense_version.rc
                          devd.seqpacket.pipe                             php-fpm.pid
                          dhclient.igb0.pid                               php-fpm.socket
                          dmesg.boot                                      ping_hosts.pid
                          dnsbl.pid                                       powerd.pid
                          dnsmasq.pid                                     sshd.pid
                          dpinger_VTI0_VTIV4~10.66.11.1~10.66.11.2.pid    sshguard.pid
                          dpinger_VTI0_VTIV4~10.66.11.1~10.66.11.2.sock   suricata-ctrl-socket-60565
                          dpinger_WAN_DHCP~172.21.16.239~172.21.16.1.pid  suricata_igb160565.pid
                          dpinger_WAN_DHCP~172.21.16.239~172.21.16.1.sock syslog.pid
                          expire_accounts.pid                             unbound.pid
                          filter_reload_status                            update_alias_url_data.pid
                          filterdns.pid                                   updaterrd.sh.pid
                          filterlog.pid                                   utmp
                          ipsec_keepalive.pid                             utx.active
                          
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                          • B Offline
                            Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10 Sorry for the delayed reply - I have just got back from a business trip. Anyway, this is the output from the CLI

                            [2.8.1-RC][root@pfSense.mymain.local]/root: ls /var/run
                            check_reload_status
                            cron.pid
                            daemon_sshguard.pid
                            devd.pid
                            devd.pipe
                            devd.seqpacket.pipe
                            dhclient.igb0.pid
                            dmesg.boot
                            dnsbl.pid
                            dpinger_VPNUNLIMITED_L2TP~10.240.0.2~10.240.0.1.pid
                            dpinger_VPNUNLIMITED_L2TP~10.240.0.2~10.240.0.1.sock
                            dpinger_WANV6_TUNNELV6~2001:470:1f08:84a::2~2001:470:1f08:84a::1.pid
                            dpinger_WANV6_TUNNELV6~2001:470:1f08:84a::2~2001:470:1f08:84a::1.sock
                            dpinger_WAN_DHCP~82.13.203.142~82.13.202.1.pid
                            dpinger_WAN_DHCP~82.13.203.142~82.13.202.1.sock
                            dpinger_wg1GW~10.102.1.114~10.102.1.114.pid
                            dpinger_wg1GW~10.102.1.114~10.102.1.114.sock
                            dpinger_wg2GW~10.102.100.206~10.102.100.206.pid
                            dpinger_wg2GW~10.102.100.206~10.102.100.206.sock
                            expire_accounts.pid
                            filter_reload_status
                            filterlog.pid
                            ipsec_keepalive.pid
                            kea
                            kea2fib6.cache
                            kea4-ctrl-socket
                            kea4-ctrl-socket.lock
                            kea6-ctrl-socket
                            kea6-ctrl-socket.lock
                            l2tp_opt9.pid
                            ld-elf.so.hints
                            ld-elf32.so.hints
                            log
                            logpriv
                            mdns-bridge.pid
                            miniupnpd.pid
                            nginx-webConfigurator.pid
                            ntpd.pid
                            pfSense_version
                            pfSense_version.rc
                            php-fpm.pid
                            php-fpm.socket
                            ping_hosts.pid
                            radvd.pid
                            sshd.pid
                            sshguard.pid
                            syslog.pid
                            unbound.pid
                            update_alias_url_data.pid
                            updaterrd.sh.pid
                            utmp
                            utx.active
                            wireguardd.pid
                            [2.8.1-RC][root@pfSense.mymain.local]/root: [2.8.1-RC][root@pfSense.mymain.local]/root: ls /var/run
                            kea4-ctrl-socket.lock
                            kea6-ctrl-socket
                            kea6-ctrl-socket.lock
                            l2tp_opt9.pid
                            [2.8.1-RC][root@pfSense.mymain.local]/root:: Too many arguments.
                            [2.8.1-RC][root@pfSense.mymain.local]/root: check_reload_status
                            ld-elf.so.hints
                            ld-elf32.so.hints
                            log
                            logpriv
                            mdns-bridge.pid
                            miniupnpd.pid
                            nginx-webConfigurator.pid
                            ntpd.pid
                            pfSense_version
                            pfSense_version.rc
                            php-fpm.pid
                            php-fpm.socket
                            ping_hosts.pid
                            radvd.pid
                            sshd.pid
                            sshguard.pid
                            syslog.pid
                            unbound.pid
                            update_alias_url_data.pid
                            updaterrd.sh.pid
                            utmp
                            utx.active
                            wireguardd.pid

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                            • stephenw10S Offline
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              OK so the file is not present which indicates it has completed boot.

                              Do you see the 'bootup complete' line in the system logs?

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                              • B Offline
                                Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10 EaseUS_2025_09_ 4_14_59_20.png

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                                • B Offline
                                  Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                                  last edited by Buffalo0207

                                  This post is deleted!
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                                  • B Offline
                                    Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10 I decided to do a fresh install of pfsense 2.8.1, and restored my original config.xml. The PHP_errors have now completely disappeared. However, the wireguard package still does not start at bootup.

                                    I installed the shellcmd package and noticed that wireguard has an earlyshellcmd at bootup. I think it starts, but then immediately stops as I noticed that both my wireguard gateways that I have setup on tun_wg1 and tun_wg2 in System>Routing are 'stopped' (greyed out) after a reboot - I have to manually start them both and then start Wireguard on the opening GUI page.

                                    I have uninstalled wireguard and reinstalled it, but the issue still persists.

                                    Could there be an issue in my config.xml file? I am happy to send you the relevant parts of the xml file if you tell me what to send.

                                    Otherwise, in the meantime, would you know the line of code that i can use in shellcmd to autommatically restart the two wireguard gateway interfaces so I don't have to manually start them on every reboot?

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                                    • stephenw10S Offline
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by

                                      It feels more like some sort of race condition at boot. Like Wireguard tries to start on an interface that hasn't been setup yet, maybe a VPN or other tunnel type. That GIF tunnel perhaps? Can you try disabling that as a test?

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                                      • B Offline
                                        Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                                        last edited by

                                        This post is deleted!
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                                        • B Offline
                                          Buffalo0207 @stephenw10
                                          last edited by Buffalo0207

                                          @stephenw10 I think we are getting somewhere and maybe to the route of the issue.

                                          I disabled the GIF tunnel (Hurricane Electric) as you suggested, rebooted, and the wireguard gateways and wireguard service status were stopped. However, when i started the GIF tunnel again, the wireguard gateways and wireguard service status automatically started up.

                                          There is a secondary issue however - once the wireguard service starts, the GIF Tunnel changes to 'Offline, Packetloss'. If I then restart the GIF tunnel, it remains 'Offline, Packetloss'.

                                          There definitely seems to be a link between the wireguard service and the GIF tunnel.

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                                          • stephenw10S Offline
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Hmm, is there some IP/subnet conflict between the GIF and Wireguard tunnels?

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