Config Restore Behavior Differs Between Chrome and Firefox (pfSense 2.8.0)
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Update (Resolved): False Alarm – Configuration Mix-Up
After retracing my steps, I realized the issue stemmed from mistakenly attempting to restore an OPNsense 25.7.2 configuration into pfSense 2.8.0. That was the root of the confusion—not a bug in pfSense itself.
Apologies for the noise! I’ve posted a follow-up clarifying the situation, but I wanted to leave this note here for anyone who might encounter a similar scenario during cable-to-fiber prep work. Lesson learned: double-check your config file origins before importing
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read or respond.Hi all,
I’ve encountered an odd discrepancy when saving and restoring configuration files in pfSense 2.8.0, and I’d appreciate any insights or confirmation from others.
Observations:- I saved the config file using both Chrome and Firefox on the same system.
- The Firefox-saved config is 25 KB, while the Chrome-saved config is 21 KB.
- Both files appear structurally correct at the top (XML header and tags intact).
- However, pfSense was only able to successfully restore the Firefox-saved config. The Chrome version failed to restore.
What Worked:- Firefox-saved config restored without issue.
- System rebooted as expected after restore.
What Failed:-
Chrome-saved config triggered the following error message:
"The following input errors were detected:
A full configuration restore was selected but a pfsense tag could not be located" -
No reboot occurred, and the configuration was not applied.
🧪 Environment:
- pfSense version: 2.8.0
- Chrome: 139.0.7258.139
- Firefox: 142.0
- OS: Windows 11 24H2 (OS Build 26100.4946)
Hypothesis:It seems Chrome may be truncating or mishandling the download, even though the file looks fine at first glance.
Has anyone else seen this behavior? Is this a known issue with pfSense’s config export mechanism or a browser-specific quirk?
Thanks in advance—and if this is confirmed, I’ll submit a bug report via Redmine.
Lawrence Houston
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@LHoust Random guess would be line endings/CRLF or similar encoding. Though I wouldn’t think CRLF would affect things.
Drag the “bad” file into an empty tab in Firefox which should display the XML.
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@SteveITS I went back and retraced my steps, ONLY to realized that I had actually been attempting to restore an OPNsense config and NOT a pfSense config into pfSense 2.8.0...
Today I had been running the same exercise (prep for switching from Cable to Fiber) in both...
Hence False Alarm: pfSense 2.8.0 was "Correct", in fact it was NOT a pfSense config!!!
Restoring Today's Initial Chrome config into pfSense 2.8.0 works as expected...
Lawrence Houston
