PfBlocker

marcelloc · Dec 21, 2011, 10:50 AM

No, its 128mb RAM limit for php set on pfsense.

Metu69salemi · Dec 21, 2011, 10:56 AM

Sorry yes it was MB, not GB's.. assumed still that was kB's. :-[ :-[

raind0wn388 · Dec 21, 2011, 5:19 PM

I tried getting pfblocker to start, doesn't appear to be running in any of my system logs or processes. Tried reinstalling over and over, and the CIRDs in the dashboard widget still show a red down arrow. Any ideas how I can start the process manually via the shell?

marcelloc · Dec 22, 2011, 3:08 AM

What action did you choose for it?

You need at least one rule on interface to get pfBlocker working.

check firewall -> rules

raind0wn388 · Dec 21, 2011, 5:38 PM

Ah that was the reason! Didn't know that, thanks!

jroberts31xray · Dec 26, 2011, 9:48 PM

Good work guys! Nice new tools, usability and not to mention it works perfectly :P…..thanks for bringing two of my fav PF tools together.....Love it!

btw if anyone is using PF 2.0 as a "bridged router" ...set both options to "lan" .... just something i found out the hard way. ;D

marcelloc · Dec 26, 2011, 9:55 PM

Good work guys! Nice new tools, usability and not to mention it works perfectly …..thanks for bringing two of my fav PF tools together.....Love it!

Thanks for your feedback.

Consider donating to these package developers, we will feel fantastic too. ;)

sofakng · Dec 29, 2011, 1:32 AM

Does using these large lists slow down the routing at all? It seems like thousands of IPs in the PF tables would slow it down a bunch… ?

tommyboy180 · Dec 29, 2011, 2:02 AM

@sofakng:

Does using these large lists slow down the routing at all? It seems like thousands of IPs in the PF tables would slow it down a bunch… ?

It depends entirely on your system. Most hardware platforms will not be affected by 100's of thousands of IP's but an embedded system may. It completely depends.

Basically you want to limit your usage to less than 75 to 80 percent of your available RAM. If you're running other addons like squid then you may want to use less than 50 percent of available RAM.

In the cases where the system is slowed down by larger lists or the accumulation of large list the effects will be so small that you will not notice unless you host or depend on real time apps that are time sensitive. Other wise everything should be okay.

rdunkle · Dec 29, 2011, 9:02 PM

updated to pfsense 2.01. Removed country block and ipblock. Installed pfblocker
pfblock appears to work fine.
I am seeing a frequent messages in system log:
Dec 29 12:13:35 <user.notice>fw root: IP-Blocklist was found not running
Dec 29 12:16:26 <user.err>fw apinger: ALARM: WANGW(192.168.75.1) *** delay ***
Dec 29 12:16:36 <user.notice>fw check_reload_status: Reloading filter
Dec 29 12:16:42 <user.notice>fw root: IP-Blocklist was found not running
I do not see IP-Blocklist in the installed packages.
I see a reference in the config.xml :
–-------

<ipblocklist_settings><config><enable>0</enable></config></ipblocklist_settings>

why is IP-Blocklist trying to get restarted ?
Is there another file that still thinks IP-Blocklist is installed ?</user.notice></user.notice></user.err></user.notice>

marcelloc · Dec 29, 2011, 9:31 PM

maybe you need to delete its remaining script.

'/usr/local/pkg/pf/IP-Blocklist.sh'

Also look for ipblocklist scripts in /usr/local/etc/rc.d

I see a reference in the config.xml

follow these steps:

backup configuration
open /conf/config.xml
remove these entries
save file
reboot pfsense

taryezveb · Dec 29, 2011, 10:15 PM

I keep getting these messages in the system log:

Dec 29 17:01:02 php: : There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded - The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 17:01:02 php: : New alert found: There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 17:00:53 php: : The command '/sbin/pfctl -o basic -f /tmp/rules.debug' returned exit code '1', the output was '/tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded'

Dec 29 17:00:23 php: : There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded - The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 17:00:23 php: : New alert found: There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 17:00:15 php: : The command '/sbin/pfctl -o basic -f /tmp/rules.debug' returned exit code '1', the output was '/tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded'

Dec 29 16:59:45 php: : There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded - The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 16:59:45 php: : New alert found: There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 16:59:36 php: : The command '/sbin/pfctl -o basic -f /tmp/rules.debug' returned exit code '1', the output was '/tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded'

Dec 29 16:59:06 php: : There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded - The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 16:59:06 php: : New alert found: There were error(s) loading the rules: /tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded The line in question reads [19]: table <pfblockertbg>persist file "/var/db/aliastables/pfBlockerTBG.txt"

Dec 29 16:58:58 php: : The command '/sbin/pfctl -o basic -f /tmp/rules.debug' returned exit code '1', the output was '/tmp/rules.debug:19: cannot define table pfBlockerTBG: Cannot allocate memory pfctl: Syntax error in config file: pf rules not loaded'

But in the Dashboard everything looks good.

</pfblockertbg></pfblockertbg></pfblockertbg></pfblockertbg></pfblockertbg></pfblockertbg></pfblockertbg></pfblockertbg>

marcelloc · Dec 30, 2011, 12:04 AM

Increase even more Firewall Maximum Table Entries in system->advanced -> firewall/NAT

taryezveb · Dec 30, 2011, 12:28 AM

Ok, will try that. Now is at 3000000, will try with 4000000.

Edit: with 4000000 still getting those messages. Will keep trying until I find a number that works and report back.

marcelloc · Dec 30, 2011, 12:23 AM

Don't forget to see memory use in dashboard. If you are getting more then 80% may be time for an upgrade or smaller lists.

taryezveb · Dec 30, 2011, 12:30 AM

Memory is at 44% at the moment, I should have plenty of headroom.

tommyboy180 · Dec 30, 2011, 12:41 AM

Personally I took mine up to a high value that would never be reached (something like 9999999999999999 or similar). I did this for several reasons.
No memory is allocated based on this number and it makes it easy to increase my table usage without trying to find a limit that will work. So it doesn't cost you anything and this ensures that no matter how many lists I use I won't run into any issue. Just in case someone is wondering my system only has 2GB of mem which is more than enough.

taryezveb · Dec 30, 2011, 12:53 AM

I was trying to do it incrementally, but that is not working. Got up to 15000000, but then saw your post. So I'm going to try that large number[9999999999999999].

marcelloc · Dec 30, 2011, 1:00 AM

Are you sure you are not reading an old alert?

BTW, if a really large value does not exaust memory, It's an excelent option to prevent errors.

taryezveb · Dec 30, 2011, 1:31 AM

@marcelloc:

Are you sure you are not reading an old alert?

BTW, if a really large value does not exaust memory, It's an excelent option to prevent errors.

Yes, I was making sure they where not old. I have 4GB in this box. Current memory usage:
Mem: 603M Active, 67M Inact, 1151M Wired, 1048K Cache, 406M Buf, 1991M Free
Swap: 8192M Total, 8192M Free

When I initially click on save, it all works fine for a few minutes[~2]. Then after a random amount of time, clicking different menus to check the settings the error pops back up. At first after using 9999999999999999; I was still getting the error. It has now been ~19 minutes since the last error message. Will keep my on it too see if the error comes back. If the error comes back, I will try deleting the offending list and re adding it, to see if that helps.

Thanks for the help!