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    PfSense 2.0.1 locking up (hard)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • C
      clarknova
      last edited by

      I should add that increasing your max MBUFS is not going to put much of a dent in 4G of RAM. My system has 4G and no swap and is currently reporting 10% memory usage. My current states are reporting at 11795/389000 but I've seen them as high as 34000. I think memory is allocated on your max rather than current, so you can see that increasing your nmbclusters isn't likely to be a problem on your system.

      db

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      • B
        bkamen
        last edited by

        @clarknova:

        Theoretically the MBUF usage should level off at some point. Mine are at 34652/131072 and growing with 21 days of uptime. This is approximately the same uptime I had 21 days ago when one of the NICs stopped passing traffic, so I have yet to see my MBUF usage level off on this system. Mind you I have hundreds of users, so I can only guess that that is a factor, because my internet connection is less than 40 Mbps.

        Hmmm…

        This user has 50Mb/s and about 3,000 PC's (Mac/Windows Mix - but mostly probably 90% Mac).

        I just need to watch it. So far, the CPU has been pretty sleepy according to RRD. Peaks of 25% with most daily usage under 20%.
        (I'm assuming that's system total consider this is a dual-core w/HyperThreading mb)

        Very nice.

        The state table I've seen peak around 20,000 of 390,000. So.Also nice.

        Thanks for the data. I'll keep sharing as I watch this systems first day in "production" mode. (scaaaarrryyy... hahahah)

        -Ben

        –
        Ben - O.D.T., S.P.

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        • B
          bkamen
          last edited by

          @clarknova:

          I should add that increasing your max MBUFS is not going to put much of a dent in 4G of RAM. My system has 4G and no swap and is currently reporting 10% memory usage. My current states are reporting at 11795/389000 but I've seen them as high as 34000. I think memory is allocated on your max rather than current, so you can see that increasing your nmbclusters isn't likely to be a problem on your system.

          Agreed. I didn't think adding more MBUFs would be a big impact either. (thanks for the note though)

          Cheers,

          -ben

          –
          Ben - O.D.T., S.P.

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          • B
            bkamen
            last edited by

            BTW,

            Does MBUF's recent over idle time or do they allocate and then (ideally) stick at some average level?

            (i.e. what kind of behavior should I see if everything were running correctly?)

            -Ben

            –
            Ben - O.D.T., S.P.

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            • C
              clarknova
              last edited by

              I've never seen them decrease except with a reboot. I think best case is that they level off and stop increasing at some point.

              db

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              • B
                bkamen
                last edited by

                K.

                Good to know - I'll be watching.

                Thanks,

                -ben

                –
                Ben - O.D.T., S.P.

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                • M
                  mattlach
                  last edited by

                  @clarknova:

                  I have a SM-based pfsense with a D510 and a pair of Intel (em) on-board NICs. MBUF usage grows continually until exhausted, followed by a full lockup. The "kern.ipc.nmbclusters="131072"" setting puts your MBUF limit much higher than default and will postpone or prevent lockup, depending on how much you need. I think you can always set that number higher if you have the RAM to back it.

                  Forgive my possibly noobish question, but how do I set this setting?

                  Do I just add it on the:  "System -> Advanced -> System Tunables" page?

                  Does this setting require a reboot of the system?

                  If no, does changing the setting drop any current states?

                  Much obliged,
                  Matt

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                  • B
                    bkamen
                    last edited by

                    @mattlach:

                    @clarknova:

                    I have a SM-based pfsense with a D510 and a pair of Intel (em) on-board NICs. MBUF usage grows continually until exhausted, followed by a full lockup. The "kern.ipc.nmbclusters="131072"" setting puts your MBUF limit much higher than default and will postpone or prevent lockup, depending on how much you need. I think you can always set that number higher if you have the RAM to back it.

                    Forgive my possibly noobish question, but how do I set this setting?

                    Do I just add it on the:  "System -> Advanced -> System Tunables" page?

                    You have to look at the link above. There's a file in /boot you need to create and put those parms in.

                    Does this setting require a reboot of the system?
                    If no, does changing the setting drop any current states?

                    Yes. it needs a reboot. (so that should answer the 2nd part of that question)

                    It worked for me with no issues.. and I'm seeing a level off at about 7200 (7174) of 131072 after a day over heavy operation.

                    Shout if you need more,

                    -Ben

                    –
                    Ben - O.D.T., S.P.

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                    • C
                      clarknova
                      last edited by

                      Some settings can be set from the system tunables page, however this one cannot. You must add it to /boot/loader.conf.local (create the file if it does not exist) and then reboot for it to take effect. Do not add it to /boot/loader.conf, as this will be overwritten on the next system upgrade.

                      db

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                      • S
                        soyers
                        last edited by

                        Hi!

                        I have similar problem.
                        About month ago, when I updated to 2.0.1. version I have got situations, when pfsense freeezees.
                        Pfsense is installed on old HP E800 series server with PIII 1ghz CPU, 512Mb RAM and 17Gb SCSI hdd.
                        Firstly I though, that it is from bad RAM or HDD, but after changing them, everything continues.
                        I setted up another hardware, simple pc with 1,7Ghz Celeron Intel CPU, 768Mb RAM and 40Gb hdd.
                        Two days everything was ok, but then in one day it stops 3 TIMES!!
                        Then I thought, that it has got something common with ACPI, even I have got UPS.
                        Turned off ACPI support in pfsense.
                        Few days everything was OK after turning of ACPI in pfsense, but this night again it stops.
                        And I am a little bit desperate.
                        If hardware change doesn't help, it could be MBUFs?
                        Right now it is = 0.
                        In pfsense first page it shows 518/24896 MBUFs usage.

                        Any Ideas?

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