Settings blown away after restart
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Hi.
I have Axiomtek NA-820 with pfsense 1.2.3. When I restart the box all the settings get back to settings done a year or so ago (not default ones, just particular older settings). When I try to recover settings from a back up file, the router restarts and the situation is the same - it is back to the same older settings. So, every time when I restart or if there is a power failure I have to make settings manually.There is also another issue that I think is linked to the previous one. I tried to manually update the firmware to version 2.1.5. The process continues for some time, the router restarts automatically and it is back again to version 1.2.3.
The problem is the router is used in a company where down time is critical and I do not have an opportunity to develop the router from the scratch again.Does anyone have ideas? What could be the cause? or any suggestions?
Thanks in advance
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1/ There are upgrade logs (/conf/upgrade_log) for a reason.
2/ Why are you updating to 2.1.5 while we are at 2.2.1?
3/ Backup the configuration, do a fresh install of latest version and restore the config. -
Your issue sounds odd. Are you using Nano images? Could you be booting into an old nano image?
As for the upgrade, I am pretty sure there are major revision differences at the BSD level between 1.x.x and 2.0.x.
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Upgrade_Guide#pfSense_1.2.x_to_2.0_Upgrade_Notes
Do you have packages installed?
If downtime is so undesirable for this situation but the upgrade is absolutely necessary, then I would suggest building a new unit side by side, importing the configuration, and then just swinging the cables from old firewall to new. That might be a good option as the hardware could always be to blame.
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Yep, check the upgrade log. Also accessible in Diagnostics > NanoBSD (though maybe not in 1.2.3.)
I would suggest that either your boot media is damaged so that the new image cannot be written to it or that your config cannot be translated correctly to the new format resulting in a bad config file and the box is falling back to a backup file. Check in /conf for backup configs.Steve
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Yeah - I expect this was a little bit like trying to update from XP to windows 8 directly and expecting all your programs and settings to be fine.
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1/ There are upgrade logs (/conf/upgrade_log) for a reason.
2/ Why are you updating to 2.1.5 while we are at 2.2.1?
3/ Backup the configuration, do a fresh install of latest version and restore the config.Thanks for your reply. I am trying to upgrade to 2.1.5 as I tried the upgrade of 1.2.3 to 2.1.5 in a lab environment and it worked fine.
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Your issue sounds odd. Are you using Nano images? Could you be booting into an old nano image?
As for the upgrade, I am pretty sure there are major revision differences at the BSD level between 1.x.x and 2.0.x.
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Upgrade_Guide#pfSense_1.2.x_to_2.0_Upgrade_Notes
Do you have packages installed?
If downtime is so undesirable for this situation but the upgrade is absolutely necessary, then I would suggest building a new unit side by side, importing the configuration, and then just swinging the cables from old firewall to new. That might be a good option as the hardware could always be to blame.
Hi. I have ntop installed. I know that I have to remove packages first then to try to upgrade. The problem is after the restart of the system packages and the previous version of pfsense are back.
Swinging cables is another issue. Believe it or not our ISP fixes the MAC address of the box connected and every time you decide to change the hardware you need to call and inform them of changes. Then if they are free and in a good mood they do something on their side to give an access to a box with a new MAC. Keeping in mind the quality of customer service …
Probably, I will find out the type of the hdd in the box, then I will get a similar hdd, remove the old one and try to install the latest one on the new hdd. If everything works - OK, if no I will install the old HDD and boot the system and look for another box.
In regards to upgrade from 1.2.3 to 2.1.5 as I mentioned in my previous post it works (I have tested in the virtual box and it is fine, no issues). -
@Art:
Believe it or not our ISP fixes the MAC address of the box connected and every time you decide to change the hardware you need to call and inform them of changes.
That's the least of the problems. You can spoof any MAC address you need.
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@Art:
Believe it or not our ISP fixes the MAC address of the box connected and every time you decide to change the hardware you need to call and inform them of changes.
That's the least of the problems. You can spoof any MAC address you need.
Thanks a lot.
I cannot find upgrade_log. I enabled SSH, used Putty to connect to the box and was able to find config.xml in conf but there was no upgrade_log. I also looked for upgrade_log in var/log. I can find some log files but the upgrade_log is not there.
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I already posted where the log is.
$ ls -l /conf/upgrade_log.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 769795 Mar 19 17:19 /conf/upgrade_log.txt
Same thing, nanobsd or full install.
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I already posted where the log is.
$ ls -l /conf/upgrade_log.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 769795 Mar 19 17:19 /conf/upgrade_log.txt
Same thing, nanobsd or full install.
In /conf/ I can find only the "backup" and the config.xml
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"setting blown away after restart"
Well - Thats one way to become expert (-:
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I have similar issue…..settings didn't go away, but my HAVP will go away.....leaving only a "shell" inside pfSense menu.
i.e. Everytime I reboot my machine, the group setting (HAVP group) and some executables are gone, I have no clue at all.... -
Have you tried a wipe, reinstall and reconfiguration by hand?
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Not yet, but going to do so (since mine is a new box, still testing)
But does it matter with nanobsd? I have only 1G ram + 1G CF card, not sure if this is the issue (maybe disk full so that nothing can be sync?) -
Maybe - There are some guys here with more experience than me in that department.
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Are you able to create a file in /conf at all? Perhaps your boot media is damaged to the extent that it's permanently read-only.
If not that then it's not even starting to upgrade so check the main system logs for errors.Steve
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I tried to create a file in /conf and I was able to create it. I will have a look at system log once again.
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Here is my solution. Purchased a new 60 GB ssd drive, removed the old one, installed the new drive, installed the latest version of pfsense from USB, restored settings and was ready in 1 hour and 10 minutes.
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What you did is very sensible. Although, you have denied me the entertainment I normally get watching people jump through crazy hoops for weeks trying to save a couple of bucks. :(