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    Go from 32 bit to 64 bit

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
    21 Posts 9 Posters 2.4k Views
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    • K Offline
      kejianshi
      last edited by

      Seems like 32 bit users might be thrown overboard soon anyway.

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      • N Offline
        NOYB
        last edited by

        @kejianshi:

        Seems like 32 bit users might be thrown overboard soon anyway.

        Oh I hope  not.  There's a lot of good used 32-bit hardware out there that makes great pfSense routers.  Used notebooks especially make good pfSense routers with built in UPS and console.

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        • K Offline
          kejianshi
          last edited by

          Well - Thats true.  But I'm sure it will become not worth the trouble very soon - If we haven't already arrived there.

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          • stephenw10S Offline
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Watch out for the update URL for 32bit getting carried across.
            Still plenty of 32bit systems out there. Alix boxes for example.

            Steve

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            • K Offline
              kejianshi
              last edited by

              How long do you suppose pfsense will continue to support 32 bit in all releases?

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              • stephenw10S Offline
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                Chris and JimT have both mentioned this in the past. I have no special insight here though.
                I have a few 32bit boxes I'd like to keep running.  ;)

                Steve

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                • K Offline
                  kejianshi
                  last edited by

                  My IMPRESSION based on those comments you spoke of was that 32 bit support might be on the way out eventually.

                  Actually - I should probably be asking what is the Plans of FreeBSD server distros in the future?

                  As an example, Ubuntu server distro was only 64 bit only at my last check.

                  This also got me thinking 32 bit may become unsupportable if BSD did something similar.

                  (all my 32 bit hardware has died - I just realized that)

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                  • A Offline
                    antillie
                    last edited by

                    For what its worth Windows Server 2008 R2 and later are all 64 bit only. 64 bit is the future. 32 bit platforms are on the way out in the enterprise world.

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                    • stephenw10S Offline
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      At some point 32bit support will be dropped, that's already been said. PC-BSD has gone 64bit only and the reason for that was the unfeasibility of supporting ZFS in 32bit. I would imagine (though I've not discussed this with anyone) that some core component becoming impractical to support for 32bit would force such a decision in pfSense.

                      That is not in any way an official comment!  ;)

                      Steve

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                      • A Offline
                        antillie
                        last edited by

                        I think its also worth noting that according to the pfSense docs AES-NI requires that you run a 64 bit pfSense install. For anyone doing serious VPN stuff on an AES-NI capable CPU this is very important.

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                        • stephenw10S Offline
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          That's true but I don't think there are any 32bit CPUs that support AES-NI so if you have a CPU that supports it you should be running 64bit anyway.
                          https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=84679.0

                          Steve

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                          • S Offline
                            saytar
                            last edited by

                            @doktornotor:

                            It works just fine, minus the RRD graphs.

                            Yes, IF you recreate the password file…...If your running PIA as a client only that is.

                            Restored twice now, everything was ok but the password file. Put it back in and volia! works again.

                            Guess it depends on where the password and login info file is located.

                            Not sure that my box and backup box will do 32 bit. Both are older 400 Mhz VIA motherboards EX Wyse thin clients. Seem to work fine for simple Home Boxes, PIA as an Openvpn client, But doing 64x, not sure. Seems that when I built first one tried the 64x nano and had some issues........the 32x worked fine.

                            For a Home Box upgrading to 64x could be overly expensive.....especially if you are trying to keep the physical size down and run a fan less low wattage box for quiet economical operation. The itx motherboards are still a tad pricy and the cases are higher than  some mATX cases. I've got less than 100.00 in each box. If you go to a water jacket heat sink on cpu your still in most cases getting a noisy fan and adding another 60+, so no gain and DB level goes up.

                            Seems like the trend though.....every time windows "upgrades", a matter of some opinion, the hardware requirements double.

                            Most of the newer thin clients that are acceptable performance wise lack the proper PCI/PCIe (which would make me half to replace my PCI Intel Quad) interface, and those that do would push me to invest in a more expensive PCIe card, are too expensive, and lack the physical space for the Network card.

                            I prefer the thin clients as most have fan less or extremely small cpu fan, no pwr supply fan, low power requirements 18-25 watt, etc. And they fit nicely on the back of the desk QUIETLY out of sight.

                            “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”

                            “Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.”
                            ― Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon

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                            • DerelictD Offline
                              Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                              last edited by

                              Yes, IF you recreate the password file…...If your running PIA as a client only that is.

                              Creating files outside of the pfSense GUI is a hack.  There is a file editor package (Filer) that would have probably done what you want.  None of the authors of the walk-throughs wanted to include installing another package to maintain that one small file, presumably for brevity's sake.

                              But all that is moot since 2.2 includes OpenVPN client username and password as part of the GUI now.

                              Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                              A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                              DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                              Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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                              • S Offline
                                saytar
                                last edited by

                                @Derelict:

                                Yes, IF you recreate the password file…...If your running PIA as a client only that is.

                                Creating files outside of the pfSense GUI is a hack.  There is a file editor package (Filer) that would have probably done what you want.  None of the authors of the walk-throughs wanted to include installing another package to maintain that one small file, presumably for brevity's sake.

                                But all that is moot since 2.2 includes OpenVPN client username and password as part of the GUI now.

                                True mostly moot for my hardware….....just burned fresh 2.2.1 image to a card and stuck it in my spare unit. Won't finish booting....gets a

                                Read_DMA error ACB 00 23 xx xx xx xx
                                CAM STATUS: Command Timeout

                                So it appears that 2.2.1 puts all my boxes out of contention for further upgrades.....I'm out of the running for the new and improved already.

                                Tried all the start options both on and off, no go..........The upgrade on the other box went just fine, appeared to work, no real apparent problems..............then did a reboot...........lost it. Had to replace the card with my other card with a 2.1.5 image rebooted, pulled in my backup.............Everything humming on 2.1.5.

                                Not going to be no more upgrades here.....the New and improved BSD claiming its first victims.

                                “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”

                                “Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.”
                                ― Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon

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                                • stephenw10S Offline
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Easy fix for that:
                                  https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Boot_Troubleshooting#pfSense_2.2_and_later
                                  I assume you're running a cf card in older hardware.

                                  Steve

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