RCC-VE installation

No0Vad

@No0Vad:
I think I've managed to move forward a tiny bit on the LiveCD part, however. When trying to mount i get a Operation not permitted error.
[2.2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/: /sbin/mount /dev/ada0s1a /mnt
mount: /dev/ada0s1a: R/W mount of / denied. Filesystem is not clean - run fsck.: Operation not permitted
Are you installing to a SATA device or to the internal 4GB flash memory (eMMC)?

A sata device.

I finally got it to work by running.

fsck -tufs -y /dev/ada0s1a
/sbin/mount /dev/ada0s1a /mnt

docwho76

@Renato:

@docwho76:
So I just downloaded this image and wrote it to a spare USB thumbdrive I had laying around and booted this on my RCC-VE and ran into this:
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): got CAM status 0x50
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): fatal error, failed to attach to device
Will try this with a different USB thumbdrive just to make sure I dont have a bum drive(its sorta old), but it does seem like the bootseq destroys the USB device I'm booting off of.

Also, in this 2.2.2 image the pfsense boot menu is missing options I'm used to seeing.
Based on this error message, I'd suggest the same: try a different USB stick.

What options you are not seeing?

As it turns out, it was a bum usb stick. A new one yielded positive results. As for what options I was missing in the boot menu, it looks like in 2.2.2 theyve removed the "Boot from USB media" option probably because I think it looks like theyve just put in the assumptions for that into the default options now. You can see the 2.2.2-DEV menu in my original post. IIt's not a big deal.

One other thing I did run into is, when doing the custom install from a usb memstick image after the install the fstab will be wrong and you'll have to swap da1 with da0

@docwho76:

@Renato:
@docwho76:
So I just downloaded this image and wrote it to a spare USB thumbdrive I had laying around and booted this on my RCC-VE and ran into this:
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): got CAM status 0x50
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): fatal error, failed to attach to device
Will try this with a different USB thumbdrive just to make sure I dont have a bum drive(its sorta old), but it does seem like the bootseq destroys the USB device I'm booting off of.

Also, in this 2.2.2 image the pfsense boot menu is missing options I'm used to seeing.
Based on this error message, I'd suggest the same: try a different USB stick.

What options you are not seeing?
As it turns out, it was a bum usb stick. A new one yielded positive results. As for what options I was missing in the boot menu, it looks like in 2.2.2 theyve removed the "Boot from USB media" option probably because I think it looks like theyve just put in the assumptions for that into the default options now. You can see the 2.2.2-DEV menu in my original post. IIt's not a big deal.

One other thing I did run into is, when doing the custom install from a usb memstick image after the install the fstab will be wrong and you'll have to swap da1 with da0

Did you report this to someone who can change it?

docwho76

@gonzopancho:

@docwho76:

As it turns out, it was a bum usb stick. A new one yielded positive results. As for what options I was missing in the boot menu, it looks like in 2.2.2 theyve removed the "Boot from USB media" option probably because I think it looks like theyve just put in the assumptions for that into the default options now. You can see the 2.2.2-DEV menu in my original post. IIt's not a big deal.

One other thing I did run into is, when doing the custom install from a usb memstick image after the install the fstab will be wrong and you'll have to swap da1 with da0

Did you report this to someone who can change it?

Gonzo I did mention this thread to pfsense help, but i'll send a more specific message about it since current docs assume old pfsense boot menu options.

Also, one semi-related question. Is there a way to know what parts of the XML config import will overwrite the boot options? In attempting to migrate from my old ALIX2D13 system to the RCC-VE I attempted to be clever(read:lazy) and selectively import parts of my old config into the new 2.2.2-DEV system. First time I did this I just dumped the whole file in, reassigned the interfaces, rebooted….and no working pfsense. So I wiped, reinstalled, and then did a selective import and watched the reboot via the console and after the initial boot the console output stops like the serial port mapping had been reverted.

So now I'm on my 3rd wipe, not bothering to import anything and recreating all the rules by hand. Is there a reason why the boot.conf is getting overwritten even on a selective config import or did I forget something about how the config import works here?

frater

I am currently running the 2.1.5 in production after doing a live install and replacing the config of the previous machine.
The only thing I did was changing /boot/loader.conf on the USB-stick I used to install it on SATA and then changing that same file again on the SATA.

I'm not having the problems the others are having…

Is there really more to it or shouldn't I worry now everything is working?

Hi,

@frater

I am currently running the 2.1.5 in production after doing a live install and replacing
the config of the previous machine.

On what did you install? Soldered on board nand, SSD, HDD, or mSATA?
Did you wipe out the pre installed Linux OS from the nand storage?

The only thing I did was changing /boot/loader.conf on the USB-stick I
used to install it on SATA and then changing that same file again on the SATA.

What kind of USB stick did you using?

I'm not having the problems the others are having…

Be happy about.

Is there really more to it or shouldn't I worry now everything is working?

upgrading to 2.2.1 perhaps?
activating TRIM support for mSATA or SATA SSD if in usage?
setting up another ether dump buffer for the LAN Ports if this is needed?

Activation of TRIM support is semiautomatic now, IIRC.

mwp821

It looks like the QSGs are now available for the Netgate 2440 and 4860 and pfSense 2440 and 2860:

rerouted

To the NetGate pfSense team I believe I found a small typo.

On the SG-2440 QuickStart guide
Under "Initial Configuration" it reads…
Once the system is booted, the attached computer should receive a 192.1.68.1 IP address from the DHCP server that is active on the pfSense appliance.

I believe that should be a 192.168.1.x address.

Thanks for all you guys/gals do!

Want to know how many times I marked this in red?

derringer66

With pfSense-memstick-ADI-2.2.2-DEVELOPMENT-amd64-20150401-1519.img.gz installed, do I use this as my update URL?

https://snapshots.pfsense.org/FreeBSD_releng/10.1/amd64/pfSense_RELENG_2_2/updates/

If so, will the updates break anything for this device?

rbgarga

@docwho76:

@Renato:
@docwho76:
So I just downloaded this image and wrote it to a spare USB thumbdrive I had laying around and booted this on my RCC-VE and ran into this:
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): got CAM status 0x50
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): fatal error, failed to attach to device
Will try this with a different USB thumbdrive just to make sure I dont have a bum drive(its sorta old), but it does seem like the bootseq destroys the USB device I'm booting off of.

Also, in this 2.2.2 image the pfsense boot menu is missing options I'm used to seeing.
Based on this error message, I'd suggest the same: try a different USB stick.

What options you are not seeing?
As it turns out, it was a bum usb stick. A new one yielded positive results. As for what options I was missing in the boot menu, it looks like in 2.2.2 theyve removed the "Boot from USB media" option probably because I think it looks like theyve just put in the assumptions for that into the default options now. You can see the 2.2.2-DEV menu in my original post. IIt's not a big deal.

One other thing I did run into is, when doing the custom install from a usb memstick image after the install the fstab will be wrong and you'll have to swap da1 with da0

It's now fixed on latest snapshots. Thanks!

mwp821

Thought I'd crosspost this for anyone not monitoring some of the other threads about this hardware.

Anybody with a new RCC-VE or SG system should probably enable PowerD per this thread if they haven't already!

frater

@BlueKobold:

On what did you install? Soldered on board nand, SSD, HDD, or mSATA?
Did you wipe out the pre installed Linux OS from the nand storage?

I installed it on a 35 GB mSata-device.
No, I left the CentOS on the NAND-storage. I will probably have no use for it, but you'll never know.
I thought I ordered a dedicated Pfsense-box, but due to some misunderstandings I ended up with this device.

@BlueKobold:

What kind of USB stick did you using?

I used a Kingston USB-stick which I loaded with the live installer for 2.1.5
I changed the /boot/loader.conf using my old pfsense box so I could run the installer.
After it was on the SATA I needed to do that again (this time using the USB-stick to boot FreeBSD) on the SATA.
I merely needed to download the latest config.xml from the web (I have an hourly back-up of my pfsense-box) and swap the UTP-cables.

@BlueKobold:

Is there really more to it or shouldn't I worry now everything is working?

upgrading to 2.2.1 perhaps?

On my previous machine and on a test-run the 2.2.1 failed to run properly with the config I have in production.
I did some changes to the config to make use of the 2 extra Ethernet-ports and discovered an orphaned gateway that belonged to an interface that has been deleted several months ago.
Maybe it was the reason the 2.2.1 failed to run.

@BlueKobold:

activating TRIM support for mSATA or SATA SSD if in usage?

Gonzopancho wrote that that isn't needed anymore.
@BlueKobold:

setting up another ether dump buffer for the LAN Ports if this is needed?

Could you elaborate on that?
I have no idea what you mean by that.

I do have some problems with the webconfigurator not being available sometimes and ntopng is also a bit flaky.
I'm afraid the CPU is not up to it….

Brutal

FYI, Loading the Development 2.2.2 with a memstick works great to the eMMC, BUT…..

If you pull the power and reboot several times, you'll see the file system get more and more corrupted until it doesn't boot anymore.

Perhaps a case where you should be putting nanobsd on this?

I don't think nano is all that and a bag of chips. It has it's place.

I'm not sure why you love pulling the power on your box, either.

Brutal

In the field, at a customer site, you don't always have a nice environment where you don't have power outages. Even with UPS systems, you still have the real world situation of being able to survive a power outage.

I have a couple of hundred Alix boxes (nanobsd) in the field, a few dozen APU's and even some FW-7541's

My concern isn't with trying to defend my new toys, but to be able to support my customers. The issue I have posted is a real problem for this box and makes it unusable outside of the lab unless the issue is resolved. With this issue, in this configuration, it is untrustworthy. If that is not important to you, then good for you.

@Brutal:

With this issue, in this configuration, it is untrustworthy. If that is not important to you, then good for you.

I love it when people attempt to ascribe things to me that I did not say.

When I was the CTO of Wayport (now AT&T WiFi Services) I had 25,000 systems in the field running linux, and that didn't include the purpose-built managed Ethernet switches (some with 10/100 Mbps PHYs, some with VDSL PHYs) that also ran linux. (FreeBSD wasn't an option then.) IIRC, there were over 100K linux boxes under management in the field, never mind the 'back end'.

So… I am aware of the issue(s), and I know how to address them.

You don't care as much about nano as you do a stable filesystem. The thing in the 'nano' images that gives you that today is the
fact that all the disk-resident parts of the system are mounted read-only. Future direction is a much more stable filesystem.

Brutal

I asked a simple question, if nanobsd wouldn't fit better due to the OS corruption caused by power loss. Perhaps the way I asked it, you took it a different way. It would seem instead of addressing the actual issue, you wanted to dance around your own agenda.

You then chose to be accusatory and make light of "pulling the power" on the system as if I liked to do so. It is called testing. It failed. I added that information so it might help someone else down the road as well as seeing if there is something I might be missing. The question at this time is how this gets addressed.

I would think the whole idea of the forum is to share information so we may all achieve useable systems. None of your answers to my original comments are "helpful" in any way and I'm not really sure why you seem to be taking those comments as some personal attack which is definitely not my intent.

phil.davis

Maybe I missed it in all the banter here, but can someone confirm:
a) Is it possible to get a nanoBSD install onto the internal flash of these boxes?

b) If so, is there a published procedure to do it? Is it complicated or easy?

The sun goes down, the battery is old and goes flat, the guy in some remote office just likes pulling the plug,… stuff happens. I like the nanoBSD because I have never yet had a problem as a result of unexpected power loss.