PFBlockerNG 2.1.1_2 Memory Errors

rajl · Aug 3, 2016, 5:53 PM

I'm having constant "out of memory" errors related to the latest release of PFBlockerNG. An example error message reads:


/usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php: PHP ERROR: Type: 1, File: /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc, Line: 3874, Message: Allowed memory size of 536870912 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 72 bytes)

I have a really simple PFBlockerNG ruleset – block all incoming connections except for IPv4 and IPv6 connections from the United States + the ad-blocker built into PFBlocker.

I've seen other people on this forum report similar problems, but their solutions don't seem to work for me. For example, I have already increased the setting for Firewall Maximum Table Entries from 2000000 to 4000000 (see e.g. https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=102470.msg643960#msg643960) but continue to get memory errors.

Any other ideas?

Qinn · Aug 3, 2016, 5:58 PM

You are not the only one https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=102470.750 see Reply #763 and Reply #760….

RonpfS · Aug 3, 2016, 6:32 PM

@rajl:

I'm having constant "out of memory" errors related to the latest release of PFBlockerNG. An example error message reads:
/usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php: PHP ERROR: Type: 1, File: /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc, Line: 3874, Message: Allowed memory size of 536870912 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 72 bytes)
I have a really simple PFBlockerNG ruleset – block all incoming connections except for IPv4 and IPv6 connections from the United States + the ad-blocker built into PFBlocker.

I've seen other people on this forum report similar problems, but their solutions don't seem to work for me. For example, I have already increased the setting for Firewall Maximum Table Entries from 2000000 to 4000000 (see e.g. https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=102470.msg643960#msg643960) but continue to get memory errors.

Any other ideas?

This is also related to the MaxMind db issue. But fixing this in that part of the code isn't so simple as BBcan177 is away at the moment.

Check the selection of countries in the GeoIP tabs, someone reported that the selection was inverted at some point.

rajl · Aug 3, 2016, 6:59 PM

What should I be looking for? I only have one country selected (United States) and I did invert the rule (i.e. block all inbound connections except from U.S.). Are there any solutions other than to change the maximum number of table entries? I have 8GB of RAM installed in my PFSense box, so the idea of running out of memory is a bit flumoxing as by all measures, I should have more than enough.

Thanks

RonpfS · Aug 3, 2016, 7:15 PM

That was just to make sure that nothing got crooked in the config. One users reported that the selection was inverted somehow on his setup.

The only fix will come from BBcan177, but for now is doesn't have affordable Internet access somewhere in the middle of the sea. :(

RonpfS · Aug 4, 2016, 7:41 PM

The problem seems to be related to i386 installation.
The fix is to edit /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc (Diagnostics/Edit File)
go to line 236

change```
pfb_global();

// DNSBL Lighttpd HTTPS Daemon (Scans Lighttpd dnsbl_error.log for requested https domain names)
if (isset($argv[1]) && $argv[1] == 'dnsbl') {

to```
pfb_global();
ini_set('memory_limit', '300M');

// DNSBL Lighttpd HTTPS Daemon (Scans Lighttpd dnsbl_error.log for requested https domain names)
if (isset($argv[1]) && $argv[1] == 'dnsbl') {

I tested with 128M, 200M and it fails
256M succeeds, but BBcan177 recommends using 300M. You might need more depending on your system.

So for i386, the default is 128M so very low, it should be 256M or more depending on you setup.
For amd64 system, the default is 512M, so you might need to bump it to 640M or 768M.

after the modifying the file, go to shell and run

php /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php dc

Once this succeed, you do not need to re-run the dc command. The GeoIP db will change next month.

Gerard64 · Aug 3, 2016, 9:01 PM

Thanks for the tip and help!
I changed the file like you wrote and i run the command in a putty terminal on the router now it hangs like 5 minutes on:

[2.3.2-RELEASE][root@router.xxxxx.xxx]/root: php /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php dc
Country code update Start [ 08/03/16 22:51:59 ]
Converting MaxMind Country databases for pfBlockerNG.
Processing ISO IPv4 Continent/Country Data
Processing ISO IPv6 Continent/Country Data

The prompt is gone it seems its waiting for something.

Gerard64 · Aug 3, 2016, 9:03 PM

After a long wait it outputs:

[2.3.2-RELEASE][root@router.xxxxx.xxx]/root: php /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php dc
Country code update Start [ 08/03/16 22:51:59 ]
Converting MaxMind Country databases for pfBlockerNG.
Processing ISO IPv4 Continent/Country Data
Processing ISO IPv6 Continent/Country Data
Creating pfBlockerNG Continent XML files
IPv4 Africa
IPv6 Africa
IPv4 Antarctica
IPv6 Antarctica
IPv4 Asia
IPv6 Asia
IPv4 Europe
IPv6 Europe

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 314572800 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 72 bytes) in /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php on line 728

Call Stack:
0.0075 422488 1. {main}() /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php:0
603.9766 12588288 2. pfblockerng_get_countries() /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php:105
612.1411 44556872 3. explode() /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php:728

PHP ERROR: Type: 1, File: /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php, Line: 728, Message: Allowed memory size of 314572800 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 72 bytes)[2.3.2-RELEASE][root@router.xxxxxxx.xxx]/root:

RonpfS · Aug 3, 2016, 9:06 PM

Yes it takes 5+minutes to complete

Try increasing to 400M, 500M up to 750M

Gerard64 · Aug 3, 2016, 9:39 PM

Thanks RonpfS ..!
After I set it to 500M it worked.

Qinn · Aug 4, 2016, 6:19 AM

@Gé:

Thanks RonpfS ..!
After I set it to 500M it worked.

Thanks @RonpfS setting the memory_limit on line 236 to 300M fixed it, strange that @Gé needed 500M?

Perforado · Aug 4, 2016, 9:02 AM

For me i needed even 500M didn't work :/ 640M worked for me.

RonpfS · Aug 4, 2016, 7:49 AM

@Perforado:

For me i needed even more as 500M didn't work :/ 768M worked for me.

Which version of pfsense?
x386 or amd64 ?
how much ram ?

Perforado · Aug 4, 2016, 8:06 AM

CPU: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU C2558 @ 2.40GHz (2400.06-MHz K8-class CPU)
RAM: 8192MB

pfSense 2.3.3.a.20160803.1621
pfBlockerNG 2.1.1_2

RonpfS · Aug 4, 2016, 8:10 AM

Well on amd64 the default is 512MB.

/var in Ramdisk ? getting full ?

RonpfS · Aug 4, 2016, 9:21 AM

@oswoldy:

Ok, while the php /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php dc command works, the cron jobs are still crashing and giving errors, I am currently at 2GB limit and climbing.

If you run the dc command, it changes the GeoIP database, you have to run a force reload after the dc complete.

Also check diagnostic system activity to see if there isn't something unusual.
Look at the System log for hints on the failure mode.
An can you post the portion of the pfblockerng.log file where you have failure.

RonpfS · Aug 4, 2016, 9:50 AM

@oswoldy:

@RonpfS:

@oswoldy:

Ok, while the php /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php dc command works, the cron jobs are still crashing and giving errors, I am currently at 2GB limit and climbing.

If you run the dc command, it changes the GeoIP database, you have to run a force reload after the dc complete.

Also check diagnostic system activity to see if there isn't something unusual.
Look at the System log for hints on the failure mode.
An can you post the portion of the pfblockerng.log file where you have failure.

Ok, I ran the dc command, followed by a force reload, no different. If I remove pfB_NAmerica_v4 then it works fine, crash report is:

Crash report begins. Anonymous machine information:

amd64
10.3-RELEASE-p5
FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p5 #0 7307492(RELENG_2_3_2): Tue Jul 19 13:29:35 CDT 2016 root@ce23-amd64-builder:/builder/pfsense-232/tmp/obj/builder/pfsense-232/tmp/FreeBSD-src/sys/pfSense

Crash report details:

PHP Errors:
[04-Aug-2016 10:29:24 Europe/London] PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 524288000 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 20 bytes) in /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc on line 3875
[04-Aug-2016 10:29:24 Europe/London] PHP Stack trace:
[04-Aug-2016 10:29:24 Europe/London] PHP 1. {main}() /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php:0
[04-Aug-2016 10:29:24 Europe/London] PHP 2. sync_package_pfblockerng() /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php:87
[04-Aug-2016 10:29:24 Europe/London] PHP 3. file() /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc:3875

I have reduced the limit back to 500MB as increasing it wasnt making a difference, the dc command still completes but not a force reload or CRON.

Once the dc command complete, the MaxMind database is created, so you do not need to re run it.

What about the pfblockerng.log ? What are the symptoms ?
Maybe raise it to 640M or 768M?

wiz561 · Aug 4, 2016, 1:17 PM

I started a thread up over in the pfblocker posting and just letting everybody know that I'm also experiencing very similar memory issues.

Thismorning when I logged in, I also had a pfsense crash report with the following:

					Crash report begins.  Anonymous machine information:

amd64
10.3-RELEASE-p5
FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p5 #0 7307492(RELENG_2_3_2): Tue Jul 19 13:29:35 CDT 2016     root@ce23-amd64-builder:/builder/pfsense-232/tmp/obj/builder/pfsense-232/tmp/FreeBSD-src/sys/pfSense

Crash report details:

PHP Errors:
[04-Aug-2016 00:18:40 America/Chicago] PHP Fatal error:  Allowed memory size of 402653184 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 72 bytes) in /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc on line 3868
[04-Aug-2016 00:18:40 America/Chicago] PHP Stack trace:
[04-Aug-2016 00:18:40 America/Chicago] PHP   1\. {main}() /etc/rc.start_packages:0
[04-Aug-2016 00:18:40 America/Chicago] PHP   2\. sync_package() /etc/rc.start_packages:90
[04-Aug-2016 00:18:40 America/Chicago] PHP   3\. eval() /etc/inc/pkg-utils.inc:631
[04-Aug-2016 00:18:40 America/Chicago] PHP   4\. sync_package_pfblockerng() /etc/inc/pkg-utils.inc(631) : eval()'d code:3
[04-Aug-2016 00:18:40 America/Chicago] PHP   5\. array_merge() /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc:3868

Filename: /var/crash/minfree
2048

lucasrca · Aug 4, 2016, 2:02 PM

How I solved my problem:

My pfSense config:

Version: 2.3.2 (amd64), running on VMWare 6
– Snort
-- pfBlockerNG
-- OpenVPN
-- Open-vm-tools
-- DHCP Relay
-- Quagga OSPFd with another 2 pfSense.
~3000 users simultaneously
2 x 100 Mbit uplinks
16 GB RAM
80 GB SAS
CPU Type: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-4620 v2 @ 2.60GHz
16 CPUs: 8 package(s) x 2 core(s)
8 Interfaces, including WAN
routing, filtering and relaying dhcp to 16 branches over MPLS, WiMax and fiber
Load balance and failover
QoS with Traffic shaper

Updated Firewall Maximum Table Entries: 4000000 -> 8000000
1.1) Reboot
Edited /usr/local/pkg/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.inc and set memory limit to 500M
Executed php /usr/local/www/pfblockerng/pfblockerng.php dc
It's alive.

Thanks to all involved.

Mithrondil · Aug 4, 2016, 2:34 PM

POST-INSTALL script failed
Message from GeoIP-1.6.9:
GeoIP does not ship with the actual data files. You must download
them yourself! Please run:

/usr/local/bin/geoipupdate.sh