Delay bootup time options?

cobrahead

I would like to be able to delay the bootup of the pfsense box in case of power failure, allowing time for my modem to first come back online. It would be nice to have the option to skip the delay, in the case that I am rebooting manually and the cable modem is up. Any such options in pfsense settings?

Thanks

jimp

There is nothing in the options for that, and certainly nothing that would do it on a case-by-case basis, but FreeBSD does have an option you might be able to leverage:

You can edit /boot/loader.conf.local (create it if it does not exist) and add this:

autoboot_delay="n"

Where n is the number of seconds to wait.

This is a countdown timer at the loader screen, so if you are watching the console you could manually press enter to proceed and skip the delay that way.

cobrahead

@jimp:

There is nothing in the options for that, and certainly nothing that would do it on a case-by-case basis, but FreeBSD does have an option you might be able to leverage:

You can edit /boot/loader.conf.local (create it if it does not exist) and add this:
autoboot_delay="n"
Where n is the number of seconds to wait.

This is a countdown timer at the loader screen, so if you are watching the console you could manually press enter to proceed and skip the delay that way.

I will try that this weekend. Thanks for the pointer!

cobrahead

@jimp:

You can edit /boot/loader.conf.local (create it if it does not exist)

What is the best way to create loader.conf.local?

jimp

Depends on what you're most comfortable with. ssh in and use an editor like ee or vi, or use the GUI: Diagnostics > Edit File

cobrahead

@jimp:

Depends on what you're most comfortable with. ssh in and use an editor like ee or vi, or use the GUI: Diagnostics > Edit File

If I can use the GUI I will probably go that route. Thanks again.

cobrahead

That worked perfectly. Thanks! :)

I am putting this delay in place to help my network recover from a power outage. After a power failure my entire system becomes energized at the same time. This delayed boot on the pfsense box allows my modem to come back online first.

I know sophisticated PDU equipment is available to control the order of network devices being powered up after an electrical outage. Beyond something like that, is this the best way to accomplish a smooth recovery to 'online' status of a network after a power failure? It seems like this would come up more often… perhaps there is a setting within pfsense that handles this sort of issue.