Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Install PFSense on a Sophos SG appliance

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    51 Posts 14 Posters 24.3k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • oz9elsO
      oz9els @stephenw10
      last edited by

      @stephenw10
      Hi Steve, thanks for your interest.
      The first 4 ports are reported as Intel 10G media ports, in the initial/config console (and are not working).
      The next 4 ports are reported as Intel Gigabit ports (em) and works fine. Besides that pfSense works great on the Sophus SG 125 box. About 300MB/s on a OpenVPN.

      Not sure which driver is used, but I will do a "ifconfig -vm", when i get home to the box.

      k.r. Niels

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        @oz9els said in Install PFSense on a Sophos SG appliance:

        About 300MB/s on a OpenVPN.

        Nice. What CPU does it use?
        If it reports 10G NICs they will be ix which is interesting to find next to em NICs.

        Steve

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • oz9elsO
          oz9els
          last edited by

          The CPU is:
          CPU Type Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU C3508 @ 1.60GHz
          4 CPUs: 1 package(s) x 4 core(s)
          AES-NI CPU Crypto: Yes (active)

          Hardware crypto AES-CBC,AES-XTS,AES-GCM,AES-ICM

          The box has 8 ethernet ports (4 reported as 10Gb), one SFP port, a serial-console and 2 usb and include a dual external PSU - Quite a nice box, and only uses arround 12w in idle mode.
          I will make some photos of the inside..

          With a ifconfig -vm i get the same for all interfaces ibg1-ibg4 (marked Eth4-Eth8 on the box):

          igb0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
          options=6400bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,VLAN_HWTSO,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
          capabilities=753fbb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,LRO,WOL_UCAST,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,NETMAP,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
          ether 7c:5a:1c:78:41:f8
          hwaddr 7c:5a:1c:78:41:f8
          inet6 fe80::7e5a:1cff:fe78:41f8%igb0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
          inet 192.168.64.130 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.64.255
          nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
          media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
          status: active
          supported media:
          media autoselect
          media 1000baseT
          media 1000baseT mediaopt full-duplex
          media 100baseTX mediaopt full-duplex
          media 100baseTX
          media 10baseT/UTP mediaopt full-duplex
          media 10baseT/UTP

          These interfaces work well at 1 Gb.

          The interfaces marked Eth0->Eth3 all look like this:

          ix0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
          options=e407bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,LRO,VLAN_HWTSO,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
          capabilities=f507bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,LRO,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,NETMAP,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
          ether 7c:5a:1c:78:41:f4
          hwaddr 7c:5a:1c:78:41:f4
          nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
          media: Ethernet autoselect
          status: no carrier
          supported media:
          media autoselect
          media 10baseT/UTP
          media 100baseTX
          media 1000baseT

          I also have one more:
          enc0: flags=0<> metric 0 mtu 1536
          nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
          groups: enc

          stephenw10S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @oz9els
            last edited by

            enc0 is the IPSec interface, it's created even if you don't have any IPSec tunnels.

            Those ix NICs are exactly what I would expect for a C3K Atom. The driver might show as 'TenGigabit' in the boot log but they have 1G PHYs so are limited to 1G. Since the interfaces are created that looks good. Do they work as expected at 1Gbps?

            Steve

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • oz9elsO
              oz9els
              last edited by

              Initially I could not get them to work (just after the installation) Tried to use them as WAN and LAN - They got link, but no traffic.
              Did some testing tonight, and then it looked like they worked just fine.. I will test a bit more..
              Will also try to scratch the config and start over, just to be sure - Perhaps the problem was elsewhere ;-).

              k.r. Niels

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • oz9elsO
                oz9els
                last edited by

                BTW, I have taken some pictures of the SG 125 inside, if anyone is interested

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • G
                  gcu_greyarea
                  last edited by

                  Hi, in the pics I saw the that the appliance is a V3 version which has the C3000 CPU.
                  I think versions prior to V3 still have the Atom C2000.

                  oz9elsO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • oz9elsO
                    oz9els @gcu_greyarea
                    last edited by

                    @gcu_greyarea Think you are right.. I also stumbled over that fact somewhere.. ;-)

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • G
                      gcu_greyarea
                      last edited by

                      People in AU have often complained about the cost of purchasing a Netgate appliance, despite wanting to support the project...
                      E.g. a 5100 will cost between 1100-1200$ AU delivered. Purchasing from local resellers/distributors will often come at the same or higher price.
                      You can buy a brand new SG125v3 for around 850$AU, but it’ll come with a lower clock speed (C3508 vs C3558)
                      I’d love to purchase a 5100 for home use but right now cannot afford it. Obviously for a business 1200$ for a 5100 is a good price when compared to other vendors.
                      Also - i know I’m looking at hardware prices only... i also understand that pfSense’s value is in the software and community - which isn’t reflected in the hardware price....
                      I wish there was a more cost effective method for purchasing netgate appliances in AU. Maybe with the arrival of Amazon in AU there could be local stock and more competitive pricing, considering the presence of chinese mini PC’s...

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • M
                        mickesanda
                        last edited by

                        Hi,
                        I just installed PFsense 2.4.4 on my 2 Sophos SG330 and everything works great with the exception of the LCD.
                        I installed LCD Proc but I do not know which driver to choose. I tried almost all possible combinations without luck.
                        If anybody knows what I should choose, I would be grateful for any help.
                        Also, do I need to reboot for every driver change in order to make the new LCD driver active?

                        Thank you in advance,
                        Mike

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          @mickesanda said in Install PFSense on a Sophos SG appliance:

                          Sophos SG330

                          Depends which hardware revision, I think. It's probably the EZIO driver if it's the Portwell box.

                          You have a picture?

                          Steve

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • M
                            mickesanda
                            last edited by mickesanda

                            Hi Steve and thank you for replying.
                            I opened the box and it is obvious that the LCD is connected to a COM-port, it says RS232 on the circuit board. Attached i have serial number and revision. So, when I read the documentation, Portwell Ezio means I have to choose "HD44780 and compatible", but after that, I'm lost......
                            There are a few chioces under the "com port" and a few other choices under "Connection type"
                            All suggestions are greatly appreciated.
                            Thx, Mike!
                            serialno.jpg lcd.jpg
                            If i google "GFC1602AI" as it says on the sticker I find this manufacturer:
                            GIFAR Technology

                            here is the tech spec for GFC1602AI from the manufacturer.PDF

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • M
                              mickesanda
                              last edited by

                              After a few combinations, I succeeded to achieve this:
                              20190924_085731.jpg
                              With these settings. Any ideas on what needs to be changed?

                              garbled.jpg

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                Ok yeah that is the EZIO display. The driver itself should be in LCDproc but I don't think the option to select is in the package yet. You will probably have to start it separately until it is added. See: https://forum.netgate.com/post/795491

                                Steve

                                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • M
                                  mickesanda @stephenw10
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10 Thank you, I already read that post like 3 times and I think I understand what needs to be done. If I understand correctly, the driver is already in the package, I need to create a file called LCDd.conf under root.
                                  Unfortunately, as the other guy in the thread, I am quite novice at that(Unix, Linux, BSD). I'll try and fix it somehow.
                                  Do I need to uncheck "Enable LCDproc at startup" or just choose default settings?

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by stephenw10

                                    Yes disable it in the package and use a shellcmd to start it instead so you can use a custom lcdd.conf file.

                                    M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • M
                                      mickesanda @stephenw10
                                      last edited by

                                      @stephenw10 I'll give it a try. I purchased 2 X XG-1537 HA for 1 month ago as a replacement for the Sophos SG330. They are way faster and better than Sophos.
                                      So far I'm happy with my choice. So these old Sophos machines are in no way in production, just my curiosity that needs to be satisfied.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        Reuse beats Recycling IMO. 😉

                                        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • M
                                          mickesanda @stephenw10
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10 I created LCDd.conf under root.
                                          This is the content:
                                          [server]
                                          DriverPath=/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/
                                          Driver=hd44780
                                          Bind=127.0.0.1
                                          Port=13666
                                          ReportLevel=3
                                          ReportToSyslog=yes
                                          User=nobody
                                          Foreground=no
                                          ServerScreen=no
                                          GoodBye="Thanks for using"
                                          GoodBye=" pfSense "
                                          WaitTime=5
                                          ToggleRotateKey=Enter
                                          PrevScreenKey=Left
                                          NextScreenKey=Right
                                          ScrollUpKey=Up
                                          ScrollDownKey=Down
                                          [menu]
                                          MenuKey=Escape
                                          EnterKey=Enter
                                          UpKey=Up
                                          DownKey=Down
                                          [hd44780]
                                          driverpath=/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/
                                          ConnectionType=ezio
                                          Device=/dev/cuau1
                                          Keypad=yes
                                          Size=16x2
                                          KeyMatrix_4_1=Enter
                                          KeyMatrix_4_2=Up
                                          KeyMatrix_4_3=Down
                                          KeyMatrix_4_4=Escape

                                          I also added 2 shellcmd with this content:
                                          1: /usr/bin/nice-20/usr/local/sbin/LCDd -r 0 -c /root/LCDd.conf > /dev/null &
                                          2: /usr/bin/nice-20/usr/local/bin/lcdproc C T U &

                                          Not sure about the punctuation though, can you please check if there is a space too many or something similar?

                                          I get sh: /usr/bin/nice-20/usr/local/sbin/LCDd -r 0 -c /root/LCDd.conf not found
                                          and one more similar line

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by stephenw10

                                            Yes. 'nice' is a separate command so the shellcmds should be:
                                            /usr/bin/nice -20 /usr/local/sbin/LCDd -r 0 -c /root/LCDd.conf > /dev/null &
                                            /usr/bin/nice -20 /usr/local/bin/lcdproc C T U &

                                            Steve

                                            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.