Packages reinstall issue when restoring config in a brand new pfsense installation
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So last night I went ahead and reinstalled pfsense 2.4.5-RELEASE-p1 on my APU2C4 box. Steps in the same order I did them:
- Backed up all settings (including RRD graphs) of my current installation.
- Downloaded the usb memstick iso.
- Used rufus to create a bootable usb flash drive.
- Booted from the flash drive and installed pfsense normally.
- Accessed the webgui successfully and restored the config.xml file.
- Pfsense rebooted as expected and when I accessed it again it was reinstalling the packages (again this is expected).
Here goes the problem. I use these packages:
Cron
freeradius3
iperf
Netgate_Coreboot_Upgrade
nut
RRD_Summary
Service_WatchdogIn the past, when I did a reinstall of pfsense and restore from a backup config.xml, the package reinstallation was seamless. I just needed to wait for a few minutes until that message goes away and I eventually see all of my packages installed. This time though, I waited for maybe around 10 minutes and only freeradius3 gets installed, nothing else. When I check the system logs, I only see the installation of freeradius3 and its dependencies. I don't see any failures in the logs too. It's as if the package reinstallation just stalls and doesn't continue with the other packages.
I have tried the whole process for 4 times (thinking that it might be a bad install or something) with different usb sticks too. And every single time, the result is the same, only freeradius3 gets installed. One thing worth mentioning though is during one of those install attempts, I tried rebooting pfsense after freeradius3 gets installed, and nut and iperf got installed after that but I was still missing other packages.
I have now reinstalled pfsense again and decided to post here about it, hoping someone can chime in and help as this is an unusual behavior. I am at the point now where freeradius3 is installed and working and I have NOT rebooted my pfsense box yet after that as I wanted to troubleshoot what's causing the other packages not to be reinstalled seamlessly.
@jimp , do you have any ideas? What logs can I provide?
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@kevindd992002 said in Packages reinstall issue when restoring config in a brand new pfsense installation:
ideas
Yes, one that works for you right now.
Your list :remove right away : Service_Watchdog is it is dangerous, and you're probably not a developer (and even they would not use it). Netgate_Coreboot_Upgrade as this updates Netgate devices only (is Netgate_Coreboot_Upgrade a Netgate device ?).After a pfSense install, make WAN work - and stop there.
Install the packages by hand, one after another.
Then import your backed up config to finalize the setup.
Do a reboot, and you'll be fine.Somewhere on the forum, you'll fuind a reason for why the initial automatic install can fail. It's has something to do with a process that didn't get restarted (or something like that).
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@Gertjan said in Packages reinstall issue when restoring config in a brand new pfsense installation:
@kevindd992002 said in Packages reinstall issue when restoring config in a brand new pfsense installation:
ideas
Yes, one that works for you right now.
Your list :remove right away : Service_Watchdog is it is dangerous, and you're probably not a developer (and even they would not use it). Netgate_Coreboot_Upgrade as this updates Netgate devices only (is Netgate_Coreboot_Upgrade a Netgate device ?).After a pfSense install, make WAN work - and stop there.
Install the packages by hand, one after another.
Then import your backed up config to finalize the setup.
Do a reboot, and you'll be fine.Somewhere on the forum, you'll fuind a reason for why the initial automatic install can fail. It's has something to do with a process that didn't get restarted (or something like that).
Sorry, what do you mean "yes, one that works for you right now."?
Why is Service_Watchdog dangerous? I have Netgate_Coreboot_Upgrade for the sole reason that I want flashrom installed (I know I can install it manually in the CLI but I want it to keep it this way so that I have a reference in the GUI). Regardless, I am fine with my list, this is simply a home firewall/router :)
Your suggestion makes sense but it's just that I had no problems with my other box (same model, APU2C4) when I did this a month ago. That other box even has more packages on top of the list that I posted here. I can install the packages manually (and that's probably what I'll be doing anyways) but I just want to know what's causing this. I have to find that thread you're talking about.