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    Firewall requires hard reboot for changes to take effect

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • jimpJ
      jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
      last edited by

      Rule changes not taking effect are likely due to the error you see preventing the ruleset from being reloaded.

      That particular error on 2.4.5-p1 is not from the table size, but from a lack of kernel memory needed at the time it tried to load the tables.

      There are a few different ways that could happen, though usually is from a general lack of RAM in the system for a variety of different ways (too many packages running, for example).

      If you go to Status > Filter Reload and trigger a filter reload, does it report any errors?

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      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • O
        oldlock
        last edited by

        Yes. It throws the same error message as above at the bottom on the page.

        As far as packages are concerned I have only two running and the live status generally shows ram usage at around 30%. Open VPN is available but rarely connected.

        Capture.JPG

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        • S
          serbus
          last edited by

          Hello!

          By default, only some of the feeds in the pfb PRI1 group are enabled. The PRI2 group (alienvault feed) is considerably larger and may take more memory (?). Maybe try disabling the PRI2 group?

          Alias table IP Counts
          -----------------------------
            281532 total
            262674 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_PRI2_v4.txt
             18858 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_PRI1_v4.txt
          

          John

          Lex parsimoniae

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          • O
            oldlock
            last edited by

            Ok Disabling that PRI2 group has prevented the error message from appearing. Do you consider that was the cause of the failure for rules to take effect too ?

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            • S
              serbus
              last edited by

              Hello!

              I dont know if that would cause the rule change issue you were seeing.

              I had to increase the Firewall Maximum Table Entries setting to get PRI2 to load.

              John

              Lex parsimoniae

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              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                It almost certainly was the cause. Is the ruleset cannot load the previous loaded rules continue to be used.

                In this case the ruleset is loaded correctly at boot because the pfBlocker table has not yet populated but any change after it has pulled in that data could not be applied.

                The SG-1100 has limited available RAM. Do you have anything else running that uses significanlt memory? Snort, Squid etc?

                Steve

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                • B
                  Be-Bop-Bo
                  last edited by

                  Did anyone ever figure this out, other than disabling PFBlocker? I have the default Table count, but it seems that it is not even being all used? Below is taken from pfblockerng.log.

                  IPv4 alias tables IP count

                  302610

                  IPv6 alias tables IP count

                  18945

                  Alias table IP Counts

                  321555 total
                  232947 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_PRI2.txt
                  33192 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_Europe_v4.txt
                  19578 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_Asia_v4.txt
                  15766 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_Africa_v4.txt
                  11779 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_Europe_v6.txt
                  5493 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_Asia_v6.txt
                  1562 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_Africa_v6.txt
                  799 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_PRI1.txt
                  328 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_SAmerica_v4.txt
                  111 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_SAmerica_v6.txt
                  0 /var/db/aliastables/pfB_PRI1_v4.txt

                  pfSense Table Stats

                  table-entries hard limit 3000000
                  Table Usage Count 435612

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

                    Are you running 2.4.5p1? What hardware are you running on?

                    B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • AKEGECA
                      AKEGEC
                      last edited by

                      @Be-Bop-Bo , You need to sign up (free account) on maxmind.com/en/geolite2/signup. Once you have Maxmind License Key;

                      • go to Firewall > PfblockerNG > IP > MaxMind GeoIP configuration and insert your key.
                      • run an update Firewall > PfblockerNG > Update > Run.
                      • then select the rules by highlighting them. Firewall > pfblockerng > ip > geoIP > edit > Highlighted all ipv4/6 countries. After that you need to run an update again.
                        That's it.
                      B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • B
                        Be-Bop-Bo @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @stephenw10 - Sorry I guess I am not, I am one back at 2.4.5, not _p1. I am running a SG-1100, though. I have another device that is a full 1U Atom computer and obviously I do not have this issue. Is it based on the total RAM available? The SG-1100 currently sits at around 68%-72% utilized.

                        If I disable everything else and only go with the AV reputation list, I continue to get the errors about memory allocation. That seems weird to me as it does not seem to have enough items to fill the table allocation.

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                        • B
                          Be-Bop-Bo @AKEGEC
                          last edited by

                          @AKEGEC -I do have some Geo-IP restriction working with a free MaxMind account, but wanted a bit more intelligent based blocking.

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

                            You need to update to 2.4.5p1. In 2.4.5 you will be hitting this:
                            https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/10414

                            Steve

                            B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • B
                              Be-Bop-Bo @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              @stephenw10 From all accounts you are dead on. I did this late last night and I have not receive any alerts in nearly 12 hours, other than immediately after the reboot.

                              Much appreciated!

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                              • C
                                cvhideki
                                last edited by

                                Go to Firewall:System -> Advanced -> Firewall & NAT: Firewall Maximum Table Entries value of "800000"

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