Synchronizing user settings … HANG UP , Long boot times
-
Hey all,
Using pfSense 2.2.2, Ive been getting a hang during the "Synchronizing user settings…" section of the boot process. It will almost always boot into the interface, but this process alone will take 25-35 minutes. First Ive read here that it could be a 2.2.2 bug, so I upgraded to version 2.2.6. This did not remedy the situation. Ive also read that it could be a misplaced tag or corrupt user. Ive commented out certain lines in users, commented out whole users and recently reloaded the factory default config file. All of these tests were not successful. Now, Ive just "Factory Reset" the device and Im still getting a very long delay during the boot.
Other than reinstall the software, which is my next step since Ive done all I think I can do, is there anything else someone would recommend?
Please let me know if you have any questions. Also, for troubleshooting, is there a way to easily get into the command line without booting all the way up?
Thanks!!
-
You have a really large number of local users and/or groups on there? That's the only circumstance I'm aware of that would be really slow, but it would probably take thousands to delay it that long.
I'd upgrade to latest 2.3 before pursuing it any further as there are some changes in pw in FreeBSD 10.3, and a couple fixes in our code for unusual edge cases. It's not worth digging into any further if it's not an issue there. If it is, enable SSH and it'll have SSH started before it gets to local_sync_accounts, so you'll be able to SSH into it and see what it's doing.
-
@cmb:
You have a really large number of local users and/or groups on there? That's the only circumstance I'm aware of that would be really slow, but it would probably take thousands to delay it that long.
I'd upgrade to latest 2.3 before pursuing it any further as there are some changes in pw in FreeBSD 10.3, and a couple fixes in our code for unusual edge cases. It's not worth digging into any further if it's not an issue there. If it is, enable SSH and it'll have SSH started before it gets to local_sync_accounts, so you'll be able to SSH into it and see what it's doing.
I only have a few users (less than 6) and sometimes sync user settings will take a minute or so. Other times it will fly right through. Believe I've mentioned this once before when someone posted about this issue.
2.2.6 i386.
-
The fix we put in to make pw's writes safe (fix for passwd file corruption) also made it slow in some circumstances, especially with large numbers of users. Short of thousands of users, I haven't heard of any delays of minutes attributable to that. In FreeBSD 10.3, a different fix for that problem has been implemented which doesn't have the performance issues in those circumstances. I've put it through our power cycle test rig upwards of 3000 power cycles immediately after passwd write, and it still survived fine. I haven't tested large scale performance, but the FreeBSD developers who reviewed and implemented the change have. So any portion of it attributable to that will be significantly faster in 2.3.