No Updates after Migration to SG-3100

tnius

Hello all! First time posting here, so hopefully I'm putting it in the right place.

We just upgraded this firewall from a community based / dell hardware unit to an SG-3100.

I backed up the full config in XML format and restored it to the SG-3100 with no apparent issues.

Everything works fine, except the following.

On the dashboard, it now says "Unable to check for updates".
Under system update, the Branch drop-down is now blank. And "Unable to check for updates" is present.
Under system package manager- > available packages, I get "Unable to retrieve package information".

Command-line most commands give me this error.
"ERROR: It was not possible to identify which pfSense kernel is installed"

Any ideas on how to fix this? I have enterprise support paid for, but it's not active on the box yet.

Gertjan

@tnius :

Use the console option 4 - Reset to factory default.

edit : and prepare yourself : burn a fresh firmware on a USB drive now ! When you have it, you'll never need it. And vice versa.

When this is done (it rebooted), login again.
Just remember : everything is 'default'.
KEEP everything default, which implies the "do not (like don't do it) import the "config.xml" file.

Hook up the WAN interface to your existing network.
One remark : If this network isn't 192.168.1.0/24, then your 3100 should obtain an 'WAN' IP and you can connect now a PC to the LAN port, and open the GUI, using the default "192.168.1.1", user name 'admin' and password 'pfsense'.
If it is 192.168.1.0/24, remap the 3100 LAN from 192.168.1.0/24 to (example) 192.168.2.0/24.

And discover that visiting the "Avialable package page" now works.
Actually, non of the issues you mentioned above exist any-more.

Because :
You were using a amd/386 type of device first, that's where you config comes from.
Now you're using a 'arm' processor type device. ***
Probably 99 % of all the config details are the same, but the internal driver names of the network cards (NIC's) are surely NOT the same. Al based setting based upon these named interfaces (like re0 = your old LAN becomes igb0 = your new LAN) have to be verified.

The export / import works fine, and should be used from an to the same device.
Like a backup from and old Packard Bell PC that should not be used to restore on a brand new Dell XPS : that will give (hardware) issue at least.

So, the config file 'config.xml" could be used to bootstrap other devices, but side effects can ( will !) happen.

I advise you strongly :
To use the config.xml as a guide line to init your new 3100.
Or import bit by bit, and do tests after every step. Go back if issues arrive.

*** the example of "amd" or "arm" is actually not a good example, but I used it to make it clear that config backups are meant to restore on the set-up from which it is created. It's less good if you use it for other hardware based devices.

tnius

Gertjan, thank you for the reply.

When I imported from the other unit, it actually prompted me to reassign the interfaces so that dealt with that problem.

And the unit actually works perfectly. It's passing traffic, VPN users are able to connect with no issue. No other issues other than the package / upgrade issue.

It's in production, so if I do a reset to the factory, I'll have to schedule for sure. I'll look at doing that either this weekend or next.

Regards,

Gertjan

@tnius said in No Updates after Migration to SG-3100:

When I imported from the other unit, it actually prompted me to reassign the interfaces so that dealt with that problem.

Thanks for the feed back.
Just take note : I'm believe only what I see, and I often don't fully trust my eyes (any-more) ;)

I mean : if you copy from a working setup (your old Dell) to a new, other setup, and the latter doesn't work, the initialization didn't work out. Hence the problem. Right ?!?

More general : your point 1, 2 and 3 have one thing in common : they all use the (local) DNS to resolve the 'address' (URLs) where pfSense lives, and connect to it (the pfSense update and package) servers to obtain the info needed.

Use Troubleshooting Upgrades for tips.

Also, my test proposed in my previous post is still valid : goto default.
The issue persists ?
YES : then the issue isn't linked to the config, but the surrounding network setup.
NO : it was the imported config.

Classix question :
DNS works ? Also for pfSense itself ?

Not related : before, you had a VGA 'console' = screen and USB or PS2 keyboard. These days are now over.
Get yourself that cable, and test the 'serial' console access. You'll be needing it (and as said earlier : if you have the serial access, the chance of actually needing it will be significantly lower).

tnius

@gertjan, thanks for your wisdom on your replies. You were 100% right. I ended up opening an enterprise ticket to see what support had to offer.

I ended up having to export the config.xml, rebuild the box from the recovery image and then import the config.xml back. Now the box is back to 100%.

It might be a good idea for Netgate to put some "stops" in place when an XML is exported on intel and a restore is attempted on ARM. It was interesting because there were zero errors. It was not until after the box was up and running that I noticed the error.

Anway wanted to reply back on this thread and close the loop. Thanks again!