Partitioning Error Installing Latest 2.4 snapshot on Hyper-v 2012 R2
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I'm trying to install the latest version of 2.4 and it seems that the disk partitioning portion of the installation has changed. Last time I installed it, I used an MBR partitioning scheme. That option appears to be gone and I can't either the guided or manual setup to work. It always ends up with a partition error. Has anyone successfully installed it on a hyper-v lately?
This is only a test system so I don't need anything fancy. Previously, I was using a single dynamic vhdx with default "easy" settings.
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Okay, I found the problem. Earlier today, the hyper-v server was updated and one of the updates affects integration services. The offending update is KB3172614. I removed it and was able to get past the disk partitioning. I guess this is another reason for supporting generation 2 VMs.
Here is a thread from FreeBSD Bugzilla: Bug 212721 - FreeBSD 11.0-RC2/RC3/RELEASE fails on Hyper-V 2012r2
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=212721Another thread from the FreeBSD Forum: [Hyper-V] Critical install error
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/57682/ -
On the installer boot prompt, select
3. Escape to the loader prompt
set hw.ata.disk_enable=1
bootafter installation do it again.
after boot exit to shell with 8.
ee /boot/loader.conf
add the line
hw.ata.disk_enable="1" -
I understand this has been fixed on FreeBSD head, 11-stable and 10-stable. Can anyone verify if the fix has made it into pfsense?
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According to this advisory, "Compatibility with Hyper-V/storage after KB3172614 or KB3179574"
(https://www.freebsd.org/security/advisories/FreeBSD-EN-17:03.hyperv.asc), this issue was fixed in freebsd 11-release-p8. Since pfsense 2.4.0-beta is using freebsd 11-release-p8, the problem should be fixed. Can anyone confirm that it's possible to do a clean install of pfsense 2.4 beta on a 2012R2 hyper-v server with KB3172614 and KB3179574 installed, without having to resort to the above work-around? -
Just yesterday I tried to install the latest pfsense 2.4 beta image (dated 30.05.2017) onto a 2012R2 server with all updates installed and it didn't work. Got the same partitioning error. This was with a Gen 1 VM, default settings. Tried with both the default 127GB disk size and with a 30GB disk size.
This must get fixed, because otherwise I won't be able to update any of my pfSense installs to 2.4.
Currently running pfSense 2.3.4 on 2012R2 Hyper-v at 5 different locations.The set hw.ata.disk_enable=1 workaround is not a good one. At least it wasn't when I tried to run pfSense 2.3 on a 2008R2 Hyper-V.
It also had the problem of not finding any disks. (But had no problem with 2012R2 Hyper-V)
I got pfSense to install and run with the workaround, but the system logs did not work. They couldn't write to disk. Only option was to create a in-memory buffer where to store logs, but that gets cleared out during restarts… -
Interesting. When you say "all updates installed", can you confirm that KB3172614 and KB3179574 are both installed? As I said earlier, I was able to install 2.4 beta after I removed KB3172614. I didn't have to remove KB3179574.
Not sure your experience with windows server 2008r2 is relevant.
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Yes, KB3172614 and KB3179574 are both installed.
Maybe uninstalling one of those KB-s is a workaround, but the underlying problem still needs to get fixed.
There are potentally thousands of people running pfSense 2.3 in 2012R2 Hyper-V. If you release pfSense 2.4 at it's current state, all those who upgrade will get borked setups.
(assuming the system admins are diligent and keep their systems up to date, including Hyper-V)Normal admins also upgrade remotely and if pfSense won't boot after the upgrade, then they are in a world of pain.
I already went through those borked setups when pfSense 2.2 came around, it changed the naming of disks in Hyper-V. It wasn't very nice.The 2008r2 experience is very relevant!
a) it's not possible to get any pfSense 2.3.x or above to work correctly on it. It's been like over a year and the issue still hasn't been fixed. Which is very dissapointing.
b) I'm pretty sure, if set hw.ata.disk_enable=1 workaround didn't work properly in 2008R2 (the syslogs didn't work), then it won't work in 2012R2 as well. And I don't know about you, but I am not willing to run a production setup where syslogs cannot be written to disk. Who knows what else can't be written. Perhaps the next update won't install properly or a necessary plugins won't work… -
Disappointing to hear this. I was hoping it was fixed, considering the latest 2.4 beta is based on freebsd release 11-p10, which is later than the p8 release in which the underlying problem was supposed to have been fixed. I can't take my hyper-v server down to test this, otherwise I would give it a try to see if my system behaves the same as yours. When I previously had installed the roll-up with the offending update, I didn't notice the problem until I tried to install an earlier version of 2.4 beta on the hyper-v server. I did not try installing 2.3 while the update was installed. When I found the problem, I removed the update. (I only had to remove one of the the two updates referenced in the freebsd bug.) Since removing the update, I have updated 2.4 beta numerous times on the test network and running 2.3.4 on the "production" network.
My point about windows server 2008r2 is that it's quite old and there are many other differences between it and 2012r2 that could be something else contributing to the problem.
I'll email Dexuan from Microsoft to ask him to take a look at this thread see if he has any thoughts.
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I received a reply from the Microsoft BIS developers, Dexuan C, Hongjiang Z, and Yanmin Q. They verified that pfsense 2.3.4 and 2.4 beta both install on hyper-v 2012r2 with and without the two updates installed.
Also, they noted that this particular issue did not occur on freebsd 10. It's only related to freebsd 11.
If you're having problems, there must be some other cause. Maybe you still have the workaround in the bootloader still enabled?
Sincere thanks to Microsoft for the very prompt and helpful support.
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Almost couldn't believe your statement that it is working.
So I went and downloaded the latest 2.4 beta build (dated 06.05.2017).
And indeed this one now works.
Some FreeBSD fixes must have been applied this past week to the pfSense build.Just for clarification:
pfSense 2.3.x never had a problem with 2012R2 (as far as I know), only with 2008R2. This is a FreeBSD 10.3 bug that still isn't fixed, at least to my knowledge. (unless the fix is to go to FreeBSD 11+)
pfSense 2.4 Beta had a problem with 2012R2 (did not test with 2008R2). This was a FreeBSD 11.0 bug. I read on the FreeBSD forum, that it was fixed in 11.0 stable p8 (or something like that). It seems pfSense has now picked up that fix and all is well :)2008R2 might be considered "old" by some, but there are still a lot of servers out there with it and it is still supported by Microsoft (albeit only the Extended Support cycle).
And it's not like anyone is going to splash out 1000+€ for a new Windows Server license just to upgrade for the sake of running a newer pfSense version.
Not to mention that the server motherboards might not support a newer Windows Server version, which would require a huge amount of money to upgrade…Anyway, the underlying problem seems to be fixed now, making me one happy puppy :)