Botched Upgrade. Cant Access GUI. Help needed

juju

Hello.

I was trying to upgrade from pfsense 2.3.1 to 2.4. A previous auto upgrade attempt via the gui didnt work, and removed the option to even upagrde. So last night I followup some instructions here to attempt the upgrade via the command line in the gui. Now, I am getting this when i try to even access the gui:

PHP ERROR: Type: 64, File: /etc/inc/config.inc, Line: 51, Message: require_once(): Failed opening required 'Net/IPv6.php' (include_path='.:/etc/inc:/usr/local/www:/usr/local/captiveportal:/usr/local/pkg:/usr/local/www/classes:/usr/local/www/classes/Form')

It seems to be working fine in the background. I am afraid to reboot fearing that it wont come back up. What do you guys advise?

This is a custom pfsense box someone build for me a couple of years back with custom configuration. So I am looking for a way to save that config and get it back.

ps: I am a novice at this. Don't know how to use console but if i can get instructions on how to access the box to fix this, that will be great.

jimp

Before doing anything else, try this from a shell prompt:

pkg install -fy pear-Net_IPv6-1.3.0.b2_2

If that doesn't help, depending on the output of that command, there may be other things to try, but start there.

juju

Ok - Here comes the newbie questions. My pfsense box was custom built. Not sure how to connect to it via shell prompt. ( what cable do I need - console, usb, Ethernet ). I tried connecting via ssh but it kept timing out.

Will appreciate some help to figure out how to connect. I cant reach the box at all.

Derelict

That depends on the hardware.

It might be a VGA monitor and keyboard.

Might be a serial port.

Might be a USB port that presents as a serial converter.

You built it so only you know.

juju

Someone built it for me. I have attached a picture of the back of the machine here. Perhaps some can advise what cable to get to connect with my windows pc? I connected an ethernet cable to it and tried ssh but always timed out. so not sure how else to connect to it.

IMG_0385.JPG_thumb

Derelict

Connect a monitor to the HDMI or DVI port and a USB keyboard.

juju

Thank you! I am in! Doing what jimp instructed. Will report back.

So far it seems to be updating the core repository - first message that came up:

pkg: https://pkg.pfsense.org/pfsense_v2_4_2_amd64-core/meta.txz no address record
repository pfsense-core has no meta file, using default settings

then it said: unable to update repository pfsense-core
updating pfsense repository catalogue ..

all the error messages during boot was related to php failing to start

I also noticed that it was showing that i had 2.4.2. - wondering if the upgrade worked but something got messed up

juju

@jimp:

Before doing anything else, try this from a shell prompt:

pkg install -fy pear-Net_IPv6-1.3.0.b2_2

If that doesn't help, depending on the output of that command, there may be other things to try, but start there.

Unable to update repository pfsense
error updating repositories

juju

So I decided to do a clean install whilst using the existing config in the process. It worked. I can now access the GUI and everything seems to be working.

However, during the reboot after the install there were lots of error messages - things not found. Also, i still see snort annd suricata shown under status -> services ( with a stopped status) though I have none of them even installed. I think something is still messed up. How can I clean this up? Picture attached.

services.JPG_thumb

Gertjan

Hi,

When you (re) install, pfSense is clean - and then you set it up with your local settings. This could be as simple as : have it read a copy of your earlier config.xml file.

If this config file contains info about packages that were present at that time when the copy was made, pfSense will re-install the packages in the background. If the related settings are 'wrong', well, then many things can happen.

Just have a look at the config.xml file - it's very readable by humans) and use the magic key shortcut Ctrl-F and look for "snort" and "suricate".

If these are present, I advise you to re install pfSense again, NOT importing your config.xml, but use it as a guideline to redo your setup like WAN access, networks, etc. You'll be done in several minutes, and winding up with a clean box.