How can i get the latest version for software where the packages lag behind?

happyrouter

Hi, so , it's a linux box after all, and i was thinking, surely there's a way to 'force' the latest version of my favorite software on pfsense? For example, ntopng doesn't seem to be the latest, nor does it seem to even support entering a commercial license number in.

So , how could i download the latest or the commercial edition? Is there a way to run an 'apt-get' kind of process?

Thank you

bmeeks

Packages on pfSense are, by and large, maintained by volunteers and not by the pfSense team directly. That means some packages may lose their active support if the volunteer maintainer either loses interest or moves on to something else. So that is one way a particular package may go stale.

Another possibility is that the FreeBSD ports tree (where all of the pfSense packages originate) is not updated with the most current version of a package.

A third possibility is that the current FreeBSD kernel version and underlying supporting shared libraries in pfSense are incompatible with the latest and greatest version of package "X".

Any one or more of the above reasons could be why some package on pfSense is not current.

Beware of updating from outside the pfSense framework, though. If you install from some third-party package repository you can't control what dependencies might get pulled in. It is very likely you could break pfSense itself quite badly if the wrong version of a shared library is pulled in when installing a package from some third-party repository.

And by the way, the equivalent of apt-get in FreeBSD is pkg.

happyrouter

Thanks! I didn't know all this before i pulled the trigger on buying my firewall box which came preinstalled. I prefered the looks of pfsense to eveything else (and still do) but this 'older packages' thing is a bit disapointing. I'd be happy to pay for up-to-date packages... they should think of creating a service like that.

johnpoz

@happyrouter said in How can i get the latest version for software where the packages lag behind?:

firewall box which came preinstalled.

Which isn't even legal... Unless you buy it from netgate..

Some companies have been called on it because advertise it a pfsense box, and comes with pfsense preinstalled. This place you bought from calling it a tlsense? Come on... That you can pick what they install on is walking a tight rope of legality for sure..

happyrouter

Really? I didn't know that. Well I won't post the link to the manufacturer because i don't want to get anyone in trouble but just the name should help you find it. Oh well.

johnpoz

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/general/can-i-sell-pfsense.html

What can not be offered is a commercial redistribution of pfSense software, for example the guidelines do not permit someone to offer “Installation of pfSense software” as a service or to sell a device pre-loaded with pfSense software to customers without the prior express written permission of ESF pursuant to the trademark policy.