Netgate SG-1100 list of available packages always empty

enrico.m.crisostomo

I'm experiencing this problem on a newly installed Netgate SG-1100. Everything else seems to be working fine. If I try to install a package using the CLI, the output is:

pkg: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense-core.meta has wrong version 2
pkg: Repository pfSense-core load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Fetching meta.txz: . done
pkg: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense-core.meta has wrong version 2
repository pfSense-core has no meta file, using default settings
Fetching packagesite.txz: . done
pkg: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense-core.meta has wrong version 2
pkg: Repository pfSense-core load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Unable to open created repository pfSense-core
Unable to update repository pfSense-core
Updating pfSense repository catalogue...
pkg: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense.meta has wrong version 2
pkg: Repository pfSense load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Fetching meta.txz: . done
pkg: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense.meta has wrong version 2
repository pfSense has no meta file, using default settings
Fetching packagesite.txz: .......... done
pkg: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense.meta has wrong version 2
pkg: Repository pfSense load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Unable to open created repository pfSense
Unable to update repository pfSense

Any hints on how to proceed?

perlenbacher

Have you got the official SG-1100 image direct from Netgate installed?

striker51

Go to System>Update>Update Settings
Select "Previous stable version (2.4.4 - Deprecated)" instead of "Latest stable version (2.4.x)" in the Branch listbox.
Click "Save"

bmeeks

To elaborate a bit more on @striker51's suggestion --

What version of pfSense are you currently running - 2.4.4_p3 or 2.4.5_p1? If you are running the older 2.4.4_p3 version, then you can't install packages without making the change that @striker51 detailed. This is because new pfSense versions get a new compiled version of the packages repository. And you can't install those newer version package files onto the older pfSense.

Making the change @striker51 suggested tells your pfSense box to go attempt to retrieve packages from the older previous pfSense version.

If you are running the current 2.4.5_p1 version of pfSense, then DO NOT make the change suggested by @striker51.

Be aware there were some issues earlier in the week with accessing the packages repository for some machines, but I think those may be resolved now.

rrizzi7210

I am having exactly the same issue. Brand new SG-1100, shipped directly from Netgate. This is probably the 12th firewall I have installed from Netgate over the last two years, so I am pretty familiar with them. However, I have many SG-1100s working in the field without this issue. A quick compare of just this one with the issue and another random SG-1100 I manage, and completely different results with respect to the available packages.

([2.4.4-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.wmc.local]/conf: pfSense-upgrade -4
>>> Updating repositories metadata...
Updating pfSense-core repository catalogue...
pkg-static: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense-core.meta has wrong version 2
pkg-static: Repository pfSense-core load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Fetching meta.txz: . done
pkg-static: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense-core.meta has wrong version 2
repository pfSense-core has no meta file, using default settings
Fetching packagesite.txz: . done
pkg-static: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense-core.meta has wrong version 2
pkg-static: Repository pfSense-core load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Unable to open created repository pfSense-core
Unable to update repository pfSense-core
Updating pfSense repository catalogue...
pkg-static: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense.meta has wrong version 2
pkg-static: Repository pfSense load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Fetching meta.txz: . done
pkg-static: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense.meta has wrong version 2
repository pfSense has no meta file, using default settings
Fetching packagesite.txz: .......... done
pkg-static: repository meta /var/db/pkg/pfSense.meta has wrong version 2
pkg-static: Repository pfSense load error: meta cannot be loaded No error: 0
Unable to open created repository pfSense
Unable to update repository pfSense
Error updating repositories!
ERROR: Unable to compare version of pfSense-repo)

I am going to check to see which DNS resolvers this unit is using, as well as turn off IPv6 even though I used the -4 flag to force over IPv4.

Status / Dashboard View of the unit that shows no available packages

Also, I did try to change the branch to "Previous stable version (2.4.4 - Deprecated), and when I try to update I see a different result from pfSense-upgrade -4 as shown below

[2.4.4-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.wmc.local]/root: pfSense-upgrade -4
>>> Updating repositories metadata...
Updating pfSense-core repository catalogue...
7407188:error:14099044:SSL routines:ssl3_send_client_verify:internal error:/usr/local/poudriere/jails/pfSense_factory-v2_4_4_aarch64/usr/src/crypto/openssl/ssl/s3_clnt.c:3266:
Child process pid=30522 terminated abnormally: Segmentation fault
ERROR: Unable to compare version of pfSense-repo

Tuco

Same here, new out of the box SG-1100 direct from Netgate says 2.4.4-RELEASE-p3 is the latest/greatest, nothing newer and search shows zero installable packages no matter what you type.

Do I have to somehow flash this thing with "Netgate ADI" code from https://www.pfsense.org/download/ ?

Rico

Get in touch with the support https://go.netgate.com/support/login

-Rico

Tuco

Netgate pointed me to https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/upgrade-troubleshooting.html#repository-metadata-version-errors and it solved my inability to upgrade to 2.4.5 and I now see packages to download.

enrico.m.crisostomo

Hi all,

Thanks for your input.

I finally:

contacted with NetGear Support
got access to the lastest official image (2.4.5_p1)
backed up the router
installed the pfSense image
restored the image

and the problem was solved.

I had tried, out of desperation, trying to switch back to the 2.4.4 train, but to no avail.
I had no chance of trying @Tuco 's suggestion, which looks like a good solution to the problem.

Thanks to everybody for chiming in.