After upgrade to 2.5 status_dhcp_leases.php nor diag_arp.php will load

[viktor_g]

@eigrp how many DHCP leases and ARP entries are on your appliance?

[eigrp]

@viktor_g Looks like 20 leases and 24 ARP entries at the moment.

[2.5.0-RELEASE][admin@fw]/var/dhcpd/var/db: grep -o -i " {" /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases | wc -l
20
[2.5.0-RELEASE][admin@fw]/var/dhcpd/var/db: arp -a | wc -l
24

[ErikV 0]

@eigrp I have exactly the same thing going om here.

grep -o -i " {" /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases | wc -l
31
arp -a | wc -l
22

Installed packages:
freeradius3
Lightsquid
nmap
openvpn-client-export
Service_Watchdog
snort
sudo

[eigrp]

@erikv-0 Sorry you're having the problem too but also I'm glad I'm not alone.

No similarities on installed packages:

pfSense-pkg-Cron-0.3.7_5 pfSense package Cron
pfSense-pkg-RRD_Summary-2.0_1 pfSense package RRD_Summary
pfSense-pkg-lldpd-0.9.11 802.1ab Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) daemon
pfSense-pkg-pfBlockerNG-2.1.4_24 pfSense package pfBlockerNG

[tiac]

Hi, had the same issue, and it's been my primary DNS server configured in pfsense.
This was unreachable, which resulted in reading the DHCP leases was so slow that the web GUI timed out.
(Looks like it tried to resolve every lease read on the primary DNS until he timed out and switched to the second.)
Now after restarting that stucked named everything works like a charm again.

[ErikV 0]

@tiac Thanks for this info.
I changed my primary and secondary dns servers to Google's. I had Cleanbrowsing.org's configured.
Now both dhcp and arp status work again.
I don't entirely understand since dns seemed to work fine before, but since this solved my problem, I thought: Let's share.
Later this week I'll try to figure it out. I want to fully understand.

[eigrp]

Bingo.

I'm using the nextdns proxy (CLI interface) on pfSense. I should've mentioned that before. When I disable it, voila, the DHCP and ARP status pages load properly.

[jimp]

Once upon a time it used to test for DNS on those pages and skip it if DNS didn't respond. Maybe that got broken.

Please create an entry on https://redmine.pfsense.org/ with the details of this problem and include a link back to this forum thread.

Thanks!

[eigrp]

@jimp Done. Thanks for the help.

Bug #11512 "status_dhcp_leases.php and diag_arp.php fail to load if DNS doesn't respond"

[karlfife]

@jimp @eigrp Parallel discussion here, including one set of steps to reproduce.

https://forum.netgate.com/topic/161424/dhcp-lease-screen-not-loading/47?_=1618595728403

Fits with the idea that one or more iterations of failed DNS lookup, is causing a delayed page load or a timeout.

[brodyck]

Along with having mostly defautl settings, having DNS forwarder disabled and DNS resolver enabled, I turned this setting off:
"DHCP Registration -- Register DHCP leases in the DNS Resolver"

and the dhcp lease page works now.

[Gertjan]

@brodyck said in After upgrade to 2.5 status_dhcp_leases.php nor diag_arp.php will load:

I turned this setting off:
"DHCP Registration -- Register DHCP leases in the DNS Resolver"

There are a couple of reasons to disable this option.

The first one : when a new DHCP lease comes in - or a lease gets renewed, a line with IP and host name will get added to the /etc/hosts file. Like :

192.168.1.33	DiskStation2.mypfsense.net DiskStation2

And then unbound is 'asked' to take the change of this file in account. This is done by stopping and restarting it (!)
I guess its easy to understand what happens when you install this new 'smart device' that doesn't play by the rule, and asks a new lease every minute or so, because, example, the Wifi radio link is bad.
The result will be : your DNS is chain gunned.
This would explain why you have difficulties showing the DHCP leases page : the DHCP process itself could continually 'kill' the DNS' ....
Funny, how the snake bits its own tail ;)

You can see the "why"for yourself : Activate the "DHCP Registration" and look at the DNS and DHCP and see what happens.

Another reason is : the package pfBlockerNG - the current version, not the ancient one - propose a new 'python' mode. This mode is not compatible with the "DHCP Registration" setting.

[aaronssh]

I am experiencing the same problem with the DHCP Leases page not loading (504 timeout). I tried disabling "Register DHCP leases in the DNS Resolver" but that did not have an impact either way. I also have several other pfSense routers deployed with that same setting turned on and they work just fine.

Any ideas on what I can do to get my DHCP Leases page loading again?

[aaronssh]

@aaronssh For what it's worth, this fixed it for me:

• pfSense General Setup page was configured to use NextDNS
• I changed it to use my local AD Domain Controllers instead.
• Suddenly DHCP Leases loads instantly.