Attempting to update to 23.01 DEVEL corrupts my pfSense installation

gabacho4

@viper_rus probably best not to run snapshots (basically an alpha product) on a production device or without making sure you have a very current backup or 50.

gabacho4

@viper_rus I’d try the recover config option as explained here:

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/backup/restore-during-install.html

tedquade

@viper_rus From the dashboard go to:

Diagnostics > Backup & Restore

Under "Backup Configuration" select "Download configuration as XML"

You now have a backup of the current configuration.

Ted Quade

stephenw10

You can force it to complete the upgrade by commenting lines 720 & 721 in /usr/local/libexec/pfSense-upgrade
And then manually replacing the symlink to the static repos location:

[22.05-RELEASE][root@plusdev-3.stevew.lan]/usr/local/libexec: rm /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/pfSense.conf 
[22.05-RELEASE][root@plusdev-3.stevew.lan]/usr/local/libexec: ln /usr/local/share/pfSense/pkg/repos/pfSense-repo-devel.conf /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/pfSense.conf

But it's hard to recommend you do that.

Steve

cloudroot

22.09 -> 23.01.a.20221206.0600 fails as well.
Going to try StephenW's suggestion, for giggles and curiosity. (ZFS snapshots are soooo handy here)

Edit/Update:
Trying the workaround.. Same error message even after reboot

Another instance of pfSense-upgrade is running.  Try again later

Maybe because I'm trying from 22.09, and not 22.05 as in example?

gabacho4

@stephenw10 thanks for providing the dirty fix. I would argue that you already have a daring group of people wiling to test the snapshots and deal with issues that may pose. Don’t think anyone will complain about the fix you’ve proposed. Really appreciate your willingly to give us something so that we can move forward.

gabacho4

@cloudroot I’d forgotten about the snapshots!!!! That’s a great idea!

stephenw10

Yes rolling back using BE is always an option. It works well between 22.05 and 23.01.

It doesn't work between 22.05 and 22.01, should you find yourself trying that!

Steve

Viper_Rus

Thanks to all. Fixed it like this: Saved the settings without packages. Deployed the old 22.05 image that I received immediately after the update from 2.6. Restored settings. Downloaded and configured the missing packages. If I tried to recover with package settings, I got a broken system. Now everything is ok.

cloudroot

22.09 -> 23.01.a.20221207.0600: Failed with

Another instance of pfSense-upgrade is running.  Try again later

But it did take longer for this to appear than the previous error (pfSense.conf).

Edit:
Let me know if the upgrade path from 22.09 is considered irrelevant. And I'll stop reporting on it.

stephenw10

It is, it's an obsolete path. Because the 22.09 public snapshots were built on FreeBSD 12 the upgrade to 23.01 requires an ABI change. But since both were considered the same branch a the time the upgrade system doesn't see that. So coming from 22.09 will always require some manual intervention.

Steve

cloudroot

@stephenw10 Ok, thanks for clarifying this. I'll halt my progress reports regarding upgrading from 22.09 then. And I'll patiently wait for 23.01 stable to be released.

cloudroot

@stephenw10
FWIW: Tried an upgrade from 22.05-stable that I have as a BE-backup. To 23.01.a.20221209.1528

But still received

Another instance of pfSense-upgrade is running.  Try again later

stephenw10

That's more likely another instance really is running but an upgrade issue still exists. It has proven more complex to fix correctly than originally though but should be done shortly.

Steve

gabacho4

@stephenw10 According to the Redmine task, the issue has been fixed by Luiz Sousa. I'm testing to provide feedback. Now when I try to update, my pfsense box at least doesn't break. However, when I try to update via console after setting the 23.01 repo, I get a "failed to upgrade the repository settings!!!" message. When I try via the GUI, it spins for an eternity and then I just get a white screen. I have no idea what went broke on the backend but man, this is a fun one.

tedquade

@gabacho4 Me too, same message and same GUI outcome.

Ted Quade

stephenw10

Yes, as I said above there is still an outstanding issue we are working on there.

I will update here when that has been cleared.

pitchfork

@stephenw10 it says resolved there, but still seems to be an issue here.

mtarbox

Same. Borked it so bad I needed to submit a ticket and reinstall.
4100 base.

stephenw10

What errors were you seeing?

What version were you upgrading from?

If you are coming from a 23.01 snapshot from Dec 6th or earlier you may need to manually upgrade the pfSense-upgrade and pfSense-base pkgs before upgrading.

Steve