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Netgate 3100 - Failed Upgrade

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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  • B
    bitslammer
    last edited by bitslammer Nov 10, 2023, 1:01 PM Nov 10, 2023, 12:53 PM

    Well looks like I'm now 0/3 on the last 3 upgrades on my 3100. Took about 30min and along the way I got a few errors and now it's dead and won't boot. Anyone run into this and have any ideas on how to fix and avoid this in the future? Hoping I can recover from USB.

    [10/100] Extracting perl5-5.34.1_3: .......... done
    /bin/sh: makewhatis: not found
    /bin/sh: makewhatis: not found
    pkg-static: POST-INSTALL script failed
    [21/100] Extracting curl-8.4.0: .......... done
    curl-8.0.1: missing file /usr/local/man/man3/CURLOPT_MAIL_RCPT_ALLLOWFAILS.3.gz
    FreeBSD/arm (pfSense.cnnet) (ttyu0)

    -sh: /etc/rc.initial: not found

    S P 2 Replies Last reply Nov 10, 2023, 3:31 PM Reply Quote 0
    • S
      SteveITS Galactic Empire @bitslammer
      last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 3:31 PM

      @bitslammer "won't boot" as in nothing shown on the console? That would be a hardware issue.

      If it's functional and won't boot due to a corrupted upgrade or file system issue you can try to reinstall via https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/solutions/sg-3100/reinstall-pfsense.html (a free ticket). Then restore a config file from backup.

      @bitslammer said in Netgate 3100 - Failed Upgrade:

      along the way I got a few errors

      Depending on what they are, some errors are to be expected during the upgrade while PHP etc. are replaced.

      Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
      When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
      Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

      B 1 Reply Last reply Nov 10, 2023, 3:36 PM Reply Quote 0
      • B
        bitslammer @SteveITS
        last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 3:36 PM

        @SteveITS By "won't boot" I should have said that the boot sequence was hung and just kept repeating the "-sh: /etc/rc.initial: not found" error on the console screen.

        I've since run USB recovery and restored my config from backup. I was just looking to see if there was anything additional I could do here. The last 3 upgrades have failed for me and all required USB recovery. I bought a 3100 specifically to ensure smooth upgrades and that hasn't panned out too well. Aside from Suricata and pfBlocker I haven't added anything beyond factory default and I have a pretty "light" config for both of those packages.

        S 1 Reply Last reply Nov 10, 2023, 3:56 PM Reply Quote 0
        • S
          SteveITS Galactic Empire @bitslammer
          last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 3:56 PM

          @bitslammer I don't know, we have several clients with 3100s and over all our years with pfSense I think have only had two issues upgrading pfSense that I can recall offhand. Early on, one I think was booted too early (upgrades can easily take 10-15 minutes on eMMC storage). Another was several years/versions old when the upgrade was run, and it ran itself off the rails somehow, with some sort of mixed FreeBSD version and no functional firewall. Both were 3100s however.

          Normally when I upgrade I uninstall pfB and Suricata, or other "big" packages, but leave other "simple" packages like apcupsd or the VPN export packages. The upgrade guide recommends uninstalling packages though says it shouldn't be necessary.

          Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
          When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
          Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

          B 1 Reply Last reply Nov 10, 2023, 3:59 PM Reply Quote 0
          • B
            bitslammer @SteveITS
            last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 3:59 PM

            @SteveITS Same here and I uninstalled them this time too. Honestly stumped as to why I have such poor luck. I even do a reboot before upgrading.

            S 1 Reply Last reply Nov 10, 2023, 4:05 PM Reply Quote 0
            • S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 4:05 PM

              Hmm, yeah that's unlucky at best!

              I run a 3100 on my edge here with pfBlocker and Snort and it upgraded fine.

              Do you have a full boot/upgrade log?

              If you suspect you might have issues upgrading I recommend doing so from the command line (from the console directly if possible) using: pfSense-upgrade -d
              That way you will get the most debugging output to see why it fails if it does.

              Steve

              B 1 Reply Last reply Nov 10, 2023, 4:08 PM Reply Quote 0
              • S
                SteveITS Galactic Empire @bitslammer
                last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 4:05 PM

                @bitslammer eMMC issue?
                https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/disk-lifetime.html#emmc

                Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                B 1 Reply Last reply Nov 10, 2023, 4:09 PM Reply Quote 0
                • B
                  bitslammer @stephenw10
                  last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 4:08 PM

                  @stephenw10 I don't have any of the logs for this time, but next time I'll be sure to capture the debug data.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • B
                    bitslammer @SteveITS
                    last edited by Nov 10, 2023, 4:09 PM

                    @SteveITS said in Netgate 3100 - Failed Upgrade:

                    https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/disk-lifetime.html#emmc

                    I hope not as it's not that old, but I'll look into that.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • P
                      pppfsense @bitslammer
                      last edited by Nov 16, 2023, 12:57 AM

                      @bitslammer

                      Thanks much for reporting this.

                      I continue to struggle IF to buy "official" hardware from Netgate.

                      Hoping the "official" hardware would be the BEST and FULLY tested solution, and you would NOT find BETA software issues (how many
                      releases have been 100% or mostly flawless, even for the official hardware?). I have kept track with my own installations, plus the forums (over the last 10+ years)...

                      Now, I'm willing to spend time testing BETA software (meaning, install the new "release" in a test system, with similar configs to my production systems), but then, I will NOT pay $129 a year for a license, (when my expert testing is $200 hour!)...

                      But this answers the question regarding official hardware. Thanks.

                      B F 2 Replies Last reply Nov 16, 2023, 4:01 PM Reply Quote 0
                      • B
                        bmeeks @pppfsense
                        last edited by bmeeks Nov 16, 2023, 4:01 PM Nov 16, 2023, 4:01 PM

                        @pppfsense said in Netgate 3100 - Failed Upgrade:

                        I continue to struggle IF to buy "official" hardware from Netgate.

                        Buying Netgate hardware certainly helps support the entire pfSense family, so that is a good thing!

                        One piece of advice that is just my personal opinion-- buy only Intel based hardware from Netgate. It seems nearly all the issues have revolved around ARM based appliances. Unfortunately, the more inexpensive appliances seem to be ARM based. The Intel platforms cost a bit more.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • F
                          FastEddie @pppfsense
                          last edited by Jan 1, 2024, 4:37 PM

                          My model 1100 with a very vanilla setup failed to upgrade from 23.05.1 to 23.09 and has the same error. I purchased the hardware to support the project even though I felt the price for their hardware was a bit rich. Silly me thought since the upgrade was over a month old it should be safe since even the flailing Microsoft can pull updates when their QA processes fail after a couple of weeks.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by Jan 2, 2024, 1:18 AM

                            How exactly did it fail?

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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