migrating from chinese hardware to an SG-1100 ?

pascalspits

Hi,

I have PFsense running on a chinese hardware (mini-pc with multiple LAN ports, you know them) ...

Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU J1900 @ 1.99GHz
4 CPUs: 1 package(s) x 4 core(s)
AES-NI CPU Crypto: No
QAT Crypto: No

Recently I purchased an SG-1100 ... with PFsense+ on board ...

Is there a way to migrate all my settings, rules and everything into the SG-1100 ?
I tried making a backup from the old system and restoring it on the new, but that didn't work ... the SG-1100 wouldn't boot after that, and I had to do a Factory Reset on it to get it back up again ...
What did I do wrong ?
how should I do it ?

Thanks in advance !

stephenw10

Easiest way is just open a ticket and we can convert the config for you: https://www.netgate.com/tac-support-request

The 1100 requires the switch and VLAN config to access the ports separately. You can manually add that but it can be complex if you have VLANs configured already.

Steve

Vollans

@stephenw10 Yeah, I have to say the switch config stuff on it is more than a bit baffling for an entry level product… I’m still not 100% sure what it means after also setting one up a few days ago and hitting a few weird issues.

For me, the way I migrated my Chinese hardware over was

Create the LAN, WAN and Backup_Wan directly in the 1100, as trying to directly import the whole lot didn’t work
Import the DHCP alone from the backup from the old hardware
Import other sections, one by one, from the backup and test each as they came across

The one thing that has totally befuddled me, though, is this:

If I set a static IPv6 address, which I need for my WAN and LAN connections with my particular ISP (unusual, I know, for home use ISPs) it will not save the config with the port set.

stephenw10

@Vollans said in migrating from chinese hardware to an SG-1100 ?:

it will not save the config with the port set

Like it shows a configuration error?

Vollans

@stephenw10 Yes, it says that the port is already in use. Take out the static IPv6, it saves. Take out the port config, it saves. But both together with the initial config, fails every time.

Once the interface is created and up, then you can assign the port. It’s weird.

johnpoz

@Vollans said in migrating from chinese hardware to an SG-1100 ?:

the switch config stuff on it is more than a bit baffling for an entry level product

Just because the cost point is low, doesn't mean its like pfsense with training wheels or a tricycle.. You still need to understand how to ride the bike..

You can go to walmart and pick up a 100 bike.. or you can get yourself $5k bike - they are still a bike, and if all you ever rode was a big wheel (soho router)... Then yeah you might fall off a few times..

Vollans

@johnpoz Don’t worry, I’ve got there in the end, it just was a bit of a hurdle to getting set up initially when you’re first confronted with a setup wizard that doesn’t actually work if you have static IPv6 connections, and then have to do it all manually to bully it into submission.

But I think there have been many unintentional benefits in just porting over the individual sections and ignoring all the “core tuning” that’s been done over the years for different versions and chipsets.

stephenw10

Nope I think that is a real bug. I just replicated it. It's fixed in 24.03.