pfSense Plus 23.09.1 Package Manager/Available Packages is empty

Laxarus

Hello,
I have done ample research and tried all the proposed fixes in the forums but nothing fixed this issue for me. Any help or direction are welcome and very much appreciated. Below are some of the outputs and things I've tried.

Saving System/Update/Update Settings without any changes

certctl rehash
Scanning /usr/share/certs/untrusted for certificates...
Scanning /usr/share/certs/trusted for group
Scanning /usr/local/share/certs for certificates...

pkg-static -d update
DBG(1)[17467]> pkg initialized
pkg-static: Unable to open '/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos//pfSense.conf':No such file or directory
No active remote repositories configured.

pfSense-upgrade -c
cp: /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/pfSense.conf: No such file or directory
pfSense-repoc-static: no package 'name'
pfSense-repoc-static: no pfSense packages installed
Messages:
Your device has not been registered for pfSense+. Please purchase a pfSense+ subscription to receive future updates. <a href="https://shop.netgate.com/products/pfsense-software-subscription" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netgate store</a>
ERROR: It was not possible to determine pkg remote version
ERROR: It was not possible to determine pkg remote version
>>> Updating repositories metadata... failed.
ERROR: It was not possible to determine pfSense remote version
ERROR: It was not possible to determine pfSense-base remote version
ERROR: It was not possible to determine pfSense-kernel-pfSense remote version
Your system is up to date

pkg -d update
DBG(1)[72058]> pkg initialized
pkg: Unable to open '/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos//pfSense.conf':No such file or directory
No active remote repositories configured.

pfSense-repoc-static
pfSense-repoc-static: no package 'name'
pfSense-repoc-static: no pfSense packages installed
Messages:
Your device has not been registered for pfSense+. Please purchase a pfSense+ subscription to receive future updates. <a href="https://shop.netgate.com/products/pfsense-software-subscription" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netgate store</a>

pkg-static info -x pfSense-upgrade
pkg-static: Unable to open '/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos//pfSense.conf':No such file or directory
pfSense-upgrade-1.2.1

ls -lha /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos
total 2
drwxr-xr-x  2 root wheel    4B Dec 15 14:21 .
drwxr-xr-x  3 root wheel    3B Dec  7 00:12 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root wheel   26B Dec  6 23:10 FreeBSD.conf
lrwxr-xr-x  1 root wheel   62B Dec 15 14:21 pfSense.conf -> /usr/local/etc/pfSense/pkg/repos/pfSense-repo-23_09_1_rel.conf

SteveITS

@Laxarus said in pfSense Plus 23.09.1 Package Manager/Available Packages is empty:

Your device has not been registered for pfSense+. Please purchase a pfSense+ subscription

If your license expired you'll need a new one.

https://www.netgate.com/blog/addressing-changes-to-pfsense-plus-homelab

If you changed NICs, in particular, it would have generated a new NDI and unlinked itself from your license.

Laxarus

@SteveITS
Thank you for the clarification.
I was using the now unavailable plus homelab free upgrade license and I have added a NIC recently. I guess that is why it is unavailable now and I am screwed now unless I pay for license.
Does removing the new NIC will help in this case to recover my packages without changing to CE?

SteveITS

@Laxarus I think Netgate has posted they will "move" a license? Perhaps once? So you could try that. Otherwise yes I expect it should revert the NDI calculation if you remove the NIC.

re: moving to CE, see:
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/backup/restore-different-version.html
which links to https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/releases/versions.html

Laxarus

@SteveITS I really appreciate your help here. Is there any reference for this "right to move once" statement from the netgate? I would like to try with them first if I can get this resolved.

On the other hand, I don't understand why the open source packages are linked to license.

SteveITS

@Laxarus I do not have a specific post, no, but seem to recall Netgate posting about it. You could contact TAC and ask.

Plus is not open source, it is built on top of CE. It was included as part of Netgate hardware, and when they offered a paid subscription option, they tried the free home/lab version, but then ended up pulling that a year or so later.

Laxarus

@SteveITS I do appreciate their software even with all the kinks and I really would like to support them with their plus software if possible. However, $100 for a year for a homelab hobby is a little too much.

SteveITS

@Laxarus I don't disagree there, tbh, though they are probably counting tech support time in addition to "paying for the license."

However, 5 years of a license would cover the cost of a Netgate 4200, so anyone wanting to buy hardware vs repurposing old hardware has a different cost/benefit calculation.

stephenw10

Send me your NDI in chat and I'll check it.

Steve