Error message prior to update: pfSense-repoc: no package 'name' pfSense-repoc: no pfSense packages installed
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Summary:
When checking the new branch in the Update tab my system checked for, and found, the new 24.03 update. However, it included the message pfSense-repoc: no package 'name' pfSense-repoc: no pfSense packages installed
Changing back to 23.09.1 branch shows no messages. I'm not sure what's going on here.
The below may all be a red herring, but I'm including it for completeness in case there's information here that might help with a diagnosis.
Detail:
I was following the update instructions in the pfSense manual, which I always do for each update. As part of the process I always remove installed packages prior to the update. When I had finished removing all of my packages and successfully rebooted, I confirmed the system still passed traffic and was working fine.
I went to the System>Update tab and saw the following message: pfSense-repoc: si_get_packages: failed to run the pkg info command: /usr/local/sbin/pkg-static info -R --raw-format json-compact pfSense-pkg-* 2>&1 pfSense-repoc: no pfSense packages installed
I’ve never seen this error before and I’m not sure what I did. One thing I did differently than in the past (by mistake) was changing the branch to the Current Stable Version (the new 24.03 release) from the Previous Stable Version 23.09.1 branch BEFORE I removed my packages. I’m not sure that’s the issue, but it’s the only thing I can think of that is different from prior updates.
I googled that message and saw this page but I’m not sure if this applies to my issue. As the page suggests, I ran the command /usr/local/sbin/pkg-static update -f to force an update of the package repository data. It completed successfully, so my assumption is that the package database directory exists, as mentioned in the first bullet on this page.
The page also suggests reinstalling any packages that were removed. I’m not sure if I should do this, as the manual always cautions against installing or updating packages prior to an update because the new package may not work unless running on the updated version.
I created a boot environment for my stable configuration prior to doing anything above, and I was able to boot into that environment prior to removing all of my packages. When I went back to the Update tab and selected the 24.03 branch, I got the new message: pfSense-repoc: no package 'name' pfSense-repoc: no pfSense packages installed
Not sure if this is an issue on my end, and if so, how to fix it, or if this is a hiccup on Netgate’s end.
Should I:
a) change back to the 23.09.1 branch, then reinstall my packages, then remove my packages, then move to the 24.03 branch and try again?
b) leave the branch at 24.03, then reinstall my packages, then remove the packages, then try again?
c) something else
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It's a cosmetic bug in pfSense-upgrade. It should be fixed in 24.03.
It should not prevent you upgrading or cause any problems.
Steve
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Thanks for the quick response! To clarify, are you saying either error message is cosmetic and I can proceed from where I stopped with the message pfSense-repoc: si_get_packages: failed to run the pkg info command: /usr/local/sbin/pkg-static info -R --raw-format json-compact pfSense-pkg- 2>&1 pfSense-repoc: no pfSense packages installed
Or should I stick with my current boot environment and proceed from the beginning again with the error pfSense-repoc: no package 'name' pfSense-repoc: no pfSense packages installed
Or is either state safe to update from? Thanks!
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I'm saying that error message being displayed to the user is a bug but it is only cosmetic. You proceed past that to upgrade without issue.
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Both errors are cosmetic and are OK to proceed?
Because I have two boot environments in different states with two different error messages.
I want to make sure that proceeding will be OK with either of these two error messages. I know you're busy with all of the posts today so I appreciate the additional clarification. Thanks!
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Yes both errors you see are the same bug. Just the backend generating the message is different after the first part of the upgrade.
Both states should be safe to upgrade from.
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Thank you!
