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    Unbound DNS Resolver not starting

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved DHCP and DNS
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    • K
      KKIT
      last edited by

      My DNS Resolver stopped working a few days ago and now I just saw that the service can not be started.

      Setup:
      2x Netgate 7100 in HA
      pfSense Plus 24.03

      PKGs installed:
      System-Patches with recommended patches installed
      pfBlockerNG, though I removed it now without retaining the settings and rebooted
      OpenVPN Export

      The resolver is working on the backup node which makes me think that pfBlocker did something to the unbound config?

      I tried:
      Reboot
      Change a setting in the advanced section, then restart the service
      Confirm my settings with backup node but last changes I made are months ago now.

      Help is greatly appreciated, as I need the node back up and running.

      Logs:
      https://pastebin.com/irBf12mY

      GertjanG patient0P 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • GertjanG
        Gertjan @KKIT
        last edited by

        @KKIT

        The logs show the ususal stop and start sequence.
        When it stops, it dumps several line of statistics.
        The log - up until line 75 - is dumping starts.
        Then, at line 76, 3 seconds later, unbound is started again ...
        Line 78 : its told (signaled) to stop again ( ! )

        Line 95 (3 seconds later) there is another stop and start sequence.

        Next time, line 109, it holds for nearly two days.


        Just to be sure : this one is unchecked, right ?

        db72b919-7697-442c-91d6-42e06551101c-image.png

        ( I guess it it).

        Other reason why a process like unbound gets restarted : an interface is used (bound to) is taken down for a moment. That will restart attached processes, and again when it comes back.
        Some one is ripping out cables ?

        No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
        Edit : and where are the logs ??

        K 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • K
          KKIT @Gertjan
          last edited by

          @Gertjan

          I disabled a few interfaces a few days ago but that change also reflected on the backup node. Yes, DHCP Registration is disabled. WHat I don't understand is why the logs are not showing my startup attempts.

          Question: Is it possible to reinstall unbound? Or maybe I reset the config? If so, how would I go about that?

          GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • K
            KKIT @Gertjan
            last edited by

            @Gertjan Also, do you know if pfBlocker could have messed with unbound?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • GertjanG
              Gertjan @KKIT
              last edited by Gertjan

              @KKIT said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

              Question: Is it possible to reinstall unbound?

              Noop. I don't think so.
              It's just an executable. And some support files like unbound-control etc.

              @KKIT said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

              Or maybe I reset the config?

              This is pfSense.
              This is FreeBSD.
              This means : we all have the same identical binary executable Library etc files.
              Only our "config file" file is different : it's here /var/unbound/unbound.conf
              and this file is re generated just before pfSense starts unbound.
              Like any other process on the system.

              @KKIT said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

              If so, how would I go about that?

              I would : open a console or SSH to pfsense, go médecin mode (option 8) and :

              tail -f /var/log/resolver.log
              

              Now, in the GUI, interact with unbound and see what the log tailing tells you.
              In another SSH session, medecin mode, use :

              top
              

              On another SSH, option also, use

              dig @127.0.0.1 google.com +trace
              

              to question unbound with a hots name lookup. You should repeat this test as often as possible.
              Normally, unbound should listen to 127.0.0.1 - and you should receive an answer.

              Ask if unbound is running, lists on what interface it listens :

              24.03-RELEASE][root@pfSense.bhf.tld]/root: sockstat | grep 'unbound'
              unbound  unbound    39327 3   udp6   *:53                  *:*
              unbound  unbound    39327 4   tcp6   *:53                  *:*
              unbound  unbound    39327 5   udp4   *:53                  *:*
              unbound  unbound    39327 6   tcp4   *:53                  *:*
              unbound  unbound    39327 7   tcp4   127.0.0.1:953         *:*
              unbound  unbound    39327 8   dgram  -> /var/run/log
              unbound  unbound    39327 10  stream -> [39327 12]
              unbound  unbound    39327 12  stream -> [39327 10]
              unbound  unbound    39327 13  stream -> [39327 14]
              unbound  unbound    39327 14  stream -> [39327 13]
              

              The first 4 lines means : unbound listens on port 53 :
              For UDP and TCP
              For IPv4 and IPv6
              For every interface

              Btw : these are not really 'pfSense instructions'. Not even FreeBSD instruction - or Linux for that matter. These commands are - with some nuances - avaible on every OS on planet earth ^^

              No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
              Edit : and where are the logs ??

              K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • K
                KKIT @Gertjan
                last edited by

                @Gertjan said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

                tail -f /var/log/resolver/log

                Thanks for your suggestions, right off the bat, I get this:
                tail: /var/log/resolver/log: No such file or directory

                I went in with option 8, as you mentioned. So I guess there is a deeper rooted issue. Do you suggest I reinstall pfSense and load from a backup?

                fireodoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • patient0P
                  patient0 @KKIT
                  last edited by

                  @KKIT I did fiddle with the Unbound settings yesterday and wasn't able to start Unbound. In my case it turned out that Unbound wasn't stopped cleanly and the therefore couldn't bind to port 53.

                  Maybe check that no Unbound instance is running. Under Diagnostics / Command Prompt and run:

                  ps aux | fgrep -i unbound
                  unbound 38035   0.0  4.3 210648 175800  -  Is   16:11      0:47.64 /usr/local/sbin/unbound -c /var/unbound/unbound.conf
                  root    52767   0.0  0.1  13400   3020  -  S    14:20      0:00.00 sh -c ps aux | fgrep -i unbound 2>&1
                  root    53148   0.0  0.1  12832   2496  -  S    14:20      0:00.00 fgrep -i unbound
                  

                  And set LogLevel to at least 2 for the testing.

                  K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • fireodoF
                    fireodo @KKIT
                    last edited by

                    @KKIT said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

                    tail: /var/log/resolver/log: No such file or directory

                    tail -f /var/log/resolver.log

                    Kettop Mi4300YL CPU: i5-4300Y @ 1.60GHz RAM: 8GB Ethernet Ports: 4
                    SSD: SanDisk pSSD-S2 16GB (ZFS) WiFi: WLE200NX
                    pfsense 2.7.2 CE
                    Packages: Apcupsd Cron Iftop Iperf LCDproc Nmap pfBlockerNG RRD_Summary Shellcmd Snort Speedtest System_Patches.

                    K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • K
                      KKIT @patient0
                      last edited by

                      @patient0 said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

                      unbound 38035 0.0 4.3 210648 175800 - Is 16:11 0:47.64 /usr/local/sbin/unbound -c /var/unbound/unbound.conf

                      I get this when putting in line 2

                      Screenshot 2024-06-19 at 14.38.36.png

                      patient0P GertjanG 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • patient0P
                        patient0 @KKIT
                        last edited by

                        @KKIT I'm sorry I wasn't clear: you enter only the first line ps aux | fgrep -i unbound and the other lines are the result of that command in my case.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • GertjanG
                          Gertjan @KKIT
                          last edited by

                          @KKIT

                          Nooooo.
                          Never - ever use the GUI Diagnostics > Command Prompt
                          GUI command line is ... bad, or worse.
                          Use SSH.

                          No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                          Edit : and where are the logs ??

                          K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • K
                            KKIT @fireodo
                            last edited by

                            @fireodo said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

                            @KKIT said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

                            tail: /var/log/resolver/log: No such file or directory

                            tail -f /var/log/resolver.log

                            I did and nothing changes in the log when I try to adjust anything
                            Screenshot 2024-06-19 at 14.40.54.png

                            GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • K
                              KKIT @Gertjan
                              last edited by

                              @Gertjan

                              Thanks, I get this:

                              root 64053 0.0 0.0 13412 3064 - S 14:46 0:00.00 sh -c ps aux | fgrep -i unbound 2>&1
                              root 64286 0.0 0.0 12840 2532 - S 14:46 0:00.00 fgrep -i unbound

                              patient0P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • GertjanG
                                Gertjan @KKIT
                                last edited by

                                @KKIT said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

                                I did and nothing changes in the log when I try to adjust anything

                                With :

                                a0aafba5-973a-4879-8856-a9609d19fba6-image.png

                                you will only see the start and stop lines.
                                When a stop arrives, unbound will log about 30 "info" lines, the ones you've showed above.

                                Btw : when you change edit whatever do something with the 3 unbound (revolver) settings pages, unbound won't get restarted. So no log lines.
                                Only when you click on Apply on the top of any resolver settings page, unbound will get stopped, a new config file gets created, and unbound gets started. Then you see the the stop announcement, dump of the info and the the restart line.

                                With a log level of 3, 4 or a whopping 5 you will see much more.
                                Remember to reset to "1" when you're done (and apply ^^), as with level 5 unbound will log huge quantities.

                                No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                Edit : and where are the logs ??

                                K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • patient0P
                                  patient0 @KKIT
                                  last edited by

                                  @KKIT said in Unbound DNS Resolver not starting:

                                  @Gertjan

                                  Thanks, I get this:

                                  root 64053 0.0 0.0 13412 3064 - S 14:46 0:00.00 sh -c ps aux | fgrep -i unbound 2>&1
                                  root 64286 0.0 0.0 12840 2532 - S 14:46 0:00.00 fgrep -i unbound

                                  Ok, that means no Unbound instance is running at that time. Next I'd set the LogLevel to > 1.

                                  Do you have a fairly standard Unbound config? Running as a resolver or forwarder? Nothing else listening to port 53?

                                  K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • K
                                    KKIT @Gertjan
                                    last edited by

                                    @Gertjan

                                    Unfortunately absolutely nothing happens when I set it to 5, I am still connected via SSH and within the logfile with tail, I also made sure to apply the settings as well as manually start the service under the "Services" section, nothing :(

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • K
                                      KKIT @patient0
                                      last edited by

                                      @patient0

                                      I set the log level to 5 and still nothing, only the second node is listening on port 53 and the resolver is running as expected. No custom configuration on unbound and no DNS forwarder active.

                                      GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • GertjanG
                                        Gertjan @KKIT
                                        last edited by

                                        @KKIT

                                        I've just :

                                        tail -f /var/log/resolver.log
                                        

                                        and then :

                                        29de1c31-75cb-4359-9403-ef44292c37b8-image.png

                                        and then

                                        8b64784e-97d2-4534-83e0-9a7bce03cd4a-image.png

                                        and oh boy .... the tail command had a hard time keeping up with the pace. tens of lines a second, impossible to follow.

                                        Btw : I've no HA setup, just one box, and about 5 PC connected and some other stuff.
                                        I know that every device in my network uses my 'pfSense' as a DNS source, not some 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 or other data collector.

                                        If your unbound doesn't log anything on level 5 : isn't that a sign that LAN devices uses another device, and not (this !) pfSense, to do DNS requests ?

                                        Another trick : GUI this time ^^

                                        7ed086bc-70b0-449c-a549-a6b27281d516-image.png

                                        Set interface to your LAN interface, or any other LAN type interface.
                                        Set the port to '53' (DNS, recall)
                                        And hit Start.

                                        Now you should see "destination port 53".

                                        Add the IP of your pfSense, so now you'll see what LAN devices want to talk to your pfSense for DNS needs :

                                        f38a44cd-06a0-415b-b2ea-8b2bec8506f6-image.png

                                        Btw : I presume the default 192.168.1.1
                                        if there is no ore little DNS traffic, its normal that unbound doesn't 'log' ^^

                                        No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                        Edit : and where are the logs ??

                                        K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • K
                                          KKIT @Gertjan
                                          last edited by

                                          @Gertjan
                                          I appreciate the input, but I think we are looking at the wrong end here. The Unbound service is not running at all, as confirmed above. Additionally, the node is currently in maintenance mode, I already tried putting it back into production but I wouldn't accept any requests. At this point I assume that either pfBlocker messed it up or I improperly shut the service down. I will go for a reinstall and see from there. THanks so far, really appreciate it and will keep you guys updated!

                                          K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • K
                                            KKIT @KKIT
                                            last edited by

                                            @KKIT

                                            So I wanted to give a followup on this issue, I dug a little deeper and looking at this post:
                                            https://forum.netgate.com/topic/154372/unbound-dns-resolver-will-not-start/3

                                            I am pretty sure it has something to do with pfBLockerNG messing up my config file. I checked the directory of the config file and see that there are two with one having a ".error" added to it:

                                            Screenshot 2024-06-20 at 14.19.06.png

                                            Trying to reload unbound via shell shows this error:
                                            unbound-control[85585:0] error: connect: Connection refused for 127.0.0.1 port 953

                                            Unfortunately I lost my backups after the reinstall so my question is if I can transfer the unbound.conf from my functioning pfSense (Node B) to make it work again?

                                            GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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