check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1

[ghc88]

@tinfoilmatt Indeed, the only thing I've changed is turning DoT off and since then I've not had any more of the error code 1s. Now I'm aware there has been or is on-going server-side issues, agreed, I won't change anything else for now. This is just in my home lab and I can easily roll back if things go south. I was just trying to resolve the errors, both because they're rather annoying and to try and help others with the same issue, as seems this has been rumbling on for a while. :)

[tinfoilmatt]

@ghc88 Get that DoT back on! First rule of CE club is we don't talk about CE club. Second rule of CE club is we never make our DNS queries in plaintext!

[ghc88]

@tinfoilmatt Ha, that provided a good giggle, thank you. I've decided to ditch remote DNS servers altogether and gone back to resolver mode with DNSSEC and other bells and whistles turned on. Not sure why I switched to forwarding mode some time last year, plus it caused a lot of head scratching when Cloudflare had some issues not too long ago (hence adding Quad9 as well). I'm going to stop tinkering now and head to bed before I break things, hopefully I'll wake up to a nice clear pfSense error log...

[alnico]

I did get this error; could it be related?

Crash report begins.  Anonymous machine information:

amd64
15.0-CURRENT
FreeBSD 15.0-CURRENT #0 plus-RELENG_25_07_1-n256513-49844af35a5d: Fri Aug 15 19:21:04 UTC 2025     root@freebsd:/var/jenkins/workspace/pfSense-Plus-snapshots-25_07_1-main/obj/amd64/DZizCvOj/var/jenkins/workspace/pfSense-Plus-snapshots-25_07_1-main/sources

Crash report details:

PHP Errors:
[DATE-TIME-REDACTED] PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught ValueError: gettext(): Argument #1 ($message) is too long in /usr/local/www/pkg_mgr_install.php:444
Stack trace:
#0 /usr/local/www/pkg_mgr_install.php(444): gettext()
#1 {main}
  thrown in /usr/local/www/pkg_mgr_install.php on line 444



No FreeBSD crash data found.

[timecode]

Have done a reboot and the odd repository messages have subsided which is good.

HOWEVER, it now seems to be flip flopping between needing package updates, and not.

Randomly various packages will show as yellow. Then try and update - system tells me I need to update before installing. I am on latest plus version 25.07.1.

I get the feeling something is happening at home base and its causing us fleeting issues.

[Kelpie]

Upgraded from 2.8.0 to 2.8.1

a week ago

sometimes in the system update menu goes back commercial version and on the dashboard

Nov 8 15:24:00 php 12152 Standard input code: New alert found: check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1
Nov 8 15:19:52 php 93775 Standard input code: New alert found: check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1
Nov 8 15:17:48 php 28987 Standard input code: New alert found: check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1
Nov 8 15:17:17 php 19559 Standard input code: New alert found: check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1
Nov 8 15:14:12 php 73350 Standard input code: New alert found: check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1
Nov 8 15:03:20 php 32733 Standard input code: New alert found: check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1

got a lot some time today

very random sometimes wont happen for hours.

Home Assistant logs
2025-11-08 02:00:17.161 ERROR (SyncWorker_3) [custom_components.pfsense.pypfsense] Unexpected get_firmware_update_info error err=TimeoutError('timed out'), type(err)=<class 'TimeoutError'>
2025-11-08 02:01:10.448 WARNING (Recorder) [homeassistant.components.recorder.db_schema] State attributes for binary_sensor.XXXXXXX_pending_notices_present exceed maximum size of 16384 bytes. This can cause database performance issues; Attributes will not be stored

[ddavis000]

I started seeing these messages when I upgraded to 2.8.0 and they continued through 2.8.1. I usual get a couple a week but over the last three days I've had 487 of them (shorten due to post length restriction):

check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 11:55:08
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:01:24
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:08:33
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:11:08
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:17:20
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:24:03
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:24:28
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:26:38
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:30:47
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:33:21
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:36:58
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:39:02
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:48:51
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:55:03
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:55:28
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:56:36
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 12:58:09
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:01:17
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:04:21
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:07:27
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:07:52
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:09:31
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:10:33
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:20:55
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:23:29
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:26:35
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:27:00
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:32:16
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:36:24
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:40:01
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:42:05
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:43:07
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:45:11
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:46:13
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:48:48
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:49:50
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:51:54
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:52:56
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:53:21
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:55:00
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:57:04
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:58:06
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:59:08
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 13:59:33
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:00:41
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:01:43
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:03:50
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:04:53
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:07:31
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:08:33
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:11:39
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:14:14
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:16:50
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:17:51
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:22:38
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:23:40
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:26:15
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:26:40
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:28:20
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:28:44
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:29:52
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:35:03
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:35:28
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:40:44
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:41:09
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:45:54
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:50:02
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:51:04
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:53:08
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:54:41
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:56:45
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 14:57:47
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 15:01:29
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 15:03:59
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 15:04:24
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 15:06:03
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 15:07:05
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-06 15:09:09

...
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 02:48:01
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 02:52:09
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 03:56:44
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 04:08:38
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 05:11:09
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 05:11:39
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 05:12:14
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 05:19:57
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 05:35:27
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 05:35:58
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 05:38:32
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-08 06:02:50

output of pfSense-upgrade -dc

Updating repositories metadata...
Updating pfSense-core repository catalogue...
Fetching meta.conf:
Fetching data.pkg:
pfSense-core repository is up to date.
Updating pfSense repository catalogue...
Fetching meta.conf:
Fetching data.pkg:
pfSense repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
Your system is up to date

[static418]

I'm also getting stacks of
check_upgrade: "Updating repositories metadata" returned error code 1 @ 2025-11-07 18:29:51

66 on my main firewall, less frequently on some remote installs but I cleared a pile of them on each earlier in the week. Switching from pfsense CE to pfsense plus as an upgrade path on machines I've never registered, then back again.

[tariqali]

Jumping in with a "me too", seeing a bunch of these errors recently as well.

Anyone figure out how to stop them yet?

[stephenw10]

A backend change has been reverted. You should not hit this issue now. Or at least not for that reason.

[Kelpie]

@stephenw10 Thankyou

[tariqali]

@stephenw10 Thank you, so far so good today, no errors.

[ghc88]

Can also confirm the high number of errors has stopped here as well. Do we have any idea what it is about 2.8 onwards that causes them to occur occasionally?

[static418]

@stephenw10
Looks like success to me! No new alerts since yesterday afternoon on any of my sites. Much appreciated :)