Troubles Rebooting with WAN LAGG
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May I first preface that I am very "new" to pfSense. Not new to networking. My "environment" is my home and home lab.
I am including this query here in "General Questions" as I didn't feel this was appropriate for other sections. Please advise if this question would be better served in a different area. Thank you!
I'm using pfSense 2.7.2-RELEASE and a hardware platform I constructed myself. My internet provider is Comcast and using my own cable modem: Motorola (which supports {2} 1 Gbps Ethernet cable Lagging).
I am able to LAGG my cable modem and get connectivity. But... when I reboot my pfSense (i.e. simulating a power cycle), I have no internet. The dashboard displays an IP address (and a correct one at that) for the WAN interface, but no connectivity.
Disabling/Re-enabling the WAN interface, connectivity is restored (without cycling the modem). If I cycle the power on the modem (without rebooting pfSense), connectivity is restored. If I remove the LAGG and connect only a single cable, reboot provides connectivity straight away.
I suspect that there is some race condition in the WAN LAGG functionality that is causing "my lack of connectivity after reboot". Being unfamiliar with pfSense (and its vast configure-ability) is making debug harder for me.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
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Check System > Routing > Gateways and make sure the WAN/LAGG gateway is set as default. Particularly if you have more than one gateway. If it still set to auto it may be defaulting to a different gateway for the default route and failing.
You could also check Diag > Routes in the failed condition after rebooting to see what the default route is at that point.
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Hello @stephenw10,
Check System > Routing > Gateways and make sure the WAN/LAGG gateway is set as default.
I have only 1 gateway. The value for "Default gateway IPv4" was set to "Automatic". Change it to "WAN_DHCP" (My only gateway).
Exact steps I perform:
- Connect to modem and re-enable lagg. Reboot modem.
- Connect both Ethernet cables to pfSense.
- Reconfig Lagg0 with both Ethernet interfaces and set WAN to Lagg interface.
- Reboot pfSense.
*** No internet connectivity *** - Diag > Routes (in failing condition) shows the "default" destination as the WAN connection (via the lagg0 interface).
- Service "DNS Resolver" did not start after reboot. Manually starting "Resolver" does not correct the situation. (Please Note: If I do not use Lagg, DNS Resolver automatically starts. If I manually disable/re-enable the WAN in lagg mode, DNS resolver also automatically starts).
- Disable and re-enable WAN to get access to the internet.
Right now, I'm in "non-lagg" mode just so that my system connects if/when I have a power outage again.
Any other suggestions to try?
Sorry about the novel. I find trying to be clear takes a lot of typing...
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The mode should be set to LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) if your modem supports it. Some modems have a setting that needs to be adjusted to support LAGG. Check the modem's settings to ensure that it is configured to handle LAGG properly.
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I assume the lagg settings must be correct since it works after re-saving.
It does seem like some issue at boot caused by the delay setting up the lagg I agree.
We need to determine exactly what has failed when that happens.
If the WAN/lagg has a valid public IP and the default route shows the correct gateway then I would expect to be able to ping out from Diag > Ping for example. Even if Unbound (the DNS resolver) fails to start the system itself should still be to ping by IP, to 8.8.8.8 for example.
You may not have the required automatic outbound NAT rules preventing LAN side clients connecting. Check Firewall > NAT > Outbound.
Check the system logs after rebooting. I suspect what you will see is that when the WAN connects and gets an IP it is ignored because it happens during the later bootup process.
