Feature Request: Allow Skipping Unused Interfaces During Assignment Recovery

[Marv21]

Hi,

I'm running pfSense 2.7.2-CE.

Recently, one of my network cards failed — it was unused, so I physically removed it. Upon boot, pfSense correctly identified the missing interface and entered the Interface Assignment Recovery process.

The issue:
During the recovery process, I was able to reassign my three actively used interfaces. However, when I tried to skip the fourth (previously unused) interface, the process exited without allowing me to continue assigning VLANs or completing the recovery. As a result, pfSense dropped all VLAN configurations and static DHCP mappings associated with those VLANs.

My workaround:
To proceed, I ended up installing a new network card solely to satisfy the assignment process and complete the recovery — which felt unnecessary given the card’s lack of use.

Feature request:
It would be helpful if the recovery process allowed users to skip or remove unused interfaces gracefully, without aborting or bypassing the remainder of the configuration. This would make the recovery process more flexible and less dependent on physical hardware changes, especially in home labs or setups with changing hardware needs.

[stephenw10]

You should open a request here: https://redmine.pfsense.org/