pfSctl

luckman212

Can't find much about this program: /usr/local/sbin/pfSctl. The most descriptive post I could find was @jimp's 14 year-old post:

https://forum.netgate.com/topic/39569/pfsctl-could-not-connect-to-server/4

It says "pfSctl is a client program that connects to check_reload_status and issues various commands, like a command to reload the filter, etc."

I poked around the system and found that it's used in quite a number of places. Examples of some commands that appear valid:

pfSctl -c 'filter reload'
pfSctl -c "interface linkup [start|stop] $subsystem"
pfSctl -c "interface newip[v6] $interface"
pfSctl -c 'interface reload $interface'
pfSctl -c 'service reload [dns|routedns|webgui]'

Is there anything further that can be said about this tool?

TommyMoo

This post is deleted!

luckman212

@TommyMoo that is most certainly NOT the same thing.

TommyMoo

This post is deleted!

stephenw10

Pretty much what jimp said; it's the client control program for check_reload_status.

See: https://github.com/pfsense/FreeBSD-ports/blob/devel/sysutils/check_reload_status/files/pfSctl.c

w0w

Based on source code...
pfSctl (pfSense Control) Command Reference

Command	Description
filter reload	Triggers a full regeneration and reload of pf rules, NAT, and Traffic Shaper.
filter sync	Forces XMLRPC configuration synchronization to the High Availability (HA) secondary node.
interface reload [if]	Re-initializes the link for a specific interface (e.g., wan, lan). Triggers rc.linkup.
interface reconfigure [if]	Performs a complete reconfiguration of the specified interface and its settings.
interface newip [if]	Notifies the system of a new IP address. Triggers updates for Gateways, DNS, and VPNs.
service reload all	Restarts all core system services defined in the XML configuration.
service reload packages	Specifically restarts services associated with installed packages (Squid, pfBlockerNG, etc.).
service restart [name]	Restarts a specific daemon by its system name (e.g., ntpd, unbound).
dyndns reload [if]	Forces an immediate update check for all Dynamic DNS entries on the specified interface.
ipsec reload	Re-generates IPsec configurations and restarts the StrongSwan daemon.
openvpn reload [mode] [id]	Restarts a specific OpenVPN instance (mode: server/client, id: numeric ID).
unbound reload	Reloads the Unbound DNS Resolver configuration and host entries.
ntpdate [if]	Triggers an immediate time synchronization via NTP through the specified interface.
captiveportal [op] [zone]	Manages Captive Portal backend tasks or session pruning for a specific zone.
Notes for usage:

Execution: All commands must be prefixed with pfSctl -c.
Example: pfSctl -c "filter reload"
Interface Naming: Use internal names (wan, lan, opt1) rather than physical driver names (em0, igb0).
Permissions: Requires root privileges.

luckman212

@w0w That looks like an AI generated response, but it's still useful. I was wondering where all of that came from, because I don't see any of it in the referenced pfSctl.c - but backing up a level and looking at the server.h header file I see where it's derived from.

Thanks everyone.

w0w

@luckman212
Yep, code parsed with Gemini.
Most of the commands found in the check_reload_status.c

Gertjan

@w0w said in pfSctl:

Most of the commands found in the check_reload_status.c

Yeah, from what I made of it (reading the files, using my own eyes and "HI", the gray matter behind it) :
pfSctl is used to 'signal' the process called check_reload_status the command line string given to pfSctl, and check_reload_status, (always running), does the heavy lifting.

[25.11-RELEASE][root@pfSense.brit-hotel-fumel.net]/root: ps aux | grep 'check_reload_status'
root      717   0.0  0.1  14808   3236  -  INs  24Dec25     0:00.04 /usr/local/sbin/check_reload_status
root      719   0.0  0.1  14808   3012  -  IN   24Dec25     0:00.00 check_reload_status: Monitoring daemon of check_reload_status (check_reload_status)
....

JonathanLee

@w0w I keep saying we can embrace AI or AI is going to runs us over …. The reality is AI is never going away it’s going to get more powerful and used more and more.

luckman212

@JonathanLee Haha true. Waiting for the day that we'll see the announcement from Netgate that they are taking Microsoft's cue and "rewriting pfSense in Rust" (using AI of course)

stephenw10

@luckman212 said in pfSctl:

rewriting pfSense in Rust

JonathanLee

@luckman212 1 firewall, 1engineer, 1 month, 1 million lines of code

marcosm

@JonathanLee said in pfSctl:

@luckman212 1 firewall, 1engineer, 1 month, 1 million lines of code

0 security.

luckman212

@marcosm yep the S in

[
  "Claude",
  "ChatGPT",
  "OpenAI",
  "Gemini",
  "Grok"
]

stands for security

SteveITS

@luckman212 That's why I always add "and make sure there are no bugs"

/s

stephenw10

JonathanLee

@SteveITS AI isn’t going anywhere. It will continue to evolve—becoming more capable, more autonomous, and in many cases, more difficult to control. But I sometimes wonder whether parts of it could become “trapped in time.”

If the forums and websites that once fueled its training data slowly fade into inactivity—turning into digital ghost towns—future AI systems might rely heavily on outdated discussions and legacy knowledge. As communities shift away from traditional platforms, what happens to models that were shaped by them?

For example, I’m curious whether usage has declined on major platforms like Stack Overflow and similar long-standing forums. If participation drops, does that eventually affect the freshness and diversity of knowledge available for training future systems?

Here’s an updated list of AI systems, including the new addition:

[
  "Claude",
  "ChatGPT",
  "OpenAI",
  "Gemini",
  "Grok",
  "SecAI (Netgate/OpenSense/FreeBSD....(add more here) Forum Driven)"
]

The forums of the past have evolved and became a data mine for many AI models. Usage trends should already start seeing this. Haha it has a S now for security ... only a matter of time and it will ...