Auto config backup error

[chrisc8107]

Netgate 2100
An error occurred while uploading the encrypted Netgate pfSense Plus configuration backup to https://acb.netgate.com (28).
But I can hit back up manually on the diagnostic tab under back up and restore., and it will succeed but the auto config won't complete. I'll get like 6 errors in a row when it happens. Also happens on old versions and now that I have 26.03 it does it there as well. So kinda ruling out version issues. Did I miss a port for auto config backup to netgate servers?

[RianKellyIT]

Error code 28 from libcurl means "operation timed out", the connection to acb.netgate.com is being attempted but not completing within the timeout window, rather than being refused outright. The fact that manual backup works rules out a persistent firewall block.

The most common cause of auto backup timing out while manual works: the auto backup runs on a schedule (often shortly after boot or on a config change event), and at that moment either DNS resolution for acb.netgate.com is slow, the WAN isn't fully established yet, or the route via WAN isn't available yet.

From the pfSense console (Diagnostics → Command Prompt or SSH), run:

curl -v https://acb.netgate.com

This will show whether the connection succeeds from the firewall itself and where it stalls.

Also check whether the failures happen right after a reboot or config change. pfSense's ACB service sometimes fires before the WAN DHCP lease is fully up. If that's the pattern, a shellcmd package entry delaying the ACB service start by 30-60 seconds after boot usually fixes it.

Check DNS resolution specifically too: run host acb.netgate.com from the console. If that fails or is slow, that's your issue. The ACB client doesn't handle DNS timeouts gracefully.