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    DHCP fails when lease expires on WAN interface

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved 2.0-RC Snapshot Feedback and Problems - RETIRED
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    • G
      gjsiiger
      last edited by

      Using 2.0-RC1 on HP SFF hardware with Intel NIC's

      I have now lost connection several times to my ISP while running 2.0-RC1.
      What happens is that PFsense looses connection when the DHCP lease expires, and should be renewed.
      The only thing that helps, is to shut down the entire machine and wait several minutes and boot up again.

      With tcpdump I can see that the firewall asks for the last know DHCP address, and the before the ISP can
      answer the interface is shut down - and up a few moments later, and this continues forever….

      em1: link state changed to DOWN
      em1: link state changed to UP
      em1: link state changed to DOWN
      em1: link state changed to UP
      em1: link state changed to DOWN
      em1: link state changed to UP

      11:11:31.996985 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:32.051383 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:35.888569 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:39.695808 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:39.766881 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:43.538529 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:43.901234 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:49.413487 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300
      11:11:49.429890 IP 87.4x.xx.xx.68 > 255.255.255.255.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:0e:0c:b8:00:f0, length 300

      I'm really not sure why the system shuts down the interface, and then enables it again a few moments later.
      But it interrupts DHCP in working, and leaving my firewall in a non working situation.

      Best regards
      Gorm

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      • jimpJ
        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
        last edited by

        That wouldn't be pfSense resetting like that - it's indicating a loss of link, meaning it's acting as if it was unplugged.

        Perhaps it's your ISP Modem that is causing the issue?

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        • G
          gjsiiger
          last edited by

          I'm sure that it's not the ISP modem as I tried to put a switch in between and the dmesg says the same about DOWN/UP
          Furthermore it seems like the dhclient process might have somethign to do with it, as it seems to respawn when this happens.

          Hopefully someone can figure out what happens.

          /Gorm

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          • jimpJ
            jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
            last edited by

            Have you tried swapping network cables? or cards?

            You seem to have cause and effect reversed. The dhclient process will restart when the link is lost and comes back, because it thinks you (or something) unplugged the interfaces, so dhclient starts again to obtain a new IP.

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            • G
              gjsiiger
              last edited by

              I actually tried to swap cards, as I thought it was the internal Broadcom card that failed, now using Intel.
              But I will try to change cables, and monitor the switch for link up/down issues.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • G
                gjsiiger
                last edited by

                Here an update to the problem..

                I installed a new switch on the WAN port, on new cable towards the ISP modem, and one towards the Pfsense box.
                When I plugged in the cable from the Pfsense box the link started to to the same again (UP/DOWN) every one second as it seems. So I'm pretty sure that Pfsense does someting wrong here.

                I changed the WAN interface config from DHCP to static, and then the link stayed up. And when changing it back to DHCP reverted the situation to the same (UP/DOWN)

                Best regards
                Gorm

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                • jimpJ
                  jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                  last edited by

                  What does the interface config for that one look like? Are you cloning a MAC address on there?

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                  • G
                    gjsiiger
                    last edited by

                    Interface set to DHCP, and yes I'm cloning a MAC address.
                    Nothing else configured.

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                    • jimpJ
                      jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                      last edited by

                      That may be it then, there are a couple other threads with issues when cloning a MAC address.

                      Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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                      • G
                        gjsiiger
                        last edited by

                        Ahh ok, it makes sense. :)

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