pfSense

This is a simple disaster recovery test restore where the static WAN IP is the only item changing from the original configuration. The same hardware NICs are used in both installations.

The Netgate installer runs perfectly using an IP that is not the same as what is used in the original configuration. The LAN IP is not assigned on purpose.

At the end of the installation, the original configuration file is copied to the new installation. There are no errors to report and the firewall is rebooted.

Upon reboot, the following message is displayed:

Package reinstall process was ABORTED due to lack of internet connectivity @ 2025-08-12 13:00:22

This is normal: the original WAN IP is invalid in the new environment. The WAN IP is updated using option 2 of the startup menu.

At this point, the firewall is reachable via WAN but no packages are installed.

Pushing the "Reinstall Packages" button yields the message:

Another instance of pfSense-upgrade is running.  Try again later

The interesting part occurs on the next reboot.

First, the WAN IP reverts to the original IP. In the list of available bakcups, I find:

...

03.    8/12/25 16:10:15    v24.0    admin@... (Local Database)
    Creating restore point before package installation.

02.    8/12/25 16:14:15    v24.0    admin@... (Local Database)
    Upgraded config version level from 23.3 to 24.0

01.    8/12/25 16:14:53    v24.0    admin@... (Local Database)
    Removed nmap package.

Of course, nmap was not installed to begin with. The original configuration file is available from a FAT32 partition that was used during the ISO install and it is unclear why it is being fetched again.

Second, the "Reinstall Packages" button is no longer available.

I can force the display of the reinstall page with [[https://WAN_IP/pkg_mgr_install.php]] and I get

Please wait while the update system initializes

but nothing else happens.

In this test, only three packages were to be reinstalled: acme, nmap, and system_patches.

Regards,