pfSense

(This is a rewrite of #16367)

There is no issue restoring a 2.8.0 installation with a static WAN IP in the exact same environment. The attached config.xml is a minimal CE install (user admin, password pfsense) and three packages are successfully reloaded upon restoration :

Package reinstall process finished successfully @ 2025-08-15 12:47:52

The configuration history shows:

        8/15/25 13:15:20    24.0    14 KiB    admin@192.168.18.31 (Local Database): Creating restore point before package installation.    Current configuration
        8/15/25 13:12:42    24.0    0 B    (system): wan IP configuration from console menu      
        8/15/25 00:23:48    24.0    0 B    (system): Installed System Patches package.      

where the static WAN IP is entered from console menu as shown in the second line of the config history.

If the exact same harware installation is reinstalled using a different WAN IP (this example is using a virtual machine: please read if the WAN is assigned to a different VLAN), it is impossible to restore the installed packages and all package configurations will be removed on the next boot.

Specifically,
- the WAN IP is updated from console

--- /conf/backup/config-1755217428.xml    2025-08-15 13:12:42.233511000 +0000
+++ /conf/config.xml    2025-08-15 13:15:20.717682000 +0000
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@
             <enable></enable>
             <if>hn0</if>
             <mtu></mtu>
-            <ipaddr>192.168.18.131</ipaddr>
+            <ipaddr>10.0.0.139</ipaddr>
             <ipaddrv6></ipaddrv6>
             <subnet>24</subnet>
-            <gateway>WANGW</gateway>
+            <gateway>WANGW_2</gateway>
             <dhcphostname></dhcphostname>
             <media></media>
             <mediaopt></mediaopt>
@@ -290,9 +290,9 @@
     <vlans></vlans>
     <qinqs></qinqs>
     <revision>
-        <time>1755217428</time>
-        <description><![CDATA[(system): Installed System Patches package.]]></description>
-        <username><![CDATA[(system)]]></username>
+        <time>1755263720</time>
+        <description><![CDATA[admin@192.168.18.31 (Local Database): Creating restore point before package installation.]]></description>
+        <username><![CDATA[admin@192.168.18.31 (Local Database)]]></username>
     </revision>
     <gateways>
         <gateway_item>
@@ -313,7 +313,16 @@
             <interval></interval>
             <descr><![CDATA[Interface wan Gateway]]></descr>
         </gateway_item>
-        <defaultgw4>WANGW</defaultgw4>
+        <gateway_item>
+            <interface>wan</interface>
+            <gateway>10.0.0.3</gateway>
+            <name>WANGW_2</name>
+            <weight>1</weight>
+            <ipprotocol>inet</ipprotocol>
+            <interval></interval>
+            <descr><![CDATA[Interface wan Gateway]]></descr>
+        </gateway_item>
+        <defaultgw4>WANGW_2</defaultgw4>
     </gateways>
     <cert>
         <refid>689e7b910ca66</refid>

- DNS resolution fails in this scenario and the unbound service is restarted from console

pfSsh playback svc restart unbound

- logging into the GUI, the notification is (please notice the 13:06 timestamp, the notification is issued before the WAN IP update at 13:12):

Package reinstall process was ABORTED due to lack of internet connectivity @ 2025-08-15 13:06:53

- Upon reboot, the General Log entries show:

Aug 15 13:34:21    php-fpm    437    /rc.start_packages: Restarting/Starting all packages.
Aug 15 13:34:21    php-fpm    437    /rc.start_packages: The acme package is missing its configuration file and must be reinstalled.
Aug 15 13:34:21    check_reload_status    507    Syncing firewall
Aug 15 13:34:21    php-fpm    437    /rc.start_packages: Configuration Change: (system): Removed acme package.
Aug 15 13:34:21    php-fpm    437    /rc.start_packages: The nmap package is missing its configuration file and must be reinstalled.
Aug 15 13:34:21    php-fpm    437    /rc.start_packages: Configuration Change: (system): Removed nmap package.
Aug 15 13:34:21    php-fpm    437    /rc.start_packages: The System Patches package is missing its configuration file and must be reinstalled.
Aug 15 13:34:21    php-fpm    437    /rc.start_packages: Configuration Change: (system): Removed System Patches package.
Aug 15 13:34:21    check_reload_status    507    Syncing firewall
Aug 15 13:34:21    root    65632    Bootup complete

At that point, this would be a useless installation if the packages had significant information (certificates, identifiers, etc.).

Regards,