i recently purchased a 3850 appliance and I was trying to go to the community edition but it keeps saying your subscription requires a token. So far I have been told the only way to go back is to reinstall. given the lack of a VGA port(use I know there's a console...but that's a bigger pita) can't I just switch repos(even if I have to do it in the root shell) and do it that way?
You should be able to switch to community from System -> Firmware -> Settings and select Community from the drop down box. I have a 3860 that I bought last year and recall doing what you are attempting. IIRC, doing so does force the box to reboot but should keep your config in tack (firewall rules/nats etc).
Pick any other mirror than the commercial one currently selected, clear subscription token and select community type. This works...
Cheers,
Franco
Nope..had to use the serial display and reinstall from USB. This will be the last official opnsense I purchase due to lack of vga port.
I would never buy network equipment with VGA and no serial console ...