OPNsense Forum

English Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: der.opnsense.praktiker on February 17, 2019, 08:29:00 pm

Title: Migration from pfSense to OPNsense without installation?
Post by: der.opnsense.praktiker on February 17, 2019, 08:29:00 pm
Hi all,

is there a way to go from a running pfSense system to OPNsense without installing OPNsense first?

I know the backup-and-restore-method to replace pfSense by OPNsense, but that doesn't work for remote devices.

My concern is: how can I migrate to OPNsense on hardware devices, which are not physically close to me?

Both pfSense and OPNsense run the same operating system, so I hope there is some update path.

I imagine some kind of migration script, that runs on pfSense, collects the OPNsense packages, converts the configuration and magically converts the device to OPNsense.

Cheers,
-Markus
Title: Re: Migration from pfSense to OPNsense without installation?
Post by: fabian on February 17, 2019, 09:35:08 pm
Such a thing does  not exist but there is a script for a hard replacement in a running FreeBSD installation (not sure if it works):

https://github.com/opnsense/update/blob/master/bootstrap/opnsense-bootstrap.sh
Title: Re: Migration from pfSense to OPNsense without installation?
Post by: der.opnsense.praktiker on February 18, 2019, 12:01:58 pm
Well, the script
Code: [Select]
opnsense-bootstrap.sh brings the OPNsense packages to the local system. This seems to run and complete successfully.
However, after a reboot all hell breaks loose: lots of error messages and not even the
Code: [Select]
opnsense-shell output is visible.
I will dive a little deeper into that script issue, but I guess that's not the right way to bring up a stable installation of OPNsense.
Title: Re: Migration from pfSense to OPNsense without installation?
Post by: chemlud on February 18, 2019, 12:04:47 pm
...yeah, you can even shoot yourself into the foot and as it hurts you conclude you might shoot in the knee to see how this does... ;-)

Title: Re: Migration from pfSense to OPNsense without installation?
Post by: mimugmail on February 18, 2019, 12:06:05 pm
The whole process of bringing a pfSense to a OPNsense is highly unstable.
Both systems should be considered as own distributions without any automatic migration path.

Only stable way is to configure a new device, send it over and switch. Also there should be a person able to open a connection to LAN via hotspot.

This would be the usual way to migrate (and I did that more than once)
Title: Re: Migration from pfSense to OPNsense without installation?
Post by: der.opnsense.praktiker on February 18, 2019, 07:59:50 pm
I guess you are right. I was just hoping there is a simple way...
Thanks for the discussion.
Title: Re: Migration from pfSense to OPNsense without installation?
Post by: franco on February 19, 2019, 11:18:22 am
Config.xml has diverged over the years, less for us than others, but the end result is the same: you cannot login so manual editing is required if you know what to look for.


Cheers,
Franco