Backup / migrate OpnSense

[cybermaus]

Quick question:

I need to replace the PC. Due to reasons, I cannot have both systems side-by-side to try one before loosing the other (remote access and travel issues)

Is it sufficient to backup "System: Configuration: Backups" to completely restore functionality?
Can I / Should I install 17.7 right away, or best stick to 17.1?
I suspect I will need to check/redo the interfaces, as they may be new devices? Especially since I am using VLAN's

Any tips/hints/warnings are appreciated.

Many thanks


Current version:
OPNsense 17.1.8-amd64
FreeBSD 11.0-RELEASE-p10
OpenSSL 1.0.2l 25 May 2017

[franco]

Hi there,

Best to use 17.7.5 and import there. The config.xml layout does not change for the historic parts and the newer subsystems have their own migration paths embedded into the base code.

This does not account for mistakes that were corrected in the code that force difficult behaviour for the import because the import is not correct. But the only case that people have mentioned was an operational issue was with primary VGA console being overwritten by the serial console and that can be easily fixed post-import under System: Settings: Administration choosing your correct primary console and hitting save.


Cheers,
Franco

[fabian]

At the end of January 18.1 will be released, so you may skip 17.7 if you plan a reinstall. The interfaces should be assigned as before if the interface names do not change.

[cybermaus]

It would be highly convenient if I could finish this week (someone is traveling back Sunday, and needs to carry the new PC), so 18.1 may be to far reached.

So I need to ensure that during install I name the interfaces the same, and then just the import should make everything work. Including VLAN, rules, OpenVPN, DynDNS? Nothing else I would need to grab?


I guess if those work, in other words remote access through OpenVPN works, I am past the critical part, as I can then tune remotely.

[cybermaus]

It seems after restore config and reboot, there is a brief moment in the boot sequence *on the console* where you can "press any key to assign interfaces"

In my case, this was critical, because the base interface was named bge0 instead of em0, and as a result, and if you miss this, it will auto-assign some stuff, and the underlying vlan assignments did not match anymore. 

But re-restoring, and doing it again, this time assigning the interfaces correctly, and it all seems to work.


Or so I hope, lets see if the device actually works once it is shipped and hooked up.

[franco]

Right, that was a good note from Fabian. What you can do in such cases is go through the config.xml with a text editor and change the occurrences of the physical interface names.

You can even do this a couple of times until the system works as expected. Sometimes the interface order is mixed or cabling is done differently.

Fingers crossed.


Cheers,
Franco