Large sawtooth CPU pattern at idle

[Gcon]

Hi peoples.  Is this sawtooth CPU pattern going to be an issue if I put this into production?

It's the latest OPNsense 19.7 as a VM on a dual CPU hex-core Intel x5650 on ESXI 6.5U3 / Dell R710 (lightly loaded).

The first image is a new build where it's not passing traffic but listening in with promiscuous mode, which I seem to need to get CARP to work properly.

The second image is where I cloned the VM to another host configured exactly the same with same hardware specs, except it's a non-production box running ESXi 6.7U3, and there's absolutely zero external traffic going to the Opensense VM as the uplink is unplugged - so doesn't seem to be triggered by network traffic. In both cases interrupt CPU % doesn't get over a few percent anyways.

Other details - setup as 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 120GB HDD (4x 15k RPM RAID10 SCSI 3.5") and vNICs are VMXNET 3  (9 of those), and a LSI SAS SCSI controller.  BIOS is EFI, so I could up the resolution of the console.

Not identical but similar patterns of spiking shy of 30%. Is this normal?
Thanks. Gcon

[Gcon]

The large CPU usage seems to be due to python 3.7. I wish the next version of OPNsense was out already so I could compare to that.

This weekend I'm going to clone the OPNsense VM appliances and install the clones with the latest pfSense CE and painstakingly copy the extensive firewall rules etc and see how it compares. I'll be at it all weekend, but it seems like it's just something i have to do in order to get a baseline comparison going. Would much prefer to stick with OPNsense as the Web interface is so much nicer to my eyes, and how my brain works. Will see how it goes.

[Gcon]

OK so have been a bit busy but "that other firewall brand" starting with a "p" doesn't have the sawtooth CPU issues after install (see screenshot), so reluctantly I am going with their product (I have to deliver the new firewall by year's end).

I look forward to OPNsense01 20.1 to see the new features and hopefully this mysterious CPU issue is gone!  I will keep the OPNsense 19.7.7-amd64 VM with this issue on the ESXi host (they have different IP addresses and don't clash) so if any of you OPNsense devs want to get in touch and have me to run any tests I'll be more than happy to help out.
-Gcon

[opnfwb]

Unfortunately, I've noticed the same behavior since upgrading to the 19.7.x series. There was a thread on it early on when 19.7 was first released but I think it fell off the radar.

I know there was a push to migrate from Python 2.7 to 3, and it was theorized that this caused some of the usage increased. However, I've seen a significant increase in CPU usage and a noticeable delay in the webGUI when clicking and opening pages in OPNsense. It doesn't seem to impact the throughput or functionality of the system as a firewall, but it's been a step backwards in terms of usability.

Sorry I don't have a solution but, I'm also seeing the same thing for many months now with 19.7. Link to the 19.7 CPU usage thread for reference: https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=13507.0