[Solved] Config appears lost after reboot

[clarknova]

OPNsense 22.1.2_1-amd64
I have a pair of these running CARP. I ran HA sync from primary to backup, then rebooted the primary, at which point it presented the default "Choose your interfaces" routine on the console. My searches indicate that this can be caused by booting the live image (installer) or by OPNsense detecting changed interfaces.

I'm confident we're not running a live image or booting from the installer, since this host has been rebooted many times, mostly for OPNsense updates, and my on-site help has confirmed there is no installer media connected.

As for changed NICs, the only possibility that comes to mind is that I had installed Tailscale on this host some days prior to rebooting it and while it functioned correctly for a day or two, Tailscale stopped working and my attempts to get it working and to reinstall it were not successful, and this is why I rebooted OPNsense. My best guess is that the tailscale0 interface was not present or not working at boot time. Could this be causing my problem?

If so, what is the quickest or best fix? I have a recent backup config, however it's not completely up to date. I can also modify the config from the backup host to install on the primary. However, my preferred solution, if possible, would be to rescue the config from the errant host if possible. Is there a documented procedure to do this? Do I have to manually configure all of my interfaces on the console, or just a LAN to get myself reconnected? This host has 20 interfaces, including 11 vlans, so I'd prefer not to ask remote hands to reassign them all on console, as I'm not confident it would go well in good time.

edit: additionally, I normally require OSPF to be functioning on this host to be able to reach it, so that or a static route would need configuring before I could reach it, just to underline my previous point.

edit 2: for clarification, I had created an interface called "TAILSCALE" and assigned the tailscale0 device to it. I believe it was disabled at the time of reboot, but I could be wrong.

[clarknova]

Bump.

I'm going to run with the assumption that OPNsense is asking for interface assignment at boot time due to the tailscale0 device being missing while assigned to the TAILSCALE interface. What is the proper way to recover the config from the disk? I don't have local or IPMI access, so I need to be able to give good guidance to my remote hands.

If he assigns a LAN interface on the console will the local config file be overwritten? Doe I need to get him to boot from a live image and copy out the config? Any input appreciated.

[franco]

Hi,

For unreliable software interfaces check "Prevent interface removal" in the interface's settings page almost at the top. I don't think tailscale is up by the time the mismatch-check is being done so that's necessary here.

For recovery console option 13 offers configuration backups with timestamps. Should be relatively easy to navigate and restore the right one to get back to a working state by declining the reboot which restarts all interfaces and services.


Cheers,
Franco

[clarknova]

For unreliable software interfaces check "Prevent interface removal" in the interface's settings page almost at the top.

Thanks. I was not aware of this effect of that particular setting, so we're going to be activating it broadly now.

For recovery console option 13 offers configuration backups with timestamps. Should be relatively easy to navigate and restore the right one to get back to a working state by declining the reboot which restarts all interfaces and services.

Also good to know. Thanks again.