Hmmmmmmmmm - - - - what went wrong??

[ajoeiam]

Greetings

(Have been running *nix systems for over 10 years. Am reasonably comfortable doing installs there. A total noob at both OPNsense and *BSD worlds!)
Trying to install on a Lenovo Think Center M700 (i5-6500 4 core at 3.2 GHz, 8 GB DDR4 2135 MHz RAM and a 238 GB SDD - - (should have enough horsepower to do the job (I think!)).

I'm on a fixed wireless ISP  IP.
Tried to feed the installation my WAN IP - - - it wouldn't take.
Didn't want to take the IP address that I had wanted to use for temporary parking (previous question asked on here "How do I -- ".

I get to where this is what I see:

Fri May 19 13:21:50 UTC 2023

*** OPNsense.localdomain: OPNSENSE 23.1 ***

      No network interfaces are assigned.

Welcome! OPNsense is running in live mode from install media. Please
login as 'root' to continue in live mode, or as 'installer' to start the
installation. Use the default or prviously-imported root password for
both accounts. Remote login via SSH is also enabled.
(cursor)


When I unplug both the WAN and the LAN cable (so that I can revert to the previous router and use the internet) I see:

[em0: link state changed to down
ue0: link state changed to down


(In case it makes a difference  - - - WAN is a rj-45 jack to the antenna and the LAN is a USB3.0 to rj-45 dongle (connected to a cable).)

I cannot access anything at https://192.168.1.1

the lines:

FreeBSD/amd64 (OPNsense.localdomain) (ttyv0)

login:

are not visible and using the enter key does not move things there.

So - - - - did I do something wrong?

(Please advise   )

What do I do now?

Please advise

TIA

(when I was asked for the WAN address should I have used em0? and ue0 for the LAN address? - - - I'm lost - - - )

(edit: tried to use the formatting here but its making a mess of things so I hope its clear what's being quoted and what isn't!)

[clarknova]

Did you complete the installation and reboot from your permanent media? I wouldn't worry too much about configuration challenges while running from the installer media.

[ajoeiam]

If I could have logged in - - - - I would have.
Had log in been possible I would have used the 'installer' ...     to install.

Neither of those options were available.

(see 1st message in thread)

[Demusman]

The first message tells you how to log in. Use "installer" as username.

You're not gonna have much luck with that USB adapter though. You really should get rid of it.

[ajoeiam]

Actually - - - - it doesn't - - - - - please read the message !

(There are 2 lines missing from the message that I see - - - - compared to the one that's included in the manual under 'install'.)

If I don't use the USB adapter I don't have a second ethernet port so its sorta necessary - - -yes?

[ajoeiam]

Found what/where the error was.

My first iteration trying to install I was needing to use a 'serial' install.
My latest attempt - - - - I needed to be using a 'VGA' install - - - - so using a 'serial' install was not showing enough to install.

Resolved - - - - loaded a USB stick with 'VGA' install and was able to (sorta) install.

[cookiemonster]

Actually - - - - it doesn't - - - - - please read the message !

(There are 2 lines missing from the message that I see - - - - compared to the one that's included in the manual under 'install'.)

If I don't use the USB adapter I don't have a second ethernet port so its sorta necessary - - -yes?

You are correct. You need an interface for WAN and another for LAN. The problem is that OPN is based on freebsd as you know. What you might not know is that the manufacturers of these usb adapters tend to use interfaces without freebsd support and their behaviour tends to be flaky. For a firewall, this is problematic. You are likely to see performance and stability problems with it. You might be lucky and all be well though.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

@ajoeiam Could you please give your threads a meaningful subject line like "USB adapter support problem" or similar? That would really help all the volunteers here who try to help OPNsense users in their spare time. Thanks.

[Demusman]

You don't 'need' 2 adapters.
If you have a vlan capable switch you can use a vlan for either WAN or LAN. Or both.

[cookiemonster]

You don't 'need' 2 adapters.
If you have a vlan capable switch you can use a vlan for either WAN or LAN. Or both.

Of course you're right but in the context of the question and he seems to be beginning his journey. He doesn't need complications.

[ajoeiam]

@pmhausen  - - - - - That's a wonderful idea - - - - - any suggestions as to what to use for a topic when one has absolutely NO idea as to what the problem is?

[ajoeiam]

@cookiemonster

I was not aware that there even could be driver issues when using a USB3.0 to RJ-45 dongle - - - so thanks!

Do you know of a way of testing said dongle to determine its 'robustness'?

Please advise.

(Should I spin that into another topic?)

[cookiemonster]

Please see some examples:
https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=30531.0
https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=26432.0
https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=27189.0
https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=32336.0
The web search you want to begin with is along the lines of "ue0 freebsd", "ue freebsd" and similar.
Try the dongle, it might work and not give you too much trouble.
As for testing for robustness, a few network-intensive operations might give you an idea.
I would imagine it could cope with traffic forwarding but not be suitable for services that take packets off the interface like Zenarmor, Suricata.

[ajoeiam]

@cookiemonster

Found another freebsd forum thread that presents some useful information.
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/what-is-the-best-usb-ethernet-adapter-driver-free-for-freebsd.85813/