Protectli FW2B + opnSense 23.1.9 -- no DHCP lease offered

[userSomeone]

Hello,

I am completely new to OpnSense, so please do bear with me.

I bought an used Protectli FW2B-0 from a local seller. 2B here means that the hardware device only has two ports - LAN and WAN.

Connecting a keyboard directly to the FW2B-0 allowed me to login. I was able to change the default IP subnet for LAN and also turned on DHCP. I also noted that opnSense firmware version was 23.1.9.

But, when I connect either an Ubuntu laptop or a Windows laptop to the LAN port, I DO NOT get an IP address via DHCP.

On the Ubuntu laptop, sudo dhclient -v shows that DHCPDISCOVER messages were indeed sent out.

Additionally on the Ubuntu laptop, I set up a static IP address (within the same IP range as LAN port was configured for) and still was not able to connect to the FW2B-0 device.

Being new to OpenBSD, I am not sure how I can figure out if this is a:
a. config issue
b. hardware breakdown issue

Any pointers to figure out more about this situation please?

[cookiemonster]

In case you haven't seen this part of the docs https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/dhcp.html
Please check you have enabled the dhcp service. You can also see the logs there for it.

[userSomeone]

Thanks for the reply.

I looked at the documentation but I can't access the WebGUI since I can not get an IP address for a computer connected via the ethernet cable.

Instead of using the webgui, I had connected via the shell (local keyboard + monitor) and then chose option (2) in the menu to do two actions:
1. change the IP subnet to something else that 192.168.1.x
2. ensure that the DHCP server is running

reference: https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/ODYSSEY-X86-OPNsense/#set-up-opnsense

I also noted that the docs mentioning "log files" https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/logging_services.html do not mention about how to get to the log files via a shell or via the console.

I changed the ethernet cable too and tried, no luck.
 

[userSomeone]

I was able to solve the issue 

I had noticed that when logged in via the shell, the default menu showed an option "(1) Assign Interfaces". So that told me that there was a use case in which the user had to tell the OS which interface is for what functionality.

So on a hunch, I switched my ethernet cable from the port labeled as LAN to the port labeled as WAN and voila ... the computer received an IP address. So the interface assignment for the Protectli FW2B device was swapped from what was printed on the device.

A google search did reveal that this indeed was the case:
https://protectli.com/kb/how-to-install-opnsense-on-the-vault/#:~:text=Next-,RECOMMENDED%20PORT%20ASSIGNMENTS,-Show

Everything is good now ! 

The only one question I have remaining is that it seemed to me after posting this question, that the "Tutorials and FAQs" may not be the right sub-section for posting these kind of questions and they should instead go to the "General Discussion" section, correct ?

[cookiemonster]

I'm glad you solved it and yes, it should not be in this section.