random sFTP connection attempts

[Tamas Halmai]

Hi,

I am running OPNsense 25.7.9 and succesfuly enabled automated sFTP backup to my local NAS every day at 10:00.

So, far so good. But, I have noticed in the System -> General log that the FW randomly tries to make an sFTP attempt around 02:00 every day. Since my NAS is switched off during night the sFTP connection obviously fails.

Could you please advise how I could disable these particular unwanted connection attempts?

Thanks in advance,

Tamas Halmai

[Patrick M. Hausen]

If you configure any of the automated backup plugins (SFTP, Nextcloud, git, ...) OPNsense will run a backup every night at 2:00. No need to configure an explicit cron job if daily backups are enough for you.

[Tamas Halmai]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for coming back to me. Now, at least I can understand the reason for that unsuccessful sFTP attempt around 2 AM.

Since at that timeframe my NAS is intentionally down I had to configure an automated sFTP cron job, and as you can see in the attachment that is successful.

Would that be possible to disable the default one @ 2 AM because that is contra-productive?

Thanks,

Tamas Halmai

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Not that I know - best probably open an issue on Github asking the time to be configurable for example.

[franco]

Why would the documented default be counter productive to other users using it sucessfully?


Cheers,
Franco

[Patrick M. Hausen]

It's just "contra-productive" for their specific use case and I cannot find anything in that post claiming anything different. A configurable time of day would be a nice feature, I think. That's all.

[Tamas Halmai]

Why would the documented default be counter productive to other users using it sucessfully?


Cheers,
Franco

Franco,

This additional automated sFTP check just adds additional operational noise and confusion (gives the incorrect impression that something is going on with the server).

So, as Patrick correctly stated it would be a nice feature to either:
- enable/disable the check after 01:00 AM
- make the schedule configurable to align that to active time of the NAS (IMHO it is absolutely common practice to switch a NAS off overnight)

BR,

Tamas

[franco]

So you can already add a cron job with any kind of schedule, right?

I don't mind disabling the default one or adding a visibility in cron for it which may be even better. It's just something that needs to be done in the right way and the current settings page where it sits is still a static PHP page we don't want to make more complex unless we have to. All input on GitHub regarding a dependable solution or an actual feature request is welcome.


Cheers,
Franco

[Patrick M. Hausen]

So you can already add a cron job with any kind of schedule, right?

Yes, but you cannot disable or change the default which is the entire point of this conversation.

[Tamas Halmai]

Hi Franco & Patrick,

So you can already add a cron job with any kind of schedule, right?

Exactly, as I wrote above: the cron is already scheduled @ 10:00 (my NAS is back then), that is why I do have a successful daily backup...

Yes, but you cannot disable or change the default which is the entire point of this conversation.

Indeed, this is the point I would like to resolve, but there is neither a GUI or CLI option that would support this

I don't mind disabling the default one or adding a visibility in cron for it which may be even better. It's just something that needs to be done in the right way and the current settings page where it sits is still a static PHP page we don't want to make more complex unless we have to. All input on GitHub regarding a dependable solution or an actual feature request is welcome.

I have already created the related feature request: https://github.com/opnsense/plugins/issues/5087#issuecomment-3651569431

Best regards,


Tamas