Serial Console connectivity

The following device families offer a mini-usb connection which can be used for serial communication:

Serie

Formfactor

Range

DEC6XX

Desktop

Entry level

DEC7XX

Desktop

Midrange

DEC8XX

Desktop

Enterprise

DEC26XX

Rack

Entry level

DEC27XX

Rack

Midrange

DEC38XX

Rack

Enterprise

DEC40XX

Rack

Enterprise / Datacenter

Supplied with the firewall is a mini-usb to usb cable, use this to connect the to your PC (Windows, Linux, Mac) next start your terminal program (Putty, screen, etc).

The baudrate should be set to 115200,8N1, more information about how to use the serial console is available in our serial access guide

Note

The default configured settings in OPNsense for proper serial connectivity in System->Settings->Administration are as followed:

setting

value

Primary Console

Serial Console

Secondary Console

None

Serial Speed

115200

USB-based serial

(unchecked)

Console menu

(checked)

Windows Tip

On windows a COM port would be assigned after connecting the unit to usb, to find which one (COM1, COM2, .,) to use, keep the windows key pressed and hit R (Windows+R) and execute the following command devmgmt.msc to open the device manager.

In the device manager all available ports are visible under the “Ports (COM & LPT)” section.

Legacy UART vs. UEFI serial

Starting from OPNsense 22.1 (22.4 for the business edition) and the change to FreeBSD 13-STABLE, support for EFI serial has changed, which requires EFI based systems to disable legacy support to prevent confusing the operating system. Should you connect your Deciso appliance with a serial line and get limited output / no output from the point of handover to the OS, it is important your BIOS settings are updated to disable legacy UART.

While in the BIOS, go to Setup Utility –> AMD CBS –> FCH Common Options –> UART Configuration Options –> UART 0 Legacy Options. and make sure this setting is set to Disabled.