Updates
OPNsense’s update schedule consists of two major releases each year, which are updated about every two weeks. The major releases’ version number consists of the year and months of release (e.g. 19.1 for the January 2019 release), with the fortnightly updates adding a third number (e.g. 19.1.3 for the third update to 19.1).
Installing updates
Updates can be installed from the web interface, by going to . On this page, you can click Check for updates to search for updates. If they are available, a button will appear to install them.
Update settings
By navigating to , you can influence the firmware update settings:
Fimware Mirror: this influences where OPNsense tries to get its updates from. If you have troubles updating or searching for updates, or if your current mirror is running slowly, you can change it here.
Release Type: With this setting, you can switch between the regular fortnightly schedule of tested releases (Production) or the newest, not fully tested code (Development). Please leave this setting on “Production”, unless you fully understand the implications of switching.
Tip
The settings page is also the place where you can run audits which help debugging common connectivitty issues, just press the “Run an audit” and choose “Connectivity” from the list.
Troubleshooting updates
Usually the connectivity check offers a direction where to look for issues during updates, the following causes are in our experience most common.
Misconfigured DNS settings, check for configured servers the firewall is allowed to use
Misconfigured IPv6, in which case “Prefer IPv4 over IPv6” in might help to prevent the system from using IPv6 in these cases
In HA (carp) setups, using the wrong extrenal IPaddress, usually caused by a misconfigued outbound nat rule, easy to check by disabling manual outbound nat rules in .
Major Upgrades
Major upgrades are recommended to do via VGA display or serial because you can see what is going on.
Note
You can find some documentation about serial access under Serial Access
Warning
Major updates are installed offline. So no web interface or SSH is running to monitor the upgrade. If something fails, you need a second connection or direct access to revert the VM or repair the installation.
If you choose option 12 on the console menu on latest release, you are asked if you want to upgrade to the newest version or to the next major release. Type in the major release number (for example “19.1”) and press enter. OPNsense will download all release files for an offline upgrade (kernel, packages etc.) and will reboot afterwards.
After a reboot, it will install all updates and when it is done, it will reboot again, then you should be on the desired release.