How to update pfSense repositories

Sometimes when we try to install a new package from the web administration panel of pfSense we may see the error "Unable to retrieve package information” because the repositories are outdated. Below, we show you how to update the repositories through an SSH connection to the pfSense server.

Connect to the server and open the pfSense shell

The first step is to connect via SSH using our pfSense server's IP, the username "root", and the password we can view in the client panel. The following list of options will then appear, and we must select option 8) Shell.

Update pfSense repositories

Once we have selected option 8 Shell, we can run the following commands to update the repositories.

# pkg update -f ; pkg upgrade -fy; pkg-static clean -ay; pkg bootstrap -fy; pkg-static install -fy pkg pfSense-repo pfSense-upgrade; pkg-static upgrade -fy; pfSense-upgrade -fy;

When the repository update finishes, you must restart the server by entering the following command:

# reboot

Once the pfSense server has restarted, you will need to update to at least version 2.7.x because the repositories for version 2.4.x are not available. In System, Update, select version 2.7.x and click Update to update it:

Finally, we access the website and check that the error "Unable to retrieve package information” no longer appears and that we can now search for the package we want and install it.

The official documentation has more information about possible errors and solutions when updating: Troubleshooting Upgrades | pfSense Documentation

Remember, if you have questions about this or any other issue related to your servers at Clouding, feel free to write to soporte@clouding.io We're here for whatever you need. Just ask us!