Back to Blog

pfSense, Announcements, Development, Releases, Networking

Netgate Releases RC of pfSense CE Software Version 2.7.1

Written by: Bill Rathbone

Date: November 07, 2023

Netgate Releases RC of pfSense CE Software Version 2.7.1

Netgate® is pleased to announce the Release Candidate (RC) of pfSense® CE software version 2.7.1. As we prepare for the release, we invite you to try out the release candidate and share your feedback with us. Release Notes are available for review. 

Overview

pfSense Community Edition (CE) software is an open-source project, and Netgate has been providing stewardship and resources for it since 2008. We support the pfSense CE project by contributing releases, snapshots, and updates of pfSense CE software, as well as making other code contributions, FreeBSD-related updates, and more. The pfSense CE project source code is available on GitHub, distributed under the Apache 2.0 open source license.

Major Changes and Features

OpenSSL upgraded to 3.0.12

This change was essential because OpenSSL 1.1.1 has reached End of Life (EOL) and will no longer receive security patches for vulnerabilities.

The upgrade to OpenSSL 3.0.12 means that a number of older and weaker encryption and hash algorithms have been removed, and security certificates based on these older/weaker hashes have been deprecated. We HIGHLY recommend reviewing the release notes, and our blog on this topic, prior to any upgrade.

Encryption algorithms removed from OpenVPN include: ARIA, Blowfish (e.g. BF-CBC, which was formerly an OpenVPN default), CAST5, DES, DESX, IDEA, RC2, RC5, SEED, and SM4. Hash algorithms removed from OpenVPN include MD4, MDC2, SM3, and Whirlpool.

Kea DHCP added as an opt-in feature

The Kea DHCP server is available as an opt-in feature. Basic functionality is present in version 2.7.1, but it is not feature complete. You can find our blog on the topic here. Switching to the Kea DHCP server is done by:

  • Navigate to System > Advanced
  • Choose the Networking tab
  • Change the new Server Backend radio button in the DHCP Options section to "Kea DHCP"
  • Click on the "Save" button at the bottom of the page

Note: If you have assigned hostnames to devices on your network using static leases, or rely on dynamic lease registration in DNS, switching to Kea DHCP results in those hostnames being ignored. The static lease configuration is kept, so switching back to ISC DHCP will restore the functionality.

Improved support for SCTP

Support for SCTP has been improved in PF for firewall rules, NAT, and logging. Rules can now act on SCTP packets by port number. Previously it was only possible to filter on source or destination address.

IPv6 Router Configuration moved

IPv6 Router Advertisement configuration has been relocated to Services > Router Advertisement as a part of the ongoing Kea DHCP server integration.

Additional Changes

  • PHP upgraded to 8.2.11
  • The base operating system upgraded to a more recent point of FreeBSD 14-CURRENT
  • The release also addresses a number of bugs and other issues. 

Call for Testing

Testing of this RC software release is essential. It is the most effective way to ensure that the software is robust and reliable for all users, given the diversity of their environments and configurations. By downloading and testing this RC release, and providing feedback on any issues, our community can play a vital role in improving the software for everyone.

Installing the Upgrade

Netgate has a detailed Upgrade Guide available in the pfSense documentation to help explain the process. Upgrades from an earlier version of pfSense CE software are usually made through the web interface. It’s always recommended to save a backup of the pfSense CE configuration prior to any major change such as an upgrade. You can find Backup and Recovery instructions in the pfSense documentation.

  • Navigate to System > Update
  • Set Branch to “Next Stable Version (2.7.1-RC)”
  • Click Confirm to start the upgrade process

Troubleshooting the Upgrade

To mitigate the risk of disrupting your production environment, Netgate recommends testing the RC version in a lab, on a scratch system, or in a Virtual Machine, rather than on production systems. Please review the documentation on  Troubleshooting Upgrades for the most up-to-date information on working around upgrade issues.

Where to Report Errors

We encourage you to test the things which are important or unique to your environment. Please report any errors or concerns in the corresponding category of the Netgate Forum. Depending on the issue, we may ask for more details, or for you to open a bug on redmine.pfsense.org.

Include as much information as possible in your reports, such as console error messages, full PHP errors, the system configuration file (sanitized, if necessary), information from the text dump, etc. A full text dump might contain sensitive information, so be sure to inspect it before posting.

Summary

We express sincere thanks to all users willing to test this RC release. Your community involvement is essential to making Netgate's pfSense CE product a stronger solution for everyone.