What Is Up With ClearOS? What Are Your pfSense alternatives? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 06:01 If I search for ClearOS I find mostly 2+ year old threads. Many older. Many talking about how it has been defunct for years... however if I just visit the site it seems to be still in development and up to date. It also seems like something selfhosted users would like... however I couldn't find any recent discussions on it to see if its garbage or not. I plan on installing it tomorrow to check it out. I've been trying to migrate away from pfSense but I've been having a hell of a time finding a viable alternative and came across some very old ClearOS threads which is how it got on my radar. I've been trying to get an OpnSense install up and running but I just can't get it working in the most basic installation. My original plan was just to migrate directly to OpnSense but I've pretty much given up on it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ElevenNotes · 2023-11-24 06:16 You use pfsense but can’t make opnsense work which is a fork of pfsense and almost looks the same? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- omaha2002 · 2023-11-24 06:33 What issues you have in migrating to OPNsense, it’s basically the same as pfsense. Only thing that can be daunting is HAproxy configuration. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Dragonfruit_5882 · 2023-11-24 06:37 Well its a big difference. /s On pfsense the lan rules allow traffic through the Firewall. On the Opnsense you have to add a single rule.... @OP how about you write us what Problems you are having with opnsense ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 06:38 I have a thread in the OpnSense sub for this: https://www.reddit.com/r /opnsense/comments/181t31r/cant_get_default_install_to_work/ But I'll summarize here. It isn't anything for me to make work. I have an unmanaged switch connected to two workstations. That's the entire network. I install a fresh copy of Windows 10 on one and OpnSense on the other. Install is successful, I assign interfaces, the Windows 10 machine will get assigned an IP from DHCP but no communication works. Windows can't ping the OpnSense, OpnSense can't ping Windows. The WebGUI is not accessible. It's literally the most basic setup imaginable and it just won't work out of the box. I follow the exact same steps to install pfSense and it works without issue. Untangle, Sophos, OpenWRT, VyOS, IPFire all work right out of the box with no issue. Install OpnSense. Doesn't work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 06:39 See my reply to other guy... it basically stops working at step 2 after the install. https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/182l7k l/what_is_up_with_clearos_what_are_your_pfsense/kajdbv3/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 06:42 > On the Opnsense you have to add a single rule.... Several people mentioned that there may be something blocking traffic. However, they retracted those statements after I mentioned I've never heard of a firewall blocking traffic on the same subnet. The install instructions also didn't say anything about needing to add a rule. It just says the WebGUI should be available immediately after the install just like pfSense. I replied: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/182l7kl/what_i s_up_with_clearos_what_are_your_pfsense/kajdbv3/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Dragonfruit_5882 · 2023-11-24 06:48 1. Are you sure you have the right wan/lan port? 2. Are you sure the IP address is not in use by another Firewall (if you have your pfsense on 192.168.1.1 and your opnsense has it too, your going to have a Bad time) 3. Have you tried resetting the webgui cert + restarting the Webserver via console? And yes, gui is allowed by default because there is a rule for that. And your correct, for the same subnet you dont need rules, but the devices have no internet without you adding a rule. Have you tried giving it a DHCP IP? And connection with that IP address? I mean i get that it doesnt work for you, but it works for everyone else and its litteraly a fork of pfsense ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 06:56 >Are you sure you have the right wan/lan port? Yes I'm sure I have the right ports. I manually assigned and tried allowing auto assign. After a similar suggestion from the forums I even tried swapping them. >Are you sure the IP address is not in use by another Firewall (if you have your pfsense on 192.168.1.1 and your opnsense has it too, your going to have a Bad time) This is a completely separate lab network. It's an unmanaged switch and 2 machines connected to the switch. >Have you tried resetting the webgui cert + restarting the Webserver via console? I've gone through the fresh install multiple times. >Have you tried giving it a DHCP IP? And connection with that IP address? This is the strange part. It does assign an IP to the workstation. 192.168.1.100. However the workstation cannot ping the gateway and OpnSense cannot ping 192.168.1.100. The 192.168.1.100 workstation cannot reach the WebGUI. And yeah. I get that this is a "me" problem. However, its literally... install, configure interfaces. That's all I've done. There is really no excuse for me having issues with it. Especially when I follow the exact same steps with pfSense and it works perfectly fine. I listed 5 other products that work just fine as well. Untangle, Sophos, OpenWRT, VyOS, IPFire. OpnSense is the only one that didn't work out of the box. I was really hoping it was something stupid I missed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Dragonfruit_5882 · 2023-11-24 07:01 I know that the next step is pretty stupid, but because you got yourself some special Problem => Try setting the LAN ip from the opnsense to 172.16.1.1 and the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 Give your workstation the ip: 172.16.1.2 / 255.255.255.0 (Test it once with the normal setup where you add the gateway to the nic if this doesnt work, remove ONLY the Gateway for this configuration. Your using https to access it right? Because iam not sure if http works when first setting it up ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mogster2K · 2023-11-24 07:03 If you're still looking for a new distro, ipfire works well. It runs on Linux rather than BSD. https://www.ipfire.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 07:05 I'll give that a shot tomorrow. Yeah I tried both http and https. The instructions say it should come up on https. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Dragonfruit_5882 · 2023-11-24 07:07 The only time i had the same Problem as you were when my pfsense still ran on the SAME network. But since your not doing that, give it another shot mate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cautious_Delay153 · 2023-11-24 07:45 I remember ClearOS had a particular intel bias? But i dont remember much about it. Its a name ive havent heard others mention in a while ---------------------------------------------------------------------- marwanblgddb · 2023-11-24 07:50 You should take a look a this website below If you're coming from pfsense, opnsense will be your best alternative Lots of good articles to begin with opnsense : https://homenetworkguy.com/tags/opnsense/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AlexisColoun · 2023-11-24 08:07 >This is a completely separate lab network. It's an unmanaged switch and 2 machines connected to the switch. That statement doesn't answere the question. You can have two totaly seperate networks and they still can have the same ip range. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Adures_ · 2023-11-24 08:50 Why do you want to migrate from pfsense? I know there is big push from reddit communities to opnsense, but it's mostly for ideological, not technical reasons. The actual product is really solid with less updates (but the security ones like openssl are done quicker on pfsense), the business version is cheaper both for hardware and software version and most importantly it works for you right now, without wasting time. I've been using opnsense for many years in my homelab and also had to work with pfsense in business environment (not that much though) and from security and cost perspective I do not see reason to use opnsense. It's either less stable or more expensive than competitor. So why bother with change? As for clearOS, I wouldn't waste time on it. I think after HPE bought them, they mostly stagnated. Looking at their github, nothing is really done: https://github.com/orgs/clearos/repositories same with their blog. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CynicalAltruist · 2023-11-24 13:16 ClearOS Community basically died. They still exist but only to continue support for existing customers. It’s not active and it hasn’t really changed since 2013. Basically, everything ClearOS does, another product does better and free-er. TrueNAS Scale for storage, Proxmox or XCP-NG for Virtualization, and both TrueNAS Scale and PVE have containerization support, so you can spin up the services you actually need using a technology that’s modern. For the full package, Univention basically took the ClearOS approach and made it on Ubuntu. In the network side, VyOS and PF/OpnSense took over routing, while the Sense products plus PiHole and AdGuard Home made DNS management easy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- treebeardd · 2023-11-24 14:36 If you are looking for a free self-hostable firewall solution, software rXg with community support is 100% free. Sign up/download: rgnets.com Free support: /r/RG Nets The level of features / HW requirements may mean this is not suitable for more casual self-hosters, but as a former pfsense user myself, I think this is the path I found. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 17:42 Yeah its one I found that I'm going to play around with. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 17:43 I'll check it out ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 17:44 There is no way for my two networks to see each other. They are completely physically segregated. Having the same IPs would make no difference. It's like if me and my neighbor had the same internal IPs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techmattr · 2023-11-24 17:50 > Why do you want to migrate from pfsense? For those non technical reasons. And just to play around with something different. I'm rebuilding my network so I figured I'd try some products to see if I want to use something different. I might try the Omada and UniFi gateways as well. > As for clearOS, I wouldn't waste time on it. I think after HPE bought them, they mostly stagnated. Looking at their github, nothing is really done:https://github.com/orgs/clearos/repositories That's weird. They have some screenshots of Plex with modern/current UI. They have a bunch with the older UI as well. They've updated the date on some of their articles and pages but the latest release seems to be from 2019. What a strange way for a product to die off. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HoustonBOFH · 2023-11-24 18:06 I think the problem with Clear OS is that it has a very narrow market. People comfortable with Linux and containers have their own preferred method. And band new users don't know it exists. As for your OPNsense issue, I have never seen anything like that before and can not understand it. Hardware conflict perhaps? You can also try OpenWRT or there is a free Sophos firewall. Also Firewalla, but it is a bit old... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AlexisColoun · 2023-11-24 19:29 There are so many ways of separating networks that still might lead to IP conflicts on one point upstream. But yea, airgapping might eliminate that problem ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Plane_Resolution7133 · 2023-11-25 01:34 Wow ClarkConnect, that brings back memories. It used to be pretty good for the SMB/enthusiast market. I don’t remember what happened. Some internal differences, financial difficulties. It was a fairly active community at one point. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Gabbar_singhs · 2023-11-25 13:46 Do try vyos its faster than pfsense small footprint network very stable