Problems after updates to 9

[roeldm]

Hello all,

Since I've updated from version 8 to 9 some weeks ago I'm experiencing some problems. No changes have been made to the hardware config of the box or to my home network config.

1) About 2 times a week my internet connection is gone. When I try to connect to the untangle box sometimes:

- I can't log in and get the untangle screen with: service not available
- I can't log in and get the untangle screen with: an error about the gatewey (invalid I think)

- I can log in, but get these errors when trying to go to the networking config tab.

The only sollution then is to restart my machine (core2 duo / 4 gb ram / 4 NIC)



2) When I connect to my box using VNC from other locations I have to stop and restart the vnc session allmost every 10-15 minutes because there is no ata going over the connection anymore.

I hope that this can be cured, I really like Untangle. It worked flawlessly using version 8


My background to situate technical knowledge: I'm a law enforcement ICT forensic investigator with a good networking and server knowledge.

[Mathiau]

do you have SSH enabled on the system?

[roeldm]

SSH is not enabled

[izrunas]

Our automatic upgrade failed so badly on our largest Untangle deployment that we simply had to blow away the installation and re-type all the configurations from scratch... and we had done NO customization to the system. <sigh>

[sky-knight]

And you failed to make a backup?

[Mathiau]

My first thought, always do a backup before an upgrade and even after any changes are made to the UT box.

[sky-knight]

Or buy the support module and let live backup do it for you...

My point is, the instructions for restoring an old version to try the upgrade again have been on these forums for literally years.

How many times have your Windows servers done something odd because of a service pack install? Heck, when was the last time you had Windows 2003 upgrade to 2008 because you pushed a button? UT did exactly that not so long ago...

Crap happens, all equipment fails, all software has bugs. The job of the IT Consultant is to manage those risks. Take it as your VAR service, bill the client for support, and move on. If there is a complaint to be made here IMHO, it's the FREQUENCY of updates.

Open source development ideology stipulates rapid patching of small things. Commercial reality stipulates stable long standing unmoving products. UT as a security device has to ride those two realities... and it isn't easy. I wish UT would SLOW DOWN major updates, no more than two per year. But in the end they have to make the decision on how to ride that line themselves. Because I would do it differently doesn't make the way they are doing it wrong.

[izrunas]

Mathiau, I agree other than the fact that the first thing should really be: turn off automatic updates. I, nor my client, even knew a major upgrade would happen. We should have turned off the auto-update feature--so I realize it is partially my fault.

[izrunas]

sky-knight, the auto-upgrade hosed the box so badly we could not get to the backup files. :-( And yes, I know we should have stored backups on a different server.

[sky-knight]

Well I'm sorry your customer got burned. Warning resellers about the upgrade risk is part of my new reseller punch list. Heck I've been all over these forums yelling about it since I've been around too. I'm not sure what else myself or this community can do to educate people.

Most of the time, UT upgrades just work. However, when they break they REALLY break. They don't just slow the box down, or introduce some annoying twitch you can work around, they nuke the box!

Having a plan in place to recover the server is critical.

I would point out the other products you've mentioned in other threads don't even HAVE upgrades as an option. And in the rare case they do, the success percentages are abysmal.