pfSense Plus Software Version 23.01 BETA Now Available

Call for Testing

As part of the progress toward the pfSense® Plus software version 23.01 release, we have just released a BETA version. We plan to build an RC (Release Candidate) starting on December 21, 2022 (subject to change). Testing of this BETA version is important. We will be testing here at Netgate®, and we know that you will be testing too.

Rigorous testing is a sure way to strengthen the software for everyone, and this is your chance to make a difference, for you and the community. It is not possible to replicate every existing use case. Your unique environments and configurations will provide feedback that we might otherwise have been unable to duplicate.

Major Changes and Features

In September, we wrote about the upcoming features and changes we have incorporated into pfSense Plus 23.01 software, such as moving to PHP 8.1 and FreeBSD Main. The snapshots became available on Community Edition in late September and on pfSense Plus shortly after. Since then, many bugs and other issues have been corrected, but there is more work to do to get us from the BETA version of 23.01 to the RC version.

Release Notes

Release Notes for pfSense Plus 23.01 software are available for review. For the latest information about the changes from pfSense Plus software version 22.05 to 23.01, as well as the new features, it is best to review these Release Notes prior to any upgrade.

How to Upgrade

A detailed upgrade guide is available in our documentation to help you through the process. Below are the high-level steps to perform the upgrade.

Users Currently Running pfSense Plus 22.05:

• Backup your configuration

• Navigate to System > Update

• Select the Latest Development Snapshots branch

The update check will run again and then offer a 23.01 BETA version of the software.

Note that the Netgate SG-1000 and other, older end-of-life systems will not be eligible to upgrade to pfSense Plus software version 23.01. This is also true for all Intel 32-bit devices.

Users Currently Running pfSense Community Edition:

We encourage you to migrate from pfSense CE software to Netgate pfSense Plus software. The ability to migrate to pfSense Plus software from the Community Edition is still available at no charge, and doing so will ensure you have access to all of the benefits of pfSense Plus software.

To migrate from pfSense Community Edition software to pfSense Plus software, you will need to first migrate to pfSense Plus 22.01, then follow the upgrade path to 23.01. Depending on your system, you may need to upgrade to pfSense Plus 22.05 before you have access to the pfSense Plus 23.01 BETA build.

How to Troubleshoot Upgrades

We recommend testing the BETA version in a lab, on a scratch system, or in a Virtual Machine, rather than on production systems. Please review Upgrade Troubleshooting 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 deployments. Please report any errors or concerns in the Plus 23.01 Development Snapshots 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 textdump, etc. A full textdump might contain sensitive information, so be sure to inspect it before posting.

Summary

With this upcoming release, there are some major changes. Thanks to all of you who are willing to roll up your sleeves and go to work to make the pfSense Plus product, and the pfSense Project, a stronger solution for everyone.