pfSense Plus Software Version 23.05 BETA Now Available

The BETA version of pfSense® Plus software version 23.05 has been released. The associated RC (Release Candidate) version is targeted for May 9, 2023 (subject to change). 

Call for Testing

Testing of this BETA version is important. Rigorous testing is the best way to strengthen the software for everyone, particularly given the unique environments and configurations of our users. Downloading and testing this BETA release, and letting us know about issues, is a chance for our users to make a difference.

Release Notes

Release Notes for pfSense Plus 23.05 software are available for review. A number of bugs and other issues have been corrected in release 23.05. For the latest information about the changes from pfSense Plus software version 23.01 to 23.05, as well as the new features, it is best to review these Release Notes prior to any upgrade.

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

Users Currently Running pfSense Plus 23.01:

• Back up configuration
• Navigate to System > Update
• Select the Latest Development Snapshots branch

The update check will run again and then offer a 23.05 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 23.05. 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 pfSense Plus software. This migration 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 you will need to first migrate to pfSense Plus 22.01, then follow the upgrade path to 23.05. Depending on your system, you may need to upgrade to pfSense Plus 22.05 before you have access to the pfSense Plus 23.05 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 23.05 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 text dump, etc. A full text dump might contain sensitive information, so be sure to inspect it before posting.

Summary

Once again we need to express sincere thanks to all users willing to get involved with testing this BETA release. This community involvement is part of what makes the pfSense Plus product, and the pfSense Project, a stronger solution for everyone.