
Why Go Business Edition?
Before we roll up our sleeves, why bother? The Community Edition is awesome—rolling updates, bleeding-edge features—but the Business Edition trades that for a curated, twice-yearly release schedule (April and October, think 24.4 or 24.10.2). You get a hardened package set, commercial support, and extras like centralized management with OPNcentral. It’s built for pros who need reliability over the latest shiny toys.
What You’ll Need
- A working OPNsense Community Edition install (e.g., 24.7.x) on x86-64 hardware or a VM.
- A Business Edition subscription key from shop.opnsense.com (a UUID like a1b2c3d4-e5f6-g7h8-i9j0-klmnopqrstuv).
- HTTPS outbound access to
https://opnsense-update.deciso.com/.
- Root credentials for the web UI and SSH (if you’re a CLI warrior).
- A backup—because Murphy’s Law loves untested upgrades.
Pro Tip: Business Edition lags behind Community. If you’re on 25.1 and the latest Business is 24.10, you’ll need to wait or reinstall. More on that later.
Step 1: Back Up Like Your Life Depends on It
First things first—back up your config. If this upgrade goes sideways (and it rarely does), you’ll thank yourself.
- Hit the web UI (
https://<your-firewall-ip>/
), log in as root, and head to System > Configuration > Backups. - Click Download Configuration to snag config.xml. This little file holds your interfaces, rules, and plugins—everything that makes your firewall tick.
- Stash it somewhere safe. Want to flex your CLI skills? SSH in and
cp /conf/config.xml /tmp/config-backup.xml ; scp /tmp/config-backup.xml user@remote-host:/backups/
- Peek inside to ensure it’s not gibberish. It’s just XML, after all.
Step 2: Know Thy System
Let’s figure out where you’re starting from.
- In the UI, go to System > Firmware > Status. You’ll see something like 24.7.6_3-amd64. Jot it down.
- CLI fans, run: opnsense-version -a. It’ll spill the beans on version, flavor (OpenSSL or LibreSSL), and more.
- Check your current repo:
cat /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/OPNsense.conf
Community useshttps://pkg.opnsense.org/FreeBSD:13:amd64/24.7
We’re about to switch that up. - Update your Community install to avoid surprises:
opnsense-update -u pkg upgrade
Step 3: Point to the Business Repo
Time to tell OPNsense where the Business Edition lives.
- UI path: System > Firmware > Settings.
- Set:
- Firmware Mirror: Deciso (HTTPS, NL, Commercial) (
https://opnsense-update.deciso.com
/). - Type: Business.
- Subscription: Paste your license key.
- Firmware Mirror: Deciso (HTTPS, NL, Commercial) (
- Hit Save. This tweaks
/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/OPNsense.conf
to something like:OPNsense: { url: "https://opnsense-update.deciso.com/24.10/FreeBSD:13:amd64/", signature_type: "pubkey", pubkey: "/usr/local/etc/ssl/opnsense-business.pub", enabled: yes }
- Test the connection:
fetch -v https://opnsense-update.deciso.com/24.10/FreeBSD:13:amd64/packagesite.pkg
If it grabs a file, you’re golden.
Step 4: Hunt for Updates
Let’s see what’s out there.
- Back at System > Firmware > Status, click Check for Updates (runs
opnsense-update -c
under the hood). - OPNsense compares your local package DB (
/var/db/pkg/local.sqlite
) to the Business repo’s packagesite.pkg. - You should see: “New version 24.10.1 is available.” CLI check: opnsense-update -t.
- If it barfs (“Repository not found”), double-check your key in
/usr/local/etc/opnsense/firmware.conf
and DNS with drill opnsense-update.deciso.com.
Step 5: Pull the Trigger
Here’s where the magic happens.
- Click Update on the Firmware page. This:
- Downloads base, kernel, and packages (opnsense-update -bkp).
- Installs them (pkg install and kernel swaps).
- Reboots (shutdown -r now).
- Watch the show in the UI or
tail -f /var/log/firmware.log.
It’ll fetch base.txz, kernel.txz, and more, then restart. - Post-reboot, you’re on Business Edition turf.
Step 6: Double-Check Your Work
Let’s make sure it stuck.
- Log in, hit System > Firmware > Status. Look for 24.10.1-amd64 or similar.
- CLI: opnsense-version -a. Repo still good?
cat /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/OPNsense.conf.
- Test the basics:
pfctl -si
# Firewall state service unbound status # DNS resolver - Scan logs: clog /var/log/system.log. No red flags? You’re set.
Plan B: Fresh Install
If your Community version outpaces Business (e.g., 25.1 vs. 24.10), or the upgrade hiccups, go nuclear with a clean install.
- Grab the Business image from
https://opnsense-update.deciso.com/
(e.g., OPNsense-24.10-dvd-amd64.iso.bz2). Verify: sha256 OPNsense-24.10-dvd-amd64.iso.bz2. - Decompress (bunzip2) and flash it to USB:
dd if=OPNsense-24.10-dvd-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=1M status=progress.
- Boot, install (VGA or serial), and restore your config.xml via System > Configuration > Backups.
- Reboot and verify as above.
Troubleshooting: When Things Go Sideways
- Repo Errors: Check your key (grep subscription
/usr/local/etc/opnsense/firmware.conf
) and ping the mirror (curl -I https://opnsense-update.deciso.com/
). - Package Hiccups: Clear conflicts with
pkg remove -f <package>
, then retry. - Boot Fails: Single-user mode (
boot -s
), peek at/var/log/dmesg.boot
, or restore via installer. - Logs are your friends:
/var/log/firmware.log
and/var/log/system.log
.
Under the Hood
The Business Edition rides on FreeBSD 13, with packages signed by Deciso’s key (/usr/local/etc/ssl/opnsense-business.pub
). The upgrade swaps out base.txz and kernel.txz, integrating a curated packagesite.txz. You’re getting stability, MaxMind GeoIP, and IDS enhancements—worth the price of admission.
Take It to the Cloud with Popacloudhost
Run OPNsense Business Edition in a managed cloud environment.
Check out Popacloudhost’s OPNsense hosting plans. We offer pre-installed Community instances that are perfect for securing your network without the hardware headache. We will also help you switch to a business edition without hassles.
Head over to Popacloudhost OPNsense Hosting Plans and see how our cloud instances can level up your firewall game!
Posted: March 17, 2025