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.
Do try vyos its faster than pfsense small footprint network very stable
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/
I’ll check it out
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), PFsense 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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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
If you’re still looking for a new distro, ipfire works well. It runs on Linux rather than BSD.
What issues you have in migrating to OPNsense, it’s basically the same as pfsense. Only thing that can be daunting is HAproxy configuration.
See my reply to other guy… it basically stops working at step 2 after the install. https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/182l7kl/what_is_up_with_clearos_what_are_your_pfsense/kajdbv3/