Reduce OPNsense boot time

Under OPNsense, Disabling the VGA console can reduce the boot time by about 20-25 seconds. This provides faster availability of the firewall after reboot, especially for OPNsense firmware updates that require a reboot.

Console setting

20 Seconds less boot time thanks to serial console.

LES compact 4L with connected serial RJ45 adapter.

Serial console output via putty.

Under System ‣ Settings ‣ Administration the following settings for the Primary Console are available in the Console section:

Console	Output	Recommendation at	Boot time LES compact 4L with OPNsense 20.7
VGA Console	output on the VGA/HDMI/DVI port of the firewall	Firewall without serial port	about 85 seconds
Serial Console	output on the serial port of the firewall	Firewall with serial port and short desired boot time	approx. 65 seconds
EFI Console
Mute Console	Disabled console	Firewall without a serial port that won't boot without a monitor attached Only limited recommendation, as no console is available independent of the network	about 60 seconds

Recommendation when switching to serial console

Before you change the Primary Console from VGA Console to Serial Console, we recommend that you first configure the serial console as Secondary Console. This allows you to activate both consoles in parallel. If everything works out fine, you can finally configure the Primary Console as serial console again.

References

Author: Werner Fischer Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.