***SPAM*** Re: New pf install on Freebsd7 seem to be a slow starter.

[Dennis]

LJ> David DeSimone skrev:
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>> Leslie Jensen <leslie at eskk.nu> wrote:
>>> # tables
>>> table <goodguys> { something.somewhere.com, somethingelse.somewhere.com,
>>> xxx.yyy.zzz.qqq }
>> 
>> This looks like the problem.  You have put hostnames in your pf.conf. 
>> While this is supported, hostname lookups at boot time are problematic
>> because the network is just getting started.  Nameservers are not always
>> immediately reachable, so these name lookups will stall out.
>> 
>> I recommend you put IP addresses in your pf.conf so that it can be
>> loaded without waiting for a nameserver.
>> 
>> Alternatively, put these hostnames (and IP's) in your /etc/hosts file.

LJ> Oh, I didn't know that! Can you tell me how to handle this?

LJ> The problem is these hosts are not fixed IP's so they use no-ip
LJ> (http://www.no-ip.com/) to provide a fixed address.

It's possible to populate the table after network initialized and all
other cervices are up. Just place empty table

table <goodguys> persist

in your pf.conf and

pfctl -t goodguys -T add \
 something.somewhere.com \
 somethingelse.somewhere.com \
  xxx.yyy.zzz.qqq &

into your /etc/rc.local, so pf will start up without delays.

Regards,
  Dennis