Pf Configuration Incompatible With Pf Program Version =link= (2026)

This public link is valid for 7 days and shares a thread, including any personal information you added. This link or copies made by others cannot be deleted. If you share with third parties, their policies apply. Can’t copy the link right now. Try again later.

Complete the upgrade process. On FreeBSD, this typically involves running: freebsd-update install Use code with caution.

: Always keep a copy of /etc/pf.conf and any anchor files before performing a system upgrade.

Check the version of your running kernel against the version of your user-space environment. uname -aK Use code with caution. Check user-land version (on FreeBSD): freebsd-version -u Use code with caution.

The error message occurs when your operating system's Packet Filter (PF) management utility cannot parse or load the firewall ruleset. This issue typically arises during system upgrades or rule migrations on macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD systems.

pkg info | grep pf

To understand why this error occurs, you have to understand how PF functions. PF operates in two distinct segments of your operating system:

The incompatibility is almost always . Either update your config file to match the running system’s pfctl + kernel, or align your PF userland with the kernel version.