After Cobia upgrade can't open Office files from snapshot

[pcom]

Hello,

We have a file server with 2 pools:
-2x SSD NVME in mirror for data
-2x HDD where we create a read-only snapshot everyday at 13:00

And then another Truenas server in another room where we daily create another snapshot at 23:00

Yesterday we upgraded both system from Bluefin to latest Cobia 23.10.1 and upgraded zfs on both from GUI.
Everything was smooth however now:
- I can open any files on main file server (SSD)
- I can open any files except office files (excel, word, powerpoint..) on HDD snapshot
- I can open any files except office files (excel, word, powerpoint..) on secondary server

When I try to open an office file directly from the snapshots (on HDD or on secondary server it's the same) I receive the error "can't open file \\nameserver\namefolder\namefile.xls, maybe file doesn't exist, maybe file is in use, maybe you're saving files using an already existing filename."
(this is a translation, english is not my system language so it's not the exact message).

Any idea about the reason or what to check to solve this problem? Maybe I need to recreate snapshots from scratch? And why the problem only with office files?

Thanks

 

[pcom]

Hello, I know it's christmas but nobody had the same problem after Cobia upgrade?
I see there are already two old topics with same question but about Truenas CORE, my problem is with Scale.
https://www.truenas.com/community/t...les-open-fine-truenas-13-0-u5-1.110814/unread
https://www.truenas.com/community/t...ious-version-with-only-ms-office-files.86865/

In both case there are no solutions in the threads.

 

[pcom]

150 views and 0 reply in one week

Any help is apreciated. Thanks.

 

[Arwen]

Sorry, I have very little to contribute.

It is possible that MS-Office wants to open a temporary file on the snapshot. But, ZFS snapshots are read only, so the attempt fails. I don't know why it worked before Cobia upgrade. Or even if this is the problem...

Or that the location or name of the snapshots have changed in Samba shares...

Can you see the files in MS-Explorer?

 

[Davvo]

Maybe I need to recreate snapshots from scratch?

Could be worth trying: take a manual snapshot and see if you are able to open it as you were.
What's your RAM by the way? Maybe the files were in ARC before the update and since you rebooted ARC flushed, so you cannot open such files anymore... but it's more of guesswork than facts.

 

[pcom]

It is possible that MS-Office wants to open a temporary file on the snapshot. But, ZFS snapshots are read only, so the attempt fails. I don't know why it worked before Cobia upgrade. Or even if this is the problem...

I think this is the problem.
I can see all the files, I can open the xlsx/docx if i move them on my desktop (where i can write temp files, of course) and I can't create any new file on the snapshot directory because a popup says it's a read only location. Any other type of files (pdf, txt...) opens without problems.
This happens both on the hdd pool of the main server (100% dedicated to snapshots) and on the secondary server and both were working fine before upgrade so it's not a RAM problem or a temporary bug: something changed with Cobia.

Another reason why I'm 100% sure something changed with Cobia: now I can't open the previous version of the files from the main SSD using right click on xls -> properties -> previous version. This was working 100%, I used it more than once with bluefin.

It's possible to edit snapshot settings and transform read only snapshot location in read/write ? How? Or at least restore the way snapshot were working with bluefin?

Thanks

 

[Davvo]

@anodos are you aware of any substantial changeg implemented into SMB in COBIA that could have messed things here?

 

[Arwen]

I think this is the problem.
I can see all the files, I can open the xlsx/docx if i move them on my desktop (where i can create temp files) and I can't create any new file on the snapshot directory because a popup says it's a read only location. Any other type of files (pdf, txt...) opens without problems.
This happens both on the hdd pool of the main server and on the secondary server and both were working fine before upgrade so it's not a RAM problem or a temporary bug, something changed with Cobia.
...

Yes, if it says R/O, then MS-Office does appear to want to create a temporary file in that same location. You might research MS-Office, as some software allow changing the default location of their temporary files.

...
Another reason why I'm 100% sure something changed with Cobia: now I can't even open the older version of the files from the main SSD using properties -> older version. This was working 100%, I used it more than once.
...

I am not familiar with the process of opening an older version. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the subject can answer that question.

...
It's possible to edit snapshot settings and transform read only snapshot location in read/write ? How? Or at least restore the way snapshot were working with bluefin?
...

Yes and no. ZFS Snapshots are ALWAYS read / only. But, you can create a clone of a ZFS Snapshot and that can be read / write. However, for your use case, I doubt that process is what you want.

I don't know if their is a way to have similar snapshot behavior as Bluefin.

 

[anodos]

@anodos are you aware of any substantial changeg implemented into SMB in COBIA that could have messed things here?

Samba version changed. I can take a look at it next week. Snapshot directories are readonly (always have been). I'd have to see a debug though (Affected user can send me via private message).

 

[pcom]

Yes, if it says R/O, then MS-Office does appear to want to create a temporary file in that same location. You might research MS-Office, as some software allow changing the default location of their temporary files.

Found some question online but all of them says it's not possible
https://superuser.com/questions/1345780/change-location-for-microsoft-office-temporary-files

Samba version changed. I can take a look at it next week. Snapshot directories are readonly (always have been). I'd have to see a debug though (Affected user can send me via private message).

I'm sending you debug of both my truenas server, however I'm a bit lost now. If it's read only by design this should be normal, everybody should be "affected" and "the problem" was with bluefin. Am I the only one in the world trying to access files in a snapshot made by Cobia?
My view is that something is not right with Cobia and bluefin was OK. With bluefin a nice functionality was working, with cobia it's not.
Let me know, thanks.

 

[Davvo]

Am I the only one in the world trying to access files in a snapshot made by Cobia?

You should be able to copy them to your main system and open from there.

 

[Arwen]

...
My view is that something is not right with Cobia and bluefin was OK. With bluefin a nice functionality was working, with cobia it's not.
Let me know, thanks.

After you send the Debug files, roll back to Bluefin and prove to your self that the issue is with Cobia.

Note that this is exactly why we do not recommend updating ZFS features on data pools immediately after update. Some updates come with ZFS pool features that are not available in prior TrueNAS releases.

You should be able to "activate" the prior boot environment, then reboot to Bluefin.

To activate the prior boot environment, use;
- System Settings
- Boot
- On the line with BlueFin / prior boot environment, select 3 dots at right side
- Select the Activate from the pulled down menu

Note that all reboots will be to that boot environment until you either change it. Or update again.

 

[pcom]

You should be able to copy them to your main system and open from there.

Yeah, this is why is not urgent or dramatic. I should be able to recover my files, if necessary. I'm just surprised I'm the only one with this problem.

After you send the Debug files, roll back to Bluefin and prove to your self that the issue is with Cobia.

Note that this is exactly why we do not recommend updating ZFS features on data pools immediately after update. Some updates come with ZFS pool features that are not available in prior TrueNAS releases.

You should be able to "activate" the prior boot environment, then reboot to Bluefin.

To activate the prior boot environment, use;
- System Settings
- Boot
- On the line with BlueFin / prior boot environment, select 3 dots at right side
- Select the Activate from the pulled down menu

Note that all reboots will be to that boot environment until you either change it. Or update again.

Tried. Selected latest Bluefin, reboot, Kernel panic. Had to unplug the power cord and manually select Cobia 23.10 at next startup to boot system.
Sorry but this is a production environment, I can't use it as a test machine.

 

[sretalla]

There's no way that this is a problem only with Cobia... I guess it just wasn't noticed/tried before in the same way.

As mentioned, the creation of temp files on opening of the mentioned office document types (and probably some others not noticed here yet) will be a dead-end blocking point to opening those files on a read-only location.

Changing the temp-file location would break document security, so will be very unlikely to be allowed/facilitated by Microsoft.

Just copy the files needed to a local or temporary location to open/edit them or roll-back the snapshot or copy back the file from the snapshot over the current one on the NAS if you can't be bothered messing with the file out of its location.

 

[pcom]

Guys, I don't know if the problem is caused by Cobia or not, what I can give you 100% sure is that this problem appears after Cobia (and ZFS) update. I'm on truenas since 2022 and I used many times the "previous version" feature. Now this is not working anymore, I'm not crazy.

By the way, look at this thread.
https://www.truenas.com/community/t...ious-version-with-only-ms-office-files.86865/
Exactly the same problem but 3 years ago, with Core and from 11.2 to 11.3.

https://www.truenas.com/community/t...ers-files-open-fine-truenas-13-0-u5-1.110814/
Here again, Core 13.0.

So maybe it's not Cobia, OK, but something happen with the upgrades.

 

[pcom]

Hello, any news? Now I'm on 23.10.1.3, no difference.

Thanks