Backup of boot USB

[Martin Lund]

I have just installed FreeNAS 9.2.1.8, and it works so far. For an old Windows-user even tiny steps in Linux-world take time and effort. So I am looking for help to speed up my advance.

I am booting from a 2 GiB USB stick, but it seems appropriate to replace it with a stick of at least the doubble of this capacity. Furthermore I would like to have the boot USB continuously backed up, some kind of mirroring?

So I need a prescription to make a copy of my boot USB stick to a larger volume.

I do have searched for this information, but: " You can use dd!" is not of much help at my present level.

Could somebody please help me out?

/ML

 

[anodos]

"system" -> "settings" -> "save config"

Once you get your new USB stick, just put the standard img on it, boot, and upload your config. No fancy hackery. It just works. I do this procedure with every new update (but this will all change with 9.3).

 

[L]

You can also try 9.3 beta, it has mirrored boot drive.... I haven't tried yet creating a mirrored boot zpool and then splitting it, but it's on my list of things to try..

 

[danb35]

There is no reason to copy your USB boot disk to a larger volume--as long as it's working, it will be fine. No data other than the configuration database is stored on that device, so you don't need extra space at all. You should, as @anodos says, back up your config file. That way, if/when your boot device fails, you can do a clean installation on a fresh device, upload the config file, and you'll be good to go.

A couple of other tips: (1) FreeNAS is not Linux in any way, shape, or form; it's FreeBSD. They are similar in many ways, but they aren't the same thing. (2) you can't actually use dd to back up the USB stick, at least according to the manual.

 

[Martin Lund]

@anodos.
Thank you for your speedy reply. I followed your advice, and actually got the job done.

@ Linda.
I will as soon as possible look further into 9.3.beta.

@Dan.
Thank you for your comments. Having actually done the upgrade I now understand, what is going on, and I realise, that this upgrade was of no urgence.

So, I´m off for new challenges wit my FreeNAS. Thank´s everybody.

/ML

 

[ghostwolf59]

this is my 10c worth - I have had usb corruptions happening several times due to power failures leaving the usb in a corrupt state (worst case was when I lost my entire raid5 as a direct result of this)
Since then I decided to 1. move away from raid and instead mount individual volumes that I then manually back up (one for one instead of a stripe across drives)
From a usb backup point of view I also sourced the free software RMPrepUSB v.2.1.665 (http://www.rmprepusb.com/) that allows me to take a complete image copy of my freenas boot usb. The software is bit crude but does its job perfectly and have provided me with the added bonus of being allowed to experiment with my setup and if needed easily fall back on a previous image.
The entire usb is image coped into a image file that I can use to restore the exact image back to a usb at will.
Highly recommend this - saved my butt several times

 

[pschatz100]

@ghostwolf59
I'd say you are going through a lot of extra work for very little (if any) gain. Why all the run-around to back up the the usb boot drive with weird utilities when FreeNAS makes it so easy to back up the configuration - which is the part that really matters. Running raid over USB is not recommended and the many posts about this in the forum make it clear that USB and Raidz do not mix well.

But most importantly, why so much grief about power failures? Obviously, you should have a UPS.

 

[Martin Lund]

Hello ghostwolf59.
Thank you for your contribution. I am hesitating to go further with manual backup of my boot USB since mirroring seems to be part of FreeNAS 9.3.
I have actually tried to install 9.3 beta, but unfortunately the upgrade-proces froze just as I expected it to be succeding. I have looked for help, but I miss some place to read about other people's experiences.

/ML

 

[pschatz100]

Martin Lund,
Strictly speaking, backing up the USB boot drive is not a huge issue for a home system and some people worry about this too much. If you back up the system configuration, you can always restore your system by reinstalling FreeNAS from the iso, then restoring your configuration. Easy.

A consideration with thumb drives, however, is that they do go bad. Over the course of three years, I have had to replace thumb drives two times. Now, when I perform a system update I also replace the thumb drive.

Also, as a new FreeNAS user, you might want to wait a bit before running version 9.3. You will get a lot more support in the Forums with 9.2.

 

[anodos]

Martin Lund,
Strictly speaking, backing up the USB boot drive is not a huge issue for a home system and some people worry about this too much. If you back up the system configuration, you can always restore your system by reinstalling FreeNAS from the iso, then restoring your configuration. Easy.

A consideration with thumb drives, however, is that they do go bad. Over the course of three years, I have had to replace thumb drives two times. Now, when I perform a system update I also replace the thumbdrive.

Also, as a new FreeNAS user, you might want to wait a bit before running version 9.3. You will get a lot more support in the Forums with 9.2.

Now, because USB is such utter crap, it is a good idea to run a cronjob to backup your config. See here: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/backup-config-file-every-night-automatically.8237/

 

[Martin Lund]

I am quite confident about the advice from anodos in #2.

As a beginner you are anxious about making fatal mistakes, that will bring you back to Adam&Eve with much of your effort and time wasted. Explanations in #4 cleared my concern. #9 likewise.

I expect 9.3 to be more userfriendly, and the upgrade procedure in the 9.2.1 guide is quite thorough, so I didn´t consider it overambitious to give it a try.

/ML

 

[Ben Woods]

Also, as a new FreeNAS user, you might want to wait a bit before running version 9.3. You will get a lot more support in the Forums with 9.2.

I totally agree with this. FreeNAS 9.3 is currently exactly what it describes - BETA. I would not recommend installing it on anything where you need your data.

 

[ghostwolf59]

@ghostwolf59
I'd say you are going through a lot of extra work for very little (if any) gain. Why all the run-around to back up the the usb boot drive with weird utilities when FreeNAS makes it so easy to back up the configuration - which is the part that really matters. Running raid over USB is not recommended and the many posts about this in the forum make it clear that USB and Raidz do not mix well.

But most importantly, why so much grief about power failures? Obviously, you should have a UPS.

I have tried to fall back on the configuration in the past - and it has not always worked for me resulting in a complete clean onto my thumb forcing me to yet again download and configure the plugins I use
- the image of the usb has proved 100% reliable and is something I definatly recommend to other and personally will continue with.

UPS is obviously a good thing, but tell me this - what if you UPS fail ? - I work in organizations (large ones) where even they experienced serious meltdowns due to failing UPS - now they learned their lesson and perform regular checks on their UPSs - in a home situation I don't have time to engage myself with regular testings of all loosely couple components - not that I say UPS is a bad this - on the contrary, but just pointing to yet another peripheral equipment that can fail and require regular checks/maintenance.

The "little gain" I get is a personal reassurance that all my data is backed up onto secondary media (including the boot system with all its configurations)

 

[ghostwolf59]

Hello ghostwolf59.
Thank you for your contribution. I am hesitating to go further with manual backup of my boot USB since mirroring seems to be part of FreeNAS 9.3.
I have actually tried to install 9.3 beta, but unfortunately the upgrade-proces froze just as I expected it to be succeding. I have looked for help, but I miss some place to read about other people's experiences.

/ML

Replication is ok if you plan to have your backup mounted at all times and can match the size of your source
The mirroring (or zfs replication) in NAS require you to setup a scheduled periodic snapshot of your volume (which to me suggests that the backup needs to be mounted at all time)

- If you on the other hand have multiple volumes (and possible start running out of SATA connections) you might need to mount your backup volume at will based on the volume you plan to backup - then take the backup offline and store it in a safe place. - In a nutshell this is what I do - and as long as you can enforce a small amount of self discipline and regularly manually take your backup you will be ok.

 

[danb35]

The mirroring (or zfs replication) in NAS require you to setup a scheduled periodic snapshot of your volume (which to me suggests that the backup needs to be mounted at all time)

Mirroring and ZFS replication are completely different things. A mirror consists of two disks (or devices) that are ordinarily both online at the same time, and each is a duplicate of the other. If one device fails, the other remains active, and data is protected. Outside of the context of ZFS, mirroring is often called RAID 1. FreeNAS 9.3 supports mirroring of the boot device, which is new to that version (it's always supported mirroring of data disks). It's an effective way to protect against failure of a device.

ZFS replication is a ZFS feature to create a copy of a dataset (which may consist of your entire pool, or a subset of the pool). Replication requires snapshots (though not scheduled automatic snapshots) to work, but the "backup" or target device or system need not be online when the snapshot is taken. Using ZFS, you can replicate to a local disk or over a network. @Martin Lund didn't say anything about replication.

 

[ghostwolf59]

Mirroring and ZFS replication are completely different things. A mirror consists of two disks (or devices) that are ordinarily both online at the same time, and each is a duplicate of the other. If one device fails, the other remains active, and data is protected. Outside of the context of ZFS, mirroring is often called RAID 1. FreeNAS 9.3 supports mirroring of the boot device, which is new to that version (it's always supported mirroring of data disks). It's an effective way to protect against failure of a device.

ZFS replication is a ZFS feature to create a copy of a dataset (which may consist of your entire pool, or a subset of the pool). Replication requires snapshots (though not scheduled automatic snapshots) to work, but the "backup" or target device or system need not be online when the snapshot is taken. Using ZFS, you can replicate to a local disk or over a network. @Martin Lund didn't say anything about replication.

sorry for getting somewhat wrong - The way I read this was from a backup/restore point of view - never considered the chap wanting to use a raid setup.
So from a pure backup point of view I think I'm on the mark - two options available - rely on nas snapshot and replication feature (that indeed seem to require the target replication devise to be online at all time) - alternatively resort to a manual backup

 

[danb35]

So from a pure backup point of view I think I'm on the mark - two options available - rely on nas snapshot and replication feature (that indeed seem to require the target replication devise to be online at all time) - alternatively resort to a manual backup

Snapshots do not require that there be a target device at all, much less that it be online at the time the snapshot is taken. Replication obviously requires that there be a place to replicate to, but it only needs to be online when the replication is happening.

 

[Martin Lund]

@danb35.
Thank yuo for spelling out the difference. And yes, my concern was mirroring of the boot USB.

It seems to me, that this is a natural endpoint. Thank you to each contributor. Am I supposed to take any actions to finish it off?

/ML

 

[ghostwolf59]

Snapshots do not require that there be a target device at all, much less that it be online at the time the snapshot is taken. Replication obviously requires that there be a place to replicate to, but it only needs to be online when the replication is happening.

So by definition - if you want to do replication you then need to setup a scheduled snapshot which in turn require the target to be mounted at all times - thats the point I were trying to get across !

 

[danb35]

I know that's the point you're trying to get across. You're wrong. Snapshots can happen, as I said, without any target device at all. They can happen on a schedule, or manually. Just because you have snapshots doesn't mean you have to replicate.

In order to replicate, you have to have at least one snapshot. It doesn't need to be a scheduled snapshot. Replication doesn't require the target device to be "mounted" at all, much less at all times. In fact, the GUI method of replication runs over the network via SSH--nothing is mounted. Obviously a network connection to the target is necessary when the replication is run.

If replication is done on a schedule, the target resource must be available when the replication (not the snapshot) runs. In no case is it necessary for the target resource to be available, much less connected, "at all times."