Best way to upgrade FreeNAS Boot Drive?

[Mr_N]

Could anyone with experience in the following please give me some details on the best way to transition from a 4GB boot drive upto a 16 or 32GB drive with v9.2.1.9 before I upgrade to v9.3 in the future.

TiA

 

[danb35]

Download your config file, do a clean install to the new drive, upload the config file. Or wait until you're ready to upgrade to 9.3, and do that then.

 

[Mr_N]

k so its that simple, i thought maybe there was more to it but simplicity works :)

 

[Ericloewe]

I'll take this opportunity to recommend mirrored boot devices. You can get two 16GB USB drives for some 20 bucks, which makes your life a lot easier when one of them decides to crap out.

 

[Mr_N]

yeah i thought about that but im using something with a bit more longevity than a usb stick, and i'll just buy another one should anything happen to it, i keep regular updates of config files so shouldn't be a problem.

 

[travanx]

I upgraded to a larger USB thumbdrive and 9.3 using a clean install, upload config file, after it was all done add 2nd thumbdrive as mirror. Pretty straightforward.

 

[marbus90]

Don't forget the encryption keys if you run that.

 

[Mr_N]

yeah i do, just have to make sure i have copies of them? do i need to do anything specific after installing freenas and uploading my config file?

whats the chance that a 16GB boot volume will be too small again within the next several years? (I dont expect to need very many boot environments saved)

 

[cyberjock]

whats the chance that a 16GB boot volume will be too small again within the next several years? (I dont expect to need very many boot environments saved)

There's no way to know. Just a year ago we didn't have a firm grasp of what disk space we'd need with 9.3.

Keep in mind that if you actually need something larger in a few years, it will probably be a very inexpensive upgrade, so I would buy the 16GB now and be happy with it. Worry about more space if/when you need it.

 

[Ericloewe]

For what it's worth, I'm moving to 16GB for 9.3. Judging by the failure rates we've been seeing, it's more likely you'll have to replace the boot drive due to it having failed than due to a lack of capacity.

 

[Mr_N]

good points all round 16GB it is :)

 

[Mr_N]

last question on this topic, can i install 9.3 straight onto the new drive and use my config files from 9.2.1.9 ?

or is it best to install 9.2.1.9 onto new drive, import same version config file, then upgrade to 9.3 from there?

 

[Ericloewe]

You can upload the old 9.2.1.9 config and it'll be upgraded.

 

[Mr_N]

Ok so just to be clear if I upload my 9.2.1.9 config file into a fresh new install of 9.3 everything will be fine?

 

[Ericloewe]

Ok so just to be clear if I upload my 9.2.1.9 config file into a fresh new install of 9.3 everything will be fine?

Yeah, it's what happens automagically when you run the updater.

 

[Mr_N]

ok so new DOM installed, 9.3 installed, config uploaded and automagically updated, now to my pool :)

tried to unlock it with passphrase and said failed to decrypt disks, so do i need to use my recovery key with the passphrase, or my encryption key?

 

[cyberjock]

Recovery keys have no password.. that's what makes recovery keys "recovery" keys.

 

[Mr_N]

ok but some simple straight forward instructions would be appreciated please, as i don't want to do the wrong thing and cause problems :)

 

[Ericloewe]

Have you followed the manual's instructions?

 

[Mr_N]

I have read it but i wasnt sure if i had to import the pool or not...