FreeNAS configuration file

[marcevan]

Hey I see many posts and doc says its advised to save a configuration file before an upgrade.

Seems legit, but I have a question prior to doing a 9.2.1.1 64-bit fresh install:

1. What's in the config file beyond the system setting (e.g. plugins?)
2. Is there any potential to re-introduce something bad by importing a 9.2.0 config that was saved prior to the fresh install?
3. Lastly, does my pool import based on config, or will I have to auto-import in the GUI to get it (and jails) back.

 

[Jason Hamilton]

Hey I see many posts and doc says its advised to save a configuration file before an upgrade.

Seems legit, but I have a question prior to doing a 9.2.1.1 64-bit fresh install:

1. What's in the config file beyond the system setting (e.g. plugins?)
2. Is there any potential to re-introduce something bad by importing a 9.2.0 config that was saved prior to the fresh install?
3. Lastly, does my pool import based on config, or will I have to auto-import in the GUI to get it (and jails) back.

1. I'm not exactly sure what everything is in the config file but I know that it does contain a copy of the database that contains all of your settings and where everything is located.
2. I'm not entirely sure here on this one but I have not had a problem with this yet.
3. Your pool will still be there after the upgrade. The upgrade is done through the GUI and it will reboot the server upon completion of the upgrade and you'll be good to go.


The main reason for keeping a copy of the config file is in the event that something goes terribly wrong during the upgrade. The theory is then that you just rebuild your USB stick, boot up the server and import your config. I've had to do it once so far I think and once it reloaded the config then it rebooted and it was right back to where I left it. Thanks.

 

[marcevan]

Thanks, but I'm not doing a GUI upgrade; it's going to be a fresh install and I'll rebuild the settings manually.

The Pool is likely not part of the config, and thus I can easily do an AutoImport. All the sharing (CIFs, NFS) I can redo in little time.

It's the plugins that I'll pay attention to, as some setups are longer (e.g., Sickbeard) than others (Firefly).

Importing the pool means getting the jails, but I'll delete the jails.

 

[Jason Hamilton]

Once you reinstall and import your config everything should come back just as you left it.

 

[marcevan]

Yes, I'm worried about "just as you left it" considering I've got 502 errors on console as plugins aren't in the navtree and installed plugins shows 4 from deprecated jail, not the active jail with my working plugins.

So you see, I'm not wanting to recreate the issues I have, just start over and get my ZFS pool back, kill any jails coming in with them and resetup a new jail for fresh plugin installs.