FreeNAS will not boot after hard shutdown

[MarkS-Indy]

First of all, please do not dis me for the hard shut down, it was quite accidental.

Particulars- I am not sure at this point what version of FreeNAS I am running, but it is not the latest. I am booting from a 16GB SanDisk flash drive, with a second one as a backup. Apparently after the shutdown, both drives are not readable, as I get an message to insert the boot media. I tried looking at both devices on a Linux box, but Linux says it cannot mount them. So, my questions are:

1) Is all of my data lost for good, or is my zpool recoverable?
2) Is there a way to make the USB devices mountable again, or has that ship sailed?

Thanks for any or all help that can be given.

 

[gpsguy]

First of all, your data should be okay.

Did you trying booting from both of your flash drives, but just one at a time?

Newer versions of FreeNAS boot use ZFS for both the boot device and data pools. Perhaps that's why you couldn't see them in your flavor of Linux.

If the flash drives aren't usable, install a fresh version of FreeNAS. Normally, we would suggest using the same version that you had, but if you don't know, use 11.1U5

If you had a backup copy of your config file, you could restore it. If not, you can redo the configuration. if you are lucky, you might be able to salvage a copy of the configuration file.

 

[MarkS-Indy]

Tried booting from each, one at a time. Same message.
Any hint on how to salvage a copy of the configuration file?
Installing a fresh version will not corrupt my data?
Would this be a configuration file -> freenas-FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201602031011-20170918165104.db

 

[Jailer]

Would this be a configuration file -> freenas-FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201602031011-20170918165104.db

Yes.

 

[MarkS-Indy]

I did an OS upgrade last year to the next version after 9.3, so should I do an install of 9.3 using that configuration file to restore the configuration even though the config file is 9 months old?

I just do not want to lose any data (there is a LOT of data!).

And, since I am not an expert in FreeNAS, it would be extremely helpful if someone could help me along here so that I do not lose any data. I have not altered the zpool since that configuration.

 

[BigDave]

I did an OS upgrade last year to the next version after 9.3, so should I do an install of 9.3 using that configuration file to restore the configuration even though the config file is 9 months old?

You can try this without risk to the data on your pool, all you are doing is trying to boot the operating system. This will have no effect on the data in the pool, this is, the single most cool thing about FreeNAS.
Were you transferring files to your pool when the hard shut down occured?

 

[Chris Moore]

An important thing is not to run the configuration wizard when you do a fresh install. The configuration wizard will take any data disks and create a new pool. Don't do that, that would damage data. So cancel out of the wizard when you get done with the installation and upload the database file instead.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[MarkS-Indy]

An important thing is not to run the configuration wizard when you do a fresh install. The configuration wizard will take any data disks and create a new pool. Don't do that, that would damage data. So cancel out of the wizard when you get done with the installation and upload the database file instead.

Should I install 9.3, or would an install of the latest version work using the configuration file I generated before the upgrade to 10?

 

[BigDave]

Should I install 9.3, or would an install of the latest version work using the configuration file I generated before the upgrade to 10?

The 9.3 config file will not work with 11.x so if you perform a fresh install of the latest version, you will
have to reconfigure everything from scratch for the newest version.
Depending on how many changes you have done since you were on 9.3 (the fewer number the better),
I would recommend you try and install 9.3 and import you saved config file and reboot.
If you are successful up to that point AND you pool is automatically imported when it restarts, now
you can formulate a plan for an upgrade path to FreeNAS 11.x

 

[MarkS-Indy]

Update: I performed a fresh install of 9.3, and after an update to that OS I was able to load the configuration file I had previously backed up when I upgraded to 9.10.
The zpool has been restored, and I will rest comfortably tonight!

Thanks to all that have provided input.

I also decided to go with a 60GB SSD as the boot device. I will likely acquire another one and mirror them.

 

[Chris Moore]

It's a good thing if you periodically make a backup of your config. Just a precaution.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[BigDave]

Chris is right, saving a copy of your configuration
Is a great habit to get into!
Every time you are thinking of making a
configuration change, back it up before AND
after the changes are completed to your satisfaction.