Help with moving off USB as boot drives

[chravis]

Greetings - I am currently running TrueNAS-12.0-U1. I'm using 2 mirrored USB drives as the boot device. As USB drives are no longer recommended, I'd like to go ahead and make the switch to SSD. I've read through some forums about switching from USB to SSD for the boot device, but I'm still unclear on the whole process.

1. I'll probably go with something like a Kingston A400 unless someone has some reason I shouldn't go that route.
2. I have seen it mentioned that on these SSDs you can also move the system dataset over to it so that the data pools don't get those constant writes.

So here are the questions:
1. What exactly is the process for switching over from the USB to SSD as the boot device? I've seen different people talk about different ways of doing this, but all of the posts I found were before TrueNAS 12 so I don't know if there are newer, better ways.
2. If I want to move the dataset over to the SSD, is it recommended to get 2 SSDs and mirror them?
2b. How do I move the dataset over if I go that route?

Thank you for all of your help. This community is great!

 

[Redcoat]

I would make a new install on to one (or two) SSD's and load my previously saved config file.

One or two - your choice - SSD's much more reliable than USB so one SSD is often recommended here. (I actually have on SSD active and a recovered laptop spinner as its backup in both my TrueNAS boxes).

You move the dataset over from the GUI: System>System Dataset

 

[chravis]

@Redcoat - I am currently running TrueNAS-12.0-U1. I would assume that I need to download an image for that same version to put on my new SSD. However, I can't find that available to download. The TrueNAS website only has -U2.
I attempted to update to -U2 but I'm facing an error that I don't know what it is.
Do you know if I can put -U2 on the new SSD and things will work or will I hit other issues?

 

[Redcoat]

I would put the latest version 12.0-U2 on the SSD as it has a significant number of fixes in it, and load your saved config file.

But what exactly is the error that's stopping you updating? What do you see when you try?

 

[chravis]

I actually created another post here yesterday about the error but if you can help that would be awesome.

Failure upgrading: [EFAULT] Cannot remove file /tmp

I am getting this error when I attempt to upgrade from TrueNAS 12.0-u1 to -u2. [EFAULT] Cannot remove file /tmp Is there any way to figure out what file it's talking about or why I'm getting this issue? I am updating through the GUI because it says there is an update available.

www.truenas.com

The update looks like it's working, gets to 66% or something like that, then throws out: [EFAULT] Cannot remove file /tmp

 

[Redcoat]

I did a quick search - didn't find anything helpful. I guess I'd install the latest on an SSD and test drive that with you old config file,

I cannot find 12.0-U1 version anywhere...

 

[chravis]

I did as you suggested and so far everything seems to be working so thank you for your support!

I was hoping that moving my system dataset to the new boot pool on the ssd would decrease or eliminate the constant disk activity as discussed here:

Drive activity every 5 seconds

Doesn't FreeNAS pick the Boot Pool as System Dataset Pool by default? From what I see, it picks the first created pool. Is it a bad idea to Boot Pool as System Dataset Pool?

www.truenas.com

But in my case it did not. However, maybe I don't care because what other people in these forums have said is that you really don't want your disks idling, thus spinning up/down because it will make them not last as long.

 

[pschatz100]

I did as you suggested and so far everything seems to be working so thank you for your support!

I was hoping that moving my system dataset to the new boot pool on the ssd would decrease or eliminate the constant disk activity as discussed here:

Drive activity every 5 seconds

Doesn't FreeNAS pick the Boot Pool as System Dataset Pool by default? From what I see, it picks the first created pool. Is it a bad idea to Boot Pool as System Dataset Pool?

www.truenas.com

But in my case it did not. However, maybe I don't care because what other people in these forums have said is that you really don't want your disks idling, thus spinning up/down because it will make them not last as long.

That is correct. Virtually all the experienced users on the forum will tell you not to spin down disks. At the end of the day, they don't use much power when they're idling - so you save money in the long run.