How can I verify that replication is working correctly?

[Evertb1]

This ain't my first rodeo, son.

Stay away from those old John Wayne movies. And it is a very long time ago I was anybodies son.

 

[indivision]

The targetted dataset should not be empty but contain just as much data as the replicated dataset (if the replication task worked).

I think it would be of benefit for you to read up a bit about replicationtasks and snapshots. You called your replication dataset "snapshots" and that is for you to deside, but if the replication task works, the dataset will contain the same data as the replicated dataset, based on a snapshot of that dataset.

In FreeNAS, replication makes copies of snapshots (which are yes datasets) onto a different server. You can't even set up replication without first having a snapshot to copy. That's how it works. So, I think that the way I described it is accurate.

I never suggested that the targeted dataset should be empty. It sounds like this is maybe something you need to read up about. According to someone on the FreeNAS team, there is a security feature that makes the replicated data not visible in the CLI by default. Therefore, you can't simply navigate to the folder to see if the files are there. That is what I was referring to.

redid the whole thing, same result. Also discovered that even after deleting the not-working rep job, it is impossible to delete the datasets on the remote end that were created for it, without apparently rebooting at least the freenas to which those datasets belongs, possibly both boxes. I don't know, that was another two hours of my life I'll never get back.

So I thought I'd try doing a rep from the 9.3 to 11.0 (reverse of what I was originally trying to do). Not happening, but this time it's because the 9.3 box won't run a periodic snapshot job. no matter what. Yes, first time any of these boxes have ever had snapshots set up on them. Never really had the need since the 9.3 is just a backup of a backup of a backup of some files and some virtual machines.

It does create a manual snapshot ok but that's no use for replication. So at this point I'm thinking that the 9.3 box is pretty much fubar. nothing seems to work other than basically reading and writing its disks. I'm going to step it up to 9.10 and see what happens, then maybe up to 11.

What's the deal with upping 9.x to 11? People seem to be all wound up about this. Does it work or what? And is there a separate optional update that alters the zvols? I really don't care about that, whatever it is.

Hm. Sorry I wasn't able to help fix. I've set replication up many times and have always been able to rely on the steps in the doc to work consistently. At this point, the only x-factor I can think of is the 9.3. I don't think that I've set it up between the versions you are working with. So, maybe there is a quirk there somehow?

Regarding 9.x to 11, if I remember correctly, there is an upgrade path for that. I went to Corral before going to 11. So, ended up just doing a clean install of 11 and rebuilding features.

There is a zvol update that can be done in 11. FreeNAS will nag you if you don't. But, from what I read, the features it adds are only needed in certain cases (that I didn't need). The update is apparently not easily reversible (if at all). So, I opted to stay on the older version to keep compatibility. It could be a factor if I switch to another NAS os, run from ubuntu server, etc.

 

[cbarber]

Thanks for that, Indivision. That's pretty much what I figured on 9.3 -> 11.

 

[ecunningham]

So I see this thread was started in 2013 but updated a couple of months ago so in proper bad form, I'm going to continue it...

I'm replicating from two nearly identical systems running 11.0-U4. I setup my test... snapshots/replication all ran fine. The status went from "waiting" to "sending" to "up to date" as expected. Now I'm working with my real data but getting a different result. I have a 3.4 TB dataset replicating across a 200 Mbps link across town. The replication task says "Not ran since boot" and the status has remained blank. So no real indication from FreeNAS on its progress. However, my pipe is maxed out and the remote side sees the dataset and it is growing steadily. (There is nothing else writing to the remote).

So my question... where does the gui get the status indication from and is there another way to determine progress? I'd rather not have to wait days to see any errors. Seeing the "sending" gave me the warm fuzzies. A blank status does not.

Thanks!

 

[ecunningham]

I came in this morning to a Status update... "Sending VeeamStore/VeeamShare@auto-20171213.1338-2d (18%)" so I got my warm fuzzies. It just took a long time to post. Even as of midnight last night, it was still blank. I would love to learn more about how this is formulate if anyone has any insights.

Thanks.