Lost Boot USB

[Sneddy32]

I built a FreeNAS server for a friend about 2 or 3 years ago (for some reason I think it was 8.2?), and when he moved house the other month he lost the Boot USB with the OS installed.

I've not looked back here since then, and I've searched through the forums and used the google to try and find an answer, but in short:

Can I repopulate the existing ZFS Pool into a new install of 9.10??

I was reading that during a 9.10 install the ZFS pool is initiated, and I'm worried that during the install I might lose all the data on the NAS.

Thanks in advance,

Sneddy

 

[m0nkey_]

Yes, you can import an existing pool into a new installation.

http://doc.freenas.org/9.10/storage.html#import-volume

That being said, if you set-up an encrypted pool and do not have a copy of the recovery keys, then you're out of luck.

 

[gpsguy]

Yes, you could do a new install and import the old pool. You would need to reconfigure shares, etc., but the data would be intact.

With 9.3 and later, you can mirror the boot devices. If you want to continue using USB flash drives, I'd highly recommend doing so. If you friend's machine can accommodate a SSD, consider using a SSD instead of the flash drive(s).