Moved Folder Deleted Empty Parent Folder Now Both Are Gone

[Jason Carswell]

I love my FreeNASes. This is my first problem that I haven't figured out. Sorry if it's already been covered but I haven't found it.

I have a few FreeNAS drives mapped into Windows 7 where I manage my data hoards using TeraCopy that verifies. I had temporarily stored some files on my T drive (FreeNAS_Television). I don't recall the name of the folder but it had "Viewed Films" and "Video Projects" within it. In Windows Explorer I moved both folders to the top T drive folder, emptying the temp folder. I then deleted that temp folder. All of the "Viewed Films" folder still seem to be there but the "Video Projects" folder (122GB) which WAS there is NOT now, especially after refreshing. I am not certain whether the T drive has more free GB or not. My own novice guess is that in Win7 I remotely deleted the parent folder before the FreeNAS had actually reorganized everything properly.

From cyberjock's post elsewhere I see:
"1. Restore from backups. Oh, you didn't have backups? Ok.. Goto next
2. Restore from snapshot. Oh, you didn't have snapshots on? Ok.. Goto next
3. Are you using CIFS? Did you enable that "Export recycle bin" option for your file share? If you didn't.. Goto next
There isn't any way to recover your deleted data."

Sadly I'm afraid of the worst.
I'd even settle for a list of names of the files that I lost.
I'm sorry to bother you with my noob problem, but now I'm getting anxious.
Please help!
~ Jason

P.S. Is there any FreeNAS plugin that might allow for a file manager GUI with verifying move/copy? Or better yet a Windows app that was more directly integrated with FreeNAS, like a shell but not, and not just a web interface which seems good for managing.

 

[Bidule0hm]

This kind of problem is always a user error, I never seen a system (let alone FreeNAS which is based on FreeBSD which is probably the more stable OS I know of) do something like that.

You've probably done something you don't think you've done. Now without backup (that's stupid), snapshots (that's really stupid, they're almost free, just use them), etc. it's pretty much over. If you know how to use the CLI you can always search your files from here (but don't use any other commands than ls, cd, find and grep because I assume you don't want to delete any more files by error) but I don't think they're still here.

 

[SweetAndLow]

This looks like you forgot to move your video projects folder out of the directory you deleted. If you moved the files correctly then freenas would had moved them also. There is no time delay and actually moving files happens instantly.

Sorry you deleted your data, live and learn. Now it's time to setup snapshots, right?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

One possible user error that doesn't lead to data loss is somehow messing up mount points, so that data is present but hidden. It doesn't seem likely that's what happened, but there's a chance.

 

[Jason Carswell]

Thank you all for your feedback.

It sucks to lose data, it would suck more if I discovered a flaw that was ignored (using Win7 to file manage FreeNAS).

I am very careful about how I move my data and when I delete. I am absolutely positive that in my Windows Explorer (limited I know) I move the two folders together into the next one up. They were both actually listed on the left side of the Explorer. I deleted the temp folder - perhaps too quickly, assuming they had been re-addressed. When I discovered the Video Projects folder was not listed in the right side I refreshed the Windows Explorer and I saw the Video Projects vanish before my eyes. I honestly don't believe I did anything else wrong that I'm aware of.

As I mentioned above, I don't think I gained an extra 122GB when that folder went missing - which I believe "leads to messed up mount points" if my noobishness understands you correctly = "hidden but present". Nothing happens instantly. Everything is a process. I believe FreeNAS was doing one thing and somehow Windows fubarred it somehow before it finished re-addressing too soon.

Please point me to the best CLI reference.
Also, may I suggest that backups and snapshots be set at default, and/or more emphasized in tutorials, and/or simplified for future versions. Everyone's life is busy and one can't be an expert on everything. I had assumed that my simple set up and "surface dwelling" was sufficient without having to get "deep" into the guts of how FreeNAS works.

Can anyone tell me if File Scavenger Data Recovery Utility 4.3 is worth investigating? The little I've read seems like it may have potential.

Thanks again.
~ Jason

 

[Bidule0hm]

If there's a bug somewhere it's likely on the windows side... I know there's more than one bug in FreeNAS but they're on secondary things and the base is stable.

Have you tried to search the files from the CLI? I'd say it's the first step.

 

[Jason Carswell]

I concur that it's likely on the Windows side, or specifically how Win7 interfaces with FreeNAS. What's lost in translation is a problem for all sides regardless of blame. Am I the only one or have there been other similar instances worth revisiting?

Using a shell I found the directory but neither the missing Video Projects nor the deleted temp folder is there. Are there ways to view hidden folders or histories?

Should I set up snapshots now and potentially overwrite something or after I've exhausted all recovery options?

Thanks,
~ Jason.

 

[Bidule0hm]

AFAIK you're the only one.

ls -a shows hidden files/dirs but I don't see how that would have happened. You can have the history of the shell commands and the history of the ZFS commands but I don't think the deletion will appear in either of those.

I think it's best to wait for the snapshots until you've recovered your files or you're sure they're not recoverable.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I am very careful about how I move my data and when I delete. I am absolutely positive that in my Windows Explorer (limited I know) I move the two folders together into the next one up. They were both actually listed on the left side of the Explorer. I deleted the temp folder

If this is the case then your data is still there is you just can't find it for some reason or you put it in a different place then you think you did.

perhaps too quickly, assuming they had been re-addressed.

No, you can't move stuff too quickly, you keep saying this but it isn't possible.

When I said a move happens almost instantly I mean that there is no way you could have done something else before the move was finished. Here is an example of me

10 files and then moving 10,000 files over cifs using wifi. The time is about the same is for both and actually the 10k+ file move is faster. This is because it takes almost zero time to do a move operation.

Code:

$ time mv test-1 test-2 #10 files
real0m0.143s
user0m0.001s
sys0m0.004s

$ time mv test-3 test-1 # 10,015 files
real0m0.058s
user0m0.001s
sys0m0.003s

Can anyone tell me if File Scavenger Data Recovery Utility 4.3 is worth investigating? The little I've read seems like it may have potential.

Don't waste your time or money. The only way to get your data back if you really did delete it would have been to roll back the transaction. I think you have to do this in the first ~1 hour or less if you expect it to work. Depending on how important your data is you could still search google for how to do this and try.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

it isn't possible

If somehow the move occurred between datasets, then it would take time proportional to the volume of data. I think this is technically possible with a CIFS share.

 

[SweetAndLow]

If somehow the move occurred between datasets, then it would take time proportional to the volume of data. I think this is technically possible with a CIFS share.

Yes you are correct, between datasets would be a copy operation and take significant more time. The user said they moved it up one directory so I don't think that was between two datasets.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

user said they moved it up one directory so I don't think that was between two datasets

I have a structure exactly like that on my FreeNAS. Maybe the OP can verify whether they have such a structure on theirs.

EDIT: well I guess that makes mine a parent/child dataset structure. Not sure if moving to the parent results in a copy/delete sequence.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I have a structure exactly like that on my FreeNAS. Maybe the OP can verify whether they have such a structure on theirs.

EDIT: well I guess that makes mine a parent/child dataset structure. Not sure if moving to the parent results in a copy/delete sequence.

Yes I believe it does result in a copy. I guess I never thought someone would have nested datasets. Is there a good use case for that?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

What I have is one parent dataset for Windows machines to backup to, and a child dataset with a quota for each machine. It probably doesn't need to be that way, but it keeps things tidy in the Storage screen.

 

[cyberjock]

For the record, if you were to "move" from one dataset to the other on a Windows client amongst one share that is part of two (or more) datasets, the move operations seem to stall. For example, if you move a 10GB file from /mnt/zpool/share1/dataset1 to /mnt/zpool/share1/dataset2 and you typically get about 500MB/sec internally, "moving" that one file would take about 20 seconds. You'd be sitting there watching the files move questioning what is going on.

Likewise, this can create problems too. Pretend you try to move a 5TB file, even at 1GB per second that will take considerable time. The CIFS connection will timeout and Windows will give you some error like "some weird shiz just went down and I don't even know what happened". That one file *will* complete the move operation though.