Moving filesystem to new server

[unca_NAS]

Currently running FreeNAS on a ancient HP N36L Microserver (4 drives). Considering on upgrading the hardware to either
- HP Microserver Gen8 with Intel Xeon CPU or
- HP Proliant ML310e Gen8 Xeon

Is it possible to move the current OS and zpool "as is" to the new hardware?

 

[leenux_tux]

Yes.... and errr no. Moving POOLS from one system to another is fairly trivial, however, I'm not 100% sure about just pulling the OS disk out of your current box and installing it into the new one(s). Might be safer to buy new OS hard drives for your new system.

1. Make a backup of your data,.
2. Make a backup of your data !!!!
3. Make sure you have a backup of your config "System/General/Save". Keep this config file on your local computer. This file has all of your configuration settings on the current system
4. Make a note of the version of FreeNAS installed on your current system, get the version of the pool you will be exporting using "zpool get version POOL_NAME". If you get "-" in the version name you are using version "5000" with "feature flags". Might be something different, make a note.
5. Install FreeNAS on your new system, might be prudent to install the same version of FreeNAS as you have on the source system, especially if you are running an old version of FreeNAS as the ZFS Pool versions might be out of sync with the new OS. Make sure they match on both systems.
6. Restore your config from the file you saved in step 3
7. On the source system export the ZFS pool using "Detach Volume" from "Storage Manager". You can also use "zpool export POOL_NAME" from the command line, however, it's probably better to use the GUI.
8. Shutdown source system, shutdown destination system
9. Remove hard drives from source and install in destination.
10. Power up.
11. Run the FreeNAS GUI and from "Storage" run "Import Volume".

Oh, did I mention you should "backup your data" !!

 

[unca_NAS]

Thank you, will follow this

 

[danb35]

Is it possible to move the current OS and zpool "as is" to the new hardware?

Sure is, though backups are always a good idea. The only potential snag is if the new machine uses a different NIC driver than the old one, you'll need to reconfigure your network settings.

 

[leenux_tux]

Good point on the networking, forgot to mention about that !!

 

[tvsjr]

Yep, clean install then restore your backed up configuration file.

 

[Struckmonger]

Yes.... and errr no. Moving POOLS from one system to another is fairly trivial, however, I'm not 100% sure about just pulling the OS disk out of your current box and installing it into the new one(s). Might be safer to buy new OS hard drives for your new system.

1. Make a backup of your data,.
2. Make a backup of your data !!!!
3. Make sure you have a backup of your config "System/General/Save". Keep this config file on your local computer. This file has all of your configuration settings on the current system
4. Make a note of the version of FreeNAS installed on your current system, get the version of the pool you will be exporting using "zpool get version POOL_NAME". If you get "-" in the version name you are using version "5000" with "feature flags". Might be something different, make a note.
5. Install FreeNAS on your new system, might be prudent to install the same version of FreeNAS as you have on the source system, especially if you are running an old version of FreeNAS as the ZFS Pool versions might be out of sync with the new OS. Make sure they match on both systems.
6. Restore your config from the file you saved in step 3
7. On the source system export the ZFS pool using "Detach Volume" from "Storage Manager". You can also use "zpool export POOL_NAME" from the command line, however, it's probably better to use the GUI.
8. Shutdown source system, shutdown destination system
9. Remove hard drives from source and install in destination.
10. Power up.
11. Run the FreeNAS GUI and from "Storage" run "Import Volume".

Oh, did I mention you should "backup your data" !!

Just did this, seems like everything went well, but I can't access the webui. Danb35 said to reconfigure network settings, but I'm not really sure how. Option 1 on the terminal ("Configure Network Interfaces") shows em0 and em1, which are my two integrated gigabit Ethernet ports. If I select "Reset Network Configuration" on either of them, it results in "Restarting Network: Failed".

EDIT: Just figured it out. Needed to select No to the "Reset Network Configuration" prompt, then continue on to set my IPV4 address.