Moving from Native FreeNAS to Virtualised(ESXi)

Grinas

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I have been using freenas for over a year now and it has been great but the one downside I am seeing is that I need to use a tonne of VMs for my lab and it is just too time consuming to create these in Bhyve as I usually have to install the stock OS and then install all the applications required.

In some cases the OS are not compatible with Bhyve so I have to install as a VM on my laptop which is something that from listening to the laptops fan may cause the laptop to fly away.

I am planning on moving from native to Esxi but do not want to risk losing my data. I have searched the forum and can find numerous threads on using Esxi but I can not find any that detail the migration process from Native to Virtual.

I am assuming it is not as easy as installing Freenas VM on Esxi and then adding the existing data pools back. Will the pools need to be destroyed and recreated as VMware datastores and then recreated in Freenas and data transferred back?

My machine specs is in my signature.

Thanks for any help
 

Ericloewe

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Grinas

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Why would it not be? You're doing it wrong if you have to do anything else.


I was not sure if there were issue using freenas and not using the data in an ESXI datastore, thanks for the confirmation.

Looks like I will be busy the weekend.
 

Ericloewe

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You obviously need to pass through a supported disk controller to the VM, so that FreeNAS can have direct access to the drives.

It sounds like you should do a lot more reading before jumping in blind, or you'll probably regret it.
 

Chris Moore

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You need to pass the drive controller into the VM so FreeNAS could directly access your drives.
Please look at the links in the "Useful Links" button in my signature. There are two that go into detail about the things you want to do.

Edit:
These are the main two, but there is a lot of other great info in there:

Build Report: Node 304 + X10SDV-TLN4F [ESXi/FreeNAS AIO]
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116/

"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ide-to-not-completely-losing-your-data.12714/
 
Last edited:

gpsguy

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You'll need to get a proper HBA flashed to IT mode and use Passthrough on ESXi.

I am assuming it is not as easy as installing Freenas VM on Esxi and then adding the existing data pools back
 

Grinas

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dvpatel

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Is it an absolute must to flash the controller? I have a ThinkServer and the 9240-8i card. It has the JBOD option from the factory and it seems to work fine for installing Windows and Linux. I don't want to flash it if I do not need to. I have flashed it once before and then backed it out as IT mode would not let me boot.

Also, do I need to pass through the whole card? Can I simply pass through the disks I was to provide to FreeNAS?
 

Mannekino

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TrueNAS needs direct access to the disks! You don't want to create any kind of RAID or JBOD array on your controller and pass that as a storage device to TrueNAS to be used for a ZFS pool.
 

dvpatel

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Agreed. But if your controller supports JBOD, the OS sees them directly. That is how the current OS sees it but I do not have any experience with esxi or virtualization. The controller sees the disks and if you do not create an array, it just puts them into the JBOD designation. Is that what the problem is with using virtualization technology with FreeNAS?

My current set up is a HP microserver N40L and that too puts all 4 disks as JBOD.
 

ChrisRJ

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Have you checked the information provided earlier in this thread?
 

dvpatel

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Have you checked the information provided earlier in this thread?
Yes. It talks about passing the controller through and I am asking do I really need to pass the entire controller and if the controller is using JBOD, can I just pass the disks I was to give FreeNAS access to. Please point me to the post/info in the above discussion if I missed something.
 

dir_d

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You need to pass the whole controller that you want TrueNas to use that has your JBOD disks. If you have multiple controllers just pass through what you want TrueNas to see.
 

Chris Moore

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Yes. It talks about passing the controller through and I am asking do I really need to pass the entire controller and if the controller is using JBOD, can I just pass the disks I was to give FreeNAS access to. Please point me to the post/info in the above discussion if I missed something.
You might get it to work without following the recommendations, but eventually, you will have a problem that will likely cause you to loose access to any data you have stored. We have seen it happen far too often. The recommendations exist for a good reason.
 

Chris Moore

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dvpatel

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"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.
https://www.ixsystems.com/community...ide-to-not-completely-losing-your-data.12714/

Virtually FreeNAS ... an alternative for those seeking virtualization
https://www.ixsystems.com/community...ative-for-those-seeking-virtualization.26095/

FreeNAS 9.10 on VMware ESXi 6.0 Guide
https://b3n.org/freenas-9-3-on-vmware-esxi-6-0-guide/
Thank you. I am going to avoid this whole mess. I will skip esxi and directly install FreeNAS on a drive and be done with it. I do not need any of the VM technology per say but was looking to consolidate FreeNAS and a small webserver I run. I will just keep them separate or if need be, look into FreeNAS containers and spin up Linux inside of FreeNAS if push comes to shove.
 

Grinas

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@dvpatel

I would defintly recommend to run it on ESXI it was the best decision I ever made.
 

HoneyBadger

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I would defintly recommend to run it on ESXI it was the best decision I ever made.
I feel that carefully reviewing the available resources and addressing the concerns raised by others here (mainly, ensuring that you took the time to flash your HBA into IT mode and perform full hardware passthrough) contributed significantly to that positive experience. Glad it's working out for you!
 

Grinas

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Literally the most time consuming thing was finding out how to flash the card. That took about 2 days of research as I did not want to mess it up.

I create this guide([HOW-TO] Flashing LSI SAS HBA Controller [EFI/UEFI]) to help other so ye dont have to spend that time. Honestly if its flashing the card that is worring you dont it takes less than 5 mins. It was so easly i done a tonne for friends.
 

Chris Moore

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or if need be, look into FreeNAS containers and spin up Linux inside of FreeNAS if push comes to shove.
The new virtualization subsystem in TrueNAS is fairly good, from what I have read. This might be a good option.
 
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