Reconfiguring TrueNAS to use as a virtual machine on VmWare

[FloRho]

Hi,
I need to reconfigure my existing server. Currently TrueNAS Core is running on this server, installed on redundant flash and using two 10TB SATA hard discs in HBA mode. Now I need to install ESXi on this server who has a PERC controller. My biggest concern is how to move TrueNAS to the new configuration.

I will add two additional SSDs (RAID-1) for different virtual machines and True NAS. The two 10Gb SATA hard disks should stay unattended (except I need to change the RAID mode from HBA to RAID) and I want to attach them to TrueNAS after installing TrueNAS as virtual machine and imported its configuration.

My concerns:

• Is it possible to change the RAID controller from HBA to RAID without loosing the data of the existing two discs?
• Can I add the two discs to the virtual machine and will TrueNAS identify them correctly?
• I run different jails in TrueNAS, will they survive the migration?

Has someone already did such an operation, an can give me some advices?

Thanks,
Florian

 

[sretalla]

All covered here:

"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.

[---- 2018/02/27: This is still as relevant as ever. As PCIe-Passthru has matured, fewer problems are reported. I've updated some specific things known to be problematic ----] [---- 2014/12/24: Note, there is another post discussing how to deploy a small FreeNAS VM instance for basic file...

www.truenas.com

Perhaps more importantly. this too:

What's all the noise about HBA's, and why can't I use a RAID controller?

This is relevant to FreeNAS and TrueNAS CORE. Some parts of it might also be relevant to Scale, but I don't really know how reliable the Linux drivers are. 1) An HBA is a Host Bus Adapter. This is a controller that allows SAS and SATA devices to be attached to, and communicate directly with...

www.truenas.com

 

[HoneyBadger]

Currently TrueNAS Core is running on this server, installed on redundant flash and using two 10TB SATA hard discs in HBA mode. Now I need to install ESXi on this server who has a PERC controller. My biggest concern is how to move TrueNAS to the new configuration.

Looking for a couple bits of detail here:

1. Can you provide some details about the redundant flash in the R340 server? Are these SSDs in the front bays, redundant M.2 on a BOSS-S1, or redundant flash in the IDSDM?

2. What model is your PERC? The H730p will use the mrsas driver in HBA mode I believe, which is presently "not ideal but workable" to my understanding - the H330 should be crossflashed into an HBA330 for passthrough duties if it will be the TrueNAS controller.

The key component that is necessary for a stable/supported virtual TrueNAS is the use of PCIe passthrough (VT-d/IOMMU) for the HBA (and it will need to stay as an HBA) - how we can best accomplish this depends on the answer to question 1 above, because you still need storage that VMware will recognize as usable for a VMFS partition.

Basically the ideal situation is if you are using the BOSS-S1 with M.2 drives, as this is both a separate controller (for PCIe passthrough) and capable of being used as a VMFS datastore. Using the front bays means you'll need a second storage controller (one for vSphere, one for TrueNAS) and the IDSDM isn't going to support a VMFS partition.