SOLVED Shutting down FreeNAS

[perfopt]

Since power outages are common where I live I would prefer to shutdown my home FreeNAS server at night. I can shut down from console as well as the web interface. Is there an easier way - will pushing the power button on the machine trigger a shutdown (like in some PC running windows?)

 

[dlavigne]

Do NOT just push the power button. FreeNAS (or any Unix-like OS) needs to be correctly powered down. Use the console or the web interface to do so.

 

[cyberjock]

If you are using an ATX system (which you'd better be) and you don't have the BIOS set to immediately power-off on a power-button press, if you press the power button momentarily you *should* see the OS shut itself down cleanly. If you hit the power button and on the screen it just powers off, then don't do that.

If in doubt, use the console menu option or the WebGUI to shutdown the box.

But, as dlavigne said, do not just power-off the box.

 

[perfopt]

Thanks. I will check the BIOS settings and test it out before I put in irreplaceable data

 

[jgreco]

*grumbles*.

Definitely not instant power off, and test it. It occasionally doesn't work correctly, though in recent years that's gotten rare.

 

[perfopt]

OK I can shutdown by navigating to the web interface using my phone and selecting shutdown. So that makes it easy. I don't have to push the button

 

[jgreco]

Make the power button work correctly anyways. The momentary press should result in a clean shutdown. Having more options to shut down is probably better.

 

[no_connection]

Do NOT just push the power button. FreeNAS (or any Unix-like OS) needs to be correctly powered down. Use the console or the web interface to do so.

Please clarify.

For me pressing the power button causes it to shut down.
Is that any different from normal?

 

[jgreco]

Please clarify.

For me pressing the power button causes it to shut down.
Is that any different from normal?

Some boards come set to just power off immediately or do other idiotic things if you hit the power button. My favorite would be a few of the really cheap consumer grade boards/PSU combos that shut down the OS but fail to power off the PSU and then sit there burning watts in a tight loop waiting for the power-off.

Do not fret; if your system is already doing the right thing, then it is already doing the right thing and you don't need to worry.

 

[Ericloewe]

Some boards come set to just power off immediately or do other idiotic things if you hit the power button. My favorite would be a few of the really cheap consumer grade boards/PSU combos that shut down the OS but fail to power off the PSU and then sit there burning watts in a tight loop waiting for the power-off.

I've never seen something so crappy...


...except in a 1 300€ Asus laptop (!$"@%&# cheapskates - no SSD, 1x1 broadcom single-band WiFi and gratuitous BIOS bugs).

 

[DVitoD]

Since power outages are common where I live I would prefer to shutdown my home FreeNAS server at night. I can shut down from console as well as the web interface. Is there an easier way - will pushing the power button on the machine trigger a shutdown (like in some PC running windows?)

Rumor has it an UPS is useful for important servers :)

You can have the system shut down itself x time after the UPS kicks in (= you had a power outage), in services. I have yet to test if it works for my test box (having to shutdown a bunch of other servers first then), but I trust it does.

Another rumor is that constantly powering up/shutting down HDD's might shorten their life.

 

[jgreco]

I've never seen something so crappy...
...except in a 1 300€ Asus laptop (!$"@%&# cheapskates - no SSD, 1x1 broadcom single-band WiFi and gratuitous BIOS bugs).

Don't worry, you're still young. Once you're twice as old, you'll have many more awesome stories of suckiness. ;-)

 

[perfopt]

Rumor has it an UPS is useful for important servers :)

You can have the system shut down itself x time after the UPS kicks in (= you had a power outage), in services. I have yet to test if it works for my test box (having to shutdown a bunch of other servers first then), but I trust it does.

Another rumor is that constantly powering up/shutting down HDD's might shorten their life.

My current UPS does not have that feature (APC Back-UPS R5 1100). I will eventually buy a UPS that does (and check the UPS services is working correctly etc) until then I have to shutdown manually.

 

[sremick]

You can have the system shut down itself x time after the UPS kicks in (= you had a power outage), in services. I have yet to test if it works for my test box (having to shutdown a bunch of other servers first then), but I trust it does.

I am a newbie and set this up (not quite as easy as I hoped) and confirmed that it does indeed work as-intended. I have it set to perform a clean shutdown after 5 mins of no power.