So glad I haven't upgraded to 9.3, yet.

[diedrichg]

So glad I haven't upgraded to 9.3, yet. Too bad there are so many upgrade, AD, jail and database issues. I'm really excited to take the leap but it looks like it'll have to wait until the new year.

Thanks to all of you who have taken the front line though. No, seriously, if it wasn't for your involvement these issues would take forever to be resolved.

 

[Jailer]

Same here. I like that changes that 9.3 brings but I'm going to wait a bit before I jump on board.

I got my current 9.2.1.8 install running so good right now I'm afraid to change anything.

 

[Synntax]

Wow, I cant tell how much of a pain in the ass this upgrade has caused me! Do not upgrade!!!....I should have read the forums before upgrading. I just finished restoring everything back to normal. Im not sure wth happened but my machine will not boot 9.3. But will boot 9.2.1.8 just fine. My machine doesn't find the flash drive. Did they stop using mbr? and go straight to gpt. Gpart shows my mbr on 9.2 but on 9.3 its just gpt.

 

[hervon]

Update (and zfs upgrade) went smootly from 9.2.1.9. No assle. Glad I could install minidlda manually thanks to Joeschmuck.

GUI update BTW.

 

[joeschmuck]

My upgrade went smooth but I accomplished mine using a tried and true process to keep me from destroying everything. Now this works fine if you have a simple installation of FreeNAS, but I will not guarantee it will work on a highly customized version where you have manipulated the crap out of it, you know like relocating where FreeNAS data is stored. It should work but nothing covers everything.

0) Backup anything you cannot afford to go away on your FreeNAS system.
1) If you are not running 9.2.1.6 or better, upgrade to it. I say this because I have read of people having some issue upgrading from 9.1.1 and honestly, why take the risk, but you can if you want. But if you are at 9.1.1 then you are not someone who lives on the technological edge so you could wait a few months for all the bugs to be ironed out.
2) Backup your config file and if you have encrypted drives, backup all that required data.
3) Shut down your system.
4) Remove your original USB Flash Boot Drive.
5) At this point you need to have downloaded the current stable FreeNAS .iso image and you will need to install it. There is more than one way to do this but I do not recommend using two USB flash drives to accomplish this, I do recommend the tried and true CD-R or you could use a Virtual Machine if you have one available, that works and you don't have to burn a CD-R.
6) If you have a CD drive in your machine, install the new Flash drive and FreeNAS CD, boot it up and install the software.
7) Follow the instructions and reboot your machine.
8) With any luck you will boot into FreeNAS.
9) Next reboot one more time for the hell of it and make sure it comes up.
10) Time to load your configuration file from the previous version and cross your fingers it works.
11) If it all fails and you toss your hands up in the air, turn off the machine and pop in your original USB flash drive, power on and wait for things to quiet down.

So what do you do if you have troubles?
If the problem was an invalid bootable drive, you may need to setup the proper device as the boot device in the BIOS.
If the problem was the CD-R didn't boot in your machine, you might have too old of a system, cross your fingers and check for a BIOS update.
If the problem was step 8 never booted into FreeNAS then check to ensure the flash drive is the boot device, the BIOS is updated.

Last ditch effort, if you have a free SATA port, install a SSD or hard drive to use as a boot device, ensure it is in the SATA0 port (first port) and is the boot device in the BIOS, install FreeNAS to it and cross your fingers it works.

 

[dlavigne]

Did they stop using mbr? and go straight to gpt. Gpart shows my mbr on 9.2 but on 9.3 its just gpt.

Yup. Previous versions used MBR and UFS on the boot device, 9.3 uses GPT and ZFS.

 

[Synntax]

Yup. Previous versions used MBR and UFS on the boot device, 9.3 uses GPT and ZFS.

That explains it then. I have a system made in 2012 that doesn't support gpt.

 

[MMacD]

Yup. Previous versions used MBR and UFS on the boot device, 9.3 uses GPT and ZFS.

I'm just now beginning to evaluate FreeNAS as a possible platform, so I have a lot of dumb questions for which I apologise in advance.

My plan is to use, for as long as it holds up, an 8yo Supermicro motherboard with a 2419E Opteron (40W) to minimise operating costs. The bios doesn't know about booting from USB or about GPT, so my intent is to dedicate a 320GB WD Black disc formatted for UFS. Does that make 9.3 a non-starter for me?

 

[Ericloewe]

I'm just now beginning to evaluate FreeNAS as a possible platform, so I have a lot of dumb questions for which I apologise in advance.

My plan is to use, for as long as it holds up, an 8yo Supermicro motherboard with a 2419E Opteron (40W) to minimise operating costs. The bios doesn't know about booting from USB or about GPT, so my intent is to dedicate a 320GB WD Black disc formatted for UFS. Does that make 9.3 a non-starter for me?

The installer does the formatting, but it's not particularly likely that the motherboard will boot from GPT disks. No harm in trying, though.

 

[MMacD]

The installer does the formatting, but it's not particularly likely that the motherboard will boot from GPT disks. No harm in trying, though.

So I'm right in thinking that there are no other options at that level? My concern is partly that I'm not convinced that ZFS is mature enough; my plan was to use multiple UFS mirrors for the data discs and, of course, UFS on the boot disc.

 

[depasseg]

UFS went away in 9.3. FreeNAS is all about ZFS.

 

[Ericloewe]

If ZFS is not mature enough, few filesystems are...

As depasseg correctly said, UFS is NOT supported in FreeNAS 9.3 and newer (other than read support to import old volumes).

 

[MMacD]

Thanks, both. It sounds as though I'll be stopping at 9.2 then, presuming I go with FreeNAS.

 

[Kems]

Yup. Previous versions used MBR and UFS on the boot device, 9.3 uses GPT and ZFS.

Oh, that's probably why my server freezes at boot, can't even get past the BIOS screen. The motherboard is a GA-D525TUD. I guess I'll go back to 9.2.1.9 :(

 

[cyberjock]

My plan is to use, for as long as it holds up, an 8yo Supermicro motherboard with a 2419E Opteron (40W) to minimise operating costs. The bios doesn't know about booting from USB or about GPT, so my intent is to dedicate a 320GB WD Black disc formatted for UFS. Does that make 9.3 a non-starter for me?

Yes, since FreeNAS 9.3 uses gpt (and ZFS too) that's a non-starter for you. You'll need newer hardware if you want to use 9.3.

 

[MMacD]

Yes, since FreeNAS 9.3 uses gpt (and ZFS too) that's a non-starter for you. You'll need newer hardware if you want to use 9.3.

Quite a departure from the FreeBSD model.

 

[sremick]

Quite a departure from the FreeBSD model.

FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD, but is not FreeBSD as a final product. The final product is FreeNAS, and it's the FreeNAS model that applies at that point. FreeNAS is a customized appliance built around FreeBSD but with its own team, its own purpose/model and its own unique requirements.

My Onkyo AVR uses Texas Instrument chips to accomplish its purpose, but it's not the TI "model" that applies to how the Onkyo does its thing.