Web GUI and general upgrade problems

[dscott]

I've been running FreeNAS successfully on a HP N36L for quite a while now, most recently 8.0.2-RELEASE-x64. However when I recently accessed the web GUI for the first time in a while, the page was only half rendering as shown in the attached screenshot.



This was happening consistently in several different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari) on several different computers even after multiple reboots. All other FreeNAS features appear to work fine during this time so the problem appears to be limited to just the web GUI.

When I realised 8.2.0 was now released I thought I'd take the opportunity to upgrade so as to fix the web GUI problems and also benefit from the new version.

Unfortunately when I attempted to perform the upgrade from the 8.2.0-RELEASE-p1-x64 ISO, after selecting the "Install / Upgrade" option from the console menu I get the following:

Code:

WARNING: /var/tmp/data_old was not properly unmounted

panic: ufs_dirbad: /var/tmp/data_old: bad dir ino 71814 at offset 82: mangled entry

cpuid = 1
KDB: enter: panic
[thread pid 44 tid 100093 ]
Stopped at      kdb_enter+0x3d: movq $0,0x683040(%rip)

I tried this several times, all with the same outcome. Rebooting FreeNAS 8.0.4 from the on-board flash drive in between attempts and all features (apart from the web GUI) continued to work fine.

I then tried the same with an 8.0.4-RELEASE-p3-x64 ISO and encountered exactly the same problem.

So, can anyone please tell me what is wrong here?

Is my flash drive corrupt?
Is it easily recoverable without requiring a re-install?
Do I need to do a complete re-install of FreeNAS (onto the same flash drive or a new flash drive)?

All help greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Darren

 

[cyberjock]

Is my flash drive corrupt?

Probably. Get a new USB key and do an install on it and import your config.

Is it easily recoverable without requiring a re-install?

Sounds like you didn't read the manual on backing up and importing configurations...It is "easily" recoverable if you've backed up your configuration. Total recovery time.. about 10 minutes.

Do I need to do a complete re-install of FreeNAS (onto the same flash drive or a new flash drive)?

I would try a new flash drive if I were in your shoes.

 

[dscott]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Sounds like you didn't read the manual on backing up and importing configurations...It is "easily" recoverable if you've backed up your configuration. Total recovery time.. about 10 minutes.

Sorry, I have read the manual and know how to back up and restore configurations (having done so lots of times before) ;) The key bit of my question was "without requiring a re-install". I assume when you talk about being recoverable you are talking about a completely fresh re-install and import of previous configuration - is that correct? I was wondering if it was recoverable "in place" (eg. by manually deleting files, running a filesystem check etc.)

One further question, I have a previous configuration saved but I'm not sure how old it is. As I can't access the option using the menus in the web GUI any more, is it possible to hit the URL for that page directly so I can try to take a more recent backup? Or is that dangerous given the fact that we don't know what state the configuration is currently in given the problems I'm seeing?

Thanks again for your assistance with this.

Regards,
Darren

 

[cyberjock]

Sorry, I have read the manual and know how to back up and restore configurations (having done so lots of times before) ;) The key bit of my question was "without requiring a re-install". I assume when you talk about being recoverable you are talking about a completely fresh re-install and import of previous configuration - is that correct? I was wondering if it was recoverable "in place" (eg. by manually deleting files, running a filesystem check etc.)

One further question, I have a previous configuration saved but I'm not sure how old it is. As I can't access the option using the menus in the web GUI any more, is it possible to hit the URL for that page directly so I can try to take a more recent backup? Or is that dangerous given the fact that we don't know what state the configuration is currently in given the problems I'm seeing?

Thanks again for your assistance with this.

Regards,
Darren

Ah. Sorry for assuming you didn't read the manual. I thought it was pretty clear that if you reinstall FreeNAS on a new thumbdrive and import your config you are right back where you were. At this point I'm assuming your USB key is bad and getting a new USB key will probably fix your problem. When a USB key fails it's either catastrophic(not detected at all) or you get random bizarre errors/problems(which you are getting).

If you can copy the file from /data/freenas-v1.db that is your configuration. I'd try that file first. If that doesn't work your next best bet is your old config. I make a backup every few weeks whether I make changes or not. Better to have an extra 200k file than not have it. Especially considering the potential cost of not having it.

I've thought about creating a cronjob that would backup the config file to my ZFS pool every week but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm sure it's super easy but since I've never dealt with cron it will probably take me a few hours to write it. :P

 

[dscott]

Excellent. Thanks for the pointer about the /data/freenas-v1.db file. SSH access is working just fine so I can get that easily.

Out of interest, if I am going to do a fresh install, how stable is 8.2.0-RELEASE-p1-x64? Or am I better getting 8.0.4-RELEASE-x64 working again and then consider an upgrade at a later time?

Regards,
Darren

 

[cyberjock]

I'm running it and I've had zero issues.

I've found that the RELEASE versions are very stable. If anything is broken it's usually new features.

 

[dscott]

Great, thanks for the feedback and for all your assistance.

Regards,
Darren

 

[cyberjock]

Yep. Let us know how it goes when you are all done.

 

[dscott]

Update...

I've installed 8.2.0-RELEASE-p1-x64 to a new USB flash drive and imported my old configuration and (fingers crossed) all seems to be OK so far.

I'll keep my eye on it over the next few days to make sure it's bedded in OK.

Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Darren