What is the very old upgrade process? 9.2.1.7 -> 13

[diskdiddler]

Hi all,

I've got a good pal who is still reliably running 9.2.1.7 with totally capable hardware of running 13, he's just been slow on updating.

Does anyone know the best update path?
Does 9.2.17 let you update by uploading an update file to the WebUI or anything?
I'm almost positive all jails will be destroyed from I think 9 to 11? I recall that.


Any tips?

 

[Samuel Tai]

First, look over the release notes at https://www.truenas.com/docs/archive/. You'll also need the manual upgrade TARs from https://archive.freenas.org/ and https://download.freenas.org/. Jails will have several transitions, so it's best to delete all jails before starting.

1. 9.2.1.7->9.3, using https://archive.freenas.org/9.3/RELEASE/x64/FreeNAS-9.3-RELEASE.GUI_Upgrade.txz
2. 9.3->9.10.2-U6, using https://archive.freenas.org/9.10/latest/FreeNAS-9.10.2-U6-manual-update.tar. One jail transition here, see https://www.truenas.com/docs/files/Notice9.3to9.10FAQ.pdf.
3. 9.10.2-U6->11.2-U8, using https://download.freenas.org/11.2/STABLE/U8/FreeNAS-11.2-U8-manual-update.tar. This is a critical upgrade, as the bootloader changes from GRUB to the native FreeBSD bootloader.
4. 11.2-U8->11.3-U5, using https://download.freenas.org/11.3/STABLE/U5/FreeNAS-11.3-U5-manual-update.tar. Second jail transition here, as warden is deprecated, and iocage takes over. After this, you can delete the jails dataset from the pool.
5. 11.3-U5->12.0-U8.1, using https://download.freenas.org/12.0/STABLE/U8.1/TrueNAS-12.0-U8.1-manual-update.tar. 12 introduces a new ACL model for SMB shares, which can be confusing to understand.
6. 12.0-U8.1->13.0-U1.1, using the UI upgrade.

Honestly, it's probably easier for your friend to just start over, and directly install 13.0-U1.1, recreate his pools, shares, and jails. It's less risky than going through the rigamarole above.

 

[diskdiddler]

Hi Samuel, thanks for the detailed reply.

What do you think about this post?

Upgrading from 9.2.1.7 to 11.1

Hi All, My freenas has been running on 9.2.1.7 for the last few years and I’m now looking to upgrade to 11.2 so I can use cloud storage & VMs. This is the first update I’ve done so I am looking for some advice & suggestions. I'm running 4 x 2TB drives (mirrored) on a HP Microserver Gen 8...

www.truenas.com

This guy seemed to manage to upgrade in a single go from 9.2.1.7 to the 11.2 series? Just importing the pool.
My mate is quite technically savvy, he is quite comfortable losing the jails to be honest, which might make the transition, significantly easier?
He is probably also fine losing shares / user accounts I suspect. As long as the data on the pool remains in tact.

What is the latest, safe version to import a pool of that age?

 

[Samuel Tai]

Depending on hardware, the other guy might've gotten lucky. This poor fellow had a corrupt upgrade from 9.3 to 11.3, and got bit by the bootloader change.

SOLVED - FreeNAS Mini Upgraded to 11.3 No web GUI loading.

Hello. I own a FreeNAS Mini 4 Bay Compact NAS Storage, used with Mac computers at home only. I recently upgraded from the freenas software from 9.3 to 11.3 (stable) and now my NasMini will no longer boot and I can't login. The NasMini will power on and it shows the hardware is connected to my...

www.truenas.com

 

[diskdiddler]

Depending on hardware, the other guy might've gotten lucky. This poor fellow had a corrupt upgrade from 9.3 to 11.3, and got bit by the bootloader change.

SOLVED - FreeNAS Mini Upgraded to 11.3 No web GUI loading.

Hello. I own a FreeNAS Mini 4 Bay Compact NAS Storage, used with Mac computers at home only. I recently upgraded from the freenas software from 9.3 to 11.3 (stable) and now my NasMini will no longer boot and I can't login. The NasMini will power on and it shows the hardware is connected to my...

www.truenas.com

That thread is incredible, that's a heck of an effort with him you should be commended.
That being said, that fella, did manage to retain all his data, so that's a good sign in the long run about importing. (My friend is significantly more tech savvy) so the import pool method has a lot of appeal in time savings vs updates and updates.

 

[Samuel Tai]

OK, I just went with the safest path above. Jumping from 9.2.1.7 to 11.3-U5 is probably doable.