Anxiety over jail/plugin updates.

[jackdinn]

I have sinned and installed a few packages from the truenas package list when i first started using truenas core.

I got a jail/package/plugin update notifications this morning but i can never remember exactly how i dealt with it the previous time.

Looking at one of my jails, i got a notification from truenas this morning that it needed to update qbittorrent from qbittorrent-nox-4.5.3 to 4.5.4

I have qbittorrent with openVPN and some other software installed in the same jail via pkg. I used this & this to set it up.

Im never sure what the "proper" procedure is to update. pkg update && pkg upgrade ; or from the webUI of truenas? ; or sometimes maybe the webUI of the app itself?

I used pkg in the shell of the jail and it updated qbittorrent and then i updated the plugin in the truenas webUI (but without ticking update jail) but when i get back to the ssh of the jail it did not have anything installed at all anymore, not even nano and qbittorrent certainly did not work (well, the vpn didn't) and i couldn't even use pkg. So i rolled back the jail to before i started any updating. The really odd thing was that even though it was rolled back it was still saying that the version of qbittorrent was the updated version, how is this even possible?

So as things are ATM, the plugin says all its up to date

Code:

Version:4.5.4
Plugin:qbittorrent
Release:13.1-RELEASE-p7

and the shell says its also up to date but i just don't see how as it's rolled back to before i did any updates.

Code:

root@qbittorrent-jail:~ # pkg info qbittorrent-nox
qbittorrent-nox-4.5.4
Name           : qbittorrent-nox
Version        : 4.5.4
Installed on   : Wed Jun 28 07:43:19 2023 BST

TLDR:- I did some updating. I was not sure what i was doing. I messed it up. I rolled it back & it all works again but it says its all up to date?

Now i have anxiety every time an update comes around.

 

[winnielinnie]

Now i have anxiety every time an update comes around.

That's why you shouldn't use "Plugins". They're unsupported, deprecated, and may be outright removed in the future.

Roll your own jails. ("Basejails" if you want more intuitive upgrades, since they are not tethered to their original FreeBSD release.)

 

[jackdinn]

I understand what you're saying. (well, apart from the last part). If i started all over again, I would. However, I'm not going to redo everything again, it was a long hard slog to get where i am as it is. It's all working now, it's all updated, so it can be updated, I'm just not sure how i did it?

Should i just forget the Plugin update's in the truenas gui and just use the ssh pkg commands to update inside the jails? Will truenas keep saying that there is an update if i don't update the plugin?

How was the jail and its packages updated still after i rolled back the entire iocage ?

How does updating the plugin affect the jail if you untick the option to "update jail" ?

Why did doing a plugin update without "update jail" ticked, remove everything that i have installed via pkg in the jail?

 

[winnielinnie]

"Plugins" do more than just create a jail + install packages.

Great for convenience and management, if they were actively being maintained and tested...

So it's unpredictable what you might face if you try this "hybrid" approach of using a "Plugin", and then trying to update it, while also doing your own modifications within the jail itself.

However, I'm not going to redo everything again, it was a long hard slog to get where i am as it is.

It should be that out of reach. You already went out of your way to set it up with OpenVPN, and I don't recall that the qBittorrent Plugin automates a VPN setup? (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

What you'd essentially do is:

1. Make a backup of your qBittorrent database
2. Create a new Basejail (preferably FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE)
3. Create your "mountpoints"
4. Install the relevant packages (qbittorrent-nox, nano, etc)
5. Confirm the proper user exists (I think the qbittorrent-nox package does this automatically?)
6. Restore (from backup) your qBittorrent database
7. Enable and start the service in the jail

From here on out, you can use "pkg" to keep the packages up-to-date, and occasionally update the Jail (using the "Update" button in the GUI). Very rarely will you upgrade the base OS of the jail itself. (This is easily done with the "iocage" command.)

 

[jackdinn]

and I don't recall that the qBittorrent Plugin automates a VPN setup? (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Indeed, and it also does not automate Sonarr or Prowlarr or Jackett .... (i think i have some scripts and other things i tinkered with to automate things better in this particular jail), as i say it's been a log slog. I try to write everything down as i go because my memory just is not what it was, but i really can't face it all again. If it was any of the other many single use jails I have like Plex that we were talking about then sure i'd have a go, but not this one.

I was just following the truenas wiki/manual when i first started with Truenas, It says to use the Plugins, it advertises them as a great feature! Now i find i should never have done so :(

Next time Truenas starts saying there are updates to the Plugins, i shall post here and ask instead of just blindly trying the shotgun approach of updates.