FreeNAS 11.2-RELEASE has arrived!

[Kris Moore]

Today I am pleased to announce that FreeNAS 11.2-RELEASE is now available! While this is a point-release from 11.1 to 11.2, it’s actually much, much more than that -- it is indeed a MAJOR release. FreeNAS 11.2 marks the culmination of a nearly 18-month development cycle, completely overhauling the existing legacy FreeNAS API and user interface subsystems. In 11.2 we are pleased to make available our new 100% API-driven Angular web interface as an evolution of the legacy Django-based interface.

For 11.2, our primary design goal for the new web UI was to give it a refresh while maintaining feature parity with the legacy UI. Angular makes it snappier to use, more visually appealing, and skinnable. We also focused on eliminating some of the redundancy from the previous version without departing too far from the legacy workflows so that it’s a smooth transition for long-time users. Next step will be to do a deeper dive into improving the user experience further, and your feedback in helping us do that is greatly encouraged, as always!

The work doesn’t stop there. We are already working on features and improvements for 11.3, 12.0, and beyond. These new frameworks play a vital role in giving our developer community the modern tools necessary to further innovate and continue to make FreeNAS the best open-source NAS product in the world.

In addition to the new user interface, we are pleased to officially debut the new plugin system based on iocage. This important change provides a ton of new functionality, greatly simplifies the plugin user experience, and allows development of a wider variety of plugins than previously existed. We have created many plugins here at iX, but are looking forward to what is to come from the community. We are already considering features for 11.3 to allow users to run and curate their own plugin repositories, further expanding the reach of this new plugin framework. More details on that in coming months.

As always, we look forward to your feedback as you take 11.2 for a test-drive. Let us know of any bugs or feature requests on our official bug tracker. For more details on what has changed in 11.2, refer to the Release Notes. Happy upgrades and enjoy FreeNAS 11.2!

P.S. - Before anybody asks, no we will not be “un-releasing” this one ;-)

 

[norbs]

Great news. I accidentally updated to one of the betas long ago. So glad I made it all the way through to release with my data intact.

 

[jonah.aberle]

Very exciting!

How soon can I expect to see the 11.2 upgrade reach me on the FreeNAS-11-STABLE update train?

Edit: Added screenshot

 

[Scuba_Steve]

I already downloaded and updated, and happy so far with the new ui.

 

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

Very exciting!

How soon can I expect to see the 11.2 upgrade reach me on the FreeNAS-11-STABLE update train?

Edit: Added screenshot

View attachment 26869

You need to change the update train from FreeNAS-11-STABLE to FreeNAS-11.2-STABLE in the list box on the right of this screen, just under the Manual Update button. Then try Check Now again, it worked for me.

 

[majerus]

Updated from 11.2 Rc2 no issues, great work!

 

[Scuba_Steve]

I updated from 11.1 U6 with no issues, just need to update my ZFS Pool.

 

[Kris Moore]

You need to change the update train from FreeNAS-11-STABLE to FreeNAS-11.2-STABLE in the list box on the right of this screen, just under the Manual Update button. Then try Check Now again, it worked for me.

This is correct. At a later point we'll do an update to 11.1 which changes the train to 11.2 automatically, but not right now. This is since were looking at making our previous "stable" branches a bit longer lived for folks who are risk-adverse. More details later ;)

 

[sremick]

I updated from 11.1 U6 with no issues, just need to update my ZFS Pool.

Actually:

Warning: upgrading the ZFS pool can make it impossible to go back to a previous version. For this reason, the update process does not automatically upgrade the ZFS pool, though the Alert system shows when newer feature flags are available for a pool. Unless a new feature flag is needed, it is safe to leave the pool at the current version and uncheck the alert. If the pool is upgraded, it will not be possible to boot into a previous version that does not support the newer feature flags.

https://www.ixsystems.com/documentation/freenas/11/install.html#upgrading

 

[Evertb1]

This is correct. At a later point we'll do an update to 11.1 which changes the train to 11.2 automatically, but not right now. This is since were looking at making our previous "stable" branches a bit longer lived for folks who are risk-adverse. More details later ;)

Good job. I am toying around with 11.2 on my test server running FreeNAS in a VM (ESXi). I don't like to be an early adapter with a new release on my main server. It's running fine now so I can wait a bit.

 

[Ericloewe]

Actually:


https://www.ixsystems.com/documentation/freenas/11/install.html#upgrading

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/zfs-feature-flags-in-freenas.95/

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Actually:


https://www.ixsystems.com/documentation/freenas/11/install.html#upgrading

I seen the message and ready to make the update.

 

[jonah.aberle]

This is correct. At a later point we'll do an update to 11.1 which changes the train to 11.2 automatically, but not right now. This is since were looking at making our previous "stable" branches a bit longer lived for folks who are risk-adverse. More details later ;)

Lot's of people in this thread, on the forum, and on Reddit spend a lot of time discussing how long to wait before upgrading "if you're concerned about stability" (who isn't concerned about stability?).

Is there a rule of thumb iXsystems uses in times such as these?

Many of the comments I see are one-uping one another on how long they are able to deprive themselves. Some wait a week, no a month, no 2 decades min. Thoughts?

 

[Evertb1]

Many of the comments I see are one-uping one another on how long they are able to deprive themselves. Some wait a week, no a month, no 2 decades min. Thoughts?

I am not worried about a specific period of time I should "deprive" myself from a new update. I just keep an eye on the forum. If there is something wrong with a new version it wil surface soon enough. There will be always users that are willing to report troublesome things if there are any ( I will report it myself if I encounter something in my test rig). So if, after some time, nothing of interest is reported I go right ahead and update. If the update contains features/improvements I want/need to have.

 

[lookin4pain]

I wish I was one of the lucky ones, but I went from 11.1 stable to 11.2 stable and after the reboot, my freenas (mini) will no longer boot. I'm able to remote into the back door and can see that the system is hanging at:

ZFS: i/o error - all block copies unavailable
ZFS: can't read MOS of pool tank
gptzfsboot: failed to mount default pool tank

FreeBSD/x86 boot

---------------------------

looks like I'm in for a good night...

 

[Ericloewe]

Are you using the original boot device? How old is your unit? iX may replace the boot device for free, if it has indeed crapped out.

 

[lookin4pain]

Are you using the original boot device? How old is your unit? iX may replace the boot device for free, if it has indeed crapped out.

yes, though since my post from above, I've loaded 11.2 on a thumb drive and am now trying to see if I can recover my old config file...

warranty ran out earlier this year I believe. I swapped out the main board several months ago because it did die and they covered it.

 

[Ericloewe]

Old units had boot media that craps out a lot. Ask them about it, even if your warranty has expired.

 

[HolyK]

Hell yes, i was waiting for this as i am still on FreeNAS-9.10.2-U1 (86c7ef5). This is a nice Xmas present. I should have some free time at the end of the year so now i now what i will be doing :D

Tricky question ... i have Encrypted pools in place ... Anybody can confirm that the upgrade to 11.2. will not wreck this? I am a bit scared ^^

 

[Ericloewe]

It should not. You should be absolutely safe (as absolutely as possible, anyway) if you backup your keys properly and also your GELI metadata from the disks.