Import Volume - NTFS disk with Data

[fanix]

Hi,

Before I attempt to do this, I just want to make sure I understand this functionality correctly:

I have an existing HDD that contains my personal data. I wish to transfer this data over to my zpool which I created (RAIDZ,3 disks)

The disk I want to transfer data FROM is in NTFS format. Do I simply connect the drive to the pc, then click Import Volume, select NTFS and then select the disk? Will this import the volume, so that I can access the files? I want to make sure that it doesn't format the drive?

 

[leenux_tux]

fanix,

I'm pretty sure you can't simply attach a drive that has a NTFS file system and "import" the volume into a FreeNAS. Even if you could, personally I probably wouldn't go down that route anyway for fear of something going wrong and the drive being wiped or corrupted in some way.

There are a number of ways you can get the data over to your new FreeNAS system without attaching the drive to the freenas system. Even if the drive is not even attached to your Windows system any more you can still get ATA/SATA attachment kits (really cheap, mine cost like £5) of ebay and connect the drive via USB to your desktop/laptop.

Once connected you can copy (over the network) all your files to you shiny new FreeNAS system. Once done, you still have your "source" drive that can be archived away somewhere until you are happy that all is well with your data

 

[fanix]

Thanks

 

[Dusan]

I'm pretty sure you can't simply attach a drive that has a NTFS file system and "import" the volume into a FreeNAS.

Actually, this functionality is available: http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Volumes#Importing_Volumes (FreeNAS® supports the import of disks that have been formatted with UFS, NTFS, MSDOS, or EXT2.). However, it seems to be broken in 9.1.1.: https://bugs.freenas.org/issues/3318

But, you can always mount a NTFS drive via CLI (I did this several times to import data from NTFS drives):

[PANEL]kldload fuse
ntfs-3g [device] [mountpoint][/PANEL]
If you are afraid that something will get corrupted you can always mount it read only:

[PANEL]ntfs-3g -o ro [device] [mountpoint][/PANEL]

 

[fanix]

Thanks Dusan,

Thank worked.

 

[DhavalKhairnar]

Hi, is it possible to import particular folder only to the destination FreeNAS Volume?

 

[leenux_tux]

Hi, is it possible to import particular folder only to the destination FreeNAS Volume?

Yes, one option (among a few I'm sure)

• Connect up the drive using something like this "https://www.amazon.co.uk/DIGIFLEX-SATA-Adapter-Cable-Hard/dp/B004JO1Z52" (I have used something similar to this many times) to a laptop or other computer.
  
• Make sure the destination folder on FreeNAS is shared (CIFS) if using Windows.
• If the source hard drive is connected to a Windows computer, map a network drive to the share on FreeNAS and use "robocopy" to copy the folder over, or just plain old "copy and paste" using the GUI. My personal favourite is robocopy as you can restart a copy half way through if it fails or is taking to long, lots of other "smart" things you can do with robocopy.
  
• If the source hard drive is connected to a Linux box use rsync to copy the folder

 

[DhavalKhairnar]

Can you pls elaborate the steps to do so in detail.
I am using ubuntu machine. I want to copy the data from the hard disk which is already running on FreeNAS.

 

[leenux_tux]

If I am understanding you correctly....

You have an NTFS drive attached to your FreeNAS box and you want to copy the data from a specific folder to another machine on the network that is running Ubuntu ?

Or is the NTFS drive attached to the Ubuntu machine and you want to copy a folder over to the FreeNAS box ?

 

[DhavalKhairnar]

Thank you for the reply. I want to do so for just trial and it worked. Now I want to transfer folder from one old FreeNAS machine to new FreeNAS machine. Both are in same network. I tried with rsync but it did not work.

 

[leenux_tux]

rsync between two FreeNAS systems should be straight forward. You haven't indicated what you tried to do, nor provided any information on the error(s) you received so it's difficult to give precise help.

• Can you ping the destination machine from the source machine over the network ?
• Can you ssh to the destination machine from the source over the network ? (ssh -l root ip_address)

If you can the above then comms between the two systems is up.
rsync example, whilst logged on to source system

• rsync -avzh SOURCE_FOLDER_NAME/ root@REMOTE_SERVER_IP_ADDRESS:/REMOTE_FOLDER_NAME/
• eg. rsync -avzh blarg/ root@192.168.1.100:/mnt/TANK/blarg/

 

[DhavalKhairnar]

Now I am fedup with the freenas. I have transferred the data through rsync and data copied but not able to access through smb. I have checked all the permission but not able to access the folder. It is so confusing. kindly help

 

[DhavalKhairnar]

Now I just want to try with the other option. I have 2tb hard disk which is having data and want to insert another hard disk with 4tb in same machine. is it possible to transfer the data from one disk to another disk in same machine. Pls provide the suggestion that what is better option to do.

 

[DhavalKhairnar]

Is there any one who can help me for the above issue?

 

[leenux_tux]

Yes, you can add another disk and add another pool to your system then copy the data from one disk to another, however, you will be missing out on a couple of the main advantages of FreeNAS/ZFS....data protection and data integrity.

My advice would be to learn a little more about FreeNAS, in a safe environment, i.e. using something like VirtualBox where you can

• Setup a "sandbox" environment, add disks/pools/data sets.
• Configure different ZFS "RAID" setups (mirrors, RAID-Z1/Z2).
• Setup shares (NFS/CIFS),
• Add users
• Copy data from the VirtualBox host (the computer running VirtualBox) to the VirtualBox guest (FreeNAS).
• Copy data between pools in FreeNAS (if you have multiple pools configured)

Basically get used to how it works before diving straight in. It's worth the effort as I was in the same situation as you. In fact, in the end I changed my hardware as it wasn't adequate for my requirements, i.e. I didn't do my research.