importing hdd with data to new freeNAS 11.2 U5

[fannlow]

Hi,
i am posting to get some help, as i can't seems to get a workaround for my issue for almost a week, and have been looking online, forums, youtube, etc for solutions.
Perhaps I might have missed some info out there, but I will list my issues here.

I was using my freeNAS from two years ago, until last month, the freeNAS OS was unable to boot, due to a harddisk failure. I have 5 harddisks (all 1TB) for my data, shared for Windows.

So what I did was buy two new USB drives and mirror them for the new freeNAS 11.2 U5 OS. I booted them with no problem (the 5 harddisks were not plugged in), as I wanted to test the new OS stability. So once, the new freeNAS OS is up, I shutdown plug in my old 5 harddisks, reboot the new freeNAS OS, It reads the 5 harddisks, but where should i go to next? I can't seems to do anything about it...

I am pretty new to this, as the previous freeNAS wasn't setup by me, and I have no idea, what config they were using.

If you need info from me, kindly let me know, so I can screenshot and upload it for help.

thanks

 

[fannlow]

seems like i am now about to import the previous freeNAS data (even though I might have a corrupted harddisk plugged in).
It takes about slightly more than a TB. Is there a way, I can copy all these data out to my external harddisk on my windows?
or possible to copy all the configurations off these dataset or all of it?

then I will take out these 5 harddrives and plugin 2x new 2TB WD Red harddrives and create a new pool and then copy all these data and configurations back the new 2TB WD Red Harddisks. I am using mirror in this case.

By the way, is it possible to add more 2TB drives later-on and change the config to raid-z?

 

[fannlow]

hmmm, now i keep getting this CAM status on ada4 harddisk, the one with disks error.
and also i get these alerts from freeNAS OS. and now the pools are unable to read and display status again.

any ideas, how to safely and quickly backup the data on these 5 harddisks, and also its config and folders, and port it into the new 2TB mirror drives I have ready.

however, my current motherboard only support these 5 harddisks SATAs. currently unable to plug-in my two other harddisks due to insufficient SATA ports. so I am thinking of using my external harddisk from my windows laptop can be used. if it can be done, may i asks where to find directions to get it done.

thanks

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Hi @fannlow. A couple of questions that will help us answer your questions.

First, did you make a backup of your system config per the User Guide?

Can you use the old boot drives at all in case you need data off of them?

Also, do you know what the pool and vdev layout with your disks was prior to the failure?

Finally, do you know if encryption was used and if so do you have backups of the keys?

To answer a few questions you asked

It takes about slightly more than a TB. Is there a way, I can copy all these data out to my external harddisk on my windows?

In order to access the data on your disks you need a system with ZFS. The best way to do this given the drives you have is via FreeNAS.

possible to copy all the configurations off these dataset or all of it?

Yes, if you made a copy of the system config from the old boot disks before they failed.

By the way, is it possible to add more 2TB drives later-on and change the config to raid-z?

Yes, but not as directly as you might think. Pools are made of vdevs and can be expanded by adding new vdevs. A vdev is where you choose mirror, RAIDZ1, RAIDZ2, etc. If you want to add a vdev that is well supported. If you want to change your current pool you'll need to rebuild the pool which would require copying the data somewhere else, rebuilding it how you want it, and then moving the data back. FWIW, you may want to look up the differences between RAIDZ1 and RAIDZ2 via the forums.

any ideas, how to safely and quickly backup the data on these 5 harddisks, and also its config and folders, and port it into the new 2TB mirror drives I have ready.

Whether this is possible depends on how your pool was set up. If the disk failures have caused the failure of a vdev you've likely lost all access to your data.


Unfortunately it looks like you may be in a tight spot. FreeNAS is great at keeping data safe, but only if used correctly. It is important that configs, encryption keys, and backups all be kept in the event something goes wrong. It is also important to run regular tests of your drives and monitor their health. I realize you didn't set the system up but if you've inherited maintenance of it you'll want to do a ton of reading. The resources section on the forums is a great place to start. FreeNAS isn't a set it and forget it solution and has a bit of a learning curve.

 

[fannlow]

finally seems to have gotten over the part, but its reading only from 3 harddisks out of 5 at the moment.
i have also allowed myself to get in from windows via network. using guests, but had given enough permission to copy what I need to copy.

however this will take a long time, and after this copy, I will have to redo all my pool and dataset and groups, users and permissions to correctly and manually into the new 2x 2TB WD red harddisks. So, is there other way of doing it besides what I am doing now?

hahaha, cuz this is taking a long time and if the harddisks breaks, I probably run out of luck

 

[fannlow]

Hi @fannlow. A couple of questions that will help us answer your questions.

First, did you make a backup of your system config per the User Guide?
- can't get any backup before failed, as they only sent in to me after it failed :(

Can you use the old boot drives at all in case you need data off of them?
- unfortunately, they have setup the old boot drive to be a small partition off the harddisk that they are using. I get the machine saying unable to boot or unable to find boot, please insert a boot device (Or something very similar). which is why I bought 2x usb drives and loaded the new freeNAS in order to try to see if I can still have access to the data in the harddisks.
- Currently its reading 3 out of the 5 harddisks.

Also, do you know what the pool and vdev layout with your disks was prior to the failure?
- I have recreated the pool by importing pool at the selections. But I don't really know where to get vDev at this point. So I am thinking to access it manually and set it up for my windows network at the moment. Copy everything from the harddisks, verified the data, then shutdown freeNAS and use the new 2x 2TB WD red harddisks in mirror config. Manually port the data and create the datasets again based on what was copied.

Finally, do you know if encryption was used and if so do you have backups of the keys?
- Luckily for me, i used import pools without encryption. So I got lucky.

To answer a few questions you asked


In order to access the data on your disks you need a system with ZFS. The best way to do this given the drives you have is via FreeNAS.


Yes, if you made a copy of the system config from the old boot disks before they failed.


Yes, but not as directly as you might think. Pools are made of vdevs and can be expanded by adding new vdevs. A vdev is where you choose mirror, RAIDZ1, RAIDZ2, etc. If you want to add a vdev that is well supported. If you want to change your current pool you'll need to rebuild the pool which would require copying the data somewhere else, rebuilding it how you want it, and then moving the data back. FWIW, you may want to look up the differences between RAIDZ1 and RAIDZ2 via the forums.


Whether this is possible depends on how your pool was set up. If the disk failures have caused the failure of a vdev you've likely lost all access to your data.


Unfortunately it looks like you may be in a tight spot. FreeNAS is great at keeping data safe, but only if used correctly. It is important that configs, encryption keys, and backups all be kept in the event something goes wrong. It is also important to run regular tests of your drives and monitor their health. I realize you didn't set the system up but if you've inherited maintenance of it you'll want to do a ton of reading. The resources section on the forums is a great place to start. FreeNAS isn't a set it and forget it solution and has a bit of a learning curve.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

So, is there other way of doing it besides what I am doing now?

Would you mind rereading my post above and answering my questions? What options are available to you depend in part on the answers to those questions.

In general, it would help if you were more specific. Giving more detail is better than less. :)

finally seems to have gotten over the part, but its reading only from 3 harddisks out of 5 at the moment.

How are you reading from them? Did you get them to import? What is the pool layout?


Sounds like maybe you're in luck if you can get your data off?

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Ah, I see the replies. It may help future readers if you only quote my text rather than your replies. One nifty way to do it is to highlight my text and click "reply", it'll automatically make a nice reply tagged section for you.

- can't get any backup before failed, as they only sent in to me after it failed

I figured you might say that. This isn't the end of the world, it just means you'll have to set up sharing etc again.

- unfortunately, they have setup the old boot drive to be a small partition off the harddisk that they are using. I get the machine saying unable to boot or unable to find boot, please insert a boot device (Or something very similar). which is why I bought 2x usb drives and loaded the new freeNAS in order to try to see if I can still have access to the data in the harddisks.

Ah, this is a very bad way to do things. Generally, you want dedicated boot devices. Folks used to use USB sticks but because SSDs are so cheap and reliable these days most folks have switched to those.

- I have recreated the pool by importing pool at the selections. But I don't really know where to get vDev at this point. So I am thinking to access it manually and set it up for my windows network at the moment. Copy everything from the harddisks, verified the data, then shutdown freeNAS and use the new 2x 2TB WD red harddisks in mirror config. Manually port the data and create the datasets again based on what was copied.

In the UI you can click the pool, select the gear, and click status. Copy paste what you see there to this thread. If you have 2 disks not working but can still read data I suspect that you may be using RAIDZ2|3.

Another thing that would be useful, in the command line what is the output of zpool status?


Where possible, I recommend you do everything in the UI as far as actually changing settings etc. If you're running command line commands to just get info or diagnostics that is totally fine.


I think your plan to copy data off the drives temporarily and rebuild your pool is a good one. I highly recommend you do a ton of research before you buy/build a new machine and post the parts you plan to use to these forums. Folks will be very helpful in pointing out areas of your build you can improve etc. Be sure to tell folks your budget and use case so they can give advice specific to your situation.

 

[tfran1990]

Wait, did mentioned something about connecting the disc to a windows computer.(maybe im misunderstanding)
Do not connect the disc to a windows computer thinking it will be helpful to try to recover anything. New/inexperienced users do this thinking it may work in favor.
Do give us the output of zppol status as mentioned above.

 

[fannlow]

Hi sorry, it took so long for me to reply back. many thanks to both of you helping.

now i am getting into a new problem, which i think is weird.
I shut down the freenas which was working OK for the whole of last week, and just a few days ago, after weekends, we started the freenas back online, and this is the error I got.. and there is a blinking underscore waiting...

 

[fannlow]

my freenas build as follows:

MAIN
Motherboard: Intel DZ68DB
Motherboard Version: AAG27985-103
Serial Number: BTDB144002R6

BIOS version: DBZ6810H.86A.0014.2011.0413.1049
Processor Type: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz
Processor Turbo Speed: 3.40 GHz
Memory Speed 1333 MHz
Total Memory 8GB

Boot
Boot Menu Type <Advanced>
Boot Drive Order <KingstonDataTraveler 3.0>
<KingstonDataTraveler 3.0>
Boot to Optical Devices <Disable>
Boot to Removable Devices <Enable>
Boot to Network <Disable>
USB Boot <Enable>
Boot USB Devices First <Enable>
UEFI Boot <Disable>

HyperBoot
General Optimization <Disable>
USB Optimization <Disable>
Video Optimization <Disable>

 

[fannlow]

i installed freenas on legacy, so i didn't use the "left option" when it asked if I wanted to use UEFI instead

 

[fannlow]

so, do I clean my two usb drives that I have mirrored during installation?
and reinstall a clean freenas os, that runs on UEFI, and also enabling my motherboard UEFI boot?

not sure how to avoid this gptzfsboot error in the future...
but my 2x usb sticks are now having I/O error when my windows tries to clean the sticks...

hope i get some help for both the issues
thanks in advance for any help or directions I can read up on

 

[fannlow]

this is what i received from freenas after I tried to reinstall, using the same 2x usb sticks (both new, under 3wks old, been used only for this purpose.) I am now unable to install as both da1 and da2 has failed.

 

[fannlow]

this is what i have from diskpart, win10.
i tried to clean the usb sticks out, but it doesn't seems to want to let me do it...

same status for the 2x usb sticks

 

[fannlow]

my aim and data pool is storing data such as words, excels, and images for backup uses. Most users already have data on their own pc, but this freenas is planned to be used as a data storage for about 35pcs, all storing office related documents.

while the old harddisks are made up of many different brands, all 1TB sata hdd.
the new upgrades, which I am still trying to get it done, will be WD red 2TB (total 3 hdds, hoping to do raidz-1)

 

[fannlow]

by the way, windows format says the stick is write protected

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Hey @fannlow, welcome back.

this is what i have from diskpart, win10.
i tried to clean the usb sticks out, but it doesn't seems to want to let me do it...

I'm not a windows user so I don't know what cleaning a disk entails. In general though I would suggest you allow the FreeNAS install utility to fully control the boot disks. If any formatting etc needs to take place the install process will take care of it.

Intel DZ68DB

You may want to try booting with UEFI given the hardware. The nice thing about the install process is that if it doesn't work in one mode you can try it again in another.

Do not connect the disc to a windows computer thinking it will be helpful to try to recover anything. New/inexperienced users do this thinking it may work in favor.

I think this is excellent advice, especially when it comes to the data disks. Let FreeNAS manage your disks, even the boot disks.

Given that SSDs are so cheap these days you may consider trying to install and boot off of two small SSDs. They are significantly more reliable than USB sticks. If you search around I think you'll find that some folks have had issues with the "Green" WD SSDs. One approach you could take is check out folks' signature and look at their boot media and pick one of those that seems to work well. I admit this is a bit of a guess but I bet you could get 2 SSDs for $50 and eliminate the USB sticks as a possible source of your problem.

 

[fannlow]

Given that SSDs are so cheap these days you may consider trying to install and boot off of two small SSDs. They are significantly more reliable than USB sticks. If you search around I think you'll find that some folks have had issues with the "Green" WD SSDs. One approach you could take is check out folks' signature and look at their boot media and pick one of those that seems to work well. I admit this is a bit of a guess but I bet you could get 2 SSDs for $50 and eliminate the USB sticks as a possible source of your problem.

hi do you mean, don't use WD green SSD? and can I get SSD that uses the external USB or something similar so I can save my sata ports for my data hdd =) and thanks

 

[fannlow]

I admit this is a bit of a guess but I bet you could get 2 SSDs for $50

hi @PhiloEpisteme , do i need 1 or 2 of these ssd to boot from? and what brand do you suggests?