iXsystems won't create migration from Corral to FreeNAS 11

[jpringle03]

After initially saying that they would look into it they now appear to be backpedaling.

From their Reddit AMA:

We are still evaluating how to best proceed with this, but most likely it will handle migrating shares / configuration settings, possibly VM settings. Docker containers will most likely need to be re-configured.

We are investigating this now. The VM migration should be possible but there might be some docker differences which will prevent a direct 1:1 migration of those containers.

They just closed the bug related to this though: https://bugs.freenas.org/issues/23362

 

[Zofoor]

I don't understand the bug comment.
In case of a fresh install done in Corral with VMs, will be possible to create a new VM and use the "virtual disk" created in Corral?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[jpringle03]

I don't understand the bug comment.
In case of a fresh install done in Corral with VMs, will be possible to create a new VM and use the "virtual disk" created in Corral?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I don't believe the VMs will be compatible. If they are, they should have stated that in their ticket.

 

[Ericloewe]

After initially saying that they would look into it they now appear to be backpedaling.

They did look into it. Unfortunately, the answer seems to be no. That's not backpedaling.

In case of a fresh install done in Corral with VMs, will be possible to create a new VM and use the "virtual disk" created in Corral?

There's no reason why it shouldn't be.

 

[Ericloewe]

I don't believe the VMs will be compatible. If they are, they should have stated that in their ticket.

The management layer is different, but it's still bhyve.

 

[jpringle03]

They did look into it. Unfortunately, the answer seems to be no. That's not backpedaling.

It feels to me like they said this to quiet all the concerns around it at the time and now that people aren't looking they are going to quietly decide not to do it.

 

[Ericloewe]

If this is going to descend into conspiracy theories, I'd rather lock the thread now. I'd prefer not to.

 

[Tsaukpaetra]

I was able to re-create my VM OK, just that I couldn't use file-based disks and the configuration thereof is.... minimal. It seemed to boot OK, but as one of the disks was unable to be re-added (as it was a file-disk) I couldn't verify any further than that.

Also, the docker VMs definitely didn't work at all. Would need to re-create from scratch.

 

[Stanri010]

If you read the initial announcement of the death of corral you will see that they pretty much said they were going to abandon Corral. It was later when they said they would take a look if it were possible to upgrade but they did approach the topic originally with a "unlikely" attitude:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/important-announcement-regarding-freenas-corral.53502/

For the time being, the current release of FreeNAS Corral will be treated as an experimental branch and repositioned from “RELEASE” to “TECHNOLOGY PREVIEW” status, available for download and experimentation by the adventurous among you, but not for use in production environments. This also means it is unlikely you will be able to migrate configuration settings from Corral -> the next FreeNAS Corral product (however, your data will always be importable).

I always took that as no don't even bother with trying to migrate. It'll be harder than its worth so just start fresh.

 

[Kris Moore]

Just an update on this folks. We have been looking into how to do a "migration", but the reality is that we've seen the update stats showing that a very large % of users have already reverted / rolled back to 9.10.X. In addition the work required to get a semi-functional migration going is pretty massive, and by the time it's completed we expect that % to have shrunk even further.

That being said, you still have options forward. We have begun documentation of this process, and @Ericloewe has a FAQ here:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/migrating-from-freenas-corral-to-freenas-9-10.36/

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel - Your data is still importable. Follow the guide above and of course do backups beforehand (as with any migration really). The annoying part will be setting up your shares again, but that's functionally identical to recovering from a crashed boot pool.

 

[DrKK]

Anyone who doesn't like Kris's answer can request a full refund of the purchase price of their FreeNAS Corral. :)

 

[Bolopez]

Anyone who doesn't like Kris's answer can request a full refund of the purchase price of their FreeNAS Corral. :)

I'm afraid the time I spent trying to work out bugs in Corral is much more valuable than that. Maybe IX feels that Corral is not their problem any more, but when we (I think it was not just me) started with Corral and begun to find out bugs and helped to solve them, it was. Maybe Corral looks like someone else's problem to IX. For me Corral was IX next FN release. I've spent a lot of time on this and now I feel left to my own devices. If I have to go all over again, maybe "my own devices" will be "other devices".

Thanks for my money back.

Rgeards.

 

[gpsguy]

iXsystems has already apologized for that in the big thread.

How much do you think it cost iXsystems? A million dollars. I dunno. For a product that they will give away for free. Sure, in time, after the product matured (year or two) they might be able to use it for TrueNAS.

Investments, like your time, iXsystems resouces, or my dollars can be a gamble. When the recession in the late 2000's hit, the value of my portfolio tanked. Over time, I was able to recoop the face value of those investments and continue to see it grow.

Like my investments, I think we'll see FreeNAS 11.0 continue to grow and add some of the features from Corral. Just give it time.

I'm afraid the time I spent trying to work out bugs in Corral is much more valuable than that.

 

[BigDave]

I think we'll see FreeNAS 11.0 continue to grow and add some of the features from Corral. Just give it time.

Well said @gpsguy
Hindsight is always 20/20 right? I've been reading these forums for almost four years and if there was only one thing that has always been a constant word of caution
was to NOT upgrade until some time had passed after the release. Therefore I was in shock as I watched users take perfectly stable 9x machines and just "Willy Nilly"
start upgrading them to a brand new release!

I jumped on this (Corral) right off the bat too, but did not trust my data to it, because I remembered those warnings the long time members
used to drum into my newly forming admin brain... "wait, use caution", "let it go a while and watch the forum for issues".

Jordan's State Of The Union videos spoke of "total re-write of the middleware", this single statement should have caused us to view this upcoming project with cautious optimism.

IMHO the community had developed a very healthy respect for the Devs @ iXsystems and let them lull us into a sense of false security. Yes, it's way more complicated
than that, but I'm not writing a frickin' novel here. I suspect that iX was expecting the community to react in a bit more of a conservative fashion as far as the release
of Corral was concerned and was as surprised as anyone when folks just started upgrading without the normal conservative approach that has been SOP around here.

There has been a lot of butt-hurt people voice their unhappiness, but if you're in this camp, I think you should be aware that when you point your finger at someone you
need to notice the three remaining fingers pointing back at yourself. Because you threw caution to the wind, you are as much to blame for your situation.

We have the right to voice our opinions and I'm taking advantage of mine today in this post. This is a community driven project, let us collectively get back behind the
wheel and move forward. Thanks for listening...
Dave

 

[Ericloewe]

I think you should be aware that when you point your finger at someone you
need to notice the three remaining fingers pointing back at yourself.

What about the thumb? Is it a wildcard? I could see it pointing towards a co-worker, towards one's legs or in the same direction as the index finger.

 

[Bolopez]

I haven't lost a single byte of data with Corral. And I'm not complaining at all about the decission of cancelling Corral. It's IX choice and it surely was difficult for them.

What I don't understand is the reason to not support Docker migration from Corral. it doesn't seem too complicated and there is no explanation:
- FN11 supports Bhyve
- Docker hosts in FN10 were based on bhyve
If the problem was 9p FS (it seems not) just change to NFS. BUT keep a Docker interface. The logic behind it is already created.

On the other hand, yes, I have to recognise again that it's my fault. And I don't like being faulty. So I'll try not to be faulty again.

Regards.

 

[BigDave]

What I don't understand is the reason to not support Docker migration from Corral. it doesn't seem too complicated and there is no explanation:

It's always about the $MONEY$ brother...
After making a very large investment, at some point, the folks who run the company decided that they cannot reasonably expect a return on that investment. In business this is known as "cutting your losses". The explanation is, at this point in time a company stops the bleeding, heals their monetary wounds and tries to salvage what is left of the fiscal year while still maintaining support for their open source project

Companies look at statistical data to help make decisions on which aspects of their operations get funding. I read earlier today that data has confirmed that a great percentage of users have already gone back
successfully to the 9.10 Stable version, are you aware of this post? Based on this reasoning, this makes perfect business sense to not waste funds for developing a migration path for such a small number of users. The concept is Business 101, and again, it's all about the money... :(

 

[Bolopez]

Yes, I read it. And I'm sure that many users have gone back. I would have gone back to 9.10 if I had not invested so much time on trying to make FN10 better just to find myself abandoned. And as I said before, I've been on similar situations too. I can perfectly understand the reason, but, sorry for insisting, not the "not trying to create a migration path" part.

Anyway, it's Ok for me. I'm already looking somewhere else, so I'm not going to complain any more.

Regards.

 

[Mlovelace]

Anyway, it's Ok for me. I'm already looking somewhere else, so I'm not going to complain any more.

Regards.

ZFS on Linux is really great and of course is 100% docker compatible.

 

[Bolopez]

Yes, thanks. I'm thinking about OpenMediaVault. I think I'll try tonight when the family is in bed and not using Plex :)

Regards.