Replication Tasks in FreeNAS-11.3-U1 need to be started by hand

[vafk]

I have several replication tasks. There are two pools where the replication happens, one internal and one external. Both the internal and external pools are switched on by demand (the internal pools is a Dell PowerVault external HDD enclosure where the pools is imported by hand and the second pools is a N54L with FreeNAS-11.3-U1).

Both pools have the problems that the main FreeNAS does not realize that the pools become available and remains stuck with the error message that the pool is not available. Once I open the replication task and select "run now" the tasks performs well and everything is fine.

I guess that once FreeNAS identifies that the pool is missing it does not recheck if the pool becomes available.

Who had the same problem and did or did not find a solution? Thank you and stay well!

 

[saurav]

I solved the part of the problem where you have to login to FreeNAS web UI and enable/disable _each_ replication by hand. I have a script to enable/disable all replication tasks from a terminal. It uses FreeNAS API to do that: http://api.freenas.org

 

[vafk]

@saurav
Thank you for the suggestion. I used your "enable/disable _each_ replication by hand" to search and found this post:

Manually (on-demand) replicating entire main pool to external USB drive (for physical offsite emergency)

Disclaimer: I use bold text to highlight important points for visitors who quickly scroll through forum posts. I don't mean for it to appear as if I am yelling at the reader. Currently, as of FreeNAS 11.2 U6, there exists no means to manually replicate your entire main pool to an external USB...

www.ixsystems.com

Could you kindly confirm if this is the same or similar way you solved the problem? Or if you have a better idea to share this with us? Many thanks!!!

 

[saurav]

That seems to be doing something totally different.

My scenario is basically that I sometimes need to stop all replication from my main server to the back up server. The only way to do that is to sign in to main server's web UI and toggle each task by hand.

Instead of that, I have a script that I can run to enable or disable all tasks. Its a single command in a terminal that gets the job done. I don't have to sign in on the main server's web UI. I could run it on any machine that can connect to the main server over the network.

 

[vafk]

I understand and see that this is exactly I was looking for. Could you please paste the content of the script here? One task as example is sufficient. Thank you!

 

[saurav]

Sorry about the late reply. I have checked it in to github:

freenas-utils/repl at master · sauravg/freenas-utils

Contribute to sauravg/freenas-utils development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Let me know on github if you have any issues using it.

 

[vafk]

Good morning, that is excellent! I will try it and let you know. Many thanks!!!

 

[vafk]

@saurav
I looked at the script so what I need to do is install httpie and jq on the Linux host and run the script? Will the script invoke all existing replication tasks one by one? If so is there a way I can select the tasks because I have two external pools where the data is written. Also I need to add to the script to import the pool before replication and disconnect after replication.

 

[saurav]

Yes, the script will invoke all existing replication tasks one by one.

It currently doesn't have a way to select the tasks in any manner. Also, as you can tell from the script, it doesn't do anything to import the pool, etc.

I didn't build those features in because I didn't need them. Feel free to add them if you need. PRs are alway welcome :)