USB Drive Confusion

[pirateghost]

The ISO is the installer. Put it on USB and boot to it. Plug in a second USB and install from the booted USB to the new USB. Remove installer and reboot using only the installed OS USB.

The better option is to have ipmi on your server and boot directly from the ISO ignoring the whole put ISO on USB step. If you don't have IPMI on your motherboard then you need to use a couple of USB drives.

 

[danb35]

Do they mean that that .iso IS the installer, and I should boot from that USB on the machine I want to install freeNAS?
Or is there an intermediary step where after downloading the .iso, I will have to "burning the installation file to a USB stick" using the Win32DiskImager?

I don't understand the distinction you're making here. The ISO is the installer. You'll need to boot the installer. To do that, you'll need to write it to either a USB stick or a CD-ROM, or remotely mount it via IMPI if supported by your motherboard, and then boot from that device. You'll need to have at least one USB stick or small SSD, other than what you booted the installer from, to install to.

 

[gabster]

Thanks @danb35 - I think the confusion came from 2.2.3 "Windows users will need to download a utility that can create a USB bootable image from the .iso file."
That made me think that simply writing the .iso to the USB wasn't enough as stated at 2.2. Preparing the Media.
So in the end is:

1. Download the .iso and copy it to a USB stick. (ignoring creating the image with Win32DiskImager).
2. Stick it in the machine and boot it from that
3. When prompted, install to a secondary USB.

Hope I have it right.
Thanks!!

 

[pirateghost]

Thanks @danb35 - I think the confusion came from 2.2.3 "Windows users will need to download a utility that can create a USB bootable image from the .iso file."
That made me think that simply writing the .iso to the USB wasn't enough as stated at 2.2. Preparing the Media.
So in the end is:

1. Download the .iso and copy it to a USB stick. (ignoring creating the image with Win32DiskImager).
2. Stick it in the machine and boot it from that
3. When prompted, install to a secondary USB.

Hope I have it right.
Thanks!!

You can't just put the ISO on a USB. You need to put it on there the right way. If on Linux or Mac 'dd' should work fine. If on Windows, Rufus should work or the method outlined in the documentation for win32 imager.

At the beginning of this thread it sounded like you already created the install device. Why are you continually asking the same question in different ways?

 

[danb35]

Yes, that process sounds right.

 

[diedrichg]

Ok, so I have the machine all put together, seems to be working fine - I have access to the BIOS, etc. But I can't seem to be able to boot from the USB.
I feel like I did something wrong.

In the BIOS you need to set USB as your first boot device.

 

[gabster]

@pirateghost - I think "the right way" is the key! Yes - i think I didn't do it right in windoze. Win32 imager will only load img files (not .iso). I used Rufus and it did its thing but that was the drive that didn't boot.
I finally did it with dd on a Mac so I'll be testing if that boots tonight.

@diedrichg - indeed. I had that right I think. I'll try it again tonight.

Thanks everyone!

 

[gabster]

BINGO!!

So I was able to successfully use the dd command on mac to build the installer abd I was able to install the FreeNAS-10-ALPHA2 version. Wow! Does that interface look sexy!
Now the question is should I stick with FreeNAS 9.10 since version 10 is still in development?

thanks for all the help, gang!!

gabi

 

[pirateghost]

You shouldn't be using 10 unless you're proficient enough to debug and provide valid bug reports. If you care about your data, don't use alpha

 

[nojohnny101]

What @pirateghost said. If you asking questions about the installation process, you should not be touching anything alpha with a ten foot pole.

 

[danb35]

...or, as @jkh put it in the ALPHA release announcement:

This is an ALPHA release, so usual warnings about lack of quality, its willingness to scribble all over your data, kick your dog and eat your cat apply.

 

[gabster]

Thanks folks! I went on and installed the latest freeNAS 9.10. Silly question. After install should I switch the boot order to the USB where the NAS was installed to?

thanks!

 

[Ericloewe]

...or, as @jkh put it in the ALPHA release announcement:

FreeNAS 10, the storage solution that Alf would choose.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

After install should I switch the boot order to the USB where the NAS was installed to?

Yes.

 

[pirateghost]

Thanks folks! I went on and installed the latest freeNAS 9.10. Silly question. After install should I switch the boot order to the USB where the NAS was installed to?

thanks!

If you want it to boot, I guess so.

 

[gabster]

Ah - so much fun I have. While trying to create a volume, I am getting:

Unable to GPT format the disk “ada0”

more than likely because I already had a FreeNAS installed on these drives (freakin ALPHA). From what I am reading on the forums, I need to basically wipe clean the drives before successfully be able to create a volume.
Formatting takes soo loooong. I am writing zeroes on them.

gah.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Formatting takes soo loooong. I am writing zeroes on them.

The zpool labelclear command is a much quicker option.

 

[gabster]

Thanks @Robert Trevellyan

from the shell via the browser?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

The browser shell is OK for this, just be sure to triple-check that you choose the right device (as you would when wiping).

 

[gabster]

yes - indeed. Thanks @Robert Trevellyan something like

zpool labelclear /dev/ada0

What's the command to list the drives identifier?

Thanks!