Invalid folder appdata contained within /mnt

[xrqp]

Fix Common Problems says:

Invalid folder appdata contained within /mnt

Generally speaking, most times when other folders get created within /mnt it is a result of an improperly configured application. This error may or may not cause issues for you.

 

But I thought I was supposed to set my path that way for Roon container as shown in graphic below.  

Also I thought 

mnt/appdata/roonserver/app    is the same as 

mnt/cache/appdata/roonserver/app    since I have my appdata share set to cache only.

 

 

[itimpi]

2 hours ago, xrqp said:

Also I thought 

mnt/appdata/roonserver/app    is the same as 

mnt/cache/appdata/roonserver/app    since I have my appdata share set to cache only.

In this case it would be /mnt/user/appdata/roonserver/app that is the same as /mnt/cache/appdata/toonserver/app     User Shares always appear under /mnt/user.

[xrqp]

Are you recommending it be /mnt/user/appdata/roonserver/app ?  Why?

[ChatNoir]

I suppose that /mnt/appdata.... will be on RAM, not on the drives as /mnt/user/appdata...

[tjb_altf4]

2 hours ago, xrqp said:

Are you recommending it be /mnt/user/appdata/roonserver/app ?  Why?

it should be

/mnt/user/appdata/

or

/mnt/cache/appdata/

not

/mnt/appdata/

 

/mnt/appdata/ is how your docker is configured as per the screenshot

 

 

[xrqp]

10 hours ago, ChatNoir said:

suppose that /mnt/appdata.... will be on RAM, not on the drives as /mnt/user/appdata...

I think it is supposed to run in RAM, not sure, but shutdown and store on drive.

 

 

8 hours ago, tjb_altf4 said:

it should be

/mnt/user/appdata/

Why?

 

I think you are all correct.  I look at my other dockers and they are with "user" folder, including appdata.  I will try it. 

Edited February 25, 2021 by xrqp

[itimpi]

33 minutes ago, xrqp said:

think it is supposed to run in RAM, not sure, but shutdown and store on drive.

The is not how it works.    The contents are only in RAM and will be lost on shutdown.

[xrqp]

 

#1   mnt/user/appdata/  (correct way)

Is it correct to say w #1 : When app starts it is read from disk (or cache?) into ram (or cache?), and then runs in ram , and when stopped is stored on disk (or cache?) then stopped?

 

#2   /mnt/appdata/        (incorrect way)

w #2 , as itimpi says "The contents are only in RAM and will be lost on shutdown."  But I do not understand why this occurs - why it does not go to disk.   It's OK, I do a lot of the unraid path mapping by prescription since I have a hard time understanding.

 

Thanks for the replies.

[Hoopster]

44 minutes ago, xrqp said:

But I do not understand why this occurs - why it does not go to disk.

Since the unRAID OS loads into RAM when the server is booted, anything that is not in a path to a physical disk location only exists in RAM.

The following are physical disk locations mounted when the server boots:

1. /boot (the unRAID flash drive)
2. /mnt/user (the user share system - SHFS - which allows shares to span multiple disks) - there is also /mnt/user0 which is user shares minus cache
3. /mnt/diskX  (disk shares which represent a single disk referenced by disk number in place of the X or cache as a disk name)
4. /mnt/remotes  (remote disks mounted with unassigned devices)
5. /mnt/disks  (unassigned devices)

Anything outside those paths will exist ONLY in RAM

 

/mnt/appdata is not in a path that maps to any physical disk location.

 

/mnt/user/appdata accesses appdata through shfs, the user share system

/mnt/cache/appdata accesses appadata directly through disk shares, in this case, the cache disk/pool

 

These are physically the same location, just accessed differently, but both exist on a physical disk and not just in RAM.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Hoopster

[xrqp]

Hoopster, that is a clear explanation of what I think is an important subject.  Thanks very much.  I am used to windows where it seems like everything with a path (that I see as a user) is a physical path.

Edited February 26, 2021 by xrqp

[Hoopster]

20 minutes ago, xrqp said:

I am used to windows where it seems like everything with a path (that I see as a user) is a physical path

That is because the Windows OS is installed on a physical disk and all the applications, storage, etc. are on physical disks.

 

With unRAID, the OS is not installed on a physical disk.  The files on the flash drive are not actually the OS, they are just archive files from which the OS is unpacked into RAM on boot and configured to run according to the configuration files that exist on the boot flash in the /config folder.

 

Coming from a Windows world, it is very easy to understand your initial confusion.  Hopefully, it is clearer now.