How do I get a replacement key?

[CaptaiNiveau]

Hi there.

 

TLDR: basically as the title states.

 

More detailed:

I've been struggling to get my server back up after my USB drive partly failed. Due to me being stupid I had no recent backup of it and sadly the compose.manager directory got lost. Using the sleuthkit I was able to recover most of the compose files, however I've been struggling to create a new boot flash drive. I replaced the USB drive and ran into some issues manually creating the boot media (needs MBR, GPT doesn't work for whatever reason). After I figured that out, there were still some issues ("bread(block 300XX) failed" at boot). By manually removing and adding some recovered config files back, it seems to have been caused by 'vfio-pci.cfg', which seemed fine but whatever.

Now I'm unable to figure out how to change the license.

First link I found (https://forums.unraid.net/replace-key/) leads to "Sorry! The page you requested does not exist".
Next link (https://unraid.net/replace-key) leads to "404 Error replace-key".
Then I found this (https://wiki.unraid.net/Manual/Changing_The_Flash_Device) site, which seemed to be helpful at first.

After trying for some time I found that the "replace key" button had moved to the top right drop down.
It lead me to another dead end https://registration.unraid.net/#/replace-key with this lovely message: "Deprecation Notice - On March 1, 2023, Unraid.net Accounts were migrated to a new identity provider – Learn more."

 

How am I supposed to license my new thumb drive? I'm at a loss and definitely frustrated right now.

 

Thank you for your help.

Edit:
I didn't read the last message fully, in the end it said that I need to install the my servers plugin for the key replacement to work. Since this server is also responsible for internet (opnsense VM with passed through NICs), I'm using USB tethering to my desktop. In the future I'll run a backup firewall/router on my raspberry pi, however I haven't set that up yet.

Anyways, I installed it manually and it looked mostly fine besides it complaining about not being able to connect to some 'unraid mothership' domain. However, now I got stuck in a pop-up that doesn't finish loading.
The plugin then disappeared somehow(?) and I tried to install it again, with the same error message but without success this time.

Guess I need to tether my smartphone to the server so it's got an internet connection to make this license swap work?
Ideally I'd be able to manage this from my desktop, but I get that this setup is rather... unique.

Edited April 22, 2023 by CaptaiNiveau

[rwalla]

Hi,

 

I had to replace my old USB drive and get the license assigned to the new stick. I just wrote a message to support (https://unraid.net/contact ) and asked the license to be transfered to the new one. You need to add information about the GUID of the old and the new USB stick.

I think this offer is limited to once every 12 months or so.

[itimpi]

2 hours ago, rwalla said:

stick.

I think this offer is limited to once every 12 months or so.

You can do such a transfer once every 12 months using the automated system without having to contact support.   The time you DO have to contact support is if you want to do another transfer less than 12 months after the previous one.

[CaptaiNiveau]

I figured it out, you need to install the 'My Servers' plugin. After setting up a working internet connection (directly connecting to the WAN which is normally passed through to OPNsense), I was finally able to make it all work.

It'd be nice if the documentation for this process would be updated so other people don't run into this issue.

Thanks for the responses though.

[RadRom]

On 4/24/2023 at 12:33 AM, CaptaiNiveau said:

I figured it out, you need to install the 'My Servers' plugin. After setting up a working internet connection (directly connecting to the WAN which is normally passed through to OPNsense), I was finally able to make it all work.

It'd be nice if the documentation for this process would be updated so other people don't run into this issue.

Thanks for the responses though.

I went through the same issue myself.  

 

Install unRAID Connect, sign in and replace your key that way.   Remember to login to terminal window and run 'unraid-api restart' if you have any API issues, then you should be fine

Hope this helps 😄 

[RealActorRob]

Had to install a community apps update...took a couple of tries. 

 

THEN I was able to install Unraid Connect.

 

[cmgver]

after Unraid Connect is installed, where do I go to change the key to a different server?

[Hoopster]

2 hours ago, cmgver said:

where do I go to change the key to a different server?

Are you saying you just want to boot Unraid on a different machine?  If so, just insert the licensed USB flash drive into that machine, boot and reconfigure as needed for that new machine. 

 

The license is associated with the USB flash drive, not any particular computer.  A license transfer is needed only if you need to change the USB flash drive for the license and not when you want to boot Unraid on a different server.

[cmgver]

what happened to me is that I had to format the USB where I had the key and now with the same USB and the same server, I cannot re activate the key and I don't have the files that I had in the USB

[itimpi]

3 minutes ago, cmgver said:

what happened to me is that I had to format the USB where I had the key and now with the same USB and the same server, I cannot re activate the key and I don't have the files that I had in the USB

You will need to contact support to get this resolved as the automated licence transfer requires you to have the original licence file.  

[cmgver]

this is the worst experience I had in my life with a license. I paid $129 for a license that I cannot use and now I have to wait days for someone to do something for me to be able to work. Whoever created that mechanism was lost and definitely that should be changed!

[itimpi]

2 minutes ago, cmgver said:

this is the worst experience I had in my life with a license. I paid $129 for a license that I cannot use and now I have to wait days for someone to do something for me to be able to work. Whoever created that mechanism was lost and definitely that should be changed!

You normally get a response in hours, not days!

 

Are you sure you have not got a copy of the licence file somewhere?   If so you just need to insert it into the config folder on the flash drive and you are good to go.

[cmgver]

thank you itimpi. I did contact support twice several hours ago and they didn't answer so far. The only copy I can get is the one from the download link, that one works?

[itimpi]

12 minutes ago, cmgver said:

thank you itimpi. I did contact support twice several hours ago and they didn't answer so far. The only copy I can get is the one from the download link, that one works?

Support is US based so response time can vary according to the time you try.   
 

are you saying you retried the download link and got your key file that way so are good to go?   Just put it into the config folder on the flash drive.

 

it is always a good idea to make a periodic backup of the flash drive.   If you can boot Unraid then you can easily do this by clicking on the Boot device on the Main tab and selecting the backup option from there.    You can also simply put the flash drive into another computer and copy its contents (the config folder is all that is really needed as it contains all user specific information).   

[cmgver]

hey man thank you!!! I was able to replace the key after I copied Pro.key in the config folder!!!

[HardyAman]

Hey all, I need help with this key change process, too. I wanted to upgrade from 6.9.2 on old USB to 6.12.4 (latest) on the new USB. Of course I get an error in the new version since the key is not correct. But whatever I do trying to replace the key, I get an error "Error: {"message":"Request failed with status code 403","data":{"error":"KeyFile is not valid"}}" - sure that why I want to replace it. Unraid Connect is installed. I tried to contact support several times in the past 4 days and heard nothing back. What to do?

[JorgeB]

8 minutes ago, HardyAman said:

But whatever I do trying to replace the key, I get an error "Error: {"message":"Request failed with status code 403","data":{"error":"KeyFile is not valid"}}"

That suggests you are not using the latest key file.

 

8 minutes ago, HardyAman said:

I tried to contact support several times in the past 4 days and heard nothing back. What to do?

Did you get an automatic email reply about the ticket? If you didn't for some reason the ticket was not created, try again, you must receive a confirmation email.

[HardyAman]

Thanks JorgeB for your fast reply.

Sure the key file is probably not the latest, since it's from v 6.9.2. On that USB the exact Pro.key works fine.

 

Will try to contact the support some more...

[itimpi]

53 minutes ago, HardyAman said:

Sure the key file is probably not the latest, since it's from v 6.9.2.

The key is valid for all versions of Unraid.

[HardyAman]

I see. The issue here was in fact that the troubleshooting form did not go through, because I didn't get an automatic reply on my email. I was in contact with support in the past, so I had the email. After reporting this directly on the email I'm now in talks to obtain a new key file.

[HardyAman]

SOLVED.

Support has generated a new key file for my setup.

Happy days ...