If I could get a thumbs up on this plan I'd appreciate it.  Any other suggestions also welcome.

 

It can be nerve racking moving all of your data.

 

I currently have a production server that I want to rebuild with newer hardware and additional capacity.  I am going to do some clean up as I move stuff so it's not a full 'migration'.  After I want to repurpose the original server as a dev/application server without production data.  I have a Pro Key (active) and a Basic Key (never used).

Does this look good?
Server A (Pro Key, active) --> Move data to Server B (Trail Key)
Move Pro Key from Server A USB to Server B USB --> Unraid confirms I want to move the key
Place Basic Key on Server A USB -> Unraid confirms I want to activate it

Thanks for reading.
 

Keys are tied to a specific USB GUID, and can't be moved. So...

4 minutes ago, kodakrome said:

Place Basic Key on Server A USB -> Unraid confirms I want to activate it

Won't work unless you use a physically different USB stick. The active pro key issued to Server A's stick will be unusable if you migrate it to the trial key stick.

 

However...

 

The key is tied to the USB stick NOT the rest of the config.

 

So... wherever you physically move the stick the key file should stay with it, the rest of the config can be moved at will.

 

First step looks good.

9 minutes ago, kodakrome said:

Server A (Pro Key, active) --> Move data to Server B (Trail Key)

Second step should be modified to...

Backup files on Pro Key, backup files on trial key, delete existing config folder content except for the pro.key file from the pro key and copy config folder except for the trial.key file from trial key onto the pro key,  physically move pro key to new server.

Unraid won't need to move key or activate anything, it should just work.

Third step would be pretty much the inverse of second step, difference being you would put the basic key in the config folder instead of the trial key.

Unraid will then migrate the basic key to the trial key USB stick.

 

Clear as mud?

 

Stated differently for clarity. The config folder minus the *.key file should stay with the data drives, the key file itself needs to stay with the USB stick.

I thought it was possible to change physical USB drives once per year.  I need both servers to be active to move my data.  I'm rebuilding not migrating.

Edited August 7, 20241 yr by kodakrome

23 minutes ago, kodakrome said:

I thought it was possible to change physical USB drives once per year.  I need both servers to be active to move my data.  I'm rebuilding not migrating.

You can change USB keys, just not back to an old one. Once a license is validated on a new USB stick, the old USB stick can't be used for Unraid.

 

What I outlined keeps both servers running, exactly as you outlined, the only difference being which physical key is used in which machine during the process. As long as you keep the license file with the physical key it was issued to, there is no need to reactivate the pro key or mess with licensing. You just need to activate the basic license to the trial key when you are done the trial and ready to use that key on the old server with a basic license. The rest of the config folder can migrate with the drives to the physical stick that you want to use, just keep the physical stick and its license file together.