I'm thinking of purchasing a license for Unraid. 

But only thing that worries me is that the license is tied to the flash drive not to motherboard or something else.

So insead of thinking about of backups for my data I'm thinking about the backups of the system that backups my data. Which is weird cause it creates exactly the same problem again.

 

I wonder in case I completelly loose access to my license (let's said flash drive fails and I don't have a way to restore the license)

can I still access my data with a new trial license? Either by having a backup of configuration files or by guessing drive configuration. 

What will happen when the trial key expires?

 

Can I test this by creating a system with one trial key and then trying to access it using a second trial key?

1 hour ago, kodlan said:

can I still access my data with a new trial license?

Yes.

 

1 hour ago, kodlan said:

What will happen when the trial key expires?

You won't be able to start the array, would need to start another trial with a different flash drive.

thanks

2 hours ago, kodlan said:

I wonder in case I completelly loose access to my license (let's said flash drive fails and I don't have a way to restore the license)

In the config folder/directory of the flash drive, there is a file with the extension of .key and that is the Unraid license file for that drive.  It can also be used for a automated transfer process which will generate a new license for the replacement flash drive.  If that should not work for any reason, you  can contact Unraid and they will see that you get a new license that will work with your new flash drive. 

 

You should also make a backup of your flash drive.  You can do so by left-clicking on the 'Flash' drive on the MAIN tab and look for the 'FLASH BACKUP' button under the "Flash Device Settings" section.  The license file will (of course) be in the backup.

2 hours ago, kodlan said:

Either by having a backup of configuration files or by guessing drive configuration. 

Do a printout of the MAIN tab and you can use that to assign the disks.   Unraid uses the serial number of the disk to assign them to the proper location. 

All of your configuration is in the config folder of flash. ALL settings from the webUI including disk assignments, and your license.

 

Also note that the OS doesn't actually run from that flash drive. The OS is unpacked fresh from archives on flash at each boot, into RAM, and the OS runs completely in RAM. Think of it as firmware.

 

You must always have a current backup of flash, or at least of that config folder which contains your configuration. Unraid Connect plugin can keep a backup of flash on Unraid Cloud. You can always download a zipped backup of flash from your Unraid webUI at MAIN - Boot Device - flash - FLASH BACKUP.