Hi All. Long time user and firstish time poster.

I've done lots of research but just want to check my findings and I keep seeing conflicting information.

My installation seems to be corrupted and has been recovered a while back but now won't upgrade to latest version etc. Now I want to replace the USB stick and the Unraid Install but keep everything else (Hardware and Data) can I do this. New install of Unraid while maintaining everything else?

I read to keep screenshot of drives and serials so loads them all back into the same locations etc.

Thanks

Chris

Is the config complete corrupt or are there stil some files OK? Maybe you can restore the bare minimum, like the key, super.dat and the pools folder for the assignments, also copy the docker user templates folder (\config\plugins\dockerMan\templates-user). If not, do keep a record/screenshot of the assignments.

Hi JorgeB

Thanks for the reply. I missed the notification so sorry for the late reply. So the OS is still running and I'm using it but the main issues are it won't upgrade. It fails every time. Also a few errors appearing so I can save any files I need to buy would like to just get a new USB and start with a fresh install and keep all the data that's on the HDDs. If that makes sense.

Thanks

Chris

Please post the diagnostics.

Diagnostics attached. So is it possible to get a new Install on a new USB Drive and insert and just map the hard drives to their previous positions etc?

tower-diagnostics-20261017-1618.zip

Your diagnostics show the server is already on v7.2.3, not 6.11.5 as your signature says, and both the flash drive and the config look fine to me. A fresh install should not be needed, so let's first find out why the update fails. Reboot, then try the update again right away. If it fails, post a screenshot of the update window with the error, plus new diagnostics taken right after the failure.

If you still want to move to a new flash drive, it can be done without losing any data:

- First make a backup of the current flash drive (Main > Boot Device > Flash > Flash Backup), and take a screenshot of the Main page showing all the assignments.

- Create the new flash drive with the USB Creator and a clean install.

- From the backup, copy these to the new flash drive's config folder:

- super.dat and the pools folder: these keep the array and pool assignments, so you don't need to assign anything again.

- the shares folder: share settings.

- plugins/dockerMan/templates-user: your Docker container templates.

- Boot with the new flash drive. The license is tied to the old one, so you need to transfer it with the Replace Key option.

- Reinstall the plugins you need. You can then reinstall your containers from Apps > Previous Apps, and they keep their existing settings and data, since appdata stays on the cache pool.

- Everything else, like network settings, users, and notification settings, will need to be configured again.

If you do the assignments manually instead, keep the same disks in the same slots and check "parity is already valid" before starting the array.

Not related to the update, but your board BIOS is from 2020, so I would recommend updating it. Also, your notification email settings are failing to authenticate with Gmail, so check those (Gmail requires an app password).

Hi, 2 servers, about a month apart created. 2 identical usb flash drives (sandisk) bought new for this setup. both flash drives failed this summer (about same time) to read only!

chatgpt (of course) led me to check if operating system marked the drives as read only or the flash themseves were reporting read only to the saystem, and it's the latter.

need to change the boot flash to new usb. are these the steps to take? is there any guide to moving to new flash drives?

also, does unraid make a lot of io to the boot drive? is there a way to minimize writes in order to minimise wear from excessive i/o?

diagnostics might help i guess

thanks :-)

fuji-diagnostics-20261022-1536.zip opti-diagnostics-20261022-1535.zip

26 minutes ago, kounelii said:

io to the boot drive?

Unraid doesn't run from the flash drive. The flash drive contains archives of the OS, these are loaded fresh into RAM on boot, and the OS runs completely in RAM. Any changes you make in the webUI are written to flash so they can be reapplied at boot.

39 minutes ago, kounelii said:

are these the steps to take?

First make a backup of each as explained. Instead of replacing them, you might just follow those instructions using the same flash drives. If that works, you won't have to do a license transfer.

40 minutes ago, kounelii said:

guide to moving to new flash drives?

Changing the boot device | Unraid Docs

The boot device is critical to your Unraid server as it stores the operating system, configuration files, and license. (For typical USB installs this is a USB flash drive; with internal boot it is ano