Set up USB, then add existing array... can I do this?

[anthropoidape]

Hi, I have the pro version of Unraid with two USB sticks. One stick is running my server, the other is in my desk drawer.

 

The server (4.7, unmenu, a few plugins, a few years of my ignorant, hamfisted screwing around with it) has been acting up quite a lot lately. What I want to do is swap my spare stick into the server, and just run 4.7 on it in a very vanilla form for a while. I think I should be able to do this without trouble.

 

THEN what I want to do is use wipe the existing stick, reinstall a clean unraid 4.7, and use it in on a spare laptop to set up unraid plus a lot of other things I've been meaning to install for a while such as plex, newznab, virtualbox, and some other stuff. Can I do this:

 

- run the stick on the laptop with just a cache drive and no array while I get everything working

- copy the cache drive contents to the "working" server

- swap the newly set up stick over and add the existing array

 

?

 

I think this should be doable but it would help to have some reassurance before I start. Or is there a better approach?

 

Jason

[RussellinSacto]

Hi Jason,

 

I'm no pro, but no one has answered your question in ten days so I thought I'd take a swing.

 

I have a similar situation to yours (until recently anyway).  I've had one UnRaid box for years and two flash drives.  I've learned that as long as you keep both flash drives to the same version of UnRaid it's quite possible (in fact rather easy) to do what you'd like.  Here's the few rules I've learned:

 

1.  ALWAYS print the main screen of your UnRaid configuration (the screen that shows the Hard Disk Serial Numbers).  You'll need this to get your array recognized should you somehow botch everything else.

 

2.  ALWAYS keep a copy of your .key files on your Windows machine or somewhere else where you can easily locate them - They are located in the "config" folder on each flash drive.  They only work with the flash drive to which they were assigned so you'll need to keep track of that part too.  Mine are named Pro1.key and Pro2.key (that's how Tom at LimeTech shipped them to me) - so I took a Sharpie and tagged each disk as 1 and 2, so I know which file belongs on each one.

 

3.  You can now do as you like.  My procedure is typically to delete all the files on the flash drive, unzip the UnRaid files to the clean flash drive, run the the "make_bootable.bat" file on the flash drive (it's part of the UnRaid package) and then copy the key file back to the config folder.

 

4.  At that point, you can fire it up, assign your drives in the right order (that you printed in Step 1) and you're good to go.

 

5.  I often want a clean setup which the above will give you - but there's some worthwhile shortcuts.  Before you boot up your clean flash drive (which you made using steps 1-3, above), you can copy everything from the config folder of your original Flash to the new one with the following exceptions:

A.  The license file (you want the right one to remain)

B.  Anything in the Plugins folder

C.  The go file - which may load other things.

 

This shortcut will copy across a lot of the good stuff - your drive order, your user shares, and - as I understand it - most of the basic settings in a typical UnRaid setup.

 

You can then perform your "THEN" steps without any issue, always able to go back to your prior config with a quick usb swap.

 

While I now have two unraid boxes, I've not set either up with a Cache drive.  You can do everything I described above with your laptop...  and then you simply swap the flash drives to see if your plugins are working and such.  (Getting CrashPlan working is exactly why I figured this out)

 

I don't know why you'd load anything on your "cache drive" before it's loaded in your UnRaid box - in fact, I think I recall the experts advising against this kind of thing....  I'm not sure I fully understand exactly what you're trying to do - but I hope this helped.

 

Russell

 

[anthropoidape]

Thanks for the reply Russell.

 

The reason I mentioned the cache drive is that this was where I was planning to store the files for various plug-ins etc, rather than on the array.

 

It turns out my laptop is too old to play nicely with unraid anyway, so I am going to have to hold off on my plan for a bit!