I am still in the starting weeks of configuring my unraid server and I have tripped a couple of times on plugins that use different versions of the same packages.  In the worst case I was receiving a ton of errors because one plugin required python 2.7 and another plugin required python 2.6.  The python 2.6 would initiate an "upgrade" during a server restart, which then caused a ton of inconsistent behaviour on the server and a flood of error messages in the syslog.    I have tweaked, and now have my server running 'stable' for the past few days with my most mandatory plugins and packages.

 

Now I want to expand my server functionality and I would like to do this with a bit more control and foresight around my plugins and packages management.  I'm looking for some best practices around deploying new plugins to help protect against package conflicts and some recommended practices around package conflict management.  For example, if I have two plugins that each include curl and python, and they have the same major version (ie 2.7) but different minor versions referenced, what behaviour should I expect upon installation and server restarts?

If you have the time and patience I would upgrade to unraid 6 and use VMs for all apps. Plugins will always be a bit of a hassle unless they are contained in e.g. Docker

 

Just spin up a Ubuntu 14.04 virtual machine, read a bit about the setup in the forums and then you can use all these programs natively on Ubuntu and let the package manager handle all conflicts (you should not run into any)

 

Then unraid can focus on what it was designed to do while your vm can be used to run other services

I have only avoided unraid 6 because I typically prefer "stable" releases vs beta.  This VM solution does sound like the better way to do things than running all of these apps on the unraid server.  Do you have any resources/links to help me with planning an upgrade to 6?  Is  the beta generally stable?

The beta is very stable and has not created any issues related to data stability or access.

 

As for upgrading there should be instructions in the main release forum, however basically it comes down to the following:

 

1) Do a complete backup of your USB drive

2) Take a screenshot of your current drive placements (so you can find parity, cache, etc later)

3) Reformat your USB drive

4) Copy 6.0 beta files and re-run makebootable

5) Copy over Pro/Plus key as required

6) Boot up UnRAID 6.0 and reassign drive mappings based on your screen shot

7) You can also copy back ident.cfg share.cfg, network.cfg into the config directory to maintain your original name, IP, and shares.

 

You could try and in-place upgrade, however since you are looking at moving to VMs you likely want a pristine 6.0 install with the least amount of baggage possible.

 

Once you have UnRAID up you can reinstall UnMENU, screen and other tools as required.

 

Lastly, I would use IronicBadgers guide on setting up ArchVM, which is all preconfigured for you. You can use this install SAB/SB/CP/Plex and whatever else you like. If you are Xen/Linux savvy you can create a Ubuntu VM instead, but the ArchVM works well and there is a ton of info on it already published.

 

Alternatively, you could also just buy a second UnRAID key (Tom has an offer for $30) and then create a new 6.0 USB key and leave your existing 5.0 key alone. This way you can easily switch back and forth between them if you find you are getting stuck on 6.0 with something.

The beta is very stable and has not created any issues related to data stability or access.

 

As for upgrading there should be instructions in the main release forum, however basically it comes down to the following:

 

1) Do a complete backup of your USB drive

2) Take a screenshot of your current drive placements (so you can find parity, cache, etc later)

3) Reformat your USB drive

4) Copy 6.0 beta files and re-run makebootable

5) Copy over Pro/Plus key as required

6) Boot up UnRAID 6.0 and reassign drive mappings based on your screen shot

7) You can also copy back ident.cfg share.cfg, network.cfg into the config directory to maintain your original name, IP, and shares.

 

You could try and in-place upgrade, however since you are looking at moving to VMs you likely want a pristine 6.0 install with the least amount of baggage possible.

 

Once you have UnRAID up you can reinstall UnMENU, screen and other tools as required.

 

Thanks. I have not been able to locate any unraid 6 upgrade steps in the unraid 6 threads... this helps get me rolling.  I have seen upgrade notes strewn around in the wiki for the 5.0 beta and a few notes here and there in the forums.. but not enough to feel confident moving to 6.

 

 

Lastly, I would use IronicBadgers guide on setting up ArchVM, which is all preconfigured for you. You can use this install SAB/SB/CP/Plex and whatever else you like. If you are Xen/Linux savvy you can create a Ubuntu VM instead, but the ArchVM works well and there is a ton of info on it already published.

 

Alternatively, you could also just buy a second UnRAID key (Tom has an offer for $30) and then create a new 6.0 USB key and leave your existing 5.0 key alone. This way you can easily switch back and forth between them if you find you are getting stuck on 6.0 with something.

 

This is exactly why I went ahead and purchased 2 keys instead of 1 key a couple weeks ago.  Now I have a general idea of which config files to keep when I move to version 6 and some confidence about its stability for some initial runs at it. 

 

Can you suggest any pros/cons for the ArchVM vs Ubuntu?  I am linux savvy, as in I can get my hands dirty and usually get things to work.  But generally I like the path of least resistance that gets the job done and right now that sounds like ArchVM.

The beta is very stable and has not created any issues related to data stability or access.

 

As for upgrading there should be instructions in the main release forum, however basically it comes down to the following:

 

1) Do a complete backup of your USB drive

2) Take a screenshot of your current drive placements (so you can find parity, cache, etc later)

3) Reformat your USB drive

4) Copy 6.0 beta files and re-run makebootable

5) Copy over Pro/Plus key as required

6) Boot up UnRAID 6.0 and reassign drive mappings based on your screen shot

7) You can also copy back ident.cfg share.cfg, network.cfg into the config directory to maintain your original name, IP, and shares.

 

You could try and in-place upgrade, however since you are looking at moving to VMs you likely want a pristine 6.0 install with the least amount of baggage possible.

 

Once you have UnRAID up you can reinstall UnMENU, screen and other tools as required.

 

Thanks. I have not been able to locate any unraid 6 upgrade steps in the unraid 6 threads... this helps get me rolling.  I have seen upgrade notes strewn around in the wiki for the 5.0 beta and a few notes here and there in the forums.. but not enough to feel confident moving to 6.

 

 

Lastly, I would use IronicBadgers guide on setting up ArchVM, which is all preconfigured for you. You can use this install SAB/SB/CP/Plex and whatever else you like. If you are Xen/Linux savvy you can create a Ubuntu VM instead, but the ArchVM works well and there is a ton of info on it already published.

 

Alternatively, you could also just buy a second UnRAID key (Tom has an offer for $30) and then create a new 6.0 USB key and leave your existing 5.0 key alone. This way you can easily switch back and forth between them if you find you are getting stuck on 6.0 with something.

 

This is exactly why I went ahead and purchased 2 keys instead of 1 key a couple weeks ago.  Now I have a general idea of which config files to keep when I move to version 6 and some confidence about its stability for some initial runs at it. 

 

Can you suggest any pros/cons for the ArchVM vs Ubuntu?  I am linux savvy, as in I can get my hands dirty and usually get things to work.  But generally I like the path of least resistance that gets the job done and right now that sounds like ArchVM.

 

The largest pro is the path of least resistance you mention. IronicBadger has created his own repository for all the apps you'd want, so it's very easy to setup. You can still travel your own path, but if you want to get up and running fairly quickly, and know there is a solid foundation then ArchVM makes sense.

 

I look at it as a quick way to get back to where you want to, and then you can always build Ubuntu on the side and once you are happy with it get rid of the ArchVM. For me, it was important to get SAB/SB/Plex up and running fairly quickly, so I figured why recreate the wheel?