Upgrading unRAID from Version 5 to Version 6

[sharaleo]

Quick bump to say thanks for the consise guide.  Bit the bullet and finally upgraded to 6.1.9 from 5.0.4 tonight without a hitch (well it just booted and my shares are up, so I should be good!).

 

Cheers!

[siamsquare]

Stupid question but I followed the procedure and stick doesn't seem to boot, bios detects it but it doesn't boot! Formatted on Win10 system to fat32.

 

Thanks!

[Frank1940]

Stupid question but I followed the procedure and stick doesn't seem to boot, bios detects it but it doesn't boot! Formatted on Win10 system to fat32.

 

Thanks!

 

Try this:

 

        Run the make_bootable script/batch file

            If in Windows XP, double-click make_bootable (make_bootable.bat). It should open a DOS window, and run syslinux.exe.

            If in Windows 7 or later, right-click on make_bootable (make_bootable.bat) and select Run as Administrator.

            If using a Mac, double-click the file make_bootable_mac and enter your admin password when prompted.

            Note: during the process of running this script, the flash device may seem to disappear and reappear.

 

I surmise you will also have to run as Administrator on Win10.

 

EDIT:  It has been a long time since I did this but I seem to remember that you do have to hit the 'Enter' key at least one time in the DOS window. 

[siamsquare]

Stupid question but I followed the procedure and stick doesn't seem to boot, bios detects it but it doesn't boot! Formatted on Win10 system to fat32.

 

Thanks!

 

Try this:

 

        Run the make_bootable script/batch file

            If in Windows XP, double-click make_bootable (make_bootable.bat). It should open a DOS window, and run syslinux.exe.

            If in Windows 7 or later, right-click on make_bootable (make_bootable.bat) and select Run as Administrator.

            If using a Mac, double-click the file make_bootable_mac and enter your admin password when prompted.

            Note: during the process of running this script, the flash device may seem to disappear and reappear.

 

I surmise you will also have to run as Administrator on Win10.

 

EDIT:  It has been a long time since I did this but I seem to remember that you do have to hit the 'Enter' key at least one time in the DOS window.

 

Very strange but somehow needed to readd my usb stick as boot option in bios mobo, previously was UEFI USB stick, now only works as USB Stick, bizarre as its the same system, same internal USB header and same stick! Nothing had changed except me formatting the stick!

So solved!

Thanks

[dboonthego]

I have been using the free 3-disk v5.0-beta13 version of unRAID.  I'm upgrading to 6.2.4.  The only hardware I'm keeping is the disk drives; everything else is new including the flash stick.  My old server was barebones with 3 shares and no plugins.  The new flash stick boots and I have registered for a 30-day trial.  I know my previous device-to-serial assignments, but have not assigned them and started the array yet.

 

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Upgrading_to_UnRAID_v6

"There are a few configuration files that are safe to keep and restore, ident.cfg, network.cfg, share.cfg, and any .cfg files in the config/shares folder. These files hold your network settings and identification, and your share settings, and are safe to bring forward. They will help you get back on the network quicker!"

 

All that's left to do is copy some .cfg files and start the array, right?  Are there any negative effects if I don't copy them and re-create the shares manually?

 

Also, I suspect data disk 2 might be failing, but, I don't know for sure.  In the past, problems with this disk have been tied to the SATA cable.  The SMART check seems to pass.  Maybe the new mobo and cables will help.  I do have a same-size replacement drive if needed.

 

How should I handle disk 2 during the upgrade?  Are there any drive health assessment tests I can do?

[Frank1940]

I have been using the free 3-disk v5.0-beta13 version of unRAID.  I'm upgrading to 6.2.4.  The only hardware I'm keeping is the disk drives; everything else is new including the flash stick.  My old server was barebones with 3 shares and no plugins.  The new flash stick boots and I have registered for a 30-day trial.  I know my previous device-to-serial assignments, but have not assigned them and started the array yet.

 

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Upgrading_to_UnRAID_v6

"There are a few configuration files that are safe to keep and restore, ident.cfg, network.cfg, share.cfg, and any .cfg files in the config/shares folder. These files hold your network settings and identification, and your share settings, and are safe to bring forward. They will help you get back on the network quicker!"

 

All that's left to do is copy some .cfg files and start the array, right?

 

Yes.  And your new server should be up and running and it will appear to all of the world to be identical to your old one.

 

Are there any negative effects if I don't copy them and re-create the shares manually?

 

Not really.  It will take a bit longer and you might have issues if you don't get get all of the settings right on the first go-around.  But I fail to understand why you want to go this route. Because there are a lot more settings that copying over these files provide besides the Share settings.  Things like your password, server name, DNS settings network configuration. A lot of folks put in a lot of time to develop those procedures to do so the upgrade would go smoothly.    (Most people can follow my simple version and will only have to refer the the long version if they encounter an issue-- and the issue will probably be covered in the long version by this point!)

 

Also, I suspect data disk 2 might be failing, but, I don't know for sure.  In the past, problems with this disk have been tied to the SATA cable.  The SMART check seems to pass.  Maybe the new mobo and cables will help.  I do have a same-size replacement drive if needed.

 

How should I handle disk 2 during the upgrade?  Are there any drive health assessment tests I can do?

 

Disk 2 will be unaffected by the change.  If it didn't have a red-X in front with the old version, it should start OK. 

 

In Version 6, you can left-click on 'Disk2' on the 'Main' page and you will go directly to a properties page for that disk.  There you can easily see the SMART attributes, and run SMART tests on that drive.  Should there be an issue with that drive (or you have a question about what you are seeing), please start an new thread in this sub-forum. 

 

 

[dboonthego]

Not really.  It will take a bit longer and you might have issues if you don't get get all of the settings right on the first go-around.  But I fail to understand why you want to go this route.

 

Thanks Frank.  I appreciate your response and you have answered my question.  I didn't necessarily want to go that route and will copy the files, but for the sake of educating myself to understand how unRAID works, assume my flash stick is dead or lost.  What kind of issues would I expect to run into?  Network settings and a server name seems easy enough, so I'm more curious about recreating disk.cfg and sharename.cfg's.  If I was forced to do that, is it mission critical that the share settings be exactly as they were before? Or would I be free to change things like highwater vs fillup, or even the share name?  Does a share name change require renaming the folders on each disk?  These questions might be getting off topic, but thank you for your input.

 

[trurl]

If you don't have share settings, your shares will still exist, but they will have default settings. Here's my usual spiel about this:

 

User shares are simply the aggregate of all top level folders on cache and array drives.

 

If you create a user share in the webUI, unRAID will create a top level folder on cache or array drives as needed according to the share settings. The folder(s) will be named for the user share.

 

Conversely, if you already have or manually create a top level folder on cache or array drives, it is automatically a user share with the same name as the folder. If you don't make settings for a user share it will have default settings.

 

 

[Frank1940]

Not really.  It will take a bit longer and you might have issues if you don't get get all of the settings right on the first go-around.  But I fail to understand why you want to go this route.

 

Thanks Frank.  I appreciate your response and you have answered my question.  I didn't necessarily want to go that route and will copy the files, but for the sake of educating myself to understand how unRAID works, assume my flash stick is dead or lost.  What kind of issues would I expect to run into?  Network settings and a server name seems easy enough, so I'm more curious about recreating disk.cfg and sharename.cfg's.  If I was forced to do that, is it mission critical that the share settings be exactly as they were before? Or would I be free to change things like highwater vs fillup, or even the share name?  Does a share name change require renaming the folders on each disk?  These questions might be getting off topic, but thank you for your input.

 

The way to prevent any problem in this type of situation is simple.  Make a backup of your Flash Drive.  You can easily do this by stopping the array and copying the entire contents of your Flash Drive to a location on another computer.  Then restart the array.  (Stopping the array will set a flag that the array was properly shutdown and, thus, a parity check will not be required on restart.)  When (when NOT if) that Flash Drive fails, you copy the contents of that folder to a new Flash Drive, run make_bootable.bat, insert the Flash Drive, boot the computer, get a New key file using the automated process and you are back running.  (I actually have the contents of my unRAID Flash Drives stored in a off-site environment as a part of my backup strategy!)

 

The issues, you run into will depend on how much you have configured your shares.  If you have restricted access to shares, configured users with user logins, use Dockers with extensive setup settings, have a special network configurations (or even simple ones if you have something out of the ordinary in your network), etc, you are going to have a longer recovery process. 

[DipLoMatic]

Works great just updated from 5.0 beta

[ctblackm]

I just wanted to throw a huge thanks out for this.   I just updated from 5.0.6 this morning with no issues whatsoever.  Thanks for the perfect instructions!