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Advice requested... I've gotta get out of this bind before it just gets worse...


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So, I originally went and did the whole "Install full Slackware x64 and build for unRAID" back when I was running on 4.5 or something, and upgraded to 5.0b6a... I've added disks, and services, but now it's grown as much as it can... Aside from doing stupid things like upgrading my last five 1.5TB disks to 2TB disks...

It would of course figure that the version I'm running is one revision just before >2TB support was added to unRAID, and now I'm asking for some help/advice because it's been four years since I've had to do any of the low level stuff and can't really remember all the important bits I went through before... I've got to get the support for larger disks, and I also need to keep my AirVideo/Plex/SAB/SickBeard/etc and such working... So, I'm wondering what the best method to go about this upgrade might be (should I simply try and upgrade to 5.0b7?), or if there's an updated guide I could follow that won't take me two days to get this back up and running without a full reinstall or putting my current array in danger...

 

Thanks to any who can help guide me here.

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I think you could upgrade to standard v6 and run the apps you mentioned as Docker containers.  Is there any reason you think you still need a full Slackware install?  From what you have said so far v6 could do what you want as part of its standard capabilities.

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Ditch the full slackware install and just run unraid 6.0 with Dockers for your application. I used to run full custom unraid Slaclware 64bit install myself but had easily switched over to unraid 6.0 for all my needs. I dont miss the time spent doing custom kernel compiles or package upgrades at all!

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To most easily summarize why I'm running a full Slackware install, I would not be caught at the end of the world running any system live off a USB key...

I can't have my performance affected by the slow read/write of a system running on a USB key... Not to mention, my Pro keys are circa early-2010 and though technology has improved somewhat, I don't want to even come close to the 50-100,000 read/write cycles before failure.  Which could at the very least cause slowly degrading reliability or further loss of performance...

I have no problem upgrading to v6, merged with an updated Slackware install, if that's what is necessary, just point me at the docs and I'll follow them, I'm comfortable with Linux, been using it for years, I don't worry about adding packages, or maintaining things by hand, though I do realize it's what's gotten me to this place... I don't fear using Docker containers for replacing some of these things, though unless the Plex one is updated regularly, I may stick with my PlexPass txz releases...  I do appreciate the suggestions, and am open to upgrading to v6, but I stand firm against running my entire system off a well aged USB key with a limited lifespan that would be accelerated using it in a manner it was never designed to be.

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Did you know you can transfer your key to a new USB flash device, for free, and directly through the webgui?

 

Also, since the OS lives in a root RAM file system, performance for the OS is not impacted by that of USB flash, which, by the way, blows the pants off a HDD any day.

 

I get that back in the day, maybe your concern was more valid depending on the flash device you used, but in our experiences with modern flash devices, this isn't an issue.

 

Not necessarily trying to change your mind about how to do things, but in case someone else sees this thread and becomes worried about the reliability of modern USB flash, I just wanted to note that in our experiences, this hasn't been a problem.

 

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So upgrade to a newer usb stick..........

 

This looks like a case of you already having your mind set to what you want to do. I don't think there are any docs explaining how to install full slackware for unraid 6, that will be something for you to write for the community ;) 

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To most easily summarize why I'm running a full Slackware install, I would not be caught at the end of the world running any system live off a USB key...

I can't have my performance affected by the slow read/write of a system running on a USB key... Not to mention, my Pro keys are circa early-2010 and though technology has improved somewhat, I don't want to even come close to the 50-100,000 read/write cycles before failure.  Which could at the very least cause slowly degrading reliability or further loss of performance...

As the others have mentioned this is not really an issue as unRAID runs from RAM.  Now if your RAM stars degrading that could indeed cause issues (it does happen!)  :)

 

I have no problem upgrading to v6, merged with an updated Slackware install, if that's what is necessary, just point me at the docs and I'll follow them, I'm comfortable with Linux, been using it for years, I don't worry about adding packages, or maintaining things by hand, though I do realize it's what's gotten me to this place...

There is no documentation on doing this and if you go that route you are on your own and unsupported.

 

I don't fear using Docker containers for replacing some of these things, though unless the Plex one is updated regularly, I may stick with my PlexPass txz releases...

It is up to the Docker maintainer as to how updates should be handled, but from what I can see many of them (particularily the media ones which change with some frequency) are typically set to auto-update themselves (or at least have that  as a configuration option)..

I do appreciate the suggestions, and am open to upgrading to v6, but I stand firm against running my entire system off a well aged USB key with a limited lifespan that would be accelerated using it in a manner it was never designed to be.

It is obvious that you do not understand how unRAID uses the USB key!  It is purely for the inital load into RAM (which is read-only) and to store any changes to configuration data during normal running.  It is also trivial to backup the USB key and swap to a new one in minutes in the unlikely event of one failing. 

 

I looked at my USB key and I get something like 50 read/writes a day.  At 50,000 cycles (which is an order of magnitude below what modern USB drives are rated at) that is still about 3 years of use.  The number of people reporting USB key failures in the forum is miniscule and seems to be well below the rate of HDD failure.  Running a full slackware distrubtion from a HDD may actually be MORE likely to fail than running unRAID from a USB stick.

 

Still there is nothing to stop you going the full SLackware install route.  If you do so perhaps you can document in the Wiki what is involved in case others want to go that route as well.

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To most easily summarize why I'm running a full Slackware install, I would not be caught at the end of the world running any system live off a USB key...

 

More importantly you need a UPS to shutdown your server when the power goes out! :)

 

I'm in the throws of the upgrade to v6 myself.  I know it's going to be better, but it just seems a bit scary with all this new docker stuff.  I only just got my head around v5 and have it set up the way I want, but I know I should take the plunge.

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Writes to the flash are very limited. At array start and array stop a tiny file is written. And as configurations change, they are updated on the flash. The flash is not going to wear out with unRaid. The ability to upgrade your flash drive and transfer the key further mitigates an already small risk.

 

I think you have gotten good advice in this thread but ultimately your choice. The slackware full build is definitely swimming upstream compared to leveraging the product build and Dockers.

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Thanks for all the comments and feedback!  I admit that it seems I'm behind on the documentation and new systems here, it's come a long way, I've creeped the forums occasionally, but really changed nothing in my system in four years, which is also reflected in my forum activity being essentially non-existent (http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=10434) in the interim.  By the sounds of it, I can just upgrade to v6 (perhaps transfer my key to a new USB first, just because old), and point the Docker container to a location on what used to be my "OS" disk... I'm sorry if I came off sounding like an ignorant @$$, that wasn't my intent, just turns out there's been a lot more changes to catch up on, and in all my looking for what I thought I needed to know, I didn't clue in to how things actually work now.  I'll hopefully be able to post an update (and [sOLVED]) to this in the next couple weeks once I've had a chance to tackle this.

 

Cheers,

  Gavin

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Thanks for all the comments and feedback!  I admit that it seems I'm behind on the documentation and new systems here, it's come a long way, I've creeped the forums occasionally, but really changed nothing in my system in four years, which is also reflected in my forum activity being essentially non-existent (http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=10434) in the interim.  By the sounds of it, I can just upgrade to v6 (perhaps transfer my key to a new USB first, just because old), and point the Docker container to a location on what used to be my "OS" disk... I'm sorry if I came off sounding like an ignorant @$$, that wasn't my intent, just turns out there's been a lot more changes to catch up on, and in all my looking for what I thought I needed to know, I didn't clue in to how things actually work now.  I'll hopefully be able to post an update (and [sOLVED]) to this in the next couple weeks once I've had a chance to tackle this.

 

Cheers,

  Gavin

 

Yup. V6 would be the best way. Please note however that you are now running plugins and would need to transfer to docker images, that essentialy means you are freshly installing everything you have now running as plugins... Just wanted to make sure you got that out of the above.. You might be able to transfer individual configurations but you would need to find that out per plugin..

 

Also: some plugins might still work.. It would be advisable to move to docker images though, they are more stable.

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