Is it possible to permanently remove a disk from an array. If so, how would I go about it?

copy stuff off, remove disk, restart and hit restore.

 

99.9 % sure this is the right way.

Is it possible to permanently remove a disk from an array. If so, how would I go about it?

Stop the array

Un-assign disk on Devices Page

Power down the server

remove the un-assigned drive

Power up the server, odds are it will not start with the missing disk, but if it does press "Stop" once more.

Return to the Main management web page

Press the button labeled as "Restore." You'll need to check the box under it to enable it. The "Restore" button is very poorly labeled. A better label for it would be a "Delete Disk Configuration and Parity" button.   Note, it does not delete the files on the data disks, it just deletes the old configuration file.  (Actually, it moves the file from config/super.dat to config/super.old, effectively deleting it)

 

Pressing "Restore" will immediately cause your server to forget its old disk configuration and unRAID will automatically create a new configuration file (config/super.dat) when you next "Start" the array.  You need to press the button labeled as "restore" to have it forget the old configuration that included the drive you are un-assigning/removing.  Pressing it also immediately invalidates any current parity data based on the prior disk configuration.

 

Then, Press the "Start" button to start the array.  It will immediately begin the process of initially calculating parity on the new disk configuration.   You will be without parity protection until it (the initial calculation) is complete.

 

Joe L.

Is it possible to permanently remove a disk from an array. If so, how would I go about it?

Stop the array

Un-assign disk on Devices Page

Power down the server

remove the un-assigned drive

Power up the server, odds are it will not start with the missing disk, but if it does press "Stop" once more.

Return to the Main management web page

Press the button labeled as "Restore." You'll need to check the box under it to enable it. The "Restore" button is very poorly labeled. A better label for it would be a "Delete Disk Configuration and Parity" button.   Note, it does not delete the files on the data disks, it just deletes the old configuration file.  (Actually, it moves the file from config/super.dat to config/super.old, effectively deleting it)

 

Pressing "Restore" will immediately cause your server to forget its old disk configuration and unRAID will automatically create a new configuration file (config/super.dat) when you next "Start" the array.  You need to press the button labeled as "restore" to have it forget the old configuration that included the drive you are un-assigning/removing.  Pressing it also immediately invalidates any current parity data based on the prior disk configuration.

 

Then, Press the "Start" button to start the array.  It will immediately begin the process of initially calculating parity on the new disk configuration.   You will be without parity protection until it (the initial calculation) is complete.

 

Joe L.

 

I dont see a restore button. All I see is this. I got a message saying replace drive to rebuild. I want to remove completely. What do I do?

The restore button was removed in newer versions of Unraid.  In your case, telnet to the server, login, then type "initconfig" and press enter.  That will reset the config and rebuild parity.

Thank you!

Thanks Jazzysmooth. I configured an empty data drive to a cache drive using the "initconfig" command. Works well, thanks!