(SOLVED)-Old Flash Drive with unRAID 4.7


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A long time ago, so long ago that I cannot even remember when, I purchased two unRAID Pro licenses. I cannot find the original licenses which came with the purchase. I installed whatever was the then current unRAID version on each of 2 Lexar flash drives. I know that somehow each flash drive's GUID is mated to one of the Pro licenses. I used one of them for my everyday unRAID server, updating it to new releases as they came along. The hardware of that server has been upgrade periodically up to its current version which matches the hardware in Lime-Technology's then current for-sale server of 18 monhts ago. The flash drive, which had been in service from the beginning, died this past week; it was on version 6.6.6 when it died. I do have a backup copy of the contents of that flash drive, though not a copy taken from within unRAID itself but, instead, a simple copy and paste version stored on a Windows 10 PC. At some unknown point, I must have updated the second flash drive to unRAID 4.7 and stored it away. When the flash drive in everyday use died, I went looking for the other flash drive and found it this morning. I also have a new flash drive on order which could be pressed into service to return my unRAID server to activity. So, now, what is the best path forward? I realize that the configuration file on the stored-away flash drive does not represent what I need for my current setup since it has never been used for an actual unRAID server; all I have ever done with it was to update it from whatever was the original version when I first began to versions up to 4.7. Still, is there some way to use it to get my server running again? Or should I wait for the new flash drive to arrive and then configure it to be the new OS for the server? If so, how do I do this? I have already begun to read about how to accomplish this, but I would appreciate a detailed description which would fit my specific situation. Or is there another method for getting my server up and running that I have not even envisioned?

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Check your backup unRaid flash drive for the pro.key file. This is all you need from that. Save that file in a safe place then install new fresh unRaid on that 2nd flash

Depending on the age of your backup of the current unRaid flash drive, you can use parts of it to recover your server

Do you have a print out of the unRaid array screen listing your drives and which ones are parity, cache, data etc... ?

Sent from my chisel, carved into granite

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The .key file in the config folder is the critical bit. Back those up, both from the dead key folder backup, and the working key. Make sure you know how to match each file to the correct physical device.

 

Then, you can take the old lexar that works, install 6.6.6 fresh, copy the config folder from the dead stick backup, remove the dead sticks .key file, and replace it with the one you backed up from that drive. How much has changed in your server since the time you did your windows copy of the currently dead key? If you haven't replaced any drives, you should be good to go without any other changes, if you have modified hardware, there is more that needs to be done before you can safely boot up with it.

 

You then should be up and running as if nothing happened, assuming the backup was recent.

 

When you wish to get a new stick running with the dead stick's license, install unraid to the new stick, copy the dead stick's .key file to the config folder, boot unraid and follow the license manager prompts to get a replacement key automatically at no charge.

 

If you are uncomfortable with anything, don't proceed without getting clarification.

 

 

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Thanks to both of you with your quick responses. I have not changed any hardware since I backed up the original flash drive, and also I have a screen shot of the current hard drive array. I will wait until the new flash drive arrives in the next several days before I proceed. In this way, I can maintain the integrity of the second flash drive as mated to its GUID which has the second of the two Pro licenses purchased long ago. When the new flash drive arrives, I will load it with a fresh copy of 6.6.6. I will use the make bootable app which is part of the unRAID download. Then I will rename the config folder to config_old. Next I will copy the config folder from the now dead flash drive which I saved on my PC to the new flash drive. I will boot unRAID and do those things which the license manager prompts me to do. Does it seem to you that I understand the proper process? I did notice that the now dead flash drive, contents of which I have a copy, has a Pro1.key file. However, the flash drive which ought to have the second Pro license and which was updated as far as version 4.7 has only a super.dat file in the config folder. Is this because it was never used in actual running an unRAID server? I have copies of the config folder from both flash drives backed-up in 4 places:  on a local SSD and a local external HDD and two off-site cloud locations, One Drive and Amazon Drive. 

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Check the root of the 4.7 flash drive for the .key file. The locations and contents of the files on the flash have evolved a bunch since then, but the actual key file itself should still be valid.

 

Sounds like you have the process pretty well in hand.

 

As long as you have a copy of the .key file for each physical stick and can identify them easily, you can copy config folders between the two sticks without messing anything up as long as the correct .key is on the corresponding USB. Actually, if you copy both key files on to the currently working old USB, it should find the correct one and boot just fine. HOWEVER... don't put both key files on the freshly purchased unlicensed stick, as it's not common knowledge how the key management server would pick which one to transfer. You could end up accidentally blacklisting your 2nd working key and not know it until you tried it later. That unwanted effect is why it's not good practice to keep all copies of all key files on all sticks. It will work fine until one of them dies and gets replaced.

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So, I received my new flash drive, a 32GB Kingston DataTraveler SE9. I downloaded a zipped copy of version 6.6.6 from the Lime-Technology site. I used Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management to find the flash drive; I formatted it to FAT32 with the drive name as UNRAID. I unzipped the downloaded copy of 6.6.6 on my local Windows 10 PC where it had been downloaded. I copied all of the unzipped files from my PC to the flash drive. I right clicked the make_bootable.bat file and chose the run as administrator command. After the bat file ran, I went back to the flash drive and renamed the config file to config.OLD. I copied the config file from the old flash drive, saved on my PC, to the new flash drive. I used the safely remove usb device sequence in Windows 10 and removed the new flash drive when told that it was safe to do so. I plugged the new flash drive into my unRAID server. I booted the server. However, all that was visible from my Windows 10 computer's Network screen was the flash drive. Though I did know that the unRAID server must have assigned a TCP/IP address, I wanted to know what that specific address was. I opened the router's web interface and found not only that a TCP/IP address had been assigned but that it was the same TCP/IP address as it had previously when the old flash drive was in service. I have attached 3 screen shots of the flash drive. I have no idea what else to do.

1Screenshot FlashDriveConnected.png

2Screenshot FlashDriveContents.png

3Screenshot configContents.png

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  • carefreepastor changed the title to (SOLVED)-Old Flash Drive with unRAID 4.7

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