13 minutes ago, jbbrandes said:

1) Am I now supposed to use the "Extract files..." option and select my 32GB zip drive to unzip that file onto the USB?

Yes, as long as the flash is formatted FAT32.   In practise you can also create a new flash drive and simply copy across the 'config' folder from the backup as the 'config' folder contains all your settings and licence.

 

15 minutes ago, jbbrandes said:

2) Is that all there is to it?

If this flash drive is new then make sure the flash is labelled UNRAID and then run the make_bootable.bat file from the flash in Administrator mode.

 

18 minutes ago, jbbrandes said:

3) Does this also transfer my license? If not, what else do I have to do to accomplish this step?

Yes - it is part of the 'config' folder.

If it is a new flash drive then Unraid will take you through the Licence transfer process on next boot.

 

2 minutes ago, itimpi said:

Yes, as long as the flash is formatted FAT32.   In practise you can also create a new flash drive and simply copy across the 'config' folder from the backup as the 'config' folder contains all your settings and licence.

 

If this flash drive is new then make sure the flash is labelled UNRAID and then run the make_bootable.bat file from the flash in Administrator mode.

 

Yes - it is part of the 'config' folder.

If it is a new flash drive then Unraid will take you through the Licence transfer process on next boot.

 

This particular USB is not new, however I do Have a new USB available. I had planned to use both as backups.

 

The USB IS labeled "UNRAID", (not sure about capitalization) 

 

Where do I find "make_bootable.bat" and when do I run it? Before or after I unzip onto the USB?

1 hour ago, jbbrandes said:

I had planned to use both as backups.

Bear il mind that the licence is tied to a particular flash drive, so using a backup would require a licence transfer (which then blacklists the original).
 

 

1 hour ago, jbbrandes said:

The USB IS labeled "UNRAID", (not sure about capitalization) 

It MUST be all capitalsi

1 hour ago, jbbrandes said:

Where do I find "make_bootable.bat" and when do I run it? Before or after I unzip onto the USB?

on the flash drive, and you run it once you have put the Unraid files onto the flash drive.

Read this section of the manual:

 

     https://wiki.unraid.net/Articles/Getting_Started#Manual_Method_.28Legacy.29

 

Basically, you will be starting with this instruction---"Extract the contents of the newly downloaded ZIP file onto your USB flash device.".

 

If you still have questions, ask more questions.

Went through an unplanned USB replacement this week. Not sure where my backups were going, so I had to use an old manual .zip backup from years prior. Recovery was surprisingly painless.

 

Backup .zip Creation:

• Main TAB ⇨ Flash [under Boot Device] ⇨ Flash Backup

Restore 

• burn new USB with unRaid USB Creator. Select Local Zip as version
• used a brand new, straight from package USB. Didn't do any extra formatting/renaming

License Transfer

• click on Unregistered in the Header and the process is self explanatory

 

Updated Plugins/OS and I don't appear to have lost any of the configuration. Dockers/VM's all there and current, including those I created AFTER the backup. I know they're not stored on the USB, but still a pleasant surprise.

10 minutes ago, positronicP said:

old manual .zip backup from years prior

This can be dangerous if you have reused a parity disk as a data disk. If the backup said that disk was still parity, its data would be overwritten with parity.

 

12 minutes ago, positronicP said:

Dockers/VM's all there and current, including those I created AFTER the backup. I know they're not stored on the USB, but still a pleasant surprise

Your docker templates are in your config on flash. These are those things specified on the Add/Edit Container page such as mappings. Without those templates, your dockers would still exist, but the webUI wouldn't be able to work with them.

So I am a total newb ....

 

I have this plugin installed ... the newest version.

 

I want to auto backup my USB stick to the array. 

 

I see a warning on the plugin page.... 

 

NOTE: USB Backup is deprecated on Unraid version 6.9.0 It is advised to use the Unraid.net plugin instead

 

What the hell is the .net plugin and where can I find it ? 

 

Thx

8 minutes ago, BR0KK said:

What the hell is the .net plugin and where can I find it

Now otherwise known as "My Servers".  Probably time for the message to be changed.

 

You can still use the CA Backup plugin to make a local copy.

Ok thx 

 

I need n active license for that and unraid has an outage :D?

9 minutes ago, BR0KK said:

Ok thx 

 

I need n active license for that and unraid has an outage :D?

Not quite sure what you are asking?  You cannot run Unraid without an active licence (either trial or paid-for).

 

A local copy means that you are not reliant on the Unraid servers for backup of the flash drive.

I did dl the myserver plugin after login it tells me that unraid myserver is experiencing outaged and usb backup is grayed out 

 

I have a license but I want to copy my data off of that unraid vm I currently got l. Then transfer the license to this setup 

9 minutes ago, BR0KK said:

I have a license but I want to copy my data off of that unraid vm I currently got l. Then transfer the license to this setup

 

The licence is tied to the USB stick so moving that is all that is needed.

 

As well as automated backups you can always make a manual backup by clicking on the flash drive on the Main tab and selecting the Backup option.  Alternatively plug the USB stick into a PC/Mac and simply copy its contents.

Ohh neat ... but my old unraid setup is janky af and based off of a esxi vm ....

 

I just want the data off of there so I will probably have to migrate the license to that new usb stick... better anyways the one from that unraid vm is ancient ...

 

I want a complete new setup hence forth everything but the hdds is new ... 

 

Thx btw

10 minutes ago, BR0KK said:

I just want the data off of there so I will probably have to migrate the license to that new usb stick... better anyways the one from that unraid vm is ancient ...

You may find the the online documentation covering this that can be accessed via the Manual link at the bottom of the GUI to be of use.

I'm going through needing to replace my flash drive right now. It's gone into read only mode again, after already running chkdisk on it a couple of weeks ago. My new (Samsung Bar Plus) drive arrived today.

 

This is the first time I'm replacing the flash drive since licensing unRAID in 2011, so I'm nervous, and the USB Flash Creator tool isn't helping my nerves. I ran the tool with my current zip backup (from yesterday) as the version, it wrote VERY quickly, but the flash drive doesn't have much on it when it's done. Just the config, EFI, and syslinux folders, with no bzimage, bzmodules, bzroot, etc files on it at all. And no explanatory text other than "Writing Done!" in the tool. If I wipe it and select Stable, sure enough I get the full install on the flash drive.

 

Is this normal, expected behavior, or am I doing something wrong? Is my backup corrupt?

 

Worst case, can I use a fresh install and then replace config with the one from my backup zip? Do I still need to run make_bootable.bat in this scenario?

 

Thanks!

28 minutes ago, ridge said:

fresh install and then replace config

yes

2 hours ago, ridge said:

Do I still need to run make_bootable.bat in this scenario?

Only if using the manual create method, although running it when not needed cannot do any harm  

Thanks to you both. Is there a reason the tool isn't taking the files from my backup zip to create the new flash though? Doesn't seem very intuitive, so I suspect a problem with my zip, but without an error message, it's impossible for a novice to know.

28 minutes ago, ridge said:

Thanks to you both. Is there a reason the tool isn't taking the files from my backup zip to create the new flash though? Doesn't seem very intuitive, so I suspect a problem with my zip, but without an error message, it's impossible for a novice to know.

No idea - I have always used the manual method as the USB Creator does not seem to recognise all USB drives.  I must admit I thought it DID take the files from your backup.

Hi everyone,

 

may I ask a general Q here because it seems to stick to the topic:

 

The default settings of the CA Backup Pugin icludes a filepath for the backup of appdata to the array.

 

Since I am new to unraid I have no experience what an appdata problem looks like that would give need for accessing the backup. 

Given the situation all appdata would be lost, would I be still able to access the backup data on the array?

Is it sufficient to only store the appdata backups to the array or is there a point of failure where you would need to get the data from an external storage?

 

Another Q:

 

When it comes to the flash drive, I like the idea of creating a live backup on another usb stick.

Since it is deprecated from version 9.6 on, this means it is still possible. 

I find the solution quite handy but could not find information to let me understand why it is not recommended anymore. 

 

Have a nice weekend!

6 minutes ago, _astro_ said:

I find the solution quite handy but could not find information to let me understand why it is not recommended anymore.

I think this is because the recommended solution is now to use the My Servers plugin to get automated backups to the cloud.

6 minutes ago, itimpi said:

I think this is because the recommended solution is now to use the My Servers plugin to get automated backups to the cloud.

But how - I may ask - is that a more convenient solution? Finally I need to have it on the stick...

16 minutes ago, _astro_ said:

But how - I may ask - is that a more convenient solution? Finally I need to have it on the stick...

Because you can retrieve the backup on any machine using a browser.    If backed up to the array you need a running Unraid system before you can get at the backup.

 

There is also of course the option to do manual backups at any time by clicking on the flash drive on the Main tab.

 

3 hours ago, itimpi said:

Because you can retrieve the backup on any machine using a browser.    If backed up to the array you need a running Unraid system before you can get at the backup.

 

There is also of course the option to do manual backups at any time by clicking on the flash drive on the Main tab.

 

Oh, excuse me, I was referring to the option of making a live backup to a second usb stick. 

This option has the nice side effect that one already has the spare flash drive on hand at the machine.

(Only downside is the second drive would fail as well....in this case the online option is superior...on the other hand we all depend on myserver infrastructure then...)

I was just interested in the thought process on how to handle things since I want to learn and gain more expertise in this field.

2 hours ago, _astro_ said:

Oh, excuse me, I was referring to the option of making a live backup to a second usb stick. 

This option has the nice side effect that one already has the spare flash drive on hand at the machine.

 

But for this to work, you either (1) need to have a second license for the Live Backup Drive or (2) transfer the license from the Primary Boot Drive to the live backup when that primary boot drive fails.  Of course, when the license is transferred, the first drive will be blacklist.  So there are some complications (or expenses) to have a live backup scheme in place.  You have to have a well thought out plan in place...