upgrading parity drive and cache simultaneously

[lelouch420]

If i'm correct i should just need to run the mover and remove all of the data from the cache disks (cache-yes), and select the unassigned disks for the cache pool.

And for parity, currently i have dual 3TB parity. I'd like to upgrade to 8tb disks, so i would do a parity check, remove both old 3TB parity disks and select the 8TB ones as new parity? 

Edited August 10, 2020 by lelouch420

[trurl]

I have some questions about some of your assumptions, and the easiest way to get answers would be for you to post your diagnostics.

 

Go to Tools - Diagnostics and attach the complete Diagnostics ZIP file to your NEXT post in this thread.

[lelouch420]

The diagnostics are attached. 

 

Array changes-

I plan on replacing my parity disks with a single 8TB disk ( dual parity in the future but not at the moment ).

I also plan on re accounting the old parity disks into the array.

As well as adding two more 8TB data disks to the array.

 

Cache changes-

Replacing all the cache drives. All old cache drives are being retired as of now, the may become data disks in the future but it is unlikely. 

Two cache pools, dual 3tb cache for downloads / media and dual 480gb SSD's for docker / vm.

 

I am getting the disks in the mail in a week so i havent started the process yet of course. 

If I'm correct, I should first update my share settings and run the mover so everything on the cache disks is moved to the array.

Then I should run a full parity sync.

Then I can power down the array and replace the cache disks with the new ones, and install the new parity drives and data drives.

Upon starting the server, I will remove the two 3TB parity disks from the parity pool and select the new 8TB drive as a parity device, from here I can also set up my cache pools and re-assign the old 3tb parity disks as data drives in the array.

 

Now I let parity build in the 8TB drive, and once that is complete I can start assigning my shares to where they belong. 

 

I'm new to unraid so thanks for your help! I'm certain i'll be buying a full license!

old.zip

Edited August 11, 2020 by lelouch420

[lelouch420]

I also have one question not related to this topic, if i buy a license, do i have to buy a second one for my backup unraid server too?

[Hoopster]

18 minutes ago, lelouch420 said:

I also have one question not related to this topic, if i buy a license, do i have to buy a second one for my backup unraid server too?

Yes.  The license is tied to the unRAID flash drive and every server that runs unRAID must boot from a flash drive with a valid license (trial or purchased).

[trurl]

17 hours ago, lelouch420 said:

The diagnostics are attached. 

OK, I mostly wanted to take a look at how your user shares are currently set to use cache, especially appdata, domains, system. Those shares should be all on pool and configured to stay on pool, but that is not what you currently have.

 

If you have appdata, domains, system on the array your docker and VM performance will be impacted by slower parity updates, and they will keep array disks spinning since files will be open. We can work on getting those all on pool after you get your new pools configured.

 

Mover will only move cache-yes shares from cache to the array, so to get everything moved from cache to the array you will have to set all your shares to cache-yes.

 

Also, mover can't move open files. You will have to disable docker and VM services before appdata, domains, system can be moved. Not the individual dockers/VMs, but the services. Go to Settings - Docker and disable, same for Settings - VM Manager.

 

And finally mover won't move duplicates, so there may be some additional cleanup to do after you get most of it moved to the array.

 

Do you actually have any VMs?

 

The multiple pools feature is great. I have appdata, domains, system on NVMe fast pool and another SSD pool for caching.

 

[lelouch420]

Yeah, i expected the above which is why i am in the process of moving some shares to my array. In the meantime i don't currently have any vms (will in the future), but of course when i get my new cache installed it'll be on there, as well as appdata and system and whatnot. 

 

Thanks for the insight, youve helped me a lot i think i have it all figured out. 

[lelouch420]

Can you elaborate more on "And finally mover won't move duplicates, so there may be some additional cleanup to do after you get most of it moved to the array"

 

It seems that even though the mover has moved off all of the files in my shares, it still has 300gb or so on it. i dont know what this data is. im assuming its related to what you told me about duplicates, so once the mover is done i should be safe to stop the array and change my drives, right?

Edited August 11, 2020 by lelouch420

[trurl]

Do you know how to examine the contents of cache? Could be some of the files that are still on cache are files you want to keep.

[lelouch420]

2 hours ago, trurl said:

Do you know how to examine the contents of cache? Could be some of the files that are still on cache are files you want to keep.

I went and examined it. All of the files turned out to be deleted trash files. Everything's working great how thanks a bunch,

[trurl]

So did you get appdata, domains, system moved back to cache?

[lelouch420]

2 hours ago, trurl said:

So did you get appdata, domains, system moved back to cache?

im actually in the process of doing this now. i set the shares to cache only but they're staying on the array. any suggestions on getting them on the new cache drives?

[lelouch420]

for system i was able to just remake the docker file, but im not sure how to get my appdata on the cache now. 

[Hoopster]

15 minutes ago, lelouch420 said:

im actually in the process of doing this now. i set the shares to cache only but they're staying on the array

Cache only tells the mover to take no action with files already on the array.  They will stay there but new appdata files will go to cache.

 

Here's the help from the Shares screen which explains that:

You want to set the appdata share to Cache Prefer which will move everything from array to cache.  Disable Docker first so there are no open files.  After it has been moved, you can set it back to cache only if that is what you want.

 

Same with isos and domains share if you have VMs but disable VMs before moving.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Hoopster

[lelouch420]

Oh, thanks a lot. I swear i read it like 5 times but still chose the wrong one.

 

im waiting on a 500gb ssd to come in the mail for my vm data. i want to have it on a seperate ssd pool from my appdata. 

Edited August 12, 2020 by lelouch420

[lelouch420]

all of my dockers dissapeared. should i just re-create them from the templates? they'll use the same appdata it'll just re-download the images right? 

Edited August 12, 2020 by lelouch420

[Hoopster]

57 minutes ago, lelouch420 said:

all of my dockers dissapeared. should i just re-create them from the templates? they'll use the same appdata it'll just re-download the images right? 

You can reinstall them from the Apps tab (Community Applications) Previous Apps section.  They will retain all previous settings.

 

If your prior appdata path in the docker containers was something like /mnt/user/appdata/{name of container} you should not have to change anything with appdata now that it is on the cache drive.

 

It is often recommended to change the appdata path to /mnt/cache/appdata/{name of container) with appdata on the cache drive as this solves some issues with certain containers.  However, I would not be too concerned about it unless you have issues.  Many of my containers are still using the /mnt/user/appdata/... paths without issue.

[bwnautilus]

I want to do the same thing too, but just for the cache drives, not the parity drives.

I *do* have VMs.  What's different from the procedure that @lelouch420 followed?

I'm attaching diags.  Thanks in advance.

mediatower-diagnostics-20200812-1600.zip

[trurl]