run_interrupt_driven_hooks: still waiting after 60 seconds for xpt_config
go into the system BIOS and look for an onboard device configuration
for a 1394 Controller. If present, disable that device and try booting
again.
If the system starts to boot but hangs at a mountroot> prompt,
follow the instructions in
Workaround/Semi-Fix for Mountroot Issues with 9.3.
If the burned image fails to boot and the image was burned using a
Windows system, wipe the USB stick before trying a second burn using a
utility such as
Active@ KillDisk.
Otherwise, the second burn attempt will fail as Windows does not
understand the partition which was written from the image file. Be
very careful to specify the correct USB stick when using a wipe
utility!
2.5. Upgrading
FreeNAS® provides flexibility for keeping the operating system
up-to-date:
Upgrades to major releases, for example from version 9.3 to 9.10,
can still be performed using either an ISO or the
web interface. Unless the Release Notes for the new
major release indicate that the current version requires an ISO
upgrade, either upgrade method can be used.
Minor releases have been replaced with signed updates. This means
that it is not necessary to wait for a minor release to update the
system with a system update or newer versions of drivers and
features. It is also no longer necessary to manually download an
upgrade file and its associated checksum to update the system.
The updater automatically creates a boot environment, making
updates a low-risk operation. Boot environments provide the
option to return to the previous version of the operating system by
rebooting the system and selecting the previous boot environment
from the boot menu.
This section describes how to perform an upgrade from an earlier
version of FreeNAS® to 11.3. After 11.3 has been installed,
use the instructions in Update to keep the system updated.
2.5.1. Caveats
Be aware of these caveats before attempting an upgrade to
11.3:
Warning: upgrading the ZFS pool can make it impossible to go back
to a previous version. For this reason, the update process does
not automatically upgrade the ZFS pool, though the Alert
system shows when newer ZFS Feature Flags are available for a
pool. Unless a new feature flag is needed, it is safe to leave the
pool at the current version and uncheck the alert. If the pool is
upgraded, it will not be possible to boot into a previous version that
does not support the newer feature flags.
Upgrading the firmware of Broadcom SAS HBAs to the latest version is
recommended.
If upgrading from 9.3.x, read the
FAQ: Updating from 9.3 to 9.10
first.
Upgrades from FreeNAS® 0.7x are not supported. The system
has no way to import configuration settings from 0.7x versions of
FreeNAS®. The configuration must be manually recreated. If
supported, the FreeNAS® 0.7x pools or disks must be manually
imported.
Upgrades on 32-bit hardware are not supported. However, if the
system is currently running a 32-bit version of FreeNAS® and the
hardware supports 64-bit, the system can be upgraded. Any
archived reporting graphs will be lost during the upgrade.
UFS is not supported. If the data currently resides on one
UFS-formatted disk, create a ZFS pool using other disks after the
upgrade, then use the instructions in Importing a Disk to moun
t the UFS-formatted disk and copy the data to the ZFS pool. With only
one disk, back up its data to another system or media before the
upgrade, format the disk as ZFS after the upgrade, then restore the
backup. If the data currently resides on a UFS RAID of disks, it is
not possible to directly import that data to the ZFS pool. Instead,
back up the data before the upgrade, create a ZFS pool after the
upgrade, then restore the data from the backup.
2.5.2. Initial Preparation
Before upgrading the operating system, perform the following steps:
Back up the FreeNAS® configuration in
.
If any pools are encrypted, remember to set a passphrase
and download a copy of the encryption key and the latest
recovery key.
After the upgrade is complete, use the instructions in
Importing a Pool to import the encrypted pools.
Warn users that the FreeNAS® shares will be unavailable during the
upgrade; it is recommended to schedule the upgrade for a time
that will least impact users.
Stop all services in
.
2.5.3. Upgrading Using the ISO
To perform an upgrade using this method,
download
the .iso to the computer that will be used to prepare the
installation media. Burn the downloaded .iso file to a CD or
USB stick using the instructions in
Preparing the Media.
Insert the prepared media into the system and boot from it. The
installer waits ten seconds in the
installer boot menu before booting the
default option. If needed, press the Spacebar to stop the timer
and choose another boot option. After the media finishes booting into
the installation menu, press Enter to select the default option
of 1 Install/Upgrade. The installer presents a screen
showing all available drives.
Warning
All drives are shown, including boot drives and storage
drives. Only choose boot drives when upgrading. Choosing the wrong
drives to upgrade or install will cause loss of data. If unsure
about which drives contain the FreeNAS® operating system, reboot and
remove the install media. In the FreeNAS® web interface, use
to identify the boot drives. More than one drive is shown when a
mirror has been used.
Move to the drive where FreeNAS® is installed and press the
Spacebar to mark it with a star. If a mirror has been used for
the operating system, mark all of the drives where the FreeNAS®
operating system is installed. Press Enter when done.
The installer recognizes earlier versions of FreeNAS® installed on the
boot drive or drives and presents the message shown in
Figure 2.5.1.
Fig. 2.5.1 Upgrading a FreeNAS® Installation
To perform an upgrade, press Enter to accept the default of
Upgrade Install. Again, the installer will display a
reminder that the operating system should be installed on a disk
that is not used for storage.
Fig. 2.5.2 Install in New Boot Environment or Format
The updated system can be installed in a new boot environment,
or the entire operating system device can be formatted to start fresh. Installing
into a new boot environment preserves the old code, allowing a
roll-back to previous versions if necessary. Formatting the boot
device is usually not necessary but can reclaim space. User data and
settings are preserved when installing to a new boot environment and
also when formatting the operating system device. Move the highlight to one of the
options and press Enter to start the upgrade.
The installer unpacks the new image and displays the menu shown in
Figure 2.5.3.
The database file that is preserved and migrated contains your FreeNAS®
configuration settings.
Fig. 2.5.3 Preserve and Migrate Settings
Press Enter. FreeNAS® indicates that the upgrade is complete and
a reboot is required. Press OK, highlight
3 Reboot System
, then press Enter to reboot the
system. If the upgrade installer was booted from CD, remove the CD.
During the reboot there can be a conversion of the previous
configuration database to the new version of the database. This
happens during the “Applying database schema changes” line in the
reboot cycle. This conversion can take a long time to finish,
sometimes fifteen minutes or more, and can cause the system
to reboot again. The system will start
normally afterwards. If database errors are shown but the web interface
is accessible, go to
and use the UPLOAD CONFIG button to upload the
configuration that was saved before starting the upgrade.
2.5.4. Upgrading From the Web Interface
To perform an upgrade using this method, go to
. See Update for more
information on upgrading the system.
The connection is lost temporarily when the update is complete. It
returns after the FreeNAS® system reboots into the new version of the
operating system. The FreeNAS® system normally receives the same
IP address from the DHCP server. Refresh the browser after a moment
to see if the system is accessible.
2.5.5. If Something Goes Wrong
If an update fails, an alert is issued and the details are written to
/data/update.failed.
To return to a previous version of the operating system, physical or IPMI
access to the FreeNAS® console is needed. Reboot the system and watch for
the boot menu:
Fig. 2.5.4 Boot Menu
FreeNAS® waits five seconds before booting into the default boot
environment. Press the Spacebar to stop the automatic
boot timer. Press 4 to display the available boot environments
and press 3 as needed to scroll through multiple pages.
Fig. 2.5.5 Boot Environments
In the example shown in Figure 2.5.5, the first
entry in Boot Environments is
11.2-MASTER-201807250900. This is the current version of the
operating system, after the update was applied. Since it is the first
entry, it is the default selection.
The next entry is Initial-Install. This is the original boot
environment created when FreeNAS® was first installed. Since there are no
other entries between the initial installation and the first entry, only
one update has been applied to this system since its initial
installation.
To boot into another version of the operating system, enter the number
of the boot environment to set it as Active. Press
Backspace to return to the Boot Menu and
press Enter to boot into the chosen Active boot
environment.
If an operating system device fails and the system no longer boots, don’t panic.
The data is still on the disks and there is still a copy of the saved
configuration. The system can be recovered with a few steps:
Perform a fresh installation on a new operating system device.
Import the pools in
.
Restore the configuration in
.
It is not possible to restore a saved configuration that is
newer than the installed version. For example, if a reboot
into an older version of the operating system is performed,
a configuration created in a later version cannot be restored.
2.5.6. Upgrading a ZFS Pool
In FreeNAS®, ZFS pools can be upgraded from the graphical
administrative interface.
Before upgrading an existing ZFS pool, be aware of these caveats
first:
the pool upgrade is a one-way street, meaning that
if you change your mind you cannot go back to an earlier ZFS
version or downgrade to an earlier version of the software that
does not support those ZFS features.
before performing any operation that may affect the data on a
storage disk, always back up all data first and verify the
integrity of the backup.
While it is unlikely that the pool upgrade will affect the data,
it is always better to be safe than sorry.
upgrading a ZFS pool is optional. Do not upgrade the pool if the
the possibility of reverting to an earlier version of FreeNAS® or
repurposing the disks in another operating system that supports ZFS
is desired. It is not necessary to upgrade the pool unless the end
user has a specific need for the newer ZFS Feature Flags. If a
pool is upgraded to the latest feature flags, it will not be possible
to import that pool into another operating system that does not yet
support those feature flags.
To perform the ZFS pool upgrade, go to
and click (Settings)
to upgrade. Click the
Upgrade Pool button as shown in
Figure 2.5.6.
If the Upgrade Pool button does not appear, the
pool is already at the latest feature flags and does not need to be
upgraded.
Fig. 2.5.6 Upgrading a Pool
The warning serves as a reminder that a pool upgrade is not
reversible. Click OK to proceed with the upgrade.
The upgrade itself only takes a few seconds and is non-disruptive.
It is not necessary to stop any sharing services to upgrade the
pool. However, it is best to upgrade when the pool is not being
heavily used. The upgrade process will suspend I/O for a short
period, but is nearly instantaneous on a quiet pool.
2.6. Virtualization
FreeNAS® can be run inside a virtual environment for development,
experimentation, and educational purposes. Note that running
FreeNAS® in production as a virtual machine is not recommended.
When using FreeNAS® within a virtual environment,
read this post first
as it contains useful guidelines for minimizing the risk of losing
data.
To install or run FreeNAS® within a virtual environment, create a
virtual machine that meets these minimum requirements:
at least 8192 MiB (8 GiB) base memory size
a virtual disk at least 8 GiB in size to hold the operating
system and boot environments
at least one additional virtual disk at least 4 GiB in size to be
used as data storage
a bridged network adapter
This section demonstrates how to create and access a virtual machine
within VirtualBox and VMware ESXi environments.
2.6.1. VirtualBox
VirtualBox
is an open source virtualization program originally created by Sun
Microsystems. VirtualBox runs on Windows, BSD, Linux, Macintosh, and
OpenSolaris. It can be configured to use a downloaded FreeNAS®
.iso file, and makes a good testing environment for practicing
configurations or learning how to use the features provided by
FreeNAS®.
To create the virtual machine, start VirtualBox and click the
New button, shown in
Figure 2.6.1,
to start the new virtual machine wizard.
Fig. 2.6.1 Initial VirtualBox Screen
Click the Next button to see the screen in
Figure 2.6.2.
Enter a name for the virtual machine, click the
Operating System drop-down menu and select BSD, and select
FreeBSD (64-bit) from the Version dropdown.
Fig. 2.6.2 Enter Name and Operating System for the New Virtual Machine
Click Next to see the screen in
Figure 2.6.3.
The base memory size must be changed to at least 8192 MiB. When
finished, click Next to see the screen in
Figure 2.6.4.
Fig. 2.6.3 Select the Amount of Memory Reserved for the Virtual Machine
Fig. 2.6.4 Select Existing or Create a New Virtual Hard Drive
Click Create to launch the
Create Virtual Hard Drive Wizard shown in
Figure 2.6.5.
Fig. 2.6.5 Create New Virtual Hard Drive Wizard
Select VDI and click the Next button to see
the screen in
Figure 2.6.6.
Fig. 2.6.6 Select Storage Type for Virtual Disk
Choose either Dynamically allocated or
Fixed-size storage. The first option uses disk space as
needed until it reaches the maximum size that is set in the next
screen. The second option creates a disk the full amount of disk
space, whether it is used or not. Choose the first option to conserve
disk space; otherwise, choose the second option, as it allows
VirtualBox to run slightly faster. After selecting Next,
the screen in
Figure 2.6.7
is shown.
Fig. 2.6.7 Select File Name and Size of Virtual Disk
This screen is used to set the size (or upper limit) of the virtual
disk. Set the default size to a minimum of 8 GiB. Use the folder
icon to browse to a directory on disk with sufficient space to hold the
virtual disk files. Remember that there will be a system disk of
at least 8 GiB and at least one data storage disk of at least 4 GiB.
Use the Back button to return to a previous screen if any
values need to be modified. After making a selection and pressing
Create, the new VM is created. The new virtual machine is
listed in the left frame, as shown in the example in
Figure 2.6.8. Open the Machine Tools
drop-down menu and select Details to see extra information
about the VM.
Fig. 2.6.8 The New Virtual Machine
Create the virtual disks to be used for storage. Highlight the VM and
click Settings to open the menu. Click the
Storage option in the left frame to access the storage
screen seen in
Figure 2.6.9.
Fig. 2.6.9 Storage Settings of the Virtual Machine
Click the Add Attachment button, select
Add Hard Disk from the pop-up menu, then click the
Create new disk button. This launches the
Create Virtual Hard Disk wizard seen in
Figure 2.6.5 and
2.6.6.
Create a disk large enough to hold the desired data. The minimum
size is 4 GiB.
To practice with RAID configurations, create as many virtual disks as
needed. Two disks can be created on each IDE controller. For
additional disks, click the Add Controller button to
create another controller for attaching additional disks.
Create a device for the installation media. Highlight the word
“Empty”, then click the CD icon as shown in
Figure 2.6.10.
Fig. 2.6.10 Configuring ISO Installation Media
Click Choose Virtual Optical Disk File… to browse to
the location of the .iso file. If the .iso was burned
to CD, select the detected Host Drive.
Depending on the extensions available in the host CPU, it might not be
possible to boot the VM from an .iso. If
“your CPU does not support long mode” is shown when trying to boot
the .iso, the host CPU either does not have the required
extension or AMD-V/VT-x is disabled in the system BIOS.
If there is a kernel panic when booting into the ISO,
stop the virtual machine. Then, go to System and check
the box Enable IO APIC.
To configure the network adapter, go to
.
In the Attached to drop-down menu select
Bridged Adapter, then choose the name of the physical
interface from the Name drop-down menu. In the example
shown in
Figure 2.6.11,
the Intel Pro/1000 Ethernet card is attached to the network and has a
device name of em0.
Fig. 2.6.11 Configuring a Bridged Adapter in VirtualBox
After configuration is complete, click the Start arrow and
install FreeNAS® as described in Performing the Installation.
After FreeNAS® is installed, press F12 when the VM starts to
boot to access the boot menu. Select the primary hard disk as the boot
option. You can permanently boot from disk by removing the
Optical device in Storage or by unchecking
Optical in the Boot Order section of
System.
2.6.2. VMware ESXi
ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor architecture created by VMware Inc.
Commercial and free versions of the VMware vSphere Hypervisor
operating system (ESXi) are available from the
VMware website.
Install and use the VMware vSphere client to connect to the
ESXi server. Enter the username and password created when installing
ESXi to log in to the interface. After logging in, go to Storage to
upload the FreeNAS® .iso.
Click Datastore browser and select a datastore for the
FreeNAS® .iso. Click Upload and choose
the FreeNAS® .iso from the host system.
Click Create / Register VM to create a new VM. The New
virtual machine wizard opens:
Select creation type: Select
Create a new virtual machine and click Next.
Select a name and guest OS: Enter a name for the VM. Leave ESXi
compatibility version at the default. Select Other as the
Guest OS family. Select
FreeBSD12 or later versions (64-bit) as the Guest OS
version. Click Next.
Customize settings: Enter the recommended minimums of at least
8 GiB of memory and 32 GiB of storage. Select
Datastore ISO file from the CD/DVD Drive 1
drop-down. Use the Datastore browser to select the uploaded FreeNAS®
.iso. Click Next.
Fig. 2.6.17 Adding a Storage Disk
Virtual HPET hardware can prevent the virtual machine from booting on
some older versions of VMware. If the virtual machine does not boot,
remove the virtual HPET hardware:
On ESXi, right-click the VM and click
Edit Settings. Click
.
Change hpet0.present from TRUE to FALSE and click
OK. Click Save to save the new settings.
On Workstation or Player, while in Edit Settings,
click .
Locate the path for the Configuration file named
filename.vmx. Open the file in a text editor and change
hpet0.present from true to false, then save the
change.
