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    Upgrade to ZFS

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @NRgia
      last edited by

      @nrgia I would be prob the last one to ask that, I am way behind on my how zfs works info ;)

      If there was a change in the layout from 2.5.2 to 2.6, have to assume whatever the changes would be taken into account going forward since most people just upgrade..

      I would think simple enough to check if any change in the layout by check with a clean install of 2.5.2 and then clean install of 2.6, etc.

      if I get a chance today I will play with that a bit.. simple enough to do a clean install of 2.5.2 and compare the layout to a 2.6 clean install.

      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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      • MarinSNBM
        MarinSNB
        last edited by

        Is there a way to upgrade to ZFS from GUI by running the install wizard of pfsense or do I need to start from scratch (by using a usb stick, etc)?

        I was thinking of doing this when reading the 2.6.0/22.01 release notes and wasn’t sure if a switch to zfs from GUI would be possible:

        https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/releases/22-01_2-6-0.html

        “It is not possible to change from UFS to ZFS in place, a reinstallation of pfSense Plus or CE is required to migrate from UFS use ZFS.”

        I suppose I could make a backup of my current configuration, reinstall pfsense from a usb stick and then reload my previous config but wasn’t sure if there is an easier way to achieve this.

        Thanks!

        Marin

        Netgate 6100 Max pfSense+
        —>Unifi Aggregation/24 Pro PoE/24 PoE Enterprise switches
        —> UCK2+
        —> 3x U6E APs

        johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • johnpozJ
          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @MarinSNB
          last edited by

          @marinsnb when you do the clean install from the usb, it allows to load the config that is there. So while yes HIGHLY recommend taking a backup of your config from the gui before you start the process. You really shouldn't have to load your config from backup, if it can read your config from the disk.

          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

          MarinSNBM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • MarinSNBM
            MarinSNB @johnpoz
            last edited by

            @johnpoz

            Wonderful! I just read your suggestion on this on another post regarding zfs install! Thanks so much as always!

            Marin

            Netgate 6100 Max pfSense+
            —>Unifi Aggregation/24 Pro PoE/24 PoE Enterprise switches
            —> UCK2+
            —> 3x U6E APs

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            • chudakC
              chudak @JeGr
              last edited by

              @jegr said in Upgrade to ZFS:

              @ryanm said in Upgrade to ZFS:

              Re-installation with "recover config.xml" and "Auto (ZFS)" will bring you up to speed and having ZFS in ~10min. :)

              I am reading to upgrade UFS to ZFS
              I never was able for some reason to do a reinstall with the "recover config.xml" option in one step :(

              Wonder if you know any secrets/suggestions?

              I did do a new install and then restore XML via the GUI fine though.

              R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • R
                rcoleman-netgate Netgate @chudak
                last edited by

                @chudak said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                I never was able for some reason to do a reinstall with the "recover config.xml" option in one step :(
                Wonder if you know any secrets/suggestions?

                I finally did this without trying. After writing the image to the USB mount it back up with the FAT32 partition and copy the config file to it as "config.xml" and that's all it took for my system last week.

                Ryan
                Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

                chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • chudakC
                  chudak @rcoleman-netgate
                  last edited by

                  @rcoleman-netgate said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                  @chudak said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                  I never was able for some reason to do a reinstall with the "recover config.xml" option in one step :(
                  Wonder if you know any secrets/suggestions?

                  I finally did this without trying. After writing the image to the USB mount it back up with the FAT32 partition and copy the config file to it as "config.xml" and that's all it took for my system last week.

                  I did not quite get it. Why are you referring to FAT32?

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                  • R
                    rcoleman-netgate Netgate @chudak
                    last edited by

                    @chudak When you write the pfSense image to a USB drive it makes two partitions... one is FAT and has nothing, or nearly nothing, in it. That's where you put the config.xml.

                    Ryan
                    Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                    Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                    Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                    Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

                    chudakC 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • chudakC
                      chudak @rcoleman-netgate
                      last edited by

                      @rcoleman-netgate said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                      @chudak When you write the pfSense image to a USB drive it makes two partitions... one is FAT and has nothing, or nearly nothing, in it. That's where you put the config.xml.

                      Thank you!

                      I don't seem to be able to locate pFS+ download, do I need to get CE and then again upgrade it to pFS+ ?

                      johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • johnpozJ
                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @chudak
                        last edited by

                        @chudak said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                        I don't seem to be able to locate pFS+ download

                        Do you have a netgate appliance? If so you can request a download of the install img, if your on 3rd party hardware and want to move to +, then yeah you would be on 2.6 and request + license.

                        https://www.netgate.com/blog/migrate-from-pfsense-ce-software-to-netgate-pfsense-plus-software

                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                        chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • chudakC
                          chudak @johnpoz
                          last edited by

                          @johnpoz said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                          @chudak said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                          I don't seem to be able to locate pFS+ download

                          Do you have a netgate appliance? If so you can request a download of the install img, if your on 3rd party hardware and want to move to +, then yeah you would be on 2.6 and request + license.

                          https://www.netgate.com/blog/migrate-from-pfsense-ce-software-to-netgate-pfsense-plus-software

                          I don't have a netgate appliance, but I already upgraded to 22.01.
                          I need to start from 2.6 and then upgrade to 22.01?

                          johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • johnpozJ
                            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @chudak
                            last edited by

                            @chudak to do a clean install? Yeah I think that is the only way.. That came up in another thread I think as well..

                            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                            R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • R
                              rcoleman-netgate Netgate @johnpoz
                              last edited by

                              @johnpoz This is a correct statement.

                              Ryan
                              Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                              Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                              Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                              Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

                              JeGrJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • chudakC
                                chudak @rcoleman-netgate
                                last edited by

                                @rcoleman-netgate

                                I created a USB stick and see this:

                                37ee6722-4ab3-42fb-b3c5-f9cfae05fd4b-image.png

                                I suspect you meant to place config.xml into PFSENSE drive along with README?

                                R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • JeGrJ
                                  JeGr LAYER 8 Moderator @rcoleman-netgate
                                  last edited by

                                  @rcoleman-netgate So are there plans to release a "normal" plus ISO/image to directly install to devices that already have a token/their NDI known or will it always require a two-stop-shop-update from a CE to a corresponding Plus version?

                                  Don't forget to upvote 👍 those who kindly offered their time and brainpower to help you!

                                  If you're interested, I'm available to discuss details of German-speaking paid support (for companies) if needed.

                                  R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • R
                                    rcoleman-netgate Netgate @JeGr
                                    last edited by

                                    @jegr I'm not in the engineering department so I am not privvy to that process.

                                    I can make presumptions and guesses but then someone will come back and point at that as gospel.

                                    So for the time being the process is install CE, if your NDI hasn't changed then you will get the current Plus upgrade offered within a few minutes of being online. If the NDI has changed and it's a lab install you can get a new token, if it's a subscription you'd reach out to TAC for further assistance.

                                    Ryan
                                    Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                                    Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                                    Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                                    Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

                                    JeGrJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • R
                                      rcoleman-netgate Netgate @chudak
                                      last edited by

                                      @chudak yes, that's where you put the config.xml file.

                                      Ryan
                                      Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                                      Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                                      Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                                      Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • JeGrJ
                                        JeGr LAYER 8 Moderator @rcoleman-netgate
                                        last edited by

                                        @rcoleman-netgate said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                                        @jegr I'm not in the engineering department so I am not privvy to that process.

                                        I can make presumptions and guesses but then someone will come back and point at that as gospel.

                                        So for the time being the process is install CE, if your NDI hasn't changed then you will get the current Plus upgrade offered within a few minutes of being online. If the NDI has changed and it's a lab install you can get a new token, if it's a subscription you'd reach out to TAC for further assistance.

                                        Knowing where you come from and appreciate the reply, thanks!

                                        Don't forget to upvote 👍 those who kindly offered their time and brainpower to help you!

                                        If you're interested, I'm available to discuss details of German-speaking paid support (for companies) if needed.

                                        J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • J
                                          JonH @JeGr
                                          last edited by

                                          @jegr I have just received the zfs image from Netgate and plan to overwrite my 22.05 and use the config.xml that I downloaded using backup configuration w/ extra data saved. I don't use autoconfig.

                                          I am wondering about some log files in various directories under /var. I presume they may not be part of the backed up config. Is that correct?

                                          I'm just a home user with a few pkgs installed, pfBlockerNG, darkstat, syslog-ng, ntopng. Will data and config from all of these be carried over with my backed up config? If not, which one's do I need to make a separate backup of?

                                          R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • R
                                            rcoleman-netgate Netgate @JonH
                                            last edited by

                                            @jonh said in Upgrade to ZFS:

                                            I am wondering about some log files in various directories under /var. I presume they may not be part of the backed up config. Is that correct?

                                            Correct, only the configs are backed up. You can back up the RRD at the time of backup if you want (more info: https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/monitoring/graphs/index.html) but that's the extent of the backup file.

                                            Ryan
                                            Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                                            Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                                            Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                                            Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

                                            J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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