Will pfSense+ support UFS?
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I see a lot of reference to making sure the pfSense CE filesystem is in the desired configuration prior to upgrading to pfSense+. The announcement blog post mentions that ZFS is the new default FS, and encourages the "...user to consider if ZFS is right file system for your needs."
It looks like a reinstall on ZFS with a restore from XML should do the trick on migrating from UFS to ZFS. What I cannot readily determine is whether this step is necessary.
For those of us running on UFS, is there any reason we cannot remain on UFS?
I presume that it works, but I don't find anything written about staying on UFS.
Can anyone from Netgate confirm that UFS will continue as a supported FS option for pfSense+ installations?
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@linkp Default is to move to ZFS but I haven't heard anything yet about abandoning UFS.
The XML file does not control the file system you create on install -- you cannot migrate from ZFS to UFS and v/v without completely reinstalling the software from an ISO or USB image.
Ryan
Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
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The only advantage I see to switching to ZFS via reinstall in advance of a CE to pfSense+ upgrade is the installation media is readily available for pfSense CE, whereas pfSense+ would require obtaining installation media from support.
That said, I don't know that my deployments will reap significant enough benefit from ZFS to merit reinstalling.
I just don't want to find myself in a predicament where some future pfSense+ upgrade depends on the presence of ZFS and I could have avoided that pain by reinstalling now.
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@linkp IMHO (I'm not an engineer) it's a bigger deal regarding stability when the system reboots unexpected. FS issues can serious cause boot loops when the firewall is not being propped up by a UPS.
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You can stay on UFS if you wish. The 22.01/2.6 installers default to ZFS but give you the option of using UFS.
There are other advantages to ZFS, primarily snapshots, that are not yet included in the pfSense GUI but are on the roadmap.Steve
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J jimp moved this topic from Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software on
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I wound up reinstalling on ZFS with minimal issue. The Recover config.xml From Existing Installation option is fantastic. While the success notification could stand improvement (as noted in the Netgate documentation), it's performance was just spectacular and it made the reinstallation even easier.
The conversion to pfSense+ was also mostly painless. I ran into one minor setback of my own doing. The pfSense CE ISO was still the active boot device in the kvm guest, and I wound up installing 2.6.0 over the 22.01 upgrade at the reboot. I was impressed that the pfSense+ device registration remained intact, so it was simple enough to upgrade to 22.01 again and reboot more carefully.
The ZFS reinstall on a bare metal device was more challenging due to the boot process stalling when the media was in a USB 3 port. The Netgate documentation provided good resources to work through that.
Now it's time to schedule upgrades of customer Netgate appliances.
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FWIW, I just came across this video, though I haven't watched it yet.
Why The ZFS Copy On Write File System Is Better Than A Journaling One
