Migrating to ZFS with 2.6.0 - A Couple Questions
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Hi all,
I've got two boxes running 2.5.2, one of them has been upgraded since pfSense 2.3.x and is still running UFS, the other was newly installed with 2.5.2 recently and is already running ZFS. Looking at the release notes for 2.6.0, I would like to migrate both to the current ZFS configuration that comes with 2.6.0:
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/releases/22-01_2-6-0.html#general
From what I understand, this will require a fresh install of both systems. To make sure my configuration is preserved (this is especially on the older system which has more customization), is the following the best method to follow (i.e. recovering config.xml during install):
If yes, is there anything that won't be reinstalled automatically restored from the config.xml? I do run udpbroadcastrelay on one of the systems which was a manual install and would need to be manually reinstalled. Is there anything else that would not be automatically restored? For example, how about system tunables set in boot.loader.conf or System / Advanced / Tunables? Are certificates (System / Certificate Manager) restored?
Thanks in advance for your help, I really appreciate it.
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You can just upgrade from an existing ZFS install. Reinstalling will ensure you are using the default layout, pool names etc which may help with compatibility at sine point but is not required.
Almost everything is stored in the config file and will be restored, including certs and tunables. Exceptions to that are custom packages as you mentioned and custom loader variables in /boot/loader.conf.local. You should never put custom values in loader.conf directly as they can be overwritten at any time.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Migrating to ZFS with 2.6.0 - A Couple Questions:
You can just upgrade from an existing ZFS install. Reinstalling will ensure you are using the default layout, pool names etc which may help with compatibility at sine point but is not required.
Almost everything is stored in the config file and will be restored, including certs and tunables. Exceptions to that are custom packages as you mentioned and custom loader variables in /boot/loader.conf.local. You should never put custom values in loader.conf directly as they can be overwritten at any time.
Steve
Thanks @stephenw10 - I appreciate the response. So in the case of the system that is still using UFS, when I migrate to ZFS would this be the correct process to follow to reinstall and then recover the config.xml during the install?
It sounds like all I really need to worry about backing up manually then is just my loader.conf.local file and the udpbroadcastrelay binary.
I did upgrade both systems to 2.6.0 CE today already and the installs overall went fine. The first system, however struggled to come back up. This system is a Supermicro 5018D-F8NT small 1U box and while the install overall went just fine, once it rebooted it never returned to the login prompt. Hooking up a monitor I saw that it had gotten stuck on the BIOS post screen. I don't believe this had anything to do with pfSense then and hopefully it's not a sign of future hardware failure (the system is about 5 years old). The other system (a recently custom built 10th generation i3 box) upgraded and rebooted quickly without any trouble. Once both systems are on ZFS, I'll probably continue with the migration to pfSense Plus 22.01.
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Yes, you could use the config recovery process like that but I prefer to use either of that USB based config import methods listed there. Whatever you do make sure you've backed up the config first.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Migrating to ZFS with 2.6.0 - A Couple Questions:
Yes, you could use the config recovery process like that but I prefer to use either of that USB based config import methods listed there. Whatever you do make sure you've backed up the config first.
Steve
Performed the migration from UFS to ZFS tonight and everything went well! I did choose the "Recover config.xml" option during on the install menu, but it goes by so fast that I couldn't really tell whether it had worked correctly or not. Took the gamble and proceeded with the install anyway since I had made additional backups. In less than 5 minutes everything had completed and pfSense was booting and applying my prior configuration. Package re-installation overall went well also, however I had to manually reinstall both the OpenVPN Client Export and Nut packages (their configurations were kept fully intact though). Overall I'm really impressed with the robustness of the restore process: The last time I performed a fresh install of pfSense on this particular system was in early 2017 and there were no issues whatsoever restoring the configuration almost 5 years later after going through multiple pfSense version upgrade cycles.
I also decided to move forward with the migration to pfsense Plus - both systems are now happily humming along on 22.01.
Thanks again for all your help.
