Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine
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I searched for specifics, but haven't found the answer I need yet. I am familiar with pfSense and have been running it for quite some time now, but in the process of setting up a new and better system now. Here is what I would like to do, but having some issues getting it right.
I would like to install the system as usual with auto ZFS (or manual partitioning) on a SSD, but also have two hhd drives in a mirror set up to use the package 'backup' to save the backups to that drive. I have tried in a test vm scenario creating the second drive with mount point '/backup', but it seems to disappear after booting into the system (meaning, when I do 'ls /' there is no mount point or directory called '/backup' available, in which I created during install. Is this just an issue with the vm and hyper-v which will resolve itself during the bare-metal install, or will I come across the same scenario? Just wanted to check on the forum as I start the bare metal test. Or perhaps just a simple step I am missing in the mount point setup. Though it seems as if during the installation if the mount point is designated, it should remain, but it is not seeming that is the case. I am thinking I am missing something basic, but not seeing it yet.
Though I haven't tried it yet, also wondering if partitioning the drives with FreeBSD or g-parted would be a better option? Though it seems that the pfSense installer has specifics to how everything needs to be laid out, I would prefer to do everything directly through the installer with 'manual partitioning', but can manage otherwise if needed.
Want to keep it self-contained in this scenario, so no other machines involved.
In this scenario, I would want to do the following, just as an example;
pfSense:
ada0 pfSense auto ZFS (or manual, doesn't matter)Use as mirror raid;
ada1
ada2Use this mirror raid as, mount point '/backup' (or any mount point needed, doesn't matter what it is called), use for backups from the 'backup' package.
Overkill? Yes. But considering the spare and extra hardware I have, that's ok. Just want to get it done.
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@TGurlBridge said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
I would prefer to do everything directly through the installer
Yes, pfSense installer is best to use...just remember to press the space bar to select the drive.
@TGurlBridge said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
Overkill? Yes.
A dual SSD raid stripe/mirror is sufficient along with a current workable backup config and a bootable flash drive with the latest stable release...anything else appears to be overkill..take it from me known as, aka Sir overkill
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pfSense has nothing built in to manage more than one drive except a mirror. So anything additionally has to be scripted by the user. There are a few threads about doing so.
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Thanks for responses. So I decided not to go with the mirror raid. As far as the creating other directories on separate drive, I was able to create them successfully with fstab, however received a boot failure after reboot. So just keeping it simple with a single SSD as I previously had setup.
Have other unrelated issues I need to make a separate post about.
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@TGurlBridge said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
however received a boot failure after reboot. So just keeping it simple with a single SSD as I previously had setup.
Okay, you didn't go the raid route...wondered why you received the boot failure. Did you installed pfSense first then added the drive?
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@NollipfSense said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
@TGurlBridge said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
however received a boot failure after reboot. So just keeping it simple with a single SSD as I previously had setup.
Okay, you didn't go the raid route...wondered why you received the boot failure. Did you installed pfSense first then added the drive?
No. Drives were already there. It was that infamous boot error that said, "ERROR: Impossible to mount filesystem, use interactive shell to attempt to recover it"
I mean, I'm OK with just the single SSD setup as I have it now. Would be good to know what went wrong though. Too many previous fails in which I just gave up and went another route. I think the mount points were /root/backup for the backup package, and I also routed /var/logs to a separate drive as well. They all showed up correctly on the designated drive until reboot, then the error message came up, so I just reinstalled on a single drive with nothing funny going on.
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@TGurlBridge said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
@NollipfSense said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
@TGurlBridge said in Packages > Backup: Manually partioning a dedicated drive on the pfsense machine:
however received a boot failure after reboot. So just keeping it simple with a single SSD as I previously had setup.
Okay, you didn't go the raid route...wondered why you received the boot failure. Did you installed pfSense first then added the drive?
No. Drives were already there. It was that infamous boot error that said, "ERROR: Impossible to mount filesystem, use interactive shell to attempt to recover it"
I mean, I'm OK with just the single SSD setup as I have it now. Would be good to know what went wrong though. Too many previous fails in which I just gave up and went another route. I think the mount points were /root/backup for the backup package, and I also routed /var/logs to a separate drive as well. They all showed up correctly on the designated drive until reboot, then the error message came up, so I just reinstalled on a single drive with nothing funny going on.
Okay...interesting to understand what went wrong since they mounted...you're half way there.
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Hmm, interesting. I've never seen a problem using a ZFS mirror. In testing I've remove either drive from the system and it still boots happily.
The only issue is there's no gui component (yet) to rebuild the mirror if you have to replace a drive. That has to be done manually.
Steve
