Advice: TrueNAS 13.0 Upgrade To 13.3 (Safely Removing Multipath)

TrueNAS General
1

Hello All,

First time poster, long-time lurker.

I have a long-running TrueNAS 13.0 system. I am looking to upgrade to 13.3 and maybe eventually transition over to TrueNAS CE. One impediment I am aware of is multi-path. When I set up this system, I didn’t really the tenuous nature of the feature and built a redundant system relying on multi-path.

Either way, it sounds like I need to safely remove that feature to upgrade cleanly to later versions of TrueNAS.

My setup consists of two DS4246 (NetApp 24-Disk JBOD expanders). I have a central TrueNAS VM that has two HBA cards passed through to it. Those HBA cards each have two ports. I have a redundant connection from each DS4246 going to a different HBA card. I also am using SAS drives where possible, although some older drives due for replacement are SATA.

The system consists of one pool that consists of 4 RAIDZ2 VDEVs, each VDEV consisting of 8 disks.

Now, this system has a lot of data, and a backup isn’t really possible (although I could save off a few critical things). I’d like to do this upgrade in place and in a way that I won’t lose data and can safely go backwards if something funny happens.

My understanding of the steps is as follows:

  1. Export the pool
  2. Break the multi-path
    1. This is the part that confuses me and I’ve seen different instructions. Remove the cable, run some commands? I’ve seen different pieces of advice scattered about. Would be nice if there was a guide.
  3. Power Off the system
  4. Power On the system
  5. Re-import the pool
  6. Continue merrily along.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, command output below.

zpool status output:

root@nas-01[~]# zpool status
  pool: alexandria
 state: ONLINE
  scan: scrub repaired 0B in 1 days 22:38:53 with 0 errors on Tue Dec  2 22:38:55 2025
config:

	NAME                                            STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
	alexandria                                      ONLINE       0     0     0
	  raidz2-0                                      ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/913ba8e7-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/90db3b0c-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/9105ad75-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/90783c0b-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/90dae414-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/9046e0f9-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/907ef30f-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/9105dee3-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	  raidz2-1                                      ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/913bf73e-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/91061215-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/917f94c7-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/9136577c-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/90db6777-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/913c2681-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/91368fbf-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/910533bf-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	  raidz2-2                                      ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/91b5b196-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/91bb82cb-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/92603080-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/922fb088-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/923e663e-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/926465ff-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/926c45c4-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/9266680b-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	  raidz2-3                                      ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/d3e94ba2-82df-11ed-bb78-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/72103346-6c6d-11ef-9f67-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/04b15194-bbdd-11ee-8284-000c29a553bd  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/9b368053-ad61-11ee-8df4-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/279e14c5-b72e-11f0-8b20-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/d45da547-82df-11ed-bb78-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/d46f30eb-82df-11ed-bb78-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    gptid/3a643911-64d3-11ee-a186-90e2ba510e7c  ONLINE       0     0     0
	cache
	  gptid/13cb6cba-b250-11ee-8284-000c29a553bd    ONLINE       0     0     0
	spares
	  gptid/3f4b73ff-bc68-11ee-8284-000c29a553bd    AVAIL

errors: No known data errors

gmultipath status output:

root@nas-01[~]# gmultipath status
            Name   Status  Components
multipath/disk25  OPTIMAL  da58 (ACTIVE)
                           da31 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk24  OPTIMAL  da57 (ACTIVE)
                           da24 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk20  OPTIMAL  da53 (ACTIVE)
                           da20 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk17  OPTIMAL  da50 (ACTIVE)
                           da17 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk18  OPTIMAL  da51 (ACTIVE)
                           da18 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk16  OPTIMAL  da49 (ACTIVE)
                           da16 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk15  OPTIMAL  da48 (ACTIVE)
                           da15 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk14  OPTIMAL  da47 (ACTIVE)
                           da14 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk23  OPTIMAL  da56 (ACTIVE)
                           da23 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk22  OPTIMAL  da55 (ACTIVE)
                           da22 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk12  OPTIMAL  da45 (ACTIVE)
                           da12 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk21  OPTIMAL  da54 (ACTIVE)
                           da21 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk13  OPTIMAL  da46 (ACTIVE)
                           da13 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk10  OPTIMAL  da43 (ACTIVE)
                           da10 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk19  OPTIMAL  da52 (ACTIVE)
                           da19 (PASSIVE)
multipath/disk11  OPTIMAL  da44 (ACTIVE)
                           da11 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk9  OPTIMAL  da42 (ACTIVE)
                           da9 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk8  OPTIMAL  da41 (ACTIVE)
                           da8 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk7  OPTIMAL  da40 (ACTIVE)
                           da7 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk6  OPTIMAL  da39 (ACTIVE)
                           da6 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk5  OPTIMAL  da38 (ACTIVE)
                           da5 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk4  OPTIMAL  da37 (ACTIVE)
                           da4 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk2  OPTIMAL  da35 (ACTIVE)
                           da2 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk3  OPTIMAL  da36 (ACTIVE)
                           da3 (PASSIVE)
 multipath/disk1  OPTIMAL  da34 (ACTIVE)
                           da1 (PASSIVE)

glabel status output

root@nas-01[~]# glabel status
                                      Name  Status  Components
gptid/13cb6cba-b250-11ee-8284-000c29a553bd     N/A  nvd0p1
gptid/2d3d9b62-4d93-11ed-b5a6-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da0p1
                           iso9660/TRUENAS     N/A  cd0
gptid/04b15194-bbdd-11ee-8284-000c29a553bd     N/A  da32p2
gptid/9b368053-ad61-11ee-8df4-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da30p2
gptid/3a643911-64d3-11ee-a186-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da29p2
gptid/d3e94ba2-82df-11ed-bb78-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da25p2
gptid/d46f30eb-82df-11ed-bb78-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da28p2
gptid/d45da547-82df-11ed-bb78-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da27p2
gptid/72103346-6c6d-11ef-9f67-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da33p2
gptid/3f3dd6b2-bc68-11ee-8284-000c29a553bd     N/A  multipath/disk25p1
gptid/3f4b73ff-bc68-11ee-8284-000c29a553bd     N/A  multipath/disk25p2
gptid/924f685d-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk24p1
gptid/9266680b-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk24p2
gptid/920a4bcc-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk20p1
gptid/922fb088-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk20p2
gptid/91a92f6d-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk17p1
gptid/91b5b196-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk17p2
gptid/91af125a-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk18p1
gptid/91bb82cb-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk18p2
gptid/90a80cf4-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk16p1
gptid/910533bf-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk16p2
gptid/90db0f1a-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk15p1
gptid/91368fbf-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk15p2
gptid/90a4041d-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk14p1
gptid/913c2681-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk14p2
gptid/924f9688-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk23p1
gptid/926c45c4-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk23p2
gptid/924aa4dd-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk22p1
gptid/926465ff-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk22p2
gptid/90dbc2db-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk12p1
gptid/9136577c-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk12p2
gptid/92294322-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk21p1
gptid/923e663e-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk21p2
gptid/904dac8e-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk13p1
gptid/90db6777-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk13p2
gptid/907e8ece-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk10p1
gptid/91061215-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk10p2
gptid/92459dd2-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk19p1
gptid/92603080-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk19p2
gptid/90db95cc-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk11p1
gptid/917f94c7-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk11p2
gptid/90a83c81-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk9p1
gptid/913bf73e-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk9p2
gptid/90a3c8dc-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk8p1
gptid/9105dee3-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk8p2
gptid/9032104a-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk7p1
gptid/907ef30f-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk7p2
gptid/90298e1e-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk6p1
gptid/9046e0f9-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk6p2
gptid/907ec297-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk5p1
gptid/90dae414-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk5p2
gptid/9036f650-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk4p1
gptid/90783c0b-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk4p2
gptid/905583b2-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk2p1
gptid/90db3b0c-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk2p2
gptid/90a43440-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk3p1
gptid/9105ad75-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk3p2
gptid/90d54787-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk1p1
gptid/913ba8e7-4e35-11ed-afcb-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  multipath/disk1p2
gptid/279e14c5-b72e-11f0-8b20-90e2ba510e7c     N/A  da26p2
2

13.3 is not an upgrade of 13.0, and “SCALE” is no more. As it seems that you’re not using jails, you may go on with 13.0-U6.8, until you eventually migrate to CE (or not).

As described, it should be: Power off, remove one HBA, power on and keep churning.

Consider a backup strategy, at least of the most important data.

3

You are correct, I am not using jails at all. Sorry for getting the nomenclature wrong.

This system hasn’t been rebooted in almost a year. The last time I looked at an upgrade it asked me to upgrade to 13.3. I read about issues with multipath and then tabled the task. Now I’m working on my holiday todo list :).

I am currently on TrueNAS-13.0-U6.7, so you recommend:

  1. Upgrade to TrueNAS-13.0-U6.8 (reboot server, etc)
  2. Export pool
  3. Shutdown server
  4. Disconnect a cable from each DS426 going back to my server
  5. Power up the system
  6. Import the pool
  7. Good to go, then maybe consider an upgrade to TrueNAS CE

Nothing more fancy than that? I’ve seen posts where people are destroying multipath objects via the command line, etc.

A bit of an aside, but why is TrueNAS Core 13.3 no longer an upgrade (I guess TrueNAS legacy now).

4

People have been destroying multipath connected disks because of the dual connections. As advised by @etorix simply remove one of the HBAs and the corresponding cables.

5

TN Core 13.3 reached EOL sooner than 13.0 because it was more of a community release with a small user base.

Some will say that the latter was a consequence of how 13.3 was marketed, in the sense that users of 13.0 were actively discouraged from migrating unless they were using Jails or had a need for updated packages.