Need recommendations on reinstalling TrueNAS after failed NVMe

TrueNAS General
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1

I was running TrueNAS on a TerraMaster F4-424 in the following configuration:

  • M.2_1: 250 Gb NVMe SSD
  • M.2_2: empty
  • Bay_1: 12 Tb SATA
  • Bay_2: 12 Tb SATA
  • Bay_3: empty
  • Bay_4: empty

The NVMe was my boot drive with TrueNAS Scale. The two SATA drives were my data in RAID. The NVMe is no longer detected by the BIOS but the SATA are. Previous to this, I had an issue with Portainer and I made a copy of the appData folder (onto the data drive pool) that contained all my Docker containers. Is it possible to reinstall TrueNAS and replace the appData folder so that I don’t have to reconfigure every Docker container again? If so, what is the best way to go about doing this?

2

Do you have a recent downloaded copy of your System Configuration file? Unless you made one manually, they are usually created when doing a version upgrade.

What was your pool layout? Guessing NVME was just for booting and the 2x 12TB was a pool that held everything?

3

Honestly, I don’t remember making a copy of the System Configuration. I looked in all possible locations that I could have saved it but I was unable to find anything.
Yes, the NVMe was boot and the 2x 12Tb was the data pool.

4

yeah you can get back without rebuilding the pool.

  1. put a new boot drive in (that dead nvme is gone from bios so replace it)
    1. install the same trueNAS train you were on
    1. after first boot, Storage → Import Pool on the 2x12tb. do not create a new pool on those disks
    1. for the apps: since you were on portainer and copied appData onto the data pool, install portainer again and point the compose/stack volumes at that copied appData path. a lot of containers just come back if the bind mounts match
      system config: without a downloaded config file you wont get the old UI settings for free. check the data pool for anything like freenas-db / system dataset leftovers just in case, but dont count on it.

data should be fine as long as you only import, never wipe those satas.

5
  1. Already have one on order
  2. I believe I was on 25.10 (hadn’t committed to 26). How bad will things be if I install a different version?
  3. Perfect, this will save some time.
  4. Portainer was installed via the Apps on TrueNAS. Can I do a manual install on the data pool once it is imported? I would like to manage Portainer updates outside of the TrueNAS apps. If I can’t find the UI settings it won’t be that much to configure back. My biggest concern is having to reconfigure all the Docker containers.
6

25.10 on a fresh boot disk is the safer match if thats what you were on. jumping trains without a saved config usually means you recreate shares/apps by hand even if the data pool imports clean. minor point releases inside the same train are usually fine.

for portainer outside the TrueNAS Apps button: once the pool is imported, yes you can run it yourself (docker compose or a one-shot container) with its data dir on the pool. just dont also leave the old Apps-version of portainer fighting it for the same datasets/ports. point the new portainer at the appData copy you already saved and most stacks come back if the bind paths still exist. the containers themselves arent magic, the volume paths are.

7

Thanks for all the help and info. Once I get the new NVMe and install everything I will report back.