[SCALE 24.20.2] Migrating Existing TrueNAS Install to New TrueNAS Host? Safest Step-by-Step Guide?

TrueNAS General
1

Hello,

I need to RMA the server I’m using for TrueNAS.

To disconnect the TrueNAS ZFS pool my disks are in so I can just reinsert them when I get the new server and restore the config, I know I need to, on the existing server:

  1. Disable SMB;
  2. Disable NFS;
  3. Export pool (do not delete TrueNAS config, do not erase);
  4. Export system config with secret key.

On the new server:

  1. Install TrueNAS;
  2. Import config;
  3. Make sure everything is working that doesn’t involve the pool itself (login, user/groups restored, TLS certificate, network interfaces configured correctly, etc.);
  4. Insert disks (probably with system powered off)
  5. Power on system and import pool;
  6. Make sure pool imported correctly;
  7. Restart SMB/NFS.
  8. Go on with my life after ridiculous RMA experience.

Am I missing any steps for a frictionless process here?

Thanks!

2

So, having actually done this now (and gotten some advice before I tried it), the process is easier than I thought.

  1. On old system:
    1.1. Save current config with secret key. There’s no need to shut down any services or anything; the config file will make the new TrueNAS server behave exactly like the old one.
    1.2. Shut down old system and pull the disks.
  2. On new system:
    2.1. Install TrueNAS using the regular setup process, including adding an admin user.
    2.1.1. This needs to be the exact same major version as the old host; older versions won’t work at all.
    2.1.2. It’s possible to install an older version of TrueNAS (e.g., Dragonfish) from the ISO, and then boot into the fresh install and switch trains/upgrade until you’ve gotten back to the version of the old NAS.
    2.2. Once you’ve updated TrueNAS, load your saved configuration.
    2.3. You will be prompted to reboot.
    2.4. After the reboot, insert your disks.

TrueNAS will go on as if nothing happened once the disks are back in place, though if it boots up enough to realize they’re missing, it’s going to be unhappy. What I did to avoid this was to hook a monitor and keyboard up to the server, and drop into the BIOS as soon as it rebooted after loading my backup config. That gave me plenty of time to reinsert the disks and let the reboot finish once I was ready.

Also, on my system, I did disable SMB and NFS before saving my configuration, because part of my upgrade involved changing the network interface card for my storage network (but not my management port), and I didn’t want it to try to bring up interfaces that no longer existed and start yelling at me. Once I’d set up the new interfaces the way I wanted, I re-enabled my file sharing services and was off to the races.

I suppose I should note that in my case, aside from the new NIC, the servers were identical. I had to RMA the old one, so I was quite glad of how easy it was to migrate.

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