I know upgrade is possible, but is it safe enough? I want to avoid any possible problems, because when I reinstall the ESXi server (and am planning to move to supported version of TrueNAS during the process) TrueNAS is running on, I don’t want to touch the thing for several more years
I am not a Linux guy, so basically everytime I need to touch anything related to the server and whatever runs on it, I am relearning absolutely everything (the absolutely bare minimum to get by with lots of googling and annoying a friend of mine), so I want to be absolutely safe there won’t be any unexpected weird problems.
Running TrueNAS virtualised is possibly more dangerous than sidegrading from CORE to SCALE… (Not to mention trusting Broadcomm to keep ESXi available.)
But if you’re using TrueNAS purely for storage, with apps and VMs directly under ESXi, you may as well fossilise on CORE for “several more years” and not touch anything beyond 13.0-U6.7.
I don’t think so, I’ve been running it virtualized from day one of using it and never had any problems.
I am on old ESXi version too. Plus I intend to reinstall the server with XCP-ng anyway.
What else but storage would I use the thing for, out of curiosity?
All the rage about SCALE is about having a different system for vitualisation and containerised applications with each new release. In the fury, some have forgotten that a NAS is first about storage and then, possibly, very optionally, about running docker alongside.
AFAIK the in-place upgrade from 13.3 (CORE) to 24.x (SCALE) is a one-way upgrade, there is no way to fall back.
I would not upgrade in place but save a copy of the existing boot device(s), provision new boot device(s) and do a fresh installation, then import your data zpools. This was if the installation of SCALE does not go well and you cannot access the data zpools with it, you can fall back to the working CORE installation.
Note: Do not upgrade the zpools after importing them on the new SCALE instance until you are sure you will not need to go back. I generally do this for any upgrades, I wait a few weeks to upgrade the zpools themselves until I am sure I will not need to fall back.
I do this kind of thing routinely for my personal development.
NOTE: If you have the VM on automatic startup, disable it or you will shoot yourself in the foot.
There are only a few simple steps:
Backup your CORE config files.
In ESXi, clone your TrueNAS VM. If you can’t clone because you are using the Free version, you will need to manually create a copy of your ESXi files in a new directory, then import/register the new copy of TrueNAS. I would recommend renaming it right away so you don’t get things confused. You are going to need to stop the original VM.
Start the new VM. All should look identical to your original copy.
Do the upgrade. When it is all said and done, your system should be up and running, pools mounted and supporting as they once were.
Make a new backup of your configuration files.
WARNING! Do not upgrade your pool feature set when asked. If you do, you are locked into your upgrade and will not be able to roll back. If you really want to upgrade the feature set, wait a month or two, ensure you are fine as-is, then you can upgrade that feature set.
From here you will have the possibility of two versions, but if you have any jails/VMs/apps, those are likely to no longer work in the original version. It is a risk, but a very minor risk. Your pools will remain in-tact.
If all works as planned, setup your new TrueNAS version to automatically start.
Keep the old version around for a while, it is a security blanket, just like the config files are.
This is just one way to do it if you are running TrueNAS on ESXi.
