With its high stability, robust performance, and a rich set of file-sharing protocols, TrueNAS Core has been dominating the self-built NAS ecosystem for years. But ever since iXsystem has shifted its attention to the TrueNAS Scale, the updates to Core have slowed down considerably.
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Factor in Scale’s superb performance in virtual machines and containerization-based workloads, and there are plenty of reasons to ditch Core and switch to the younger TrueNAS OS. If you’re looking to move from TrueNAS Core to Scale, then read on. This article will guide you through the entire migration process!
Before you begin
While TrueNAS Core’s built-in migration utility can transfer most of your datasets and pools to Scale, the same can’t be said for many of the other features. Jails, for example, won’t be carried over to TrueNAS Scale, and the same holds for plugins, ZFS boot environments, tunables, and NIS data, among others.
Thankfully, there are a couple of workarounds to restore some of these facilities, and here are some preliminary steps you should take to prepare your TrueNAS Core system for the migration process:
Although the AFP Shares facility has been deprecated in Scale, your folders will be saved, and you can use them as SMB Shares once you’ve completed the migration process. Sadly, jails and plugins won’t be carried over in any manner. So, you should copy all the user and config data stored in them onto an external drive. I’ve already performed this procedure twice, and while I can attest to the safety of the procedure, I’d still recommend creating a backup of everything important to avoid future regrets in case something breaks during the TrueNAS Scale installation.
Updating to TrueNAS Scale
Once you’re finished the preliminary steps, it’s time to begin the migration process.
- Launch the TrueNAS Core UI in your favorite browser and log in to your account using your credentials.
- Click on the System tab and select Update.
- Tap the drop-down arrow next to the Train option and pick the latest version of TrueNAS Scale.
If you’re on an earlier version of TrueNAS Core, iXsystems recommends updating the OS to version 13.0 before attempting the migration procedure.
- Once you’re on the correct version of TrueNAS Core, enable the Confirm checkbox and hit Continue.
- Hit the Download Updates button and choose Save Configuration in the pop-up window.
If you’re using iSCSI CHAP passwords or have encrypted credentials for the cloud/Active Directory, you’ll need to check the Include Password Secret Seed option before hitting Save Configuration.
- Agree to checkbox on Applying the updatepress the Download button, and wait for TrueNAS to install the update file.
Booting into TrueNAS Scale for the first time
Soon, your NAS will reboot into Scale, and you can reload the web UI to proceed onward. Most of the tips in this section are optional, so you may not need to follow them if you haven’t previously used many of the services in TrueNAS Core.
- Sign in to the TrueNAS Scale web UI with the same Username and Password as Core.
- If you don’t spot any alert notifications and are able to open the TrueNAS Scale Dashboardthen the upgrade was successful.
- If you had previously configured an AFP Share in TrueNAS Core, Scale will run it as an SMB Share. So, you’ll have to follow the same procedure to use SMB Shares if you’re planning to use the AFP Share on your Apple device. But before that, navigate to the Shares section and tap the Three Dots next to Windows SMB Shares before selecting Turn On Service.
- For those with virtual machines running on the NAS, you may need to reset the network bridge settings to allow the VM to communicate with TrueNAS Scale and access your storage pools.
- Also, if you’re using encrypted credentials, you should decrypt them first using the Password secret seed you downloaded earlier. To do so, click on the Manage Configuration option in the General section of the Systems Settings tab.
Click on Choose file, select the Password secret seed on the pop-up window, and hit the Upload button.
The iSCSI CHAP passwords and other credentials will be decrypted when TrueNAS Scale reboots.
Switching to TrueNAS Scale without losing your important data
With that, you’ve successfully updated to TrueNAS Scale, and all your storage pools and disks should be accessible from the new UI. But unlike AFP Shares, certain facilities, including jails and plugins, just can’t be carried over to TrueNAS Scale. Therefore, your only hope is to back up the information stored in a plugin and restore the data after downloading its TrueNAS Scale App.
If I’d written this article a few months ago, I would have recommended adding Truecharts as the app catalog. But since it’s no longer compatible with TrueNAS Scale, you’ll need to set up the appropriate Docker containers on the OS if the plugin doesn’t have a complementary application in the default TrueNAS app catalog.
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Before you start using the newly installed TrueNAS Scale, it’s a good idea to confirm whether the VMs, Network Shares, and user accounts are working as expected. Once that’s done, you’re free to enjoy the TrueNAS Scale experience.