NAPP-IT bug: zpool add disks to mirror, pool incorrectly reported non-existant

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AveryFreeman

consummate homelabber
Mar 17, 2017
413
54
28
42
Near Seattle
averyfreeman.com
Hi,

So I am 100% new to Napp-It, I'm running it in a VM on ESXi 6.7 using Omni-OS
Code:
uname -a
SunOS napp-it01 5.11 omnios-r151026-51c7d6fd75 i86pc i386 i86pc
(I started with the Jan 2018 Napp-in-One image and upgraded it after changing the publisher to Omni-OSCE since I got an error when trying to deploy the May 2018 OVA).

Anywho, it's a great piece of software and I'm enjoying it very much so far. I was using FreeBSD for recording TV to a ZFS striped-mirror array, but I had some unformatted disks around and I wanted to try Napp-It, if for nothing else than to format the drives in a format usable by both Solarish, FreeBSD and Linux OS (apparently they are non-importable from FreeBSD->Solarish OS, but importable from Solarish->FreeBSD)

So I made a pool yesterday using the Napp-It interface and accidentally made a 4-way mirror. I didn't catch it to this morning (You'd think I'd realize when I saw free space for four 2TB drives was only 1.76TB, but I'm slow...)

So I removed two of the drives from the pool and I knew I needed to add them back with something like
Code:
# zpool add poolname mirror c0t5000CCA222ECEB77d0 c0t5000CCA229C9A88Fd0
I was extrapolating from this guide on how to add the drives back to the pool as a striped-mirror (I used it to create another striped-mirror set this morning and it worked fine):

How To Create a ZFS RAID 10 Array

However, when I used the Napp-It interface to 'extend' the pool using the two drives I had just removed (also using the interface), Napp-It said the pool was there, ZFS reported that it was still working, in fact I was still RECORDING TV while I did all this and there were no hiccups.

But Napp-It reported that the pool did not exist.

I did in fact manage to add the drives back using the `zpool add` command at the CLI, and again, totally everything was working.

I think there's some bug in the Napp-It interface where if you have removed drives from an existing pool, if you try and edit said pool later on it doesn't register it as existing - even if it's listing the pool, it comes up in drop-down menus, etc. - when trying to add the drives back in some way.

I tried logging-out and back in and refreshing the browser window, too.

Just wanted to make people aware of this in case they need to do something like remove drives from a pool and remake the same pool, they might have to pull up an Oracle ZFS wiki and get the commands for the CLI.

BTW Thanks for Napp-It, it's a great piece of software. Liking it very much so far.
 

gea

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2010
3,141
1,182
113
DE
Can you add a screenshot of menu Disks > Details amd Menu Pools to verify the status.

The correct way from a 4way mirror to a Raid-10 in napp-it
remove 2 disks form the mirror via Disks > remove
add a mirror to the pool via Pools > Extend (select two disks and mirror as type)

btw
Can you update to current 18.01b free
as the first 18.01 from the ova can crash in ESXi on smartmontools.
18.01b fixes also some bugs
 

AveryFreeman

consummate homelabber
Mar 17, 2017
413
54
28
42
Near Seattle
averyfreeman.com
Can you add a screenshot of menu Disks > Details amd Menu Pools to verify the status.

The correct way from a 4way mirror to a Raid-10 in napp-it
remove 2 disks form the mirror via Disks > remove
add a mirror to the pool via Pools > Extend (select two disks and mirror as type)

btw
Can you update to current 18.01b free
as the first 18.01 from the ova can crash in ESXi on smartmontools.
18.01b fixes also some bugs
Hello,

Yes, I updated to 18.01b almost immediately after installing the OVA. Just by downloading the file from the website using the wget | perl command as described here: napp-it // webbased ZFS NAS/SAN appliance for OmniOS, OpenIndiana, Solaris and Linux : Downloads

Code:
wget -O - www.napp-it.org/nappit | perl
And the procedure you're describing is exactly what I did. This is in fact after I updated napp-it, since it was just this morning.

After I realized I had a 4-way mirror, I removed two disks (the two that I presumed would not crash the array).

Then I attempted to add the disks back to the array using extend -> mirror (from dropdown menu)

Web gui said the pool did not exist. [cmd]# zpool status poolname[/cmd] disputed that.

Code:
# zpool add poolname mirror disk0 disk1
worked fine. Even while recording and watching TV. (was impressed by resiliency).

I should mention, I supposed, that first I ran:

Code:
# zpool add -n poolname mirror disk0 disk1
As per Oracle document https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19253-01/819-5461/6n7ht6qvk/index.html to simulate the command before moving forward.

Gotta love zfs...

Do you have any information re: OmniOS Community development and the likelihood of its continuation? I remember I was really bummed when I read that Omni-IT was cancelling development plans and decided to go FreeBSD route instead for my file server (about a year ago). Maybe I should start another thread...