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FreeBSD on ZFS root, using 'gptzfsboot' - upgrading the disks

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 23:15:02 GMT

So, you've (I've) filled up your (my) NAS host - this was going to happen... You also probably (I definitely) haven't archived a full backup somewhere safe and offsite in some time! In that time, the most efficient size/cost ratio disks have probably increased in size massively.

It is time to procure 2 new bigger disks, and when they arrive, and are tested to be cool... shutdown the NAS host, and carefully shove them in...

FreeBSD on ZFS root, using 'gptzfsboot'

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 22:33:59 GMT

This is old; I did this when I got new NAS hardware and wanted to use the then new 'gptzfsboot' code which allows for ZFS root without messing about with UFS partitions on each mirror member disk ( to work around FreeBSD's bootloader not supporting ZFS ).
One of the prime motivators was the idea of being able to upgrade the disks in my NAS when they filled up without having to mess about. I wanted to be able to buy a new pair of bigger disks, add them in, create a 4-way mirror, let it sync, remove the old disks, leaving a bigger mirror and importantly, a bootable archivable pair of disks.
At the rate disk size gets bigger, this has proved to be a good strategy.
I bought an HP Microserver for this; FreeBSD works very well on it - it has 4 drive bays (needed for this strategy), and with offers at the time was 100GBP not including upgrading the memory to its maximum, or HDDs. Still though, very cheap, so I bought 2 for chassis redundancy.

Anyway, I wouldn't have bothered blogging it, it's well covered online; but I had some nice tweaks on the source HOWTO I based this install on, and more importantly the disk upgrade process ( which will be the next post... ) had a few sub-optimal moments, which I thought were worth sharing. Do please email me if I'm wrong!

Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH packaging lies and unbricking info

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:43:14 GMT

My Linksys WRT54GS running OpenWRT has been faultless, however, it was running an old release (White Russian) and needed upgrading for a newer kernel with proper IPV6 support.

Rather than gleefully upgrading and risking breaking my housenet's ability to see the internet, I decided to proceed cautiously, and buy a new router, with a view to setting it up as a new shiny drop-in replacement. A good opportunity to upgrade hardware for, amongst other things, N wireless. After searching for recommends, settled on the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH, and placed an order with Amazon.

Yet again, I failed to notice that I'd selected a US vendor, and waited for ages for it to arrive. Grr. At self. When it did turn up, I immediately ignored the DD-WRT pre-install, carefully chose my OpenWRT firmware, flashed it, and bricked it...

opensolaris is no more...

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:16:34 GMT

oh dear, this post seems to confirm the recent rumours... so I along with others will be watching to see how IllumOS and OpenIndiana progress...

debian 'lenny' cyrus-imapd-2.2 grrr

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:13:32 GMT

hey kids! so i hit an error that i couldn't google ( hence this article... ) whilst migrating a debian cyrus-imapd mail service from an old sluggish box running 'sarge' to a new shiny box running 'lenny'...

why lenny? as is somewhat usual with debian, to get support in the packaged kernel for new SATA controllers...

the setup is cyrus-imapd-2.2, exim4, sasl auth, etc all from lenny debs... here is the error:



cyrus/lmtp[PID]: FATAL: Internal error: assertion failed:
duplicate.c: 146: (len == sizeof(time_t)) || (len == sizeof(time_t) + sizeof(unsigned long))

switched exim to use lmtpunix socket instead (just in case)...



cyrus/lmtpunix[PID]: FATAL: Internal error: assertion failed:
duplicate.c: 146: (len == sizeof(time_t)) || (len == sizeof(time_t) + sizeof(unsigned long))

hmm.

metasploit3 on gentoo

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 05:02:06 GMT

bored of waiting for metasploit3 to hit portage? download metasploit3-ebuild.tgz and unpack it into a portage overlay directory... if you do layman, or your own thing, then these next few commands probably are not for you, if not, they'll do:

New Site

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:36:45 GMT

new radiant powered site

I don’t really blog, but radiant has blog-foo built-in, so I thought I would include it and see if it tempts me into sharing thoughts with a bizarre subsection of the internet using public. I am currently doubting it :)

Second Post

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

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First Post

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

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