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Forum Discussion
Cannot restore iSCSI target
I have a ReadyNas Pro 6 Business and want to backup and restore an iSCSI target. So I created an iSCSI target called mytarget and connected to it from my Windows 7 workstation. I assigned a drive letter to the LUN an copied some test data onto it. all well and good. Then I created a backup job in Netview with the source being mytarget and the destination being myusbshare. The 3 GB target backed up fine and I was able to see "mytarget~0" and "mytarget~0.conf" when I browsed myusbshare.
Now if I could restore that target, reconnect to it, and see my test data again I'd be happy. But there is ZERO documentation on how to backup/restore iSCSI targets in the ReadyNas Software Manual. The only thing helpful I found on the subject was this: http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38708, which looked promising, but did NOT work for me.
I have configured "User" Security Mode in Security > User Mode and unchecked "Enable iSCSI support" in Volumes > iSCSI. I also tried rebooting the ReadyNas.
The problem is I cannot see anything anywhere in the Admin share--or any subdirectory--that resembles a target or a lun. Even if I delete the original mytarget (using Netview), and recreate a new mytarget, it does not show up anywhere on the Admin share.
So I cannot complete the instructions on that post I referenced that suggested to "overwrite the existing target with the one from backup."
Has anyone EVER successfully done a bare metal restore of a ReadyNas iSCSI target?
It seems Netgear left the backup/restore functionality half-baked.
Now if I could restore that target, reconnect to it, and see my test data again I'd be happy. But there is ZERO documentation on how to backup/restore iSCSI targets in the ReadyNas Software Manual. The only thing helpful I found on the subject was this: http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38708, which looked promising, but did NOT work for me.
I have configured "User" Security Mode in Security > User Mode and unchecked "Enable iSCSI support" in Volumes > iSCSI. I also tried rebooting the ReadyNas.
C:\>net use * \\myreadynas\c /user:myreadynas\Admin
Enter the password for 'myreadynas\Admin' to connect to 'myreadynas':
Drive Z: is now connected to \\myreadynas\c.
The command completed successfully.
C:\>z:
Z:\>dir
Volume in drive Z is c
Volume Serial Number is LR45-0123
Directory of Z:\
09/01/2011 01:30 AM <DIR> .
09/01/2011 01:52 AM <DIR> ..
09/01/2011 01:11 AM <DIR> lost+found
09/01/2011 01:52 AM 8,192 aquota.user
08/19/2011 06:41 AM <DIR> home
09/01/2011 01:52 AM 8,192 aquota.group
2 File(s) 16,384 bytes
4 Dir(s) 739,995,496,448 bytes free
The problem is I cannot see anything anywhere in the Admin share--or any subdirectory--that resembles a target or a lun. Even if I delete the original mytarget (using Netview), and recreate a new mytarget, it does not show up anywhere on the Admin share.
So I cannot complete the instructions on that post I referenced that suggested to "overwrite the existing target with the one from backup."
Has anyone EVER successfully done a bare metal restore of a ReadyNas iSCSI target?
It seems Netgear left the backup/restore functionality half-baked.
2 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- Firstly you should do a System > Config Backup. This will include the /etc/ietd.conf file (configuration file for iSCSI) which can be restored if it needs to be.
The iSCSI targets are stored in the hidden .iscsi folder on the C volume. You can restore the relevant file to there. So long as the /etc/ietd.conf file is correct this should be all you need to do apart from restarting the iSCSI service.
Like NetGear doesn't want people to accidentally lose data by restoring to volume C, they also don't want people to accidentally delete targets when restoring to /c/.iscsi. So doing it manually is the way to go. - understood that System > Config Backup shd be part of backup strategy. also understood that it wd be bad for people to accidentally delete data. but not properly documenting backup/restore procedure is amateurish on the part of Netgear. this is second disappointment we've had with the ReadyNas Pro 6 Business (this was first: http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=56097). confidence crisis brewing. Now I've been tasked with testing and documenting a complete bare-metal restore of this thing with a full factory reset...
preliminary documentation:How to Backup/Restore a LUN on ReadyNas Pro 6 Business
Before the LUN becomes corrupt:
1. use Netview to backup the LUN
a) Backup > Add a New Backup Job
b) select iSCSI: your-target LUN 0 as backup source
c) select your choice of backup destination
After the LUN becomes corrupt:
1. disconnect failed iSCSI target from client using iSCSI initiator utility
2. delete the problem LUN using Netview: Volumes > iSCSI
3. verify problem LUN was deleted (optional)
a) stop the iSCSI service using Netview: Volumes > iSCSI uncheck "Enable iSCSI support."
b) connect to ReadyNas admin share: netuse * \\yourReadyNas\C /user:admin
note: switch to "User" Security Mode if necessary (Security > Security Mode)
c) cd into to hidden .iscsi directory (z:\>cd .iscsi) and delete problem LUN if it is still there
4. create a new LUN using Netview of the exact same name and size (this will start iSCSI service)
5. stop the iSCSI service using Netview: Volumes > iSCSI uncheck "Enable iSCSI support."
6. overwrite the newly created LUN with the backup copy
a) this can be done through Windows Explorer, or through the command line
b) one way is to copy the backup LUN to the admin share with Explorer and overwrite via command line:
Z:\>move z:\your-target~0 z:\.iscsi\your-target~0
7. start the iSCSI service using Netview: Volumes > iSCSI check "Enable iSCSI support."
8. reconnect to the LUN from the client using iSCSI initiator utility, verify data
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