Playing with Betas

Few groundrules for playing with unRAID betas:

1 - Don't upgrade your production array to a beta.  This is the general advice of the forum.  But I must admit I haven't always follow this advice myself.  Why?  In the past, some release versions have also had serious issues, while some betas have been perfect.  I've tended to treat release versions much the same way as betas.  But the new release process, which includes one or more release candidates with the final one being promoted - with zero code changes - to the release version, should really help make release versions far less prone to errors.  But I still feel that much of the advice below applies to any new release - release versions, release candidates as well as MATURE betas.

2 - Before upgrading, do a full parity check.  Look at the syslog and run smart reports on all of your drives.  Make sure everything is perfect.  If things start to appear to fail in the new version, you want to have high confidence that your system is in good running order.

3 - Last thing you do - before powering down to reboot the new beta - is to stop the array and back up your memory stick.  Most critical is the "config" directory, but just back up the whole thing.  Remember, array needs to be stopped when you take the backup.  Store the backup on a workstation - not on your array.

4 - Don't delete the old version files from your flash.  Just rename them (e.g., bzroot -> bzroot46, bzimage -> bzimage46) and then copy the new versions over.  This makes it easy to go back to the older version without hunting for it.  (And if your unRAID downloads are on your array and you are having problems, you want as easy way to downgrade).

5 - Remember it is a beta.  In one beta there was a problem where drives would appear unformatted and the format button became enabled.  No harm really in itself.  But some users pressed the format button and reformatted their disks!  Don't do silly things just because the beta makes it look like something is wrong.  It is unlikely the beta is going to break anything, but more likely you'll do something harmful based on perhaps bad information from the beta.

6 - Don't jump in right away.  If you don't have AF drives you want to add to your array right now, there is no hugely compelling reason to upgrade right now.  I have gone 2 or 3 RELEASE versions and not upgraded (back in the 4.2 / 4.3 days).  I don't advise staying in the old versions that long, but also don't think anyone should feel they have to rush.  A month after the release version comes out is a very reasonable time to upgrade.

7 - But if on the other hand, this beta has fixes or features you need and feel are high priority for you right now, and you realize and accept the risk, still give the beta some time for testers to report success.  Once their is strong evidence that people are using the new version, and the activity in the announcements forum dies down to a few known issues that you're willing to accept, only then should you even consider upgrading.

8 - Make sure you are on the lookout for problems.  If something seems weird don't assume it is nothing to worry about.  Post your experiences in the forums so that LimeTech can research anything that looks strange and perhaps address before the release version.  Feel free to ask questions before taking any step you are worried about.

8 - Avidly read the announcement thread for the version you are betaing.  You want to know immediately if others are having problems, and be able to react quickly.

Good luck!