Questions about omv-regen

IN THIS THREAD YOU CAN ASK YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT omv-regen

omv-regen is a bash script that is used to migrate the OMV configuration to a different system. You can see here how to use it. [How to] Migrate/Restore OMV Settings to Another System with omv-regen

Some typical questions:

Will omv-regen ever be integrated into Openmediavault?

Probably not. omv-regen treats openmediavault and omv-extras equally. It couldn't be otherwise if omv-regen is expected to be useful, since 99% of openmediavault users also use omv-extras. However openmediavault and omv-extras are independent projects and so far the openmediavault project has never integrated functions unrelated to its base project, so it is most likely that omv-regen will never be integrated into the openmediavault project.

Can I use omv-regen to migrate the configuration to a different architecture?

Yeah. But keep in mind that not all plugins can run on all architectures. If the new system cannot run a plugin that existed on the original system, the regeneration may not complete depending on whether that plugin is essential or not. A plugin is considered essential if it is related to file systems.

Can I schedule backups with omv-regen?

Yeah. You can schedule a backup in the OMV GUI in scheduled tasks. You just need to run the omv-regen backup command. But omv-regen is not designed to make backups but to migrate configurations from one system to another.

Keep the following considerations in mind:

1 - To regenerate a system with omv-regen the versions of the installed packages must be the same. So having scheduled backups will not guarantee that you can regenerate from that backup, probably when you want to do it some version will have been updated and you will need a recent backup. So the scheduled backup can be useful to back up the OMV database and have it as a reference in addition to custom folders, but if you need a backup that you can restore it is better to use the openmediavault-backup plugin.

2 - Before scheduling backups you must run omv-regen and configure the appropriate parameters, which will be the ones used by omv-regen backup. It is advisable to disable automatic updates, if you do not the system will update automatically without your presence. Updates sometimes cause problems or require a restart and it is preferable to do them manually. This feature is not restricted in omv-regen but if you use omv-regen backup to update the system automatically it will be at your own risk.

Quote from Pharizna

I' trying to "clone" an OMV installation from a CM3588 device to a new NanoPi T6.

My CM3588 OMV is working fine with the OS installed in the eMMC and with a NVMe disk for data.

The T6 has an eMMC too where I'have installed the debian/OMV too. The data are in another NVMe too.

I've use OMV-regen in the CM3588 and copied the files in the T6, When I tried to use these files in the T6 seems it's not correct as you can see in the screenshot attached.

That warning is telling you that the data disks on the new system are not the same as those on the original system. Therefore omv-regen does not allow you to do regeneration.

To regenerate you have to connect the same data disks that you had in the original system to the new system. The OMV system unit can (recommended actually) be different, the data disks should be the same.

Quote from Pharizna

Ok but I’d like to have two OMV devices “identical”. It won’t possible with your omv-regen

It's really just a warning. If the button is available you can do the regeneration anyway.

For it to work what you want you should previously clone the data disk. So the uuid of both data disks should be the same. After that run regeneration (despite the warning) and everything will work normally. You will have two cloned systems.

Quote from Pharizna

1. How to "previously" clone the data disk?

To clone a disk you could use the dd command, for example. Here is an explanation. https://akashrajpurohit.com/bl…g-with-linuxs-dd-command/

If you already have the data copied to that disk, it should be enough to modify the UUID so that it is identical to the original. Here is a procedure. https://www.tecmint.com/change-uuid-of-partition-in-linux/

Quote from Pharizna

2. In the regen screen there are two "strange" messages:

NOT ALL DATA UNITS OF ORIGINAL SYSTEM ARE CONNECTED... but the only NVMe is connected. Others NVMe previously connected were unmounted.

IT COULD NOT BE READ the information from System disk (original or actual) . Why?

That message is telling you that the original system data disk is not connected. It is a warning. The script searches for a match with the serial number of the disk. But it allows you to do the regeneration even in these conditions if you want to continue.

As you said in another post, OMV is not able to read the serial number either. I suppose it will be an issue related to the USB to SATA adapter, not all of them allow you to read the serial number. So it's just a warning, you can regenerate too if you want despite that warning.

Quote from Pharizna

3. What's the meaning of the last message about the system is already configured ... and I must do a clean installation? I install OMV directly from an image that write in the eMMC deleting all data, etc

The last message is telling you that the system you want to regenerate is not a clean installation. Regeneration must be done in a new OMV installation. In this case it will not allow you to regenerate. What is the result in that system of?

dpkg -l | grep openmediavault

Quote from Pharizna

Could it be possible to uninstall them and try to regenerate it?

I suppose so, but I can't guarantee the result. It will depend on the configurations you have made on that system. It's not just the plugins, but also the users if you have configured them, shared folders, etc. I recommend doing a clean installation to avoid problems, it should not take more than 15 minutes.

Quote from Pharizna

Without change the ID of the two disks and regenerate the old OMV … in the new/OMV installation there will be warnings but OMV-regen will create new shared folders, etc in the new OMV?

omv-regen does not create shared folders, it does not make any changes to the data disks, however it will create the same database configurations that existed on the original system, including references to those shared folders.

So if there is no data disk with the same UUID and folders on that disk you will have errors.

Quote from Aloyz

Is there any way to solve/bypass this problem?

No. omv-regen is supported in versions 6 and 7. It does not work on OMV5.

You would have to at least update to OMV6 even if it is in a "semi-good" state, so that the system can be updated. After that you could use omv-regen to get a clean system.

Quote from Soma

Will the LAN IP be the same as it was?

It's optional. You can choose before making the regeneration.