So my hot spare in one of my storage pools is failing (i believe)
Device: /dev/da12, Self-Test Log error count increased from 19 to 20.
I have a replacement, but, as the shelf is full, there are no empty bays to install it. From what I can find, I should OFFLINE the disk, then phyically swap them, then in TrueNAS ‘REPLACE’ the disk (or maybe just remove the spare from the pool, replace it, and add the new disk to the pool)
However, there doesn’t appear to be an easy way to id the phyicall location of the disk, I was hoping offlining it would turn off the lights on the disk?
So there are two issues
You can’t OFFLINE a hot spare?
If the remove the spare from the pool and replace it, is there a way to help me ID the disk phyically rather than shutting the server down, pulling every disk and checking the serial number?
The issue of labeling drives comes up from time to time but I have not done a video on it because there is not an easy answer when you build your own NAS. Labeling the drives with the last 4 or 5 of the serial # on the exposed end or on the trays is the way I often see this done. Sorry I don’t know of a better option though.
This is an old thread, I don’t want to necessarily revive it; however it comes up when looking for swapping spares on Google, so I wanted to provide guidance based on how I handle this with commodity hardware and TrueNAS.
Physically number your removable hard drive bays and number the trays. If you get something like an ICYDock, the trays will often be numbered for you, but you can also do this manually.
If you have already built your nas, shutdown anything using the volumes, and export the array. This is safe to do. Once done, pop all the drives out of their bays.
If building a new NAS or array, either don’t plug all the disks in at once, or pop them all out if you’ve done so already.
Now, on Storage page of the UI, go to the Disks tab.
Here, the list of disks attached to the system is present. None of the ones you’ve detached will be listed, which is what we want. Click the little drop down arrow on the right side of any disk, and you’ll see details, as well as an Edit button. This is how we’re going to make our lives easy. TrueNAS doesn’t expose the column by default, but hidden in this screen is a Description field that the administrator can set.
Pop in the first disk you want to label. Let’s say this is in a drive bay you labeled BAY 1 and you have inserted TRAY 1
Once the disk is inserted, it appears automatically on the disk screen. Drop down the little arrow, and click Edit.
In the General section of the Edit Disk screen, you’ll find the Description field as the third option. In this field enter a label format of your preference. I use the following syntax consistently BAY1 TRAY1. Click Save.
Now that this is saved, we want to reduce the clicks to get this information for when we need to change a disk. In the upper right of the Disks page, note the Columns dropdown. Hit that, and add a checkmark beside Description. You’ll now see your convenient label in the list of disks.
Repeat steps 5-8 for all remaining disks.
If creating a new array, you can now proceed with that process as you would normally. If you exported an existing array as part of this process, you can now re-import it and resume your applications.
Now in future when you have a failed disk, you need only check it’s Name/Serial, go to the Storage > Disks screen, find that disk in the list and then refer to the Description to know which tray to pop out. Just be sure to repeat steps 5-8 for the replacement disk!