Importing existing Vdev/Storage pools

[3oin]

Will it be possible to import an existing storage pool from another truenas (scale) build? Or do you need to wipe all the data and start again? (I figure you won't be able to do this in beta but will it be available after 1.0?) Thanks. 

[JustInTyme]

also would love to know as im running trunas but plan to convert to hexos but would rather not transfer data  off drives to refill them again

[Magnus]

Hi there! This is something we’ve gotten a lot of questions about and we will explore the possibility of “adopting” an existing TrueNAS installation or pool at a later stage. 

[NewbNet]

I would love to know what is the end result of this.

As FreeNas/truenas slowly change it has been difficult to keep up with the updates.

If not possible to change or bring existing storage, would a form of backup system be created instead?

[JustInTyme]

I successfully imported my truenas pools.

before doing the hard drive configuration in deck.hexos.com navigate to the ip of your server and import pools in truenas

then go complete the harrddrive config in the deck. it says it deletes the drives but didnt for my configuration atleast.

4x 16tb drives and 2 2tb ssds so it paired everything properly but id attempt at your own risk.

[Skrae]

I know I am maybe a couple of months late to the party and thank you for this post.  I was able to import the pools but did you figure out how to get HexOS to recognize the datasets in those pools for the purpose of configuring the SMB share?

[Skrae]

Addendum: I dumb. I was able to just add the shares in the TrueNAS layer and then HexOS worked just fine.

[Dan Forever]

Hey guys, I'm looking to do something similar - So during initial hexos setup, you drop down to the underlying truenas scale interface, use that to import your old true nas drives (vdevs/pools), and then return to the hexos setup, where it claims to delete your drives(!), but doesn't really?

[Dylan]

On 3/7/2025 at 4:32 AM, Dan Forever said:

Hey guys, I'm looking to do something similar - So during initial hexos setup, you drop down to the underlying truenas scale interface, use that to import your old true nas drives (vdevs/pools), and then return to the hexos setup, where it claims to delete your drives(!), but doesn't really?

That is the expected behavior, yes. But please be advised that because this is still in beta things can be wonky. Backup your data, first.

[lnkd]

Sorry to bring up an old thread. I just started using HexOS and I want to swap out my hardware. Can we still drop down into TrueNAS Scale, import our existing pool, and go back into HexOS setup without having our existing data deleted? Of course I will back up my data first but I want to know before trying. 

[Mobius]

49 minutes ago, lnkd said:

Sorry to bring up an old thread. I just started using HexOS and I want to swap out my hardware. Can we still drop down into TrueNAS Scale, import our existing pool, and go back into HexOS setup without having our existing data deleted? Of course I will back up my data first but I want to know before trying. 

i believe there is a skip setup button now.
i would skip setup and then go into truenas to adopt your existing pool

[lnkd]

15 hours ago, Mobius said:

i believe there is a skip setup button now.
i would skip setup and then go into truenas to adopt your existing pool

Great. When it comes to apps, can I just reinstall the curated apps from HexOS and they should restore my configurations? 

[Mobius]

9 hours ago, lnkd said:

Great. When it comes to apps, can I just reinstall the curated apps from HexOS and they should restore my configurations? 

I'm honestly not too sure, i haven't tried that yet.
I imagine it supposed to see the existing config files and work.

[ShinobiRen]

I am actually thinking this might be the only way to get my TrueNAS install to see my newly installed 10GB SFP+ card. If you have already done it @lnkd can you let me know if this worked out well for HexOS?

If you haven't I am planning on doing it this weekend and writing a full guide for the process for anyone else to use. 

[lnkd]

On 11/11/2025 at 4:36 PM, ShinobiRen said:

I am actually thinking this might be the only way to get my TrueNAS install to see my newly installed 10GB SFP+ card. If you have already done it @lnkd can you let me know if this worked out well for HexOS?

If you haven't I am planning on doing it this weekend and writing a full guide for the process for anyone else to use. 

Hey I just finished my hardware migration and I'm happy to report it was successful. These are the steps I did:
 

1. Log into TrueNAS SCALE web interface
2. Go to System > General Settings > Manage Configuration > Download File
3. If you have encrypted datasets, go to Datasets > select your encrypted dataset > Export Key
4. Shut down server and swap hardware
5. Prepare HexOS installation drive and use it to boot
6. Set up HexOS/TrueNAS SCALE, I left everything on default
7. In your router settings, give the new hardware the same IP as your old one. Restart your TrueNAS server to grab the right IP.
8. Go into TrueNAS SCALE web interface, log in
9. Upgrade your version of TrueNAS. At the time of writing this post, the HexOS installation image is behind of what's was being supported/recommend by the HexOS web interface.
   1. Check the filename of the .tar that was created when you exported the configuration. It should have the version of TrueNAS that was used in it (i.e. 25.04.2.6).
   2. Select the same version from the upgrade screen and confirm that you want to switch upgrade train.
   3. Apply pending updates and the system will reboot.
10. Go to Storage > Import Pool > find your zpool
    1. Got an error? Check step 9 again. Make sure you are using the same version of TrueNAS as your old boot drive. 
11. Go into System > General Settings > Manage Configuration > Upload File
12. After reboot, go to Apps > Configuration > Unset Pool
13. Restart TrueNAS
14. Go back into the web interface, go to Apps > Configuration > Choose Pool
    1. Your apps should show back up and you should be able to start them.
15. Go to the HexOS web interface. 
    1. If you haven't already, unclaim your old server and claim the new one
16. The hardware check screen should give you a warning about an existing pool. This is good, go onto the next screen and skip creating pool. 
17. Give your server a name and you should be good to go!

Really hope that HexOS has an easily migration process in the future. I have learned so much about TrueNAS that it's making less sense for me to use HexOS. 

Edited 1 hour ago by lnkd