How to Migrate between Synology Systems
From SynologyWiki
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Disclaimer
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While not designed to affect the data volume, it's strongly recommended to create a backup before executing system migration. Please refer to the "What is a backup?" article for further information. Synology and other parties are not responsible for any lost of data; it is the sole responsibility of the administrator of the Synology Disk Station to ensure this task.
During system migration, the system OS partition will be over-written with the newer system firmware. This will cause data lost to the internal MySQL/PGSQL database for internal system functions of Synology products. Because of the lost of the MySQL/PGSQL database, the following items will be affected
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Background Information
Hardware Installation
Migrating between Synology systems involves familiarity with the hardware installation of the Synology systems. Please refer to the following guides for further information.
- Hardware Assembly Guide for 2009 Synology Disk Stations
- Hardware Assembly Guide for 2007/2008 Synology Disk Stations
Software Installation
Migrating between Synology systems involves using the Synology Assistant to upload the newer firmware for the new system, please refer to Installing the Synology Server guide for further information.
Migration Table
The following tables contains information on what source models can be migrated to the newer systems. Initialized is defined as the firmware which was first used to create the system in question. It is not defined as the current firmware which is currently operating on the Synology System.
- Note: The following tables assumes that all available bays of the source system are in use
- For the multi-bay systems, if a small quantity of disks are in use, then it can be migrated into a smaller Synology multi-drive product. An example would be
- 2-Drive RAID-1 volume in a DS508 being migrated into a DS209+
For systems initialized with firmware 2.0.x-518 or older
| Destination System | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source System | Single Bay Models | Two-bay Models | Four-bay Models | Notes |
| Single Bay | Yes | No | No | Not capable of migrating partition size/type for multi-bay models |
| Two-Bay | No | Yes | Yes | - |
| Four-Bay | No | No | Yes | - |
For systems initialized with firmware DSM 2.0-0598 or newer
| Destination System | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source System | Single Bay Models | Two-bay Models | Four-bay Models | Five-bay Models | Notes |
| Single Bay | Yes | No | No | No | Not capable of migrating partition type for multi-bay models |
| Two-Bay | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Four-Bay | No | No | Yes | Yes | - |
| Five-Bay | No | No | No | Yes | - |
2010.02.16: At this time, migration between a DS509+ to a DS1010+ is not possible, our engineers are looking into this matter.
Known Compatibility Issues
Reiser File System
Affecting single bay users initialized with firmware older than version 232 (August 2005) will be using the modified Reiser file system for the hard disk. This file system can not be migrated, and users migrating from older systems to newer systems may see a warning message indicating that the HDD will be reformatted to the ext3 file system.
Partition Layout Difference
Administrators migrating from an older system initialized with older firmware (ie, a CS407 with firmware 518 - November 2007) to a newer system with newer firmware, (ie, a DS508 with firmware 722 - September 2008), may find out that that their system cannot be migrated due to the partition layout has changed. Introduce in firmware DSM 2.0-0598, the partition layout has been changed to make accommodate for newer features and larger sized disks. Outlined in the migration procedure below will be a step where an administrator can identify when their data volume will be affected. At this stage, the procedure can be aborted, and the administrator can attempt to return their configuration to the original, thus preserving the data volume.
Migrating any Synology Disk Station to the DS509+/RS409+ and future models which support Volume Expansion
Currently, it is not possible to migrate from a DS508 to a DS509+ and still maintain the ability of conducting Volume Expansion within the DS509+ with the DX5, to have a 10 Disk Expanded RAID Volume. The result of using a migrated DS508 Volume within the DS509+ will limit the DX5 abilities as a secondary independent volume. In order to maintain volume expansion capability, the volume has to be created within the DS509+/RS409+ - it cannot be a volume from any other Synology Disk Station.
Determining if a set of HDDs can be migrated
The following images are examples of what should be expected from the Synology Assistant to determine if the HDD data volume will be affected during migration
| This image shows that all data on the HDD within the Synology system will be lost, please note the red text of Note: all data in the disk will be deleted. Abort the migration procedure if this image is being displayed by the Synology Assistant. This image will be displayed for the known compatibility issues of the Reiser File system format, and may be displayed if the Synology Assistant needs to update the partition layout. |  | |
| The Synology Assistant has not shown the "red text" that all data will be affected, indicating that the data volume should remain untouched. |  | |
| This image shows that on a Synology DS508, that all data on drives three, four, and five will be affected. Data on these disks will be lost. However, data on drives one and two will remain unaffected. |  |
Conducting the system migration
Method 1
Note: This is the fastest method of migration; however it does involve writing data to the hard disks. This method is applicable for any model migrating to any model, within the limits of the migration table as outlined above.
Step 1: Prep Work
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Step 2
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Step 3
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Step 4: Verification of migration status
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Step 5After determining that the HDDs can be migrated, use the Installing the Synology Server guide to finish migrating between the old Synology product to the new Synology product. | |
Step 6
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Method 2
This method is for migrating between identical Synology systems, such as a DS207+ to another DS207+, or for a DS508 to another DS508. This method will be used to update the EEPROM of the Synology Hardware first, and then install the original drives from the older system. This will avoid writing data to the HDDs as outlined in Method 1
Step 1: Prep Work
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Step 2
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Method 3
This method is used for in situations where migration is not possible, where methods one or two cannot be done. It also applies to those administrators who wish to make absolutely certain that their data will not be lost during the system migration.
- Ensure that the latest system firmware and Synology Assistant have been downloaded to the local computer, available here.
- Note the disclaimer as outlined at the top of this article
- Create a configuration backup
- Create a backup of all contents on the existing Synology system onto another storage medium. More information of a backup can be found here.
- Remove all drives from the existing system
- Delete all partitions on the hard drives using a regular computer
- or install the drives into the new Synology system, and acknowledge that the Synology Assistant will change the partition of the drives
- Note: use either method of deleting the partition of the hard drive will result in data loss on the drive. Ensure that all data has been backed up before executing this procedure
- Install the HDDs into the new Synology system
- Use the Synology Assistant to initializes the new Synology system
- Restore the configuration file of the Synology system.
- Copy the data from the backup storage medium to the new Synology system.
Method 4
This method of migration entails copying the data from one Synology System to another disk-populated Synology System. This is useful for veteran Synology Administrators, when upgrading old systems, such as migrating from an old 500GB DS-106, to a newer 2TB DS209+
- For the sake of this procedure, the old system will be defined as System A. The newer system will be defined as System B.
- Note the disclaimer as outlined at the top of this article
- Ensure that both System A and System B are fully operational and a volume has been created on System B
- If necessary, restore the configuration file to System B
- Make sure that both System A, System B and a computer are all on the network and can communicate with each other
- Copy the data over from System A to System B
- Methods to copy the data
- Use the local computer to copy the data from one system to another. The copy process can be executed using the File Browser of the local computer (ie, Windows Explorer, Finder, Nautilus) via a Network Protocol (ie, Samba, AFP, FTP)
- Note: this does involve leaving the computer on, and it locks the computer in as a "traffic cop" for both of the systems
- Use Network Backup to copy the data over from System A to System B. Afterwards, the data in the NetBackup folder of System B can be moved into the appropriate shares, using the File Station
- Use NFS and the CLI of both systems to temporary manually mount System A's volume onto System B.
- Note: Given that this technique involves knowledge of Linux and the inner workings of the Synology system, technical support and advice will not be provided by Synology as this is an unsupported operation of the Synology system. This information was listed for educational purposes only, as a suggestion for those experienced with manipulating the Synology system via the CLI.
- Permissions and Ownership of files may need to be adjusted using after this technique.
- Use the local computer to copy the data from one system to another. The copy process can be executed using the File Browser of the local computer (ie, Windows Explorer, Finder, Nautilus) via a Network Protocol (ie, Samba, AFP, FTP)
- Methods to copy the data
