25.1 upgrade with change to ZFS

[jolyntorres]

Hello,
I've been wanting to switch my single mSATA installation to ZFS for a while now to take advantage of snapshots. A few years ago, when I set up OPNsense on my current firewall, I didn't realize that I could use ZFS without needing a mirrored drive. According to the upgrade instructions:

Another method is to import and reinstall using a new installation image, which will retain your settings with "Import Configuration." You can then reformat the disk and apply a clean system using either "Install (ZFS)" or "Install (UFS)."

Does this mean I need to download an image onto a bootable USB drive, adjust my BIOS to boot from USB, and perform a complete fresh install with the ZFS option? Is "Import Configuration" referring to a configuration I've previously exported, or is this functionality now included in the installer? Will choosing the "Install (ZFS)" option reformat the disk and also download or install all of my packages, plugins, and configurations?

[cookiemonster]

> Does this mean I need to download an image onto a bootable USB drive, adjust my BIOS to boot from USB, and perform a complete fresh install with the ZFS option?
Correct. As a new installation.

>Is "Import Configuration" referring to a configuration I've previously exported, or is this functionality now included in the installer?
Correct again. You save your current config to your PC/laptop, ready to use when re-installing.

> Will choosing the "Install (ZFS)" option reformat the disk and also download or install all of my packages, plugins, and configurations?
Correct once again. The installation will format the target disk with your choice of file system, ZFS or UFS, wiping it clean of previous data.
The config you then restore will include your packages and plugins and configurations, as long as those have been managed using the UI because that is what saves the states in the config file. Anything you add/change/remove via console will not.
What will happen after the restore is that the plugins will show as "orphaned" or "missing" or somesuch which then you need to go to "resolve plugin something" and that will re-install them.
Be aware that there are some plugins that despite this known flow, do not get re-configured as they were, an example from the ones I know because I use it is Crowdsec. That one needs reconfiguring completely.