Nexapp - Storage

Storage

Starting from version 8.6, NexappOS automatically stores system logs on persistent storage for bare metal installations (see the Virtual Machines section for VM behavior).

This ensures logs remain available after reboots or unexpected shutdowns even if storage has not been configured manually. By default, log retention is 52 weeks.

Automatic Persistent Logs

For new installations: - NexappOS automatically creates a dedicated partition on the main disk to store logs.

For upgrades: - If no storage was configured before, NexappOS automatically enables persistent logs using free/unallocated space on the primary disk. - If storage was already configured, NexappOS keeps it unchanged.

Note
This behavior improves reliability and requires no manual action.
You can still manage storage from the web interface if needed.

Persistent logging can be disabled (not recommended) or moved to another disk.
If disabled, NexappOS will re-enable persistent logs automatically during a future upgrade.

Manual Configuration

You can manually configure where logs are stored.

1. If using an additional disk or USB device, connect it to the system.
2. Go to System → Storage.
3. Select the storage device you want to use for logs.
4. Click Format and configure storage.

Behavior depends on the device you select:

• If the primary disk is selected:
  NexappOS creates a new partition using any unallocated space.

• If an additional disk is selected:
  NexappOS wipes existing partitions/data and creates a single new partition.

After configuration, storage is:

• formatted with ext4
• mounted at:
  /mnt/data
• used by rsyslog to write logs to:
  /mnt/data/log/messages
• rotated weekly by logrotate
• synchronized nightly for extra data such as metrics

To remove persistent storage and return to in-memory logging, click:

• Remove storage

Virtual Machines

When NexappOS is deployed on a VM using the official image as the virtual disk, logs are not persistent by default.

To enable persistent logs:

• attach a second virtual disk and configure it in System → Storage

Alternative option: - extend the existing VM disk and use free space to create a partition (same method as bare metal).

Behavior Before Version 8.6

In earlier versions, NexappOS stored logs in volatile memory by default.
Persistent logs required manual configuration using either: - free space on the system disk
- or a secondary disk

Troubleshooting

Sometimes the Storage page may not show the primary disk as selectable.
This normally happens when an existing log partition is already present.

This can occur even after a failsafe reset, because the reset does not remove log partitions.

Check for Existing Log Partition

Run:

parted /dev/sda print

Example output:

Model: ATA Hoodisk SSD (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 32.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
128     17.4kB  262kB   245kB                      bios_grub
 1      262kB   17.0MB  16.8MB  fat16              legacy_boot
 2      17.0MB  332MB   315MB
 3      512MB   32.0GB  31.5GB  ext2

Partition 3 is the log partition.

Remove the Old Log Partition

Run:

parted /dev/sda rm 3

Verify again:

parted /dev/sda print

Partition 3 should no longer appear. Now the disk is ready to be configured for logs from the NexappOS web interface.

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