Starting TrueNAS Core/TrueNAS Scale for New Users

TanKianW

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*LATEST UPDATE: TrueNAS Core 12.0 U4:

Issues resolved in TrueNAS 12.0-U4:

  • A detailed security scan of 12.0-U4 is also available at the TrueNAS Security site.
  • 18 improvements and 81 bug fixes are included.
  • Python upgrade and several improvements to reduce memory leaks and probability of crashes of core middleware processes. This issue happens rarely, does not impact ongoing data services, and has proven to be difficult to reproduce.
  • OpenZFS improvements for both small and high performance systems. Performance during scrubs while under high CPU load should be more reliable.
  • Security updates for OpenVPN, Samba, and various other ports.
  • Replication webUI improvements to simplify process and avoid mistakes.
  • Updated Minio (the S3 target) to the latest version which includes support for APIv3.
  • Minor webUI and reporting issues including the display of more jails per page.
  • New driver support for Realtek RTL8125/RTL8111 Ethernet devices (2.5GBase-T).

More on the release notes here:
https://www.truenas.com/docs/releasenotes/core/12.0u4/


*EXTRA SHARING:
Since some DIY NAS builders feedback that the tough (stiff) SATA cables making the installation in tight m-ITX casing extra challenging, I recommend the use of ultra thin SATA cables which I prefer to use when building my own TrueNAS System:


2Uywb0X.jpg
 
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TanKianW

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UPDATED on Post #6

*SyncThing: For those who only need Syncing between devices to your TrueNAS System




More features for advanced users:



NOTE:
  • If you only need simple file sync between devices, SyncThing is a snappy and great solution.
  • SyncThing could be a substitute to Nextcloud for simple file sync
  • Comparing plugin updates on TrueNAS, it is better supported than Nextcloud
  • There is not yet an official support for iOS platform
  • Personally I use SyncThing to sync files from my worklab to my homelab. It is hassle free and much easier to set up than Nextcloud.
 
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TanKianW

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*UPDATED on Post #5

*COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS*

Some of the most commonly asked questions I received on the use of TrueNAS Core is on (1) how do you extend the ZFS pools and (2) how to replace the disks when it fails. Below are the practical tutorials answering to the questions. Do watch.




 
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Preacher1010

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my FREENAS 11.3-U5 Build:

AMD Ryzen 3200G (integrated graphics)
ASUS A320I-K mobo
16GB DDR4 2666 Corsair LPX
Transcend 128GB NVME SSD M.2
FSP 450Watt SFX PSU
Silverstone CS01 ITX case
2 x 8TB Seagate Ironwolf
ID-Cooling 120mm Fan Yellow
2 x Silverstone Slim Sata Cable
2 x Noctua 40mm exhaust fans

my Reddit post for r/sffpc photos here

 
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draco76x

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Is there any method that I can remote into home Truenas from Outside network or other countries??
 

TanKianW

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Mach3.2

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Preferably, I will go with VPN.

If need external access for your hosted server on TrueNAS (Eg. Nextcloud server) then at least a "https" setup.
q99ygWO.jpg


If interested to secure your server and network (HAproxy + Let's Encrypt), check out here:
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/starting-pfsense-for-new-users.6390714/
imo one should strive to create a VPN only solution for remote access, less attack surface for people to exploit.

It's not too difficult to spin up a Wireguard VPN as your remote access solution. :o
 

TanKianW

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imo one should strive to create a VPN only solution for remote access, less attack surface for people to exploit.

It's not too difficult to spin up a Wireguard VPN as your remote access solution. :o

Agree.
 

TanKianW

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*TrueNAS Scale based on Debian



Received a few query on the anticipation of TrueNAS Scale. A good watch for those interested to try out the TrueNAS Scale Beta. Feel free to play with it on your VMs, I am also doing so on my worklab system. Take note that it is still NOT READY yet. Main reason for TrueNAS Scale.....DOCKER!


*OpenZFS 2.1 is out!
A quick read and peek into the anticipated OpenZFS 2.1. And its dRAID vdevs capability.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/07/a-deep-dive-into-openzfs-2-1s-new-distributed-raid-topology/
 
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TanKianW

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*LATEST UPDATE: TrueNAS Core 12.0 U4.1:

Epic:

  • [NAS-111220] - Enclosure management mapping may not work properly for TrueNAS R Series

Bug Fix:
  • [NAS-110860] - CPU widget not working in 12.0-U4
  • [NAS-111132] - Fix r10 enclosures
  • [NAS-111148] - Don't expect rackmount servers to always have SAS Expander data
  • [NAS-111222] - Pulling drive causes enclosure management vdev bug
  • [NAS-111223] - Fix R40 to comply with enclosure management nep specified single mapped enclosure to UI.
  • [NAS-111259] - Fix R20 to comply to enclosure management NEP
  • [NAS-111273] - Fix R50 to comply with enclosure NEP
Read more here: https://www.truenas.com/docs/releasenotes/core/12.0u4.1/

This update also fixes the dashboard bug showing "additional CPU thread"
iAKdtvm.jpg
 

FatalityV

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I'm curious - did you face any issues when upgrading from FreeNAS to trueNAS?

I think they made the transition around 12-13. It completely ****ed my system.

In the end I made the decision to migrate away from truenas to proxmox + zfs + lxc exposing cifs mount.
 

TanKianW

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I'm curious - did you face any issues when upgrading from FreeNAS to trueNAS?

I think they made the transition around 12-13. It completely ****ed my system.

In the end I made the decision to migrate away from truenas to proxmox + zfs + lxc exposing cifs mount.

I think you meant FreeNAS 11 to TrueNAS 12.

I had 2x FreeNAS system in my homelab (with encryption removed prior) that upgraded to TrueNAS without issues.

I will still recommend to back the data to another location before any major update.
 

TanKianW

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*Conducting iperf test between 2 TrueNAS system or on/from TrueNAS system
Received requests from some users who wished to test out their 10G network on their NASes or between their NASes. You can easily use the iperf command below to test it out. If your client is a PC, do use iperf version 2, not 3:​

Under shell of TrueNAS main page type:
Code:
For server (NAS) side, type cmd:

iperf -s -w 128K

Code:
For client (NAS) side, type cmd:

iperf -c 192.168.XX.XX -p 5001 -f m

IP address being the server IP

The test results will look like this:
isNMd4u.jpg
 
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TanKianW

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**UPDATED on Post #4

*Creating Cloud Sync Tasks to Backup to/from OneDrive on TrueNAS Core

For TrueNAS Core users that want to backup from their OneDrive or to their OneDrive, can follow the simple and straight forward steps below:

Step 1:
  1. Open up the tab to create Cloud Credentials under System -> Cloud Credential​
  2. Select the Provider and name this credential​
  3. Click on "Login to provider" icon below and log into your OneDrive account​
  4. Details such as OAuth Client ID, Secret and Drive IP will be auto filled. The "access token" will be provided under the drop down, just select it.​
  5. Click "Verify Credential" and it will give a verified reply if the account is set correctly​
  6. Finally, click Save​
iJI7YBx.jpg


Step 2:
  1. Create cloud sync tasks under Task​
  2. Give a description, choose PULL if you want to back up OneDrive locally, choose PUSH if you want to back up to OneDrive.​
  3. Choose between "SYNC, COPY, MOVE". The description will be explained when you click onto it. I chose Sync for my this test case.​
  4. Select the cloud credential you just created under the drop down list which you have just created earlier.​
  5. Select the TrueNAS dataset you want to back up to/from (recommend to create a separate dataset). *Please remember to set the advanced pre-set ACL rule under set permission to "Restricted" and data user/group to be root/wheel, and check on the "recursively" box at the bottom.​
  6. Select the OneDrive folder you want to back up to/from​
  7. You can also list down the folder you will like to exclude from the cloud sync under the "Exclude" selection. This is an option which you need to set, if you run into issue/error from OneDrive server side when a particular folder/file just failed to sync.​
  8. Do remember to create a sync schedule.​
  9. You can choose to add in remote encryption or not to​
INvbSZY.jpg


Step 3:
  1. Verify that the cloud sync task is working by clicking the "DRY RUN"​
  2. When it is working, you will see a green "SUCCESS" icon on the task you just created.​
muhmzV4.jpg

 
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TanKianW

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**UPDATED on Post #3

*Manually Download & Update Nextcloud using shell command instead of WebGUI updater
Due to the broad install base of nextcloud, the way it should be configured could be quite different between the Operating Systems and distributions (Eg. Debian, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, etc). Therefore, it is also not a one size fits all solution when installing your nextcloud on the jails of TrueNAS core. Most of the time, nothing beats running an update through the command, which I will be covering below.

By running the update manually using command, you could also update to those "in-between" update that is not released by TrueNAS (but on Nextcloud) and at the same time avoid the "latest" buggy update. One good example is choosing to upgrade to Nextcloud 21.0.3 instead of 22.0.0_1.

TAKE NOTE: It is always advised to create snapshots of your jail (and root) folder "recursively" just in case you need to revert back to the last stable version when the update screw up.

Open up the shell of your Nextcloud jail:​
Code:
1) First, we back up the configuration folder by creating another -bak folder through command.
TYPE:

mv /usr/local/www/nextcloud /usr/local/www/nextcloud-bak


2) Download the update files. You can choose any of the later version (nextcloud-21.0.2.tar.bz2) or the latest version (latest.tar.bz2)
TYPE:

fetch "https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-21.XX.X.tar.bz2"


3) Unpack the file you just downloaded to /usr/local/www
TYPE:

tar jxf nextcloud-21.XX.X.tar.bz2 -C /usr/local/www


4) Copy the configuration .php from backup folder to the existing config folder
TYPE:

cp /usr/local/www/nextcloud-bak/config/config.php /usr/local/www/nextcloud/config


5) Set user/group for the folder
TYPE:

chown -R www:www /usr/local/www/nextcloud


6) Move the /apps-pkg, /apps, /data folders from the -bak folder to the nextcloud folder in order to restore to original settings and run the occ upgrade later.

NOTE: Sometimes, you might have to "mv" the content from the -bak folder to the new nextcloud folder after (not before) the update has completed, expecially where there are major changes to the files during major updates. Eg Nextcloud 21 -> 22.
TYPE:

mv /usr/local/www/nextcloud-bak/apps-pkg /usr/local/www/nextcloud
mv /usr/local/www/nextcloud-bak/apps /usr/local/www/nextcloud
mv /usr/local/www/nextcloud-bak/data /usr/local/www/nextcloud


7) Execute the upgrade
TYPE:

su -m www -c 'php /usr/local/www/nextcloud/occ upgrade'


8) Log back into your nextcloud server, you will be prompted on the first page to start the upgrade process


9) OPTIONAL: you can choose to delete the downloaded update files and -bak folder using the "rm -R" command after the update
TYPE (Eg):

rm -R /usr/local/www/nextcloud-bak

*WARNING NOTE: If you are running your nextcloud server which could be accessed externally (https), you should regularly update your nextcloud server to the latest stable and secured version.

=========================================================================================

*Access Nextcloud Server Using WireGuard VPN
Those interested to use WireGuard VPN to access their Nextcloud server using pfsense, can check out here:

https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...-for-new-users.6390714/page-19#post-135190737
 
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TanKianW

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*TrueNAS Core 12.0-U5 Updates

August 3, 2021
TrueNAS 12.0-U5 was released on August 3, 2021. A full list of changes and bug fixes is available for those with an account on the TrueNAS Jira bug tracker. Issues resolved include:
  • About twenty improvements and eighty bug fixes.
  • Python upgrades to address potential memory leaks and eliminate rare middleware crashes.
  • OpenZFS update to 2.0.5.
  • Several security updates to key components that are not available in 11.3.
  • TrueNAS R-Series and Mini Enclosure management has been improved.
  • Several WebUI improvements - including resolving a dashboard CPU% bug.
  • NVMe drives automatic resizing support.
  • M-series HA improvements.
Read more here: https://www.truenas.com/docs/releasenotes/core/12.0u5/

Initial Trial test:



For reference ONLY: I updated both of my homelab TrueNAS system since launch (with proper backup). Both are running fine.

Note: Always backup your system before any update just in case it screws up. RAID is not a back up!
 
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TanKianW

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**UPDATED on Post #6

*Hosting PLEX Server on TrueNAS Core
Since I constantly received requests on how to set up the Plex server on TrueNAS Core, and PLEX being a popular media server set up to manage the libraries among the NAS users, I will therefore provide a quick step by step guide to start some new users going. You can also use DLNA through your self hosted PLEX server on TrueNAS. Currently, I have no issue streaming media content with Dobly Vision and ATMOS on my PLEX server over to my Nvidia Shield Pro.

*If you wish to access your home PLEX server remotely, you can choose to use a VPN like OpenVPN or Wireguard on pfSense. If you are interested, can check out here:
OpenVPN: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/starting-pfsense-for-new-users.6390714/#post-130207493
WireGuard: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...-for-new-users.6390714/page-19#post-135190737

Step 1: Install PLEX plugins on a (give a name) jail. Navigate to Plugins and just install the official PLEX distribution from iXsystem. Both the Beta and non beta version will work. I prefer the no-Beta version. Do create an account with PLEX before setting up. Do install the beta version which requires the PLEX sign in.​
de8GPq9.jpg


Step 2: Stop the plugins after installing the plugin on the jail. Navigate to the plugin or jail section to mount the library to the plex server that is on your TrueNAS​
UmygCvJ.jpg


Link/point your source (or create new dataset) library to the destination, under /mnt/<Name_of_pool>/iocage/jails/<Name_of_PLEX>/root/media​
F06vmob.jpg


Step 3: Check/verfiy the official user used in PLEX server to access your library. Start the jail/plugins, goes to jails -> click on "Shell". Using default root account, type <id plex> and hit Enter. You will see the gid=972(plex) groups=972(plex)​
yPDBNxX.jpg


Step 4: Add in the ACL permission for the storage pool you will like to link up to your PLEX. Go to Storage -> Pools -> click on the "3 dots" on the right of the dataset you want to link up -> Edit Permission​
6JQf4xz.jpg


Click add ACL item, click user, input "972" on the user, permission set to "read" or any you wish. Check "apply permission recursively" below, followed by "SAVE" and you are done setting the ACL permission to access the linked library.​
AwEo0cV.jpg


Step 5: Log onto your PLEX (using IP address), you will be required to log in with a PLEX account, navigate to Home -> click on "MORE" below -> click "+" on your PLEX name -> select the media folder you like to add into the PLEX library on the "media" folder you mapped to earlier. And you should be able to access and managed your linked media library through PLEX now.​


*Just in case you cannot follow my step by step guide, feel free to check out here:
 
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TanKianW

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**UPDATED on Post #6

*Hosting PLEX Server on TrueNAS Core
Since I constantly received requests on how to set up the Plex server on TrueNAS Core, and PLEX being a popular media server set up to manage the libraries among the NAS users, I will therefore provide a quick step by step guide to start some new users going. You can also use DLNA through your self hosted PLEX server on TrueNAS. Currently, I have no issue streaming media content with Dobly Vision and ATMOS on my PLEX server over to my Nvidia Shield Pro.

*If you wish to access your home PLEX server remotely, you can choose to use a VPN like OpenVPN or Wireguard on pfSense. If you are interested, can check out here:
OpenVPN: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/starting-pfsense-for-new-users.6390714/#post-130207493
WireGuard: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...-for-new-users.6390714/page-19#post-135190737

Step 1: Install PLEX plugins on a (give a name) jail. Navigate to Plugins and just install the official PLEX distribution from iXsystem. Both the Beta and non beta version will work. I prefer the no-Beta version. Do create an account with PLEX before setting up.​
de8GPq9.jpg


Step 2: Stop the plugins after installing the plugin on the jail. Navigate to the plugin or jail section to mount the library to the plex server that is on your TrueNAS​
UmygCvJ.jpg


Link/point your source (or create new dataset) library to the destination, under /mnt/<Name_of_pool>/iocage/jails/<Name_of_PLEX>/root/media​
F06vmob.jpg


Step 3: Check/verfiy the official user used in PLEX server to access your library. Start the jail/plugins, goes to jails -> click on "Shell". Using default root account, type <id plex> and hit Enter. You will see the gid=972(plex) groups=972(plex)​
yPDBNxX.jpg


Step 4: Add in the ACL permission for the storage pool you will like to link up to your PLEX. Go to Storage -> Pools -> click on the "3 dots" on the right of the dataset you want to link up -> Edit Permission​
6JQf4xz.jpg


Click add ACL item, click user, input "972" on the user, permission set to "read" or any you wish. Check "apply permission recursively" below, followed by "SAVE" and you are done setting the ACL permission to access the linked library.​
AwEo0cV.jpg


Step 5: Log onto your PLEX (using IP address), you will be required to log in with a PLEX account, navigate to Home -> click on "MORE" below -> click "+" on your PLEX name -> select the media folder you like to add into the PLEX library on the "media" folder you mapped to earlier. And you should be able to access and managed your linked media library through PLEX now.​
FyS7QCe.jpg


*Just in case you cannot follow my step by step guide, feel free to check out here:


**UPDATED on Post #6

*(ADD-ON) Manual set-up of PLEX Server Update on the jail of TrueNAS Core
Logically, when I start the Step-by-Step guide on the set up of PLEX server on TrueNAS, I will expect some forumers to start asking how to update the PLEX server installed on the jail of TrueNAS Core. So decided to cover here.

Take note that you only need to set this up once. After this, every time when there is an update, you just need to use the update command on the shell to update will do. I will recommend home users who allow external access to their PLEX server to update to the latest version every time. If not, I recommend the use of a VPN like "WireGuard" (which can be set up on pfSense) when you need external access to your PLEX Server.​

Code:
Step 1:Navigate to the jail of your running PLEX Server and click on Shell. Install the following pkg.
TYPE:

pkg install ca_root_nss
pkg install wget
pkg install perl5


Step 2: Fetch the relevant files from github.
TYPE:

fetch -o PMS_Updater.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mstinaff/PMS_Updater/master/PMS_Updater.sh
fetch -o PMS_Updater.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/luluhoc/PMS_Updater/master/PMS_UpdaterPLEXPASS.sh


Step 3: Modify the permission to execute the file.
TYPE:

chmod 755 PMS_Updater.sh


Step 4: Execute the script.
TPYE:

./PMS_Updater.sh -vv -a

After the last script execution, the update will start immediately and your PLEX server will be updated to the latest version. In the future, when there is a new update, just follow Step 2 - 4 again will do.

NOTE: You might need to restart your plugins/jails after the update. I will recommend using the "PLEX Beta" plugins if you are using a PLEX pass, if not, the server will keep notify you that your server is not updated, even though it has been updated. I realized this bug when using the "non-Beta" version.
 
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