FreeNAS Archives - FreeBSDNews.com

[How-To] FreeNAS: use your SSD efficiently

August 11, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

User Frank Van Bortel shows us some tips and tracks on how to use your SSD efficiently with the ZIL (ZFS Intent Log) feature of FreeNAS. Follow the link below for the full set of instructions.

ZIL and Cache

Not open for discussion; I think it is a complete waste of resources to use a 120, or 250GB SSD for logs, let alone cache, as FreeNAS will (and should!) use RAM for that. So, I searched and found a way to create two partitions on a single SSD, and expose these as ZIL (ZFS Intended Log) and cache to the pool.
Mind you – there are performance tests around, questioning the efficiency of ZIL and cache. I am not going to test this, I will just add ZIL and cache – I have an SSD especially for this purpose, but I am just mentioning the fact that the use case might differ for you.

The pool?

Erhm, in the mean time, I have created a pool, existing of two virtual devices, existing of 6 harddisks each. According to several sources on the interweb, this will deliver resiliance, as well as performance.

Full tutorial: http://vanbortel.blogspot.com/2017/07/storage-server-freenas-use-your-ssd.html

FreeNAS 11 – How to Install

July 7, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

Check out this tutorial video from the FreeNASTeam on how to install FreeNAS 11. The video will walk you through the minimum requirements as well as installation from the FreeNAS ISO.

For more FreeNAS video tutorials, check out the FreeNASTeam channel: http://youtube.com/FreeNASTeam

[HOWTO] FreeNAS 11, RancherOS, & Portainer

June 28, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

In this tutorial, user SaskiFX shows us how to get RancherOS set up on FreeNAS 11 via Docker, along with Portainer. RancherOS is a Linux is distribution designed for containers. See the link below for the full set of instructions.

So when FreeNAS 11 came, I updated from 9.10 to get rolling on the new options. Unfortunately this killed my VirtualBox jail that I was using to run some services I couldn’t get working in a jail. So I started looking on how to get Docker running under FreeNAS 11 so I could replace those services and get some future proofing for the 11.1 and onward releases that should support Docker out of the box. From the posts on the forums they look to be heading for RancherOS as the underlying Docker operating system.

I originally tried to get this working under the default VM tab in the new interface, but it was not cooperating. I then moved over to using iohyve and bhyve from the command line to get this working. Here are the basic steps I used to get this kicking.

Prep

Setup the iohyve pool and options. Select where the pool you want, and the main network card you want attached.
iohyve setup pool=<storage pool> kmod=1 net=<NIC>

Fetch the latest RancherOS iso for the install.
iohyve fetch https://releases.rancher.com/os/latest/rancheros.iso

Should see the ISO you downloaded above listed.
iohyve isolist

Create the VM, and give it a size of disk you need. I used 40G since I wouldn’t need tons of space.
iohyve create RancherOS <SIZE>G

Set the VM startup options. I’m keeping this minimal as I don’t want to take too many resources. Adjust the ram and cpu as you want.
iohyve set RancherOS loader=grub-bhyve ram=2G cpu=1 con=nmdm0 os=debian

Should see the VM listed now.
iohyve list

RancherOS Install …

Full tutorial: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/howto-freenas-11-rancheros-docker-and-portainer.54595/

[How-To] Configure FreeNAS 9.10 NFS VMware ESXi 6 datastore

May 26, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

This tutorial by user BRANDON.LEE shows us how to get FreeNAS 9.10 and NFS set up with a datastore VMware ESXi. See the link below for the full set of instructions.

Many choose to use NFS as opposed to iSCSI in their VMware vSphere environments. NFS has a lot of benefits and use cases particularly when we look at the efficiency of NFS. With NFS there is no encapsulation that needs to take place as there is with iSCSI. Like iSCSI, NFS can use an existing IP network as well. So, starting off simple here, let’s take a look at how to configure FreeNAS 9.10 NFS VMware ESXi 6 datastore.

Configure FreeNAS 9.10 NFS VMware ESXi 6 datastore

The specific version of FreeNAS I am using is 9.10.2 U3 and is the most recent GA version on the FreeNAS site at the time of this writing. I am not covering here the setup of FreeNAS in general. You will want to provision your storage and your network connectivity on the appliance itself. For the purposes of the post, I am running FreeNAS as a VM which is a great way to play around with iSCSI and NFS in a lab. I have setup a management IP as well as another interface that I have bound for NFS connectivity.

Configure FreeNAS 9.10 NFS VMware ESXi 6 datastore

Floss Weekly 432: FreeNAS Update

May 11, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

The hosts of FLOSS Weekly get together with Kris Moore to discuss the latest initiatives of the FreeNAS Project. Press play below to tune in:

FreeNAS is an operating system that can be installed on virtually any hardware platform to share data over a network. FreeNAS is the simplest way to create a centralized and easily accessible place for your data. Use FreeNAS with ZFS to protect, store, backup, all of your data. FreeNAS is used everywhere, for the home, small business, and the enterprise.

Original: https://www.twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/432

Mirror: https://programmingpodcasts.com/episode/floss-weekly-mp3/floss-weekly-432-freenas-update

FreeNAS 11.0-RC now available

May 11, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

The developers of FreeNAS have announced the first version 11.0 RELEASE CANDIDATE. This version includes a FreeBSD 11 base, Samba & Netatalk update, speed improvements for 40/100 GigE networking, a preview of a new UI, and more. See the link below for a full list of changes. Download the ISO here.

I’m pleased to provide a quick update on the status of FreeNAS 11.0. The RC1 update was released this morning, and can be installed via ISO or updated to by switching to the FreeNAS-11-STABLE train in the System -> Update tab. We decided to start this series off with a Release Candidate (RC) version, because it is rebased on a newer version of FreeBSD (11-STABLE). This version has been tested in the nightlies for several months now, but just to play it safe we are asking for users to test out this release and let us know immediately if anything regresses. Or, if you want to let us know that it improves specific things, that’s cool as well.

Now, for the stats. Your loyal, dedicated, and attractive FreeNAS development team has been hard at work on this release. As of this morning, 11.0-RC includes 111 bug fixes and 23 new features. In addition the user-guide has been updated for 11 as well. As usual, if you find bugs please report them ASAP, since we can only fix things that we know about…

Official announcement: http://www.freenas.org/blog/freenas-11-0-rc-now-available/

FreeNAS Forums: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/freenas-11-0-rc-now-available.54228/page-4

FreeNAS Corral halted, improvements being made to FreeNAS 9.10

April 21, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

FreeNAS Corral development has been put to a stop, and the developers will be working to include its key features to FreeNAS 9.10. It should be noted that Corral should not be used in production. Please read the statement by Kris Moore at the FreeNAS forums.

FreeNAS Corral as it was originally released is being relegated to “TECHNOLOGY PREVIEW” status while we work hard to re-base its exciting new features upon the rock-solid FreeNAS 9.10 base.

As many of you diehard FreeNAS® users know, we released FreeNAS Corral on March 15th, and the initial Community response was largely positive. There was a lot of excitement around the updated UI and the VM/Docker support, especially. However, we’ve also seen nearly half of the initial users revert back to FreeNAS 9.10. User feedback about this drop-off has been clear: challenges upgrading from 9.10, general instability, lack of feature parity with 9.10 (Jails, iSCSI, etc), and some users experiencing lower performance than expected given the increased demands FreeNAS Corral has on system hardware resources. With the subsequent departure of the FreeNAS Corral project lead, we re-examined the features, benefits, and issues with Corral and have decided to revise our plan for its future.

Important announcement regarding FreeNAS Corral: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/important-announcement-regarding-freenas-corral.53502/

FreeNAS Corral, Interview with Jordan Hubbard

March 31, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

Patrick Kennedy (ServeTheHome.com) interviews Jordan Hubbard, FreeBSD Co-Founder and FreeNAS Project Manager, regarding the new release of FreeNAS Corral. Check out the link below to read the full interview!

STH: Jordan, would you mind giving STH readers a quick background about yourself?

Jordan: Sure, I’ve been a software developer since the late 1970’s and got into Open Source back in the days of USENET, when we would furtively post our code to comp.sources.unix and ask for forgiveness rather than permission most of the time. Since Open Source became legitimate and moved out of the shadows, I have been involved in a number of open source projects, from FreeBSD to Darwin (at Apple) and now FreeNAS, as the CTO of iXsystems. I also went to the dark side (engineering management) about 15 years ago, so I do far less coding than managing these days, but what can you do.

FreeNAS Corral – A Tipping Point for the Popular NAS OS – Our Interview with Jordan Hubbard

[How-To] Install & Configure Jails on FreeNAS Corral

March 31, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

Check out this tutorial from Vivek Gite on how to use jails on FreeNAS Corral. Jails was a feature in FreeNAS 9.10 and was replaced with Containers in Corral. Follow the link below for the full set of instructions.

I recently installed or upgraded to FreeNAS Corral (version 10). However, I noticed that there is no support for FreeBSD jails as of 26/March/2017. How do I install and configure traditional FreeBSD jails on FreeNAS Corral (version 10)?

FreeNAS Corral now supports Docker containers for doing all of its “application hosting” and existing jails/plugins data will simply continue to live in the jails/dataset in the ZFS volume but will be inactive, since jails are no longer used in Corral. This tutorial shows you how to create and configure FreeBSD jail on FreeNAS Corral 10 from command line.

Full tutorial: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-install-and-configure-jails-on-freenas-corral-10/

Introducing FreeNAS Corral by iXsystems

March 17, 2017 By Cao Leave a Comment

It has arrived. iXsystems released FreeNAS Corral, the new name and brand for FreeNAS 10. FreeNAS Corral extends the capabilities of FreeNAS’ enterprise-grade storage by adding virtual machine and Docker container management. Along with these expansions, FreeNAS Corral brings even more to the table. Follow the link below to learn about all the new enhancements that come with FreeNAS Corral.

FreeNAS Corral, the latest version of FreeNAS, combines sophisticated storage, virtualization, containers, and GUI management in a brand new interface

iXsystems, the industry leader in storage and servers driven by Open Source, today released FreeNAS 10 and unveiled the FreeNAS Corral brand. With FreeNAS Corral (formerly FreeNAS 10), iXsystems introduces the next generation of the world’s most popular Open Source software-defined storage software. FreeNAS Corral extends FreeNAS’ enterprise-grade storage capabilities by adding virtual machine and Docker container management. FreeNAS Corral enables the integration of software-defined storage into VMs and provides persistent storage for Docker containers. These enhancements are provided through a re-designed graphical user interface (GUI) and a powerful command line interface (CLI), making FreeNAS both easier to use and more capable than ever. The new Corral name represents what this release does best: corralling data, virtual machines, containers, and storage services under one management interface.

Original article: https://www.ixsystems.com/blog/ixsystems-launches-freenas-corral-open-source-solution-building-hyper-converged-infrastructures/