FreeNAS® is © 2011-2013 iXsystems

FreeNAS® and the FreeNAS® logo are registered trademarks of iXsystems.

FreeBSD is a registered trademark of the FreeBSD Foundation

Cover art by Jenny Rosenberg

Table of Contents

Section 1: Introduction and Installation

1 Introduction

1.1 Features

1.2 Known Issues

1.3 What's New in 8.3.1

1.4 Hardware Recommendations

1.4.1 Architecture

1.4.2 RAM

1.4.3 Compact or USB Flash

1.4.4 Storage Disks and Controllers

1.4.5 Network Interfaces

1.4.6 RAID Overview

1.4.7 ZFS Overview

2 Installing and Upgrading FreeNAS®

2.1 Getting FreeNAS®

2.2 FreeNAS® in a Virtual Environment

2.2.1 VirtualBox

2.2.1.1 Creating the Virtual Machine

2.2.1.2 Creating Devices for Storage and Installation Media

2.2.1.3 Configuring the Bridged Adapter

2.2.1.4 Running FreeNAS® from a USB Image

2.2.2 VMWare ESXi

2.3 Installing from CDROM

2.4 Burning an IMG File

2.4.1 Using xzcat and dd on a FreeBSD or Linux System

2.4.2 Using Keka and dd on an OS X System

2.4.3 Using 7-Zip and Win32DiskImager on Windows

2.5 Initial Setup

2.6 Upgrading FreeNAS®

2.6.1 Preparing for the Upgrade

2.6.2 Using the ISO

2.6.3 From the GUI

2.6.4 If Something Goes Wrong

2.6.5 Upgrading a ZFS Pool

Section 2: Using the Graphical Interface

3 Quick Start Guide and Account Configuration

3.1 Quick Start Guide

3.1.1 Set Administrative Access

3.1.2 Set the Administrative Email Address

3.1.3 Enable Console Logging

3.1.4 Configure Volumes

3.1.5 Create Users/Groups or Integrate with AD/LDAP

3.1.6 Configure Permissions

3.1.7 Configure Sharing

3.1.8 Start Applicable Service(s)

3.1.9 Test Configuration from Client

3.1.10 Backup the Configuration

3.2 Account Configuration

3.2.1 Admin Account

3.2.2 Groups

3.2.3 Users

4 System Configuration

4.1 Cron Jobs

4.2 NTP Servers

4.3 Reporting

4.4 Rsync Tasks

4.4.1 Creating an Rsync Task

4.4.2 Configuring Rsync Module Mode Between Two FreeNAS® Systems

4.4.3 Configuring Rsync over SSH Mode Between Two FreeNAS® Systems

4.5 S.M.A.R.T. Tests

4.6 Settings

4.6.1 General Tab

4.6.2 Advanced Tab

4.6.2.1 Autotun

4.6.3 Email Tab

4.6.4 SSL Tab

4.7 Sysctls

4.8 System Information

4.9 Tunables

4.9.1 Recovering From Incorrect Tunables

5 Network Configuration

5.1 Global Configuration

5.2 Interfaces

5.3 Link Aggregations

5.3.1 Considerations When Using LACP, MPIO, NFS, or ESXi

5.3.2 Creating a Link Aggregation

5.4 Network Summary

5.5 Static Routes

5.6 VLANs

6 Storage Configuration

6.1 Periodic Snapshot Tasks

6.1.1 Creating a Periodic Snapshot Task

6.1.2 Managing Periodic Snapshot Tasks

6.2 Replication Tasks

6.2.1 Configure PULL

6.2.2 Configure PUSH

6.2.3 Troubleshooting Replication

6.3 Volumes

6.3.1 Auto Importing Volumes

6.3.1.1 Auto Importing a GELI-Encrypted ZFS Pool

6.3.2 Importing Volumes

6.3.3 Volume Manager

6.3.3.1 Creating Storage

6.3.3.2 ZFS Extra

6.3.3.3 Deduplication

6.3.3.4 ZFS Encryption

6.3.3.5 Creating an Encrypted Volume

6.3.4 Using Volume Manager After a Volume Has Been Created

6.3.5 Creating ZFS Datasets

6.3.6 Creating a zvol

6.3.7 Viewing Volumes

6.3.7.1 Key Management for Encrypted Volumes

6.3.8 Viewing Disks

6.3.9 Setting Permissions

6.3.10 Viewing Multipaths

6.3.11 Replacing a Failed Drive or ZIL Device

6.3.12 Replacing Drives to Grow a ZFS Pool

6.3.12.1 Enabling ZFS Pool Expansion After Drive Replacement

6.3.13 Splitting a Mirrored ZFS Storage Pool

6.4 ZFS Scrubs

7 Sharing Configuration

7.1 Apple (AFP) Shares

7.1.1 Creating AFP Shares

7.1.2 Connecting to AFP Shares As Guest

7.1.3 Using Time Machine

7.2 Unix (NFS) Shares

7.2.1 Creating NFS Shares

7.2.2 Sample NFS Share Configuration

7.2.3 Connecting to the NFS Share

7.2.3.1 From BSD or Linux Clients

7.2.3.2 From Microsoft Clients

7.2.3.3 From Mac OS X Clients

7.2.4 Troubleshooting

7.3 Windows (CIFS) Shares

7.3.1 Creating CIFS Shares

7.3.2 Configuring Anonymous Access

7.3.3 Configuring Local User Access

7.3.4 Configuring Shadow Copies

7.3.4.1 Prerequisites

7.3.4.2 Configuration Example

8 Services Configuration

8.1 Control Services

8.2 Active Directory

8.2.1 Troubleshooting Tips

8.3 AFP

8.4 CIFS

8.4.1 Troubleshooting Tips

8.5 Dynamic DNS

8.6 FTP

8.6.1 Anonymous FTP

8.6.2 Specified User Access in chroot

8.6.3 Encrypting FTP

8.6.4 Troubleshooting

8.7 iSCSI

8.7.1 Authorized Accesses

8.7.2 Extents

8.7.2.1 Adding a Device Extent

8.7.2.2 Adding a File Extent

8.7.3 Initiators

8.7.4 Portals

8.7.5 Target Global Configuration

8.7.6 Targets

8.7.7 Target/Extents

8.7.8 Connecting to iSCSI Share

8.7.9 Growing LUNs

8.7.9.1 Zvol Based LUN

8.7.9.2 File Extent Based LUN

8.8 LDAP

8.9 NFS

8.10 Plugins

8.10.1 Installing the Plugins Jail

8.10.2 Managing the Plugins Jail

8.10.2.1 Mount Points

8.10.2.2 Jail Settings

8.10.2.3 Accessing the Plugins Jail

8.10.3 Installing Software Using an Existing Plugin PBI

8.10.4 Popular PBIs

8.10.4.1 Firefly

8.10.4.2 MiniDLNA

8.10.4.3 Transmission

8.10.5 Installing non-PBI Software

8.10.5.1 Installing FreeBSD Packages with pkg_add

8.10.5.2 Compiling FreeBSD Ports with make

8.10.5.3 Configuring and Starting the Software

8.10.6 Creating your own FreeNAS® PBIs

8.10.6.1 Introduction to PBI Modules

8.10.6.2 Download Ports and Create the PBI Module Directory

8.10.6.3 Create the Module Components

8.11 Rsync

8.11.1 Rsync Modules

8.12 S.M.A.R.T.

8.13 SNMP

8.14 SSH

8.14.1 Chrooting Command Line SFTP Users

8.14.2 Troubleshooting SSH Connections

8.15 TFTP

8.16 UPS

9 Additional Options

9.1 Display System Processes

9.2 Shell

9.3 Reboot

9.4 Shutdown

9.5 Help

9.6 Log Out

9.7 Alert

Section 3: Getting Help

10 FreeNAS® Support Resources

10.1 Website and Social Media

10.2 Trac Database

10.3 IRC

10.4 Mailing Lists

10.5 Forums

10.6 Instructional Videos

10.7 Professional Support

11 Useful Command Line Utilities

11.1 Iperf

11.2 Netperf

11.3 IOzone

11.4 arcstat

11.4.1 Using the Scripts

11.5 XDD

11.6 tw_cli

11.7 MegaCli

11.8 IPMItool

11.9 freenas-debug

11.10 tmux

11.11 Dmidecode

Section 4: Contributing to FreeNAS®

12 How to Get Involved

12.1 Assist with Localization

12.2 Submit Bug Reports

12.3 Test an Upcoming Version

12.3.1 Testing a Nightly Snapshot

12.3.2 Rolling Your Own Testing Snapshot

Section 1: Introduction and Installation

Preface

Written by users of the FreeNAS® network-attached storage operating system.

Version 8.3.1

Published March 20, 2013

Copyright © 2011-2013 iXsystems.

This Guide covers the installation and use of FreeNAS® 8.3.1. If you are running a version of FreeNAS® 8.x that is earlier than FreeNAS® 8.3.1, it is recommended that you upgrade to or install FreeNAS® 8.3.1. This version fixes many bugs from previous 8.x versions and several features mentioned in this Guide were not available or did not work as documented in earlier versions of FreeNAS® 8.x.

The FreeNAS® Users Guide is a work in progress and relies on the contributions of many individuals. If you are interested in helping us to improve the Guide, visit doc.freenas.org and create a wiki login account. If you use IRC Freenode, you are welcome to join the #freenas channel where you will find other FreeNAS® users.

The FreeNAS® Users Guide is freely available for sharing and redistribution under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This means that you have permission to copy, distribute, translate, and adapt the work as long as you attribute iXsystems as the original source of the Guide.

FreeNAS® and the FreeNAS® logo are registered trademarks of iXsystems.

3ware® and LSI® are trademarks or registered trademarks of LSI Corporation.

Active Directory® is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Apple, Mac and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Chelsio® is a registered trademark of Chelsio Communications.

Cisco® is a registered trademark or trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries.

Django® is a registered trademark of Django Software Foundation.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

FreeBSD and the FreeBSD logo are registered trademarks of the FreeBSD Foundation.

Fusion-io is a trademark or registered trademark of Fusion-io, Inc.

Intel, the Intel logo, Pentium Inside, and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

LinkedIn® is a registered trademark of LinkedIn Corporation.

Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Marvell® is a registered trademark of Marvell or its affiliates.

m0n0wall is a registered trademark of Manuel Kasper, Kasper Systems.

OpenMediaVault is Copyright © 2009-2011 by Volker Theile.

SourceForge.net® is a registered trademark or trademark of Geeknet, Inc., in the United States and other countries. Geeknet is a trademark of Geeknet, Inc.

Twitter is a trademark of Twitter, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

UNIX® is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

VirtualBox® is a registered trademark of Oracle.

VMWare® is a registered trademark of VMWare, Inc.

Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Typographic Conventions

The FreeNAS® 8.3.1 Users Guide uses the following typographic conventions:

bold text: represents a command written at the command line. In usage examples, the font is changed to Courier 10 with any command output displayed in unbolded text.

italic text: used to represent device names, file name paths, or text that is input into a GUI field.

bold italic text: used to emphasize an important point.

1 Introduction

FreeNAS® is an embedded open source network-attached storage (NAS) system based on FreeBSD and released under a BSD license. A NAS provides an operating system that has been optimized for file storage and sharing.

The FreeNAS® Project was originally founded by Olivier Cochard-Labbé in 2005 and was based on m0n0wall, an embedded firewall based on FreeBSD. It was PHP based, easy-to-use, and had lots of features. In December of 2009, Olivier announced that the .7 branch would be placed in maintenance-only mode as he no longer had time to devote to further FreeNAS® development. Volker Theile, a FreeNAS® developer who also develops on Debian in his day job, decided to start the OpenMediaVault project, which would be a rewrite of FreeNAS® based on Debian Linux and released under the terms of the GPLv3 license. Many FreeNAS® users were not pleased about the change of license and the loss of kernel-based ZFS support due to GPL incompatibilities with the CDDL license.

iXsystems, a provider of FreeBSD-based hardware solutions and professional support, took the initiative to sponsor the continued development of a BSD licensed FreeNAS® solution based on NanoBSD, an embedded version of FreeBSD. After analyzing the positives (lots of cool features) and negatives (monolithic, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink design that was difficult to maintain and support), it was decided that the next version would be rewritten from scratch using a modular design that would provide a basic core NAS with a modular plugin architecture for adding non-core features. This would allow FreeNAS® to have a small footprint that was easy to support while allowing users to install the additional features they desired. It would have the added benefit of allowing users to create and contribute plugins for niche features, allowing usage cases to grow according to users' needs.

Work on the new design began in 2010 when the 8.x branch was created to differentiate the new design from the original .7 branch. In late 2011, the .7 branch was considered to be EOL (end-of-life) and it was removed from the SourceForge site in mid-2012 when the legacy .7 branch was rebranded as NAS4Free. Users of the .7 branch should upgrade to either NAS4Free or to the latest release of FreeNAS® 8.x.

Table 1a lists the 8.x releases and provides links to the release notes for each released version:

Table 1a: FreeNAS® 8.x Releases

Version

Release Date

Release Notes

8.0

May 2, 2011

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freenas/files/FreeNAS-8/ReleaseNotes-8.0-RELEASE.txt

8.0.1

September 30, 2011

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freenas/files/FreeNAS-8.0.1/ReleaseNotes-8.0.1-RELEASE.txt

8.0.2

10/13/11

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freenas/files/FreeNAS-8.0.2/ReleaseNotes-8.0.2.RELEASE.txt

8.0.3

January 3, 2012

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freenas/files/FreeNAS-8.0.3/ README/download

8.0.4

February 29, 2012

http://support.freenas.org/export/10359/freenas/tags/ 8.0.4-RELEASE/ReleaseNotes

8.2

July 20, 2012

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freenas/files/FreeNAS-8.2.0/RELEASE/README

8.3.0

October 26, 2012

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freenas/files/FreeNAS-8.3.0/RELEASE/README

8.3.1

March 20, 2013

http://sourceforge.net/projects/freenas/files/FreeNAS-8.3.1/RELEASE/README/

9.1

expected mid 2013

Except for the 8.3.x releases, each release in the 8.x branch is based on FreeBSD 8.2. Once the 8.x branch has reached the end of its development cycle, the 9.x branch will be created.

1.1 Features

Notable features in FreeNAS® 8.3.1 include:

supports AFP, CIFS, FTP, NFS, SSH (including SFTP), and TFTP as file sharing mechanisms

supports exporting file or device extents via iSCSI

supports Active Directory or LDAP for user authentication

supports UFS2 based volumes, including gmirror, gstripe, and graid3

supports ZFS, enabling many features not available in UFS2 such as quotas, snapshots, compression, replication, and datasets for sharing subsets of volumes

upgrade procedure saves the current operating system to an inactive partition, allowing for an easy reversal of an undesirable upgrade

system notifications are automatically mailed to the root user account

Django-driven graphical user interface available through a web browser

secure replication, automatic ZFS snapshots, scheduling of ZFS scrubs, and cron management are all configurable through the graphical interface

support for menu localization and keyboard layouts

multiple IPs can be specified per iSCSI portal

ssh daemon logs to /var/log/auth.log

SMART monitoring and UPS management in GUI

USB 3.0 support

support for Windows ACLs and UNIX file system permissions

periodic ZFS snapshots are visible in Windows as shadow copies

includes tmux, a BSD-licensed utility similar to GNU screen

includes dmidecode which can provide very useful hardware diagnostic information

1.2 Known Issues

Before installing FreeNAS® you should be aware of the following known issues:

UPGRADES FROM FreeNAS® 0.7x ARE UNSUPPORTED. The system has no way to import configuration settings from 0.7x versions of FreeNAS®, meaning that you will have to manually recreate your configuration. However, you should be able to import supported volumes created using FreeNAS® 0.7x.

The ZFS upgrade procedure is non-reversible. Do not upgrade your ZFS version unless you are absolutely sure that you will never want to go back to the previous version. There is no reversing a ZFS pool upgrade, and there is no way for a system with an older version of ZFS to access pools that have been upgraded.

The available space reported in the parent zpool may not reflect reality and can be confusing because the available space represented by datasets or zvols can exceed that of the parent zpool.

Disks with certain configurations can get probed by GEOM and become essentially unwritable without manual intervention. For instance, if you use disks that previously had a gmirror on them, the system may pick that up and the disks will be unavailable until the existing gmirror is stopped and destroyed.

USB 3.0 support is disabled by default as it panics some motherboards. To enable support, create a tunable with a variable of xhci_load and a value of YES.

The mps driver for 6gbps LSI SAS HBAs is version 13, which requires phase 13 firmware on the controller. This is a hard requirement and running older firmware can cause many woes, including the failure to probe all of the attached disks, which can lead to degraded or unavailable arrays.

1.3 What's New in 8.3.1

The following features were introduced in version 8.3.1:

GELI full disk encryption is now available when creating ZFS volumes. This is full disk encryption and not per-filesystem encryption. This type of encryption is primarily targeted at users who store sensitive data and want to retain the ability to remove disks from the pool without having to first wipe the disk's contents. Read the section on Encryption to determine if it meets your requirements.

When creating an encrypted ZFS volume, the user has the option to initialize disks with random data.

When extending an existing ZFS volume, the system will automatically match the encryption state of the existing pool.

When extending an existing ZFS volume, the user will receive a warning message if the vdev being added is of a different size or type from the existing vdevs in the pool.

The ability to specify the MAC address to the Plugins Jail. If not specified, the MAC address used by the jail changes each time the FreeNAS® system reboots. Manually setting the MAC address is recommended if you are using port forwarding or MAC address security within the network.

The ability to delete a VLAN from the console menu.

Since multiple interfaces in the same subnet is not recommended in FreeBSD, the GUI only allows the creation of one interface per subnet.

Periodic Snapshot Tasks can now be configured with an interval of every 5 or 10 minutes.

Support for the Marvell 88SE9220/9230/9235 PCIe 2.0 x2 6Gbps SATA controllers.

When using the "Destroy Snapshot" button, the snapshot is now destroyed recursively. This prevents ZFS snapshots from persisting past their configured Lifetime value.

Since a colon is not a valid character for a user's home directory, the GUI will not allow this character in the "Home Directory" field of Users.

When pasting your own SSL certificate in the SSL Tab, the certificate is automatically tested to verify that it is in the proper format. If it is not, the system will fall back to HTTP in order to allow access to the GUI.

When editing a volume's disk, a reboot is no longer required after making a change to the HDD Standby, Advanced Power Management, or Acoustic Level settings.

Add the following fields to Active Directory: Domain Controller, Global Catalog Server, Kerberos Server, Kerberos Password Server, AD Timeout, and DNS Timeout.

Periodic Snapshot Tasks are now sorted by bytes used.

Add the isci(4) driver for Intel C600 SAS HBAs.

Add ZFS ARC stats to top(1).

Improve detection of the default interface, which improves connectivity to the Plugins jail.

Change the example iqn of iSCSI targets to a legal iqn.

Add the iconv capability to rsync to support character set conversion.

Fix a bug that prevented users or groups from being deleted with UTF-8 characters in the name.

1.4 Hardware Recommendations

Since FreeNAS® 8.3.1 is based on FreeBSD 8.3, it supports the same hardware found in the amd64 and i386 sections of the FreeBSD 8.3 Hardware Compatibility List.

Actual hardware requirements will vary depending upon what you are using your FreeNAS® system for. This section provides some guidelines to get you started. You can also skim through the FreeNAS® Hardware Forum for performance tips from other FreeNAS® users or to post questions regarding the hardware best suited to meet your requirements.

1.4.1 Architecture

While FreeNAS® is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, 64-bit hardware is recommended for speed and performance. A 32-bit system can only address up to 4 GB of RAM, making it poorly suited to the RAM requirements of ZFS. If you only have access to a 32-bit system, consider using UFS instead of ZFS.

1.4.2 RAM

The best way to get the most out of your FreeNAS® system is to install as much RAM as possible. If your RAM is limited, consider using UFS until you can afford better hardware. ZFS typically requires a minimum of 8 GB of RAM in order to provide good performance. The more RAM, the better the performance, and the FreeNAS® Forums provide anecdotal evidence from users on how much performance is gained by adding more RAM. For systems with large disk capacity (greater than 6 TB), a general rule of thumb is 1 GB of RAM for every 1TB of storage. This post describes how RAM is used by ZFS.

NOTE: by default, ZFS disables pre-fetching (caching) for systems containing less than 4 GB of usable RAM. Not using pre-fetching can really slow down performance. 4 GB of usable RAM is not the same thing as 4 GB of installed RAM as the operating system resides in RAM. This means that the practical pre-fetching threshold is 6 GB, or 8 GB of installed RAM. You can still use ZFS with less RAM, but performance will be effected.

If you plan to use ZFS deduplication, a general rule of thumb is 5 GB RAM per TB of storage to be deduplicated.

If you use Active Directory with FreeNAS®, add an additional 2 GB of RAM for winbind's internal cache.

If you are installing FreeNAS® on a headless system, disable the shared memory settings for the video card in the BIOS.

1.4.3 Compact or USB Flash

The FreeNAS® operating system is a running image. This means that it should not be installed onto a hard drive, but rather to a USB or compact flash device that is at least 2 GB in size. If you don't have compact flash, you can instead use a USB thumb drive that is dedicated to the running image and which stays inserted in the USB slot. While technically you can install FreeNAS® onto a hard drive, this is discouraged as you will lose the storage capacity of the drive. In other words, the operating system will take over the drive and will not allow you to store data on it, regardless of the size of the drive.

The FreeNAS® installation will partition the operating system drive into two ~1 GB partitions. One partition holds the current operating system and the other partition is used when you upgrade. This allows you to safely upgrade to a new image or to revert to an older image should you encounter problems.

1.4.4 Storage Disks and Controllers

The Disk section of the FreeBSD Hardware List lists the supported disk controllers. In addition, support for 3ware 6gbps RAID controllers has been added along with the CLI utility tw_cli for managing 3ware RAID controllers.

FreeNAS® supports hot pluggable drives. Make sure that AHCI is enabled in the BIOS. Note that hot plugging is not the same as hot swapping.

If you need reliable disk alerting, immediate reporting of a failed drive, and or swapping, use a fully manageable hardware RAID controller such as a LSI MegaRAID controller or a 3Ware twa-compatible controller. Until FreeBSD commits zfsd, its implementation of ZFS will not notice that a drive is gone until you reboot or put the volume on high load.

If you have some money to spend and wish to optimize your disk subsystem, consider your read/write needs, your budget, and your RAID requirements.

For example, moving the the ZIL (ZFS Intent Log) to a dedicated SSD only helps performance if you have synchronous writes, like a database server. SSD cache devices only help if your working set is larger than system RAM, but small enough that a significant percentage of it will fit on the SSD.

If you have steady, non-contiguous writes, use disks with low seek times. Examples are 10K or 15K SAS drives which cost about $1/GB. An example configuration would be six 600 GB 15K SAS drives in a RAID 10 which would yield 1.8 TB of usable space or eight 600 GB 15K SAS drives in a RAID 10 which would yield 2.4 TB of usable space.

7200 RPM SATA disks are designed for single-user sequential I/O and are not a good choice for multi-user writes.

If you have the budget and high performance is a key requirement, consider a Fusion-I/O card which is optimized for massive random access. These cards are expensive and are suited for high end systems that demand performance. A Fusion-I/O can be formatted with a filesystem and used as direct storage; when used this way, it does not have the write issues typically associated with a flash device. A Fusion-I/O can also be used as a cache device when your ZFS dataset size is bigger than your RAM. Due to the increased throughput, systems running these cards typically use multiple 10 GigE network interfaces.

If you will be using ZFS, Disk Space Requirements for ZFS Storage Pools recommends a minimum of 16 GB of disk space. Due to the way that ZFS creates swap, you can not format less than 3 GB of space with ZFS. However, on a drive that is below the minimum recommended size you lose a fair amount of storage space to swap: for example, on a 4 GB drive, 2 GB will be reserved for swap.

If you are new to ZFS and are purchasing hardware, read through ZFS Storage Pools Recommendations first.

ZFS uses dynamic block sizing, meaning that it is capable of striping different sized disks. However, if you care about performance, use disks of the same size. Further, when creating a RAIDZ, only the size of the smallest disk will be used on each disk.

1.4.5 Network Interfaces

The FreeBSD Ethernet section of the Hardware Notes indicates which interfaces are supported by each driver. While many interfaces are supported, FreeNAS® users have seen the best performance from Intel and Chelsio interfaces, so consider these brands if you are purchasing a new interface. Realteks will perform poorly under CPU load as interfaces with these chipsets do not provide their own processors.

At a minimum you will want to use a GigE interface. While GigE interfaces and switches are affordable for home use, it should be noted that modern disks can easily saturate 110 MB/s. If you require a higher network throughput, you can "bond" multiple GigE cards together using the LACP type of Link Aggregation. However, any switches will need to support LACP which means you will need a more expensive managed switch rather than a home user grade switch.

If network performance is a requirement and you have some money to spend, use 10 GigE interfaces and a managed switch. If you are purchasing a managed switch, consider one that supports LACP and jumbo frames as both can be used to increase network throughput.

NOTE: at this time the following are not supported: InfiniBand, FibreChannel over Ethernet, or wireless interfaces.

If network speed is a requirement, consider both your hardware and the type of shares that you create. On the same hardware, CIFS will be slower than FTP or NFS as Samba is single-threaded. If you will be using CIFS, use a fast CPU.

1.4.6 RAID Overview

Data redundancy and speed are important considerations for any network attached storage system. Most NAS systems use multiple disks to store data, meaning you should decide which type of RAID to use before installing FreeNAS®. This section provides an overview of RAID types to assist you in deciding which type best suits your requirements.

RAID 0: provides optimal performance and allows you to add disks as needed. Provides zero redundancy, meaning if one disk fails, all of the data on all of the disks is lost. The more disks in the RAID 0, the more likely the chance of a failure.

RAID 1: provides redundancy as data is copied (mirrored) to two or more drives. Provides good read performance but may have slower write performance, depending upon how the mirrors are setup and the number of ZILs and L2ARCs.

RAID 5: requires a minimum of three disks and can tolerate the loss of one disk without losing data. Disk reads are fast but write speed can be reduced by as much as 50%. If a disk fails, it is marked as degraded but the system will continue to operate until the drive is replaced and the RAID is rebuilt. However, should another disk fail before the RAID is rebuilt, all data will be lost. If your FreeNAS® system will be used for steady writes, RAID 5 is a poor choice due to the slow write speed.

RAID 6: requires a minimum of four disks and can tolerate the loss of two disks without losing data. Benefits from having many disks as performance, fault tolerance, and cost efficiency are all improved relatively with more disks. The larger the failed drive, the longer it takes to rebuild the array. Reads are very fast but writes are slower than a RAID 5.

RAID 10: requires a minimum of four disks and number of disks is always even as this type of RAID mirrors striped sets. This type of RAID can survive the failure of any one drive. If you lose a second drive from the same mirrored set, you will lose the array. However, if you lose a second drive from a different mirrored set, the array will continue to operate in a degraded state. RAID 10 significantly outperforms RAIDZ2, especially on writes.

RAID 60: requires a minimum of eight disks. Combines RAID 0 striping with the distributed double parity of RAID 6 by striping 2 4-disk RAID 6 arrays. RAID 60 rebuild times are half that of RAID 6.

RAIDZ1: ZFS software solution that is equivalent to RAID5. Its advantage over RAID 5 is that it avoids the write-hole and does not require any special hardware, meaning it can be used on commodity disks. If your FreeNAS® system will be used for steady writes, RAIDZ is a poor choice due to the slow write speed.

RAIDZ2: double-parity ZFS software solution that is similar to RAID-6. Its advantage over RAID 5 is that it also avoids the write-hole and does not require any special hardware, meaning it can be used on commodity disks. RAIDZ2 allows you to lose one drive without any degradation as it basically becomes a RAIDZ1 until you replace the failed drive and restripe. At this time, RAIDZ2 on FreeBSD is slower than RAIDZ1.

RAIDZ3: triple-parity ZFS software solution. RAIDZ3 offers three parity drives and can operate in degraded mode if up to three drives fail with no restrictions on which drives can fail.

NOTE: instead of mixing ZFS RAID with hardware RAID, it is recommended that you place your hardware RAID controller in JBOD mode and let ZFS handle the RAID. According to Wikipedia: “ZFS can not fully protect the user's data when using a hardware RAID controller, as it is not able to perform the automatic self-healing unless it controls the redundancy of the disks and data. ZFS prefers direct, exclusive access to the disks, with nothing in between that interferes. If the user insists on using hardware-level RAID, the controller should be configured as JBOD mode (i.e. turn off RAID-functionality) for ZFS to be able to guarantee data integrity. Note that hardware RAID configured as JBOD may still detach disks that do not respond in time; and as such may require TLER/CCTL/ERC-enabled disks to prevent drive dropouts. These limitations do not apply when using a non-RAID controller, which is the preferred method of supplying disks to ZFS.”

When determining the type of RAIDZ to use, consider whether your goal is to maximum disk space or maximum performance:

RAIDZ1 maximizes disk space and generally performs well when data is written and read in large chunks (128K or more).

RAIDZ2 offers better data availability and significantly better mean time to data loss (MTTDL) than RAIDZ1.

A mirror consumes more disk space but generally performs better with small random reads.

For better performance, a mirror is strongly favored over any RAIDZ, particularly for large, uncacheable, random read loads.

When determining how many disks to use in a RAIDZ, the following configurations provide optimal performance. Array sizes beyond 12 disks are not recommended.

Start a RAIDZ1 at at 3, 5, or 9 disks.

Start a RAIDZ2 at 4, 6, or 10 disks.

Start a RAIDZ3 at 5, 7, or 11 disks.

The recommended number of disks per group is between 3 and 9. If you have more disks, use multiple groups.

The following resources can also help you determine the RAID configuration best suited to your storage needs:

What is the Best RAIDZ Configuration

Getting the Most out of ZFS Pools

RAIDZ Configuration Requirements and Recommendations

What number of drives are allowed in a RAIDZ config?

A Closer Look at ZFS, Vdevs and Performance

Help with space calculation for ZFS RAIDZ2

When to (and not to) Use RAID-Z

NOTE: NO RAID SOLUTION PROVIDES A REPLACEMENT FOR A RELIABLE BACKUP STRATEGY. BAD STUFF CAN STILL HAPPEN AND YOU WILL BE GLAD THAT YOU BACKED UP YOUR DATA WHEN IT DOES. See Periodic Snapshot Tasks and Replication Tasks if you would like to use ZFS snapshots and rsync as part of your backup strategy.

1.4.7 ZFS Overview

While ZFS isn't hardware, an overview is included in this section as the decision to use ZFS may impact on your hardware choices and whether or not to use hardware RAID.

If you are new to ZFS, the Wikipedia entry on ZFS provides an excellent starting point to learn about its features. These resources are also useful to bookmark and refer to as needed:

ZFS Evil Tuning Guide

FreeBSD ZFS Tuning Guide

ZFS Best Practices Guide

ZFS Administration Guide

Becoming a ZFS Ninja (video)

ZFS Troubleshooting Guide

ZFS version numbers change as features are introduced and are incremental, meaning that a version includes all of the features introduced by previous versions. Table 1.4a summarizes various ZFS versions, the features which were added by that ZFS version, and in which version of FreeNAS® that ZFS version was introduced.

Table 1.4a: Summary of ZFS Versions

ZFS Version

Features Added

FreeNAS® Version

10

cache devices

.7.x

11

improved scrub performance

.7.x

12

snapshot properties

.7.x

13

snapused property

.7.x

14

passthrough-x aclinherit property

8.0.x

15

user and group space accounting

8.0.x

16

STMF property support

8.3.0

17

RAIDZ3

8.3.0

18

snapshot user holds

8.3.0

19

log device removal

8.3.0

20

compression using zle (zero-length encoding)

8.3.0

21

deduplication

8.3.0

22

received properties

8.3.0

23

deferred update (slim ZIL)

8.3.0

24

system attributes

8.3.0

25

improved scrub stats

8.3.0

26

improved snapshot deletion performance

8.3.0

27

improved snapshot creation performance

8.3.0

28

multiple vdev replacements

8.3.0

30

encryption

8.3.1 uses GELI encryption

The following is a glossary of terms used by ZFS:

Pool: a collection of devices that provides physical storage and data replication managed by ZFS. This pooled storage model eliminates the concept of volumes and the associated problems of partitions, provisioning, wasted bandwidth and stranded storage. Thousands of file systems can draw from a common storage pool, each one consuming only as much space as it actually needs. The combined I/O bandwidth of all devices in the pool is available to all file systems at all times. The Storage Pools Recommendations of the ZFS Best Practices Guide provides detailed recommendations for creating the storage pool.

Dataset: once a pool is created, it can be divided into datasets. A dataset is similar to a folder in that it supports permissions. A dataset is also similar to a filesystem in that you can set properties such as quotas and compression.

Zvol: ZFS storage pools can provide volumes for applications that need raw-device semantics such as swap devices or iSCSI device extents. In other words, a zvol is a virtual block device in a ZFS storage pool.

Snapshot: a read-only point-in-time copy of a file system. Snapshots can be created quickly and, if little data changes, new snapshots take up very little space. For example, a snapshot where no files have changed takes 0 MB of storage, but if you change a 10 GB file it will keep a copy of both the old and the new 10 GB version. Snapshots provide a clever way of keeping a history of files, should you need to recover an older copy or even a deleted file. For this reason, many administrators take snapshots often (e.g. every 15 minutes), store them for a period of time (e.g. for a month), and store them on another system. Such a strategy allows the administrator to roll the system back to a specific time or, if there is a catastrophic loss, an off-site snapshot can restore the system up to the last snapshot interval (e.g. within 15 minutes of the data loss). Snapshots can be cloned or rolled back, but the files on the snapshot cannot be accessed independently.

Clone: a writable copy of a snapshot which can only be created on the same ZFS volume. Clones provide an extremely space-efficient way to store many copies of mostly-shared data such as workspaces, software installations, and diskless clients. Clones do not inherit the properties of the parent dataset, but rather inherit the properties based on where the clone is created in the ZFS pool. Because a clone initially shares all its disk space with the original snapshot, its used property is initially zero. As changes are made to the clone, it uses more space.

Deduplication: the process of eliminating duplicate copies of data in order to save space. Once deduplicaton occurs, it can improve ZFS performance as less data is written and stored. However, the process of deduplicating the data is RAM intensive and a general rule of thumb is 5 GB RAM per TB of storage to be deduplicated. In most cases, enabling compression will provide comparable performance. In FreeNAS® 8.3, deduplication can be enabled at the dataset level and there is no way to undedup data once it is deduplicated: switching deduplication off has NO AFFECT on existing data. The more data you write to a deduplicated dataset, the more RAM it requires, and there is no upper bound on this. When the system starts storing the DDTs (dedup tables) on disk because they no longer fit into RAM, performance craters. Furthermore, importing an unclean pool can require between 3-5 GB of RAM per TB of deduped data, and if the system doesn't have the needed RAM it will panic, with the only solution being to add more RAM or to recreate the pool. Think carefully before enabling dedup!

ZIL: (ZFS Intent Log) is effectively a filesystem journal that manages writes. You can increase performance by dedicating a device (typically an SSD or a dedicated disk) to hold the ZIL by creating a log device in Volume Manager. If you are using VMWare, the speed of the ZIL device is essentially the write performance bottleneck when using NFS. In this scenario, iSCSI will perform better than NFS. If you decide to create a dedicated cache device to speed up NFS writes, it can be half the size of system RAM as anything larger than that is unused capacity. Mirroring the ZIL device won't increase the speed, but it will help performance and reliability if one of the devices fails. If you lose a non-mirrored ZIL device on a ZFSv15 pool, the pool is unrecoverable and the pool must be recreated and the data restored from a backup. If you lose a non-mirrored ZIL device on a ZFSv28 pool, only the data in the ZIL which has not been written to the pool will be lost. You can replace the lost ZIL device in the View Volumes → Volume Status screen. Note that a dedicated ZIL device can not be shared between ZFS pools.

L2ARC: on-disk cache used to manage reads. Losing an L2ARC device will not affect the integrity of the storage pool, but may have an impact on read performance, depending upon the workload and the ratio of dataset size to cache size. You can learn more about how L2ARC works here. Note that a dedicated L2ARC device can not be shared between ZFS pools.

Scrub: similar to ECC memory scrubbing, all data is read to detect latent errors while they're still correctable. A scrub traverses the entire storage pool to read every data block, validates it against its 256-bit checksum, and repairs it if necessary.

2 Installing and Upgrading FreeNAS®

Before installing, it is important to remember that the FreeNAS® operating system must be installed on a separate device from the drive(s) that will hold the storage data. In other words, if you only have one disk drive you will be able to use the FreeNAS® graphical interface but won't be able to store any data, which after all, is the whole point of a NAS system. If you are a home user who is experimenting with FreeNAS®, you can install FreeNAS® on an inexpensive USB thumb drive and use the computer's disk(s) for storage.

This section describes the following:

Getting FreeNAS®

FreeNAS® in a Virtual Environment

Installing from CDROM

Burning an IMG File

Initial Setup

Upgrading FreeNAS®

2.1 Getting FreeNAS®

FreeNAS® 8.3.1 can be downloaded from the FreeNAS-8.3.1 Sourceforge page. FreeNAS® is available for 32-bit (x386) and 64-bit (x64) architectures. You should download the architecture type that matches your CPU's capabilities..

The download page contains the following types of files:

GUI_upgrade.xz: this is a compressed firmware upgrade image and requires a previous installation of FreeNAS® 8.x. If your intent is to upgrade FreeNAS®, download the correct .xz file for your architecture and see Upgrading FreeNAS®.

.img.xz: this is a compressed image that needs to be written to a USB or compact flash device. Burning an IMG File describes how to write the image. The format changed in 8.2.0-BETA3 from xz to txz. This means that you should download the .txz version if you are upgrading from 8.2.0-BETA3 or higher. If you are upgrading from any version prior to 8.2.0-BETA3, use the .xz file.

.iso: this is a bootable image that can be written to CDROM. This is described in more detail in Installing from CDROM.

The download directory also contains the Release Notes for that version of FreeNAS®. This file contains the changes introduced by that release, any known issues, and the SHA256 checksums of the files in the download directory. The command you use to verify the checksum varies by operating system:

on a BSD system use the command sha256 name_of_file

on a Linux system use the command sha256sum name_of_file

on a Mac system use the command shasum -a 256 name_of_file

on a Windows system or Mac system, you can install a utility such as HashCalc or HashTab

2.2 FreeNAS® in a Virtual Environment

In order to install or run FreeNAS® within a virtual environment, you will need to create a virtual machine that meets the following minimum requirements:

512 MB base memory size

a virtual disk at least 4 GB in size to hold the operating system and swap

at least one more virtual disk at least 4 GB in size to be used as data storage

a bridged adapter

This section demonstrates how to create and access a virtual machine within the VirtualBox and VMWare EXSi environments.

2.2.1 VirtualBox

VirtualBox is an open source virtualization program originally created by Sun Microsystems. VirtualBox runs on Windows, BSD, Linux, Macintosh, and OpenSolaris. It can be configured to use a downloaded FreeNAS® .iso or .img.xz file, and makes a good testing environment for practicing configurations or learning how to use the features provided by FreeNAS®.

2.2.1.1 Creating the Virtual Machine

To create the virtual machine, start VirtualBox and click the New button, seen in Figure 2.2a, to start the new virtual machine wizard.

Figure 2.2a: Initial VirtualBox Screen

Click the Next button to see the screen in Figure 2.2b.

Figure 2.2b: Type in a Name and Select the Operating System for the New Virtual Machine

Enter a name for the virtual machine, then click the Operating System drop down menu and select BSD which will automatically change the Version to FreeBSD. Click Next to see the screen in Figure 2.2c.

Figure 2.2c: Select the Amount of Memory Reserved for the Virtual Machine

The base memory size must be changed to at least 512 MB. If your system has enough memory, select at least 4096 MB so that you can use ZFS. When finished, click Next to see the screen in Figure 2.2d.

Figure 2.2d: Select Whether to Use an Existing or Create a New Virtual Disk

This screen is used to create the virtual hard disk to install FreeNAS® into. Click Next to launch the "Create New Virtual Disk Wizard". Click the Next button again to see the screen in Figure 2.2e.

Figure 2.2e: Create New Virtual Disk Wizard

The wizard can be used to create the following types of virtual disk formats:

VDI: Virtual Disk Image is the format used by VirtualBox. Select this option if you downloaded the ISO.

VMDK: Virtual Machine Disk is the format used by VMWare. Select this option if you converted the .img file to VMDK format using the instructions in Running FreeNAS® from a USB Image.

VHD: Virtual Hard Disk is the format used by Windows Virtual PC.

HDD: is the format used by Parallels.

Once you make a selection, click the Next button to see the screen in Figure 2.2f:

Figure 2.2f: Select the Storage Type for the Virtual Disk

You can now choose whether you want "Dynamically expanding storage" or "Fixed-size storage". The first option uses disk space as needed until it reaches the maximum size that you will set in the next screen. The second option creates a disk the same size as that specified amount of disk space, whether it is used or not. Choose the first option if you are worried about disk space; otherwise, choose the second option as it allows VirtualBox to run slightly faster. Once you select Next, you'll see the screen in Figure 2.2g.

Figure 2.2g: Select the File Name and Size of the Virtual Disk

This screen is used to set the size (or upper limit) of the virtual machine. Increase the default size to 4 GB. Use the folder icon to browse to a directory on disk with sufficient space to hold the virtual machine.

Once you make your selection and press Next, you will see a summary of your choices. Use the Back button to return to a previous screen if you need to change any values. Otherwise, click Finish to finish using the wizard. The virtual machine will be listed in the left frame, as seen in the example in Figure 2.2h.

Figure 2.2h: The New Virtual Machine

2.2.1.2 Creating Devices for Storage and Installation Media

Next, create the virtual disk(s) to be used for storage. Click the Storage hyperlink in the right frame to access the storage screen seen in Figure 2.2i:

Figure 2.2i: The Storage Settings of the Virtual Machine

Click the Add Attachment button, select Add Hard Disk from the pop-up menu, then click the Create New Disk button. This will launch the Create New Virtual Disk Wizard (seen in Figures 2.2e and 2.2f). Since this disk will be used for storage, create a size appropriate to your needs, making sure that it is at least 4 GB in size. If you wish to practice RAID configurations, create as many virtual disks as you need. You will be able to create 2 disks on the IDE controller. If you need additional disks, click the Add Controller button to create another controller to attach disks to.

Next, create the device for the installation media.

If you will be installing from an ISO, highlight the word Empty, then click the CD icon as seen in Figure 2.2j.

Figure 2.2j: Configuring the ISO Installation Media

Click “Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file...” to browse to the location of the .iso file. Alternately, if you have burned the .iso to disk, select the detected “Host Drive”.

NOTE: depending upon the extensions available in your CPU, you may or may not be able to use a 64-bit ISO on a 64-bit system. If you receive the error "your CPU does not support long mode" when you try to boot a 64-bit ISO, your CPU either does not have the required extension or AMD-V/VT-x is disabled in the system BIOS. You can still use the 32-bit version of the ISO, but ZFS performance will be reduced.

2.2.1.3 Configuring the Bridged Adapter

To configure the network adapter, go to Settings → Network. In the Attached to drop-down menu select Bridged Adapter, then select the name of the physical interface from the Name drop-down menu. In the example shown in Figure 2.2k, the Intel Pro/1000 Ethernet card is attached to the network and has a device name of re0.

Figure 2.2k: Configuring a Bridged Adapter in VirtualBox

Once your configuration is complete, click the Start arrow. If you configured the ISO, install FreeNAS® as described in Installing from CDROM. Once FreeNAS® is installed, press F12 to access the boot menu in order to select the primary hard disk as the boot option. You can permanently boot from disk by removing the CD/DVD device in Storage or by unchecking CD/DVD-ROM in the Boot Order section of System.

If you configured the VMDK, the virtual machine will boot directly into FreeNAS®.

2.2.1.4 Running FreeNAS® from a USB Image

If you will be running FreeNAS® from an .img.xz file instead of installing it from the ISO, you must first download and install the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack that matches your version of VirtualBox. The extension pack enables USB support.

Next, uncompress and burn the FreeNAS® .img.xz file using the instructions at Burning an Image File. Once the image is burned to the USB device, leave the device inserted.

The VirtualBox GUI does not automatically provide a way to select a USB device to boot from. However, you can use a command line utility to link the USB device to a .vmdk file so that it can be selected as a boot device. To do this on a Windows system, open a command prompt in administrative mode (right-click cmd from the Run menu and select Run as administrator), and run the commands shown in Figure 2.2l. Before running these commands, verify the physical drive number from Start menu → right-click Computer → Manage → Storage → Disk Management. If the USB drive is different than Disk 1, change the number in \\.\PhysicalDrive1 to match the disk number. You can also specify where to save the .vmdk file. Make sure that the security tab of the saved file gives “Full control” permissions to Users so that the file can be accessed by VirtualBox.

Figure 2.2l: Creating the vmdk File in Windows

Once you have a .vmdk file, create a new virtual machine while the USB stick is inserted. When you get to Figure 2.2e, select “Use existing hard disk” and browse to your .vmdk file. Click Next, then Create. This will create the virtual machine and bring you to Figure 2.2h. You can then create your storage disks and bridged adapter as usual. When finished, start the virtual machine and it will boot directly into FreeNAS®.

2.2.2 VMWare ESXi

ESXi is is a "bare-metal" hypervisor architecture created by VMware Inc. Commercial and free versions of the VMWare Vsphere Hypervisor operating system (ESXi) are available from the VMWare website. Once the operating system is installed on supported hardware, use a web browser to connect to its IP address. The welcome screen will provide a link to download the VMware vSphere client which is used to create and manage virtual machines.

Once the VMware vSphere client is installed, use it to connect to the ESXi server. To create a new virtual machine, click File → New → Virtual Machine. The New Virtual Machine Wizard will launch as seen in Figure 2.2m.

Figure 2.2m: New Virtual Machine Wizard

Click Next and input a name for the virtual machine. Click Next and highlight a datastore. An example is shown in Figure 2.2n.

Figure 2.2n: Select a Datastore

Click Next. In the screen shown in Figure 2.2o, click Other then select a FreeBSD architecture that matches the FreeNAS® architecture.

Figure 2.2o: Select the Operating System

Click Next and create a virtual disk file of 4 GB to hold the FreeNAS® operating system, as shown in Figure 2.2p.

Figure 2.2p: Create a Disk for the Operating System

Click Next then Finish. Your virtual machine will be listed in the left frame. Right-click the virtual machine and select Edit Settings to access the screen shown in Figure 2.2q.

Figure 2.2q: Virtual Machine's Settings

Increase the Memory Configuration to at least 512 MB .

Under CPUs, make sure that only 1 virtual processor is listed, otherwise you will be unable to start any FreeNAS® services.

To create a storage disk, click "Hard disk 1" → Add. In the Device Type menu, highlight Hard Disk and click Next. Select "Create a new virtual disk" and click Next. In the screen shown in Figure 2.2r, select the size of the disk. If you would like the size to be dynamically allocated as needed, check the box "Allocate and commit space on demand (Thin Provisioning)". Click Next, then Next, then Finish to create the disk. Repeat to create the amount of storage disks needed to meet your requirements.

Figure 2.2r: Creating a Storage Disk

2.3 Installing from CDROM

If you prefer to install FreeNAS® using a menu-driven installer, download the ISO image that matches the architecture of the system you will install onto (32- or 64-bit) and burn it to a CDROM.

NOTE: the installer on the CDROM will recognize if a previous version of FreeNAS® 8.x is already installed, meaning the CDROM can also be used to upgrade FreeNAS®. However, the installer can not perform an upgrade from a FreeNAS® .7 system.

Insert the CDROM into the system and boot from it. Once the media has finished booting, you will be presented with the console setup menu seen in Figure 2.3a.

Figure 2.3a: FreeNAS® Console Setup

NOTE: if the installer does not boot, check that the CD drive is listed first in the boot order in the BIOS. Some motherboards may require you to connect the CDROM to SATA0 (the first connector) in order to boot from CDROM. If it stalls during boot, check the SHA256 hash of your ISO against that listed in the Release Notes; if the hash does not match, re-download the file. If the hash is correct, try burning the CD again at a lower speed.

Press enter to select the default option of “1 Install/Upgrade to hard drive/flash device, etc.”. The next menu, seen in Figure 2.3b, will list all available drives, including any inserted USB thumb drives which will begin with da. In this example, the user is installing into VirtualBox and has created a 4 GB virtual disk to hold the operating system.

NOTE: at this time, the installer does not check the size of the install media before attempting an installation. A 2 GB device is required, but the install will appear to complete successfully on smaller devices, only to fail at boot. If using a USB thumb drive, a 4 GB drive is recommended as many 2 GB thumb drives have a smaller capacity which will result in a seemingly successful installation that fails to boot.

Figure 2.3b: Selecting Which Drive to Install Into

Use your arrow keys to highlight the USB, compact flash device, or virtual disk to install into, then tab to OK and press enter. FreeNAS® will issue the warning seen in Figure 2.3c, reminding you not to install onto a storage drive.

Figure 2.3c: FreeNAS® Installation Warning

Press enter and FreeNAS® will extract the image from the ISO and transfer it to the device. Once the installation is complete, you should see a message similar to Figure 2.3d.

Figure 2.3d: FreeNAS® Installation Complete

Press enter to return to the first menu, seen in Figure 2.3a. Highlight “3 Reboot System” and press enter. Remove the CDROM. If you installed onto a USB thumb drive, leave the thumb drive inserted. Make sure that the device you installed to is listed as the first boot entry in the BIOS so that the system will boot from it. FreeNAS® should now be able to boot into the Console setup menu described in Initial Setup.

2.4 Burning an IMG File

If your system does not have a CDROM or you prefer to manually write the running image, download the img.xz file. This file will need to be uncompressed and then written to a compact flash card or USB thumbdrive that is 2 GB or larger (4 GB recommended).

NOTE: any data currently saved on the specified device will be erased. If you are writing the image to a compact flash card, make sure that it is MSDOS formatted.

DANGER! The dd command is very powerful and can destroy any existing data on the specified device. Be very sure that you know the device name to write to and that you do not typo the device name when using dd! If you are uncomfortable writing the image yourself, download the .iso file instead and use the instructions in Installing from CDROM.

Once you have written the image to the device, make sure the boot order in the BIOS is set to boot from that device and boot the system. It should boot into the Console setup menu described in Initial Setup.

NOTE: if the image does not boot, check the BIOS and change the USB emulation from CD/DVD/floppy to hard drive. If it still will not boot, check to see if the card/drive is UDMA compliant. Some users have also found that some cheap 2 GB USB sticks do not work as they are not really 2 GB in size, but changing to a 4 GB stick fixes the problem.

2.4.1 Using xzcat and dd on a FreeBSD or Linux System

On a FreeBSD or Linux system, the xzcat and dd commands can be used to uncompress and write the .xz image to an inserted USB thumb drive or compact flash device. Example 2.4a demonstrates writing the image to the first USB device (/dev/da0) on a FreeBSD system. Substitute the filename of your ISO and the device name representing the device to write to on your system.

Example 2.4a: Writing the Image to a USB Thumb Drive

xzcat FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-x64-img.xz | dd of=/dev/da0 bs=64k

0+244141 records in

0+244141 records out

2000000000 bytes transferred in 326.345666 secs (6128471 bytes/sec)

When using the dd command:

of= refers to the output file; in our case, the device name of the flash card or removable USB drive. You may have to increment the number in the name if it is not the first USB device. On Linux, use /dev/sdX, where X refers to the letter of the USB device.

bs= refers to the block size

2.4.2 Using Keka and dd on an OS X System

On an OS X system, you can download and install Keka to uncompress the image. In FINDER, navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded .xz file. Right-click the .xz file and select 'Open With Keka'. After a few minutes you will have a large file with the same name, but no .xz extension.

Insert the USB thumb drive and go to Launchpad → Utilities → Disk Utility. Unmount any mounted partitions on the USB thumb drive. Check that the USB thumb drive has only one partition, otherwise you will get GPT partition table errors on boot. If needed, use Disk Utility to setup one partition on the USB drive; selecting "free space" when creating the partition works fine.

Next, determine the device name of the inserted USB thumb drive. From TERMINAL, navigate to your Desktop then type this command:

diskutil list
/dev/disk0
  #:        TYPE NAME            SIZE       IDENTIFIER
  0:   GUID_partition_scheme    *500.1 GB   disk0
  1:                     EFI     209.7 MB   disk0s1
  2:  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD     499.2 GB   disk0s2
  3:  Apple_Boot Recovery HD     650.0 MB   disk0s3
 /dev/disk1
  #:        TYPE NAME            SIZE       IDENTIFIER
  0:  FDisk_partition_scheme    *8.0 GB     disk1
  1:     DOS_FAT_32 UNTITLED     8.0 GB     disk1s1

This will show you which devices are available to the system. Locate your USB stick and record the path. If you are not sure which path is the correct one for the USB stick, remove the device, run the command again, and compare the difference. Once you are sure of the device name, navigate to the Desktop from TERMINAL, unmount the USB stick, and use the dd command to write the image to the USB stick. In Example 2.4b, the USB thumb drive is /dev/disk1. Substitute the name of your uncompressed file and the correct path to your USB thumb drive.

Example 2.4b: Using dd on an OS X System

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1
Unmount of all volumes on disk1 was successful
dd if=FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-x64.img of=/dev/disk1 bs=64k

NOTE: if you get the error "Resource busy" when you run the dd command, go to Applications → Utilities → Disk Utility, find your USB thumb drive, and click on its partitions to make sure all of them are unmounted. If you get the error "dd: /dev/disk1: Permission denied", run the dd command by typing sudo dd if=FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-x64.img of=/dev/disk1 bs=64k, which will prompt for the root user's password.

The dd command will take some minutes to complete. Wait until you get a prompt back and a message that displays how long it took to write the image to the USB drive.

2.4.3 Using 7-Zip and Win32DiskImager on Windows

Windows users will need to download a utility that can uncompress .xz files and a utility that can create a USB bootable image from the uncompressed .img file.

This section will demonstrate how to use 7-Zip and Win32DiskImager to burn the image file. When downloading Win32DiskImager, download the latest version that ends in -binary.zip and use 7-Zip to unzip its executable.

Once both utilities are installed, launch the 7-Zip File Manager and browse to the location containing your downloaded .img.xz file, as seen in Figure 2.4a.

Figure 2.4a: Using 7-Zip to Extract Image File

Click the Extract button, browse to the path to extract to, and click OK. The extracted image will end in .img and is now ready to be written to a USB device using Win32DiskImager.

Next, launch Win32DiskImager, shown in Figure 2.4b. Use the browse button to browse to the location of the .img file. Insert a USB thumb drive and select its drive letter (in this example, drive E). Click the Write button and the image will be written to the USB thumb drive.

Figure 2.4b: Using Win32DiskImager to Write the Image

NOTE: if the burned image fails to boot, wipe the USB stick before trying a second burn using a utility such as Active@ KillDisk. Otherwise, the second burn attempt will fail as Windows does not understand the GPT partition which was written from the image file. Be very careful that you specify the USB stick when using a wipe utility!

2.5 Initial Setup

When you boot into FreeNAS®, the Console Setup, shown in Figure 2.5a, will appear at the end of the boot process. If you have access to the the FreeNAS® system's keyboard and monitor, this Console Setup menu can be used to administer the system should the administrative GUI become inaccessible.

NOTE: you can access the Console Setup menu from within the FreeNAS® GUI by typing /etc/netcli from Shell.

Figure 2.5a: FreeNAS® Console Setup Menu

This menu provides the following options:

1) Configure Network Interfaces: provides a configuration wizard to configure the system's network interfaces.

2) Configure Link Aggregation: allows you to either create a new link aggregation or to delete an existing link aggregation.

3) Configure VLAN Interface: used to create or delete a VLAN interface.

4) Configure Default Route: used to set the IPv4 or IPv6 default gateway. When prompted, input the IP address of the default gateway.

5) Configure Static Routes: will prompt for the destination network and the gateway IP address. Re-enter this option for each route you need to add.

6) Configure DNS: will prompt for the name of the DNS domain then the IP address of the first DNS server. To input multiple DNS servers, press enter to input the next one. When finished, press enter twice to leave this option.

7) Reset WebGUI login credentials: if you are unable to login to the graphical administrative interface, select this option. It will reset the system to not require a username and password to login. Don't forget to immediately set the administrative username and password once you enter the GUI.

8) Reset to factory defaults: if you wish to delete all of the configuration changes made in the administrative GUI, select this option. Once the configuration is reset, the system will reboot. You will need to go to Storage → Volumes → Auto Import Volume to re-import your volume.

9) Shell: enters a shell in order to run FreeBSD commands. To leave the shell, type exit.

10) Reboot: reboots the system.

11 Shutdown: halts the system.

During boot, FreeNAS® will automatically try to connect to a DHCP server from all live interfaces. If it successfully receives an IP address, it will display which IP address can be used to access the graphical console. In the example seen in Figure 2.5a, the FreeNAS® system is accessible from http://192.168.1.70.

If your FreeNAS® server is not connected to a network with a DHCP server, you can use the network configuration wizard to manually configure the interface as seen in Example 2.5a. In this example, the FreeNAS® system has one network interface (em0).

Example 2.5a: Manually Setting an IP Address from the Console Menu

Enter an option from 1-11: 1

1) em0

Select an interface (q to quit): 1

Delete existing config? (y/n) n

Configure interface for DHCP? (y/n) n

Configure IPv4? (y/n) y

Interface name: (press enter as can be blank)

Several input formats are supported

Example 1 CIDR Notation:

192.168.1.1/24

Example 2 IP and Netmask separate:

IP: 192.168.1.1

Netmask: 255.255.255.0, or /24 or 24

IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.108/24

Saving interface configuration: Ok

Configure IPv6? (y/n) n

Restarting network: ok

You may try the following URLs to access the web user interface:

http://192.168.1.108

Once the system has an IP address, input that address into a graphical web browser from a computer capable of accessing the network containing the FreeNAS® system. The administrative GUI, shown in Figure 2.5b, should be displayed. If it does not appear, check the following:

Are proxy settings enabled in the browser configuration? If so, disable the settings and try connecting again.

If the page does not load, make sure that you can ping the FreeNAS® system's IP address. If the address is in a private IP address range, you will only be able to access the system from within the private network.

If the user interface loads but is unresponsive or seems to be missing menu items, try using a different web browser. IE9 has known issues and will not display the graphical administrative interface correctly if compatibility mode is turned on. If you can't access the GUI using Internet Explorer, use Firefox instead.

Figure 2.5b: FreeNAS® Graphical Configuration Menu

If you click the flashing Alert icon in the upper right corner, it will alert you that you should immediately change the password for the admin user as currently no password is required to login. Admin Account describes how to set the name and password for the account that is used to access the administrative interface.

2.6 Upgrading FreeNAS®

FreeNAS® provides two methods for performing an upgrade: an ISO upgrade or an upgrade using the graphical administrative interface. Unless the Release Notes indicate that your current version requires an ISO upgrade, you can use either upgrade method. Both methods are described in this section.

Before performing an upgrade, always backup your configuration file and your data.

When upgrading, be aware of the following caveats:

Neither upgrade method can be used to migrate from FreeNAS 0.7x. Instead, install FreeNAS® and either auto-import supported software RAID (described in section 6.3.1) or import supported disks (described in section 6.3.2). You will need to recreate your configuration as the installation process will not import 0.7 configuration settings.

Upgrades from versions prior to 8.0.1-BETA3 to any later 8.x version must be done using the ISO. For example, upgrading from 8.0-RELEASE to 8.0.3-RELEASE using the GUI will not work as the image size increased from 1 GB to 2 GB between 8.01-BETA2 and 8.0.1-BETA3.

The format of the file used by the GUI upgrade process changed in 8.2.0-BETA3 from .xz to .txz. This means that you should download the .txz version if you are upgrading from 8.2.0-BETA3 or higher. If you are upgrading from any version prior to 8.2.0-BETA3, use the .xz file.

FreeNAS® supports two operating systems on the operating system device: the current operating system and, if you have performed an upgrade, the previously installed version of the operating system. This allows you to reboot into the previous version should you experience a problem with the upgraded version.

The upgrade process automatically configures the system to boot from the new operating system. Should you experience problems with a newly upgraded operating system, simply select the other boot option (typically F2) at the FreeNAS® console when you see the following options at the very beginning of the boot process. In this example, Boot: F1 refers to the default option (the newly upgraded version), so pressing F2 will boot into the previous version.

F1 FreeBSD
F2 FreeBSD
Boot: F1

2.6.1 Preparing for the Upgrade

Before upgrading the system, perform the following steps:

Depending upon the type of upgrade method, download either the .iso or the .GUI_Upgrade.* file that matches the system's architecture. Download the file to the computer that you use to access the FreeNAS® system.

Locate and confirm the SHA256 hash for the file that you downloaded in the Release Notes for the version that you are upgrading to.

Backup the FreeNAS® configuration in System → Settings → General → Save Config.

Warn users that the FreeNAS® shares will be unavailable during the upgrade; you should schedule the upgrade for a time that will least impact users.

Stop all services in Services → Control Services.

If you have created a Plugins Jail, it is not touched during the upgrade. This means that any installed plugins, software, or jail customizations will not be affected by the upgrade.

However, saving the config is step #3 does not save any configuration changes made within a Plugins Jail. For this reason, it is recommended to install the Plugins Jail into a ZFS dataset and to take a snapshot of the jail dataset before performing an upgrade.

2.6.2 Using the ISO

To upgrade using this method, download the latest version of the ISO image that matches the architecture of the system (32- or 64-bit) and burn it to a CDROM.

Insert the CDROM into the system and boot from it. Once the media has finished booting into the installation menu, press enter to select the default option of "1 Install/Upgrade to hard drive/flash device, etc." As with a fresh install, the installer will present a screen showing all available drives; select the device FreeNAS® is installed into and press enter.

The installer will recognize that an earlier version of FreeNAS® is installed on the device and will present the message shown in Figure 2.6a.

Figure 2.6a: Upgrading a FreeNAS® Installation

NOTE: if you select No at this screen, the installer will do a fresh install of the version on the CD rather than upgrade the current version. This means that you will have to re-import your disks and restore the backup of your configuration.

To upgrade, press enter to accept the default of Yes. Again, the installer will remind you that the operating system should be installed on a thumb drive. Press enter to start the upgrade. Once the installer has finished unpacking the new image, you will see the menu shown in Figure 2.6b.

Figure 2.6b: FreeNAS® will Preserve and Migrate Settings

The database file that is preserved and migrated contains your FreeNAS® configuration settings.

Press enter and FreeNAS® will indicate that the upgrade is complete and that you should reboot, as seen in Figure 2.6c.

Figure 2.6c: Upgrade is Complete

During the reboot there may be a conversion of the previous configuration database to the new version of the database. This happens during the "Applying database schema changes" line in the reboot cycle. This conversion can take a long time to finish so be patient and the boot should complete normally. If for some reason you end up with database errors but the graphical administrative interface is accessible, go to Settings → General and use the Upload Config button to upload the configuration that you saved before you started the upgrade.

2.6.3 From the GUI

To perform the upgrade using this method, go to System → Settings → Advanced → Firmware Update as shown in Figure 2.6d.

Figure 2.6d: Upgrading FreeNAS® From the GUI

Use the drop-down menu to select an existing volume to temporarily place the firmware file during the upgrade. Alternately, select "Memory device" to allow the system to use system RAM to create a temporary RAM disk to be used during the upgrade.

After making your selection, click the Apply Update button to see the screen shown in Figure 2.6e.

Figure 2.6e: Step 2 of 2

This screen reminds you to backup your configuration before proceeding. If you have not yet, click the "click here" link.

Browse to the location of the downloaded .txz file, then paste its SHA256 sum.

When finished, click the Apply Update button to begin the upgrade progress. Behind the scenes, the following steps are occurring:

the SHA256 hash is confirmed and an error will display if it does not match; if you get this error, double-check that you pasted the correct checksum and try pasting again

the new image is uncompressed and written to the USB compact or flash drive; this can take a few minutes so be patient

once the new image is written, you will momentarily lose your connection as the FreeNAS® system will automatically reboot into the new version of the operating system

FreeNAS® will actually reboot twice: once the new operating system loads, the upgrade process applies the new database schema and reboots again

assuming all went well, the FreeNAS® system will receive the same IP from the DHCP server; refresh your browser after a moment to see if you can access the system

2.6.4 If Something Goes Wrong

If the FreeNAS® system does not become available after the upgrade, you will need physical access to the system to find out what went wrong. From the console menu you can determine if it received an IP address and use option "1) Configure Network Interfaces" if it did not.

If this does not fix the problem, go into option "9) Shell" and read the system log with this command:

more /var/log/messages

Additionally, if the database upgrade failed, a file called /data/upgrade-failed should be created with details.

If the problem is not obvious or you are unsure how to fix it, see FreeNAS® Support Resources.

If the system remains inaccessible and you wish to revert back to the previous installation, type reboot from the shell or select "10) Reboot" from the console menu. Watch the boot screens and press the other boot option (typically F2) when you see this menu:

F1 FreeBSD
F2 FreeBSD
Boot: F1

NOTE: if a previously working FreeNAS® system hangs after a FreeNAS® upgrade, check to see if there is a BIOS/BMC firmware upgrade available as that may fix the issue.

If the upgrade completely fails, don't panic. The data is still on your disks and you still have a copy of your saved configuration. You can always:

Perform a fresh installation.

Import your volumes in Storage → Import Volume.

Restore the configuration in System → Settings → Upload Config.

2.6.5 Upgrading a ZFS Pool

FreeNAS® 8.3.1 supports ZFSv28, while previous 8.x versions of FreeNAS® use ZFSv15. This means that any existing or imported ZFS volumes (pools) will still be at ZFSv15, whereas any new pools that you create will be at version ZFSv28.

If you wish to upgrade your existing ZFS pool after upgrading to FreeNAS® 8.3.1, be aware of the following caveats first:

the ZFS version upgrade must be performed from the command line, it can not be performed using the GUI.

the pool upgrade is a one-way street meaning that if you change your mind you can not go back to an earlier ZFS version or downgrade to an earlier version of FreeNAS® that does not support ZFSv28.

before performing any operation that may affect the data on a storage disk, always backup your data first and verify the integrity of the backup. While it is unlikely that the pool upgrade will affect the data, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

To perform the ZFS version upgrade, open Shell. The following commands will determine the pool state and version. In this example, the pool name is volume1 and the ZFS version is 15.

zpool status
pool: volume1
state: ONLINE
status: The pool is formatted using an older on-disk format.  The pool can
       still be used, but some features are unavailable.
action: Upgrade the pool using 'zpool upgrade'.  Once this is done, the
       pool will no longer be accessible on older software versions.
scan: none requested
config:
       NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
       volume1     ONLINE       0     0     0
         raidz1-0  ONLINE       0     0     0
           ada0p2  ONLINE       0     0     0
           ada1p2  ONLINE       0     0     0
           ada2p2  ONLINE       0     0     0
           ada3p2  ONLINE       0     0     0
errors: No known data errors
zpool get version volume1
NAME     PROPERTY  VALUE  SOURCE
volume1  version   15     default

Next, verify that the status of the pool is healthy:

zpool status -x
all pools are healthy

NOTE: do not upgrade the pool if its status does not show as healthy.

To upgrade a pool named volume1:

zpool upgrade volume1
This system is currently running ZFS pool version 28.
Successfully upgraded 'volume1' from version 15 to version 28

zpool get version volume1
NAME     PROPERTY  VALUE    SOURCE
volume1  version   28       default

The upgrade itself should only take a seconds and is non-disruptive. However, the upgrade is non-reversible.

Section 2: Using the Graphical Interface

This section of the Guide describes all of the configuration screens available within the FreeNAS® graphical administrative interface. It begins with a Quick Start Guide that provides an overview of the FreeNAS® configuration workflow.

The configuration screens are listed in the order that they appear within the FreeNAS® configuration tree found in the left frame of the graphical administrative interface:

NOTE: it is important to use the GUI (or the console) for all configuration changes. FreeNAS® uses a configuration database to store its settings. While you can use the command line to modify your configuration, changes made at the command line are not written to the configuration database. This means that any changes made at the command line will not persist after a reboot and will be overwritten by the values in the configuration database during an upgrade.

3 Quick Start Guide and Account Configuration

This section contains a Quick Start Guide to get you started with your FreeNAS® configuration. It is followed by the account section of the GUI which allows you to change the administrative password and manage users and groups.

3.1 Quick Start Guide

This section demonstrates the initial preparation that should be performed before you start to configure the FreeNAS® system. It then provides an overview of the configuration workflow along with pointers to the section in the 8.3.1 Users Guide that contains the details and configuration examples for each step in the configuration workflow.

3.1.1 Set Administrative Access

By default, no password is required to access the FreeNAS® administrative interface using the built-in admin account. For security reasons, you should immediately change the default administrative account name and set a password for that account using the instructions in Admin Account. A flashing red alert will appear in the upper right corner of the administrative GUI until you set this account information.

NOTE: at this time, FreeNAS® only supports one user account for accessing the administrative GUI.

3.1.2 Set the Administrative Email Address

FreeNAS® provides an Alert icon in the upper right corner to provide a visual indication of events that warrant administrative attention. The alert system automatically emails the root user account whenever an alert is issued. FreeNAS® also sends a daily email to the root user which should be read in order to determine the overall health of the system.

To set the email address for the root account, go to Account → Users → View Users. Click the Change E-mail button associated with the root user account and input the email address of the person to receive the administrative emails.

3.1.3 Enable Console Logging

To view system messages within the graphical administrative interface, go to System → Settings → Advanced. Check the box “Show console messages in the footer” and click Save. The output of tail -f /var/log/messages will now be displayed at the bottom of the screen. If you click the console messages area, it will pop-up as a window, allowing you to scroll through the output and to copy its contents.

You are now ready to start configuring the FreeNAS® system. Typically, the configuration workflow will use the following steps in this order:

3.1.4 Configure Volumes

FreeNAS® supports the creation of both UFS and ZFS volumes; however, ZFS volumes are recommended to get the most out of your FreeNAS® system.

When creating a volume, you have several choices depending upon your storage requirements and whether or not data already exists on the disk(s). The following options are available:

Auto-import an existing UFS disk, gstripe (RAID0), gmirror (RAID1), or graid3 (RAID3) in Storage → Volumes → Auto-import.

Auto-import an existing ZFS disk, stripe, mirror, RAIDZ1, RAIDZ2, or RAIDZ3 in Storage → Volumes → Auto-import. Auto-importing is described in more detail in Auto Importing Volumes.

Import a disk that is formatted with UFS, NTFS, MSDOS, or EXT2 in Storage → Volumes → Import. This is described in more detail in Importing Volumes.

Format disk(s) with UFS and optionally create a gstripe (RAID0), gmirror (RAID1), or graid3 (RAID3) in Storage → Volumes → Volume Manager.

Format disk(s) with ZFS and optionally create a stripe, mirror, RAIDZ1, RAIDZ2, or RAIDZ3 in Storage → Volumes → Volume Manager. Formatting disks is described in more detail in Volume Manager.

If you format your disk(s) with ZFS, additional options are available:

Dedicate a disk(s) to the ZFS log or cache as described in Volume Manager .

Divide the ZFS pool into datasets to provide more flexibility when configuring user access to data. Dataset creation is described in Creating ZFS Datasets.

Create a Zvol to be used when configuring an iSCSI device extent. Zvol creation is described in Creating a zvol.

3.1.5 Create Users/Groups or Integrate with AD/LDAP

FreeNAS® supports a variety of user access scenarios:

the use of an anonymous or guest account that everyone in the network uses to access the stored data

the creation of individual user accounts where each user has access to their own ZFS dataset

the addition of individual user accounts to groups where each group has access to their own volume or ZFS dataset

the import of existing accounts from an OpenLDAP or Active Directory server

When configuring your FreeNAS® system, select one of the following, depending upon whether or not the network has an existing OpenLDAP or Active Directory domain. OpenLDAP and Active Directory are mutually exclusive, meaning that you can not use both but must choose one or the other.

Manually create users and groups. User management is described in Users and group management is described in Groups.

Import existing Active Directory account information using the instructions in Active Directory.

Import existing OpenLDAP account information using the instructions in LDAP.

3.1.6 Configure Permissions

Setting permissions is an important aspect of configuring access to storage data. The graphical administrative interface is meant to set the initial permissions in order to make a volume or dataset accessible as a share. Once a share is available, the client operating system should be used to fine-tune the permissions of the files and directories that are created by the client.

Configured volumes and datasets will appear in Storage → Volumes. Each volume and dataset will have its own Configure Permissions option, allowing for greater flexibility when providing access to data.

Before creating your shares, determine which users should have access to which data. This will help you to determine if multiple volumes, datasets, and/or shares should be created to meet the permissions needs of your environment.

3.1.7 Configure Sharing

Once your volumes have been configured with permissions, you are ready to configure the type of share or service that you determine is suitable for your network.

FreeNAS® supports several types of shares and sharing services for providing storage data to the clients in a network. It is recommended that you select only one type of share per volume or dataset in order to prevent possible conflicts between different types of shares. The type of share you create depends upon the operating system(s) running in your network, your security requirements, and expectations for network transfer speeds. The following types of shares and services are available:

Apple (AFP): FreeNAS® uses Netatalk to provide sharing services to Apple clients. This type of share is a good choice if all of your computers run Mac OS X. Configuration examples can be found in section 7.1.

Unix (NFS): this type of share is accessible by Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, and professional/enterprise versions of Windows. It is a good choice if there are many different operating systems in your network. Configuration examples can be found in section 7.2.

Windows (CIFS): FreeNAS® uses Samba to provide the SMB/CIFS sharing service. This type of share is accessible by Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and BSD computers, but it is slower than an NFS share. If your network contains only Windows systems, this is a good choice. Configuration examples can be found in section 7.3.

FTP: this service provides fast access from any operating system, using a cross-platform FTP and file manager client application such as Filezilla. FreeNAS® supports encryption and chroot for FTP. Configuration examples can be found in section 8.6.

SSH: this service provides encrypted connections from any operating system using SSH command line utilities or the graphical WinSCP application for Windows clients. Configuration examples can be found in section 8.14.

iSCSI: FreeNAS® uses istgt to export virtual disk drives that are accessible to clients running iSCSI initiator software. Configuration examples can be found in section 8.7.

3.1.8 Start Applicable Service(s)

Once you have configured your share or service you will need to start its associated service(s) in order to implement the configuration. By default, all services are off until you start them. The status of services is managed using Services → Control Services. To start a service, click its red OFF button. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON, indicating that the service has been enabled. Watch the console messages as the service starts to determine if there are any error messages.

3.1.9 Test Configuration from Client

If the service successfully starts, try to make a connection to the service from a client system. For example, use Windows Explorer to try to connect to a CIFS share, use an FTP client such as Filezilla to try to connect to an FTP share, or use Finder on a Mac OS X system to try to connect to an AFP share.

If the service starts correctly and you can make a connection but receive permissions errors, check that the user has permissions to the volume/dataset being accessed.

3.1.10 Backup the Configuration

Once you have tested your configuration, be sure to back it up. Go to System → Settings and click the Save Config button. Your browser will provide an option to save a copy of the configuration database.

You should backup your configuration whenever you make configuration changes and always before upgrading FreeNAS®.

3.2 Account Configuration

This section describes how to manage the account used to log into the GUI administrative interface and how to manually create users and groups using the FreeNAS® GUI.

3.2.1 Admin Account

By default, no password is required to access the FreeNAS® administrative interface using the built-in admin account. For security reasons, you should immediately change the default administrative account name and set a password for that account. To change the administrative account name, go to Account → Admin Account → Change Admin User. This will open the screen shown in Figure 3.2a.

Figure 3.2a: Changing the FreeNAS® Administrative Account

Replace admin with the name of the account that will be used to login to the FreeNAS® graphical administrative interface. The First and Last name fields are optional. Click the Change Admin User button to save your changes.

NOTE: in FreeNAS® the administrative account is not the same as the root user account. The administrative account is used to access the graphical administrative interface. This separation makes it possible to disable root logins while maintaining the ability of logging into the graphical administrative interface.

To change the password of the administrative account, click on Account → Admin Account → Change Password. This will open the screen shown in Figure 3.2b.

Figure 3.2b: Setting the FreeNAS® Administrative Password

Type in and confirm the password which will be used when accessing the graphical administrative interface. If you wish to allow root logins using the same password, leave the "Change root password as well" box checked. Uncheck this box to keep the root user account disabled.

NOTE: for security reasons, the root password, the SSH service, and root SSH logins are all disabled by default. Unless these are set, the only way to access a shell as root is to gain physical access to the console menu or to access the web shell within the administrative GUI. This means that the FreeNAS® system should be kept physically secure and that the administrative GUI should be behind a properly configured firewall and protected by a secure username and password.

3.2.2 Groups

The Groups interface allows you to manage UNIX-style groups on the FreeNAS® system.

NOTE: if Active Directory or OpenLDAP is running on your network, you do not need to recreate the network's users or groups. Instead, import the existing account information into FreeNAS® using Services → Active Directory (described in section 8.2) or Services → LDAP (described in section 8.8).

This section describes how to create a group and assign it user accounts. The next section will describe how to create user accounts.

If you click Groups → View Groups, you will see a screen similar to Figure 3.2c.

Figure 3.2c: FreeNAS® Groups Management

All groups that came with the operating system will be listed and the screen will indicate if any additional groups have been defined by the administrator. Each group has an entry indicating the group ID and group name; click the group's Members button to view and modify that group's membership.

f you click the Add New Group button, you will see the screen shown in Figure 3.2d. Table 3.2a summarizes the available options when creating a group.

Figure 3.2d: Creating a New Group

Table 3.2a: Options When Creating a Group

Setting

Value

Description

Group ID

string

the next available group ID will be suggested for you; by convention, UNIX groups containing user accounts have an ID greater than 1000 and groups required by a service have an ID equal to the default port number used by the service (e.g. the sshd group has an ID of 22)

Group Name

string

mandatory

Allow repeated GIDs

checkbox

allows multiple groups to share the same group id; this is useful when a GID is already associated with the UNIX permissions for existing data

Once the group and users are created, you can assign users as members of a group. Click on View Groups then the Members button for the group you wish to assign users to. Highlight the user in the Member users list (which shows all user accounts on the system) and click the >> to move that user to the right frame. The user accounts which appear in the right frame will be added as members of that group.

In the example shown in Figure 3.2e, the data1 group has been created and the user1 user account has been created with a primary group of user1. The Members button for the data1 group has been selected and user1 has been added as a member of that group.

Figure 3.2e: Assigning a User as a Member of a Group

3.2.3 Users

FreeNAS® supports users, groups, and permissions, allowing great flexibility in configuring which users have access to the data stored on FreeNAS®. In order to assign permissions which will be used by shares, you will need to do one of the following:

Create a guest account that all users will use.

Create a user account for every user in the network where the name of each account is the same as a logon name used on a computer. For example, if a Windows system has a login name of bobsmith, you should create a user account with the name bobsmith on FreeNAS®. If your intent is to assign groups of users different permissions to shares, you will need to also create groups and assign users to the groups.

If your network uses Active Directory to manage user accounts and permissions, enable the Active Directory service as described in section 8.2.

If your network uses an OpenLDAP server to manage user accounts and permissions, enable the LDAP service as described in section 8.8.

User accounts can be given permissions to volumes or datasets. If you wish to use groups to manage permissions, you should create the user accounts first, then assign the accounts as members of the groups. This section demonstrates how to create a user account.

NOTE: if Active Directory or OpenLDAP is running on your network, you do not need to recreate the network's users or groups. Instead import the existing account information into FreeNAS® using Services → Active Directory or Services → LDAP.

Account → Users → View Users provides a listing of all of the system accounts that were installed with the FreeNAS® operating system, as shown in Figure 3.2f. The accounts that you create will be listed above the system accounts. A "No users defined" message will be displayed in this area if you have not yet created any user accounts.

Figure 3.2f: Managing User Accounts

Each account entry indicates the account ID, account name, default group, home directory, and default shell. Each account also provides the following buttons:

Change Password: provides fields to enter and confirm the new password.

Modify User: used to modify the account's settings, as listed in Table 3.2b.

Auxiliary Groups: used to make the account a member of additional groups.

Change E-mail: used to change the email address associated with the account.

NOTE: it is important to set the email address for the built-in root user account as important system messages are sent to the root user. For security reasons, password logins are disabled for the root account and changing this setting is highly discouraged.

Every account that came with the FreeNAS® operating system, except for the root user, is a system account. Each system account is used by a service and should not be available for use as a login account. For this reason, the default shell is nologin(8). For security reasons, and to prevent breakage of system services, you should not modify the system accounts.

To create a user account, click the Add New User button to open the screen shown in Figure 3.2g. Table 3.2b summarizes the options which are available when you create or modify a user account.

Figure 3.2g: Adding or Editing a User Account

Table 3.2b: User Account Configuration

Setting

Value

Description

User ID

integer

greyed out if user already created; when creating an account, the next numeric ID will be suggested; by convention, user accounts have an ID greater than 1000 and system accounts have an ID equal to the default port number used by the service

Username

string

greyed out if user already created; maximum 32 characters to allow for longer AD names though a maximum of 8 is recommended for interoperability; can include numerals but can not include a space

Create a new primary group

checkbox

by default, a primary group with the same name as the user will be created; uncheck this box to select a different primary group name (NOTE: in Unix, a primary group is not the same as a secondary/auxiliary group)

Primary Group

drop-down menu

must uncheck "Create a new primary group" in order to access this menu; for security reasons, FreeBSD will not give a user su permissions if wheel is their primary group--if your intent is to give a user su access, add them to the wheel group in the Auxiliary groups section

Home Directory

browse button

leave as /nonexistent for system accounts, otherwise browse to the name of an existing volume or dataset that the user will be assigned permission to access

Home Directory Mode

checkboxes

sets default permissions of user's home directory

Shell

drop-down menu

if creating a system account, choose nologin; if creating a user account, select shell of choice

Full Name

string

mandatory, may contain spaces

E-mail

string

email address associated with the account

Password

string

mandatory unless check box to disable password logins

Password confirmation

string

must match Password

Disable password logins

checkbox

check this box for system accounts and for user accounts who aren't allowed to login to the FreeNAS® system using password authentication; to undo this setting, set a password for the user using the "Change Password" button for the user in View Users

SSH Public Key

string

paste the user's public key to be used for SSH key authentication (do not paste the private key!)

Lock user

checkbox

a checked box prevents user from logging in until the account is unlocked (box is unchecked)

Auxiliary groups

mouse selection

highlight the group(s) you wish to add the user to and use the >> button to add the user to the highlighted groups

4 System Configuration

The System section of the administrative GUI contains the following entries:

Cron Jobs: provides a graphical front-end to crontab(5)

NTP Servers: used to configure NTP server settings

Reporting: provides reports and graphs monitoring the system's CPU, disk capacity and other metrics

Rsync Tasks: allows you to schedule rsync tasks

S.M.A.R.T. Tests: allows you to schedule which S.M.A.R.T. tests to run on a per-disk basis

Settings: used to configure system wide settings such as timezone, email setup, HTTPS access, and firmware upgrades

Sysctls: provides a front-end for tuning the FreeNAS® system by interacting with the underlying FreeBSD kernel

System Information: provides general FreeNAS® system information such as hostname, operating system version, platform, and uptime

Tunables: provides a front-end to load additional kernel modules at boot time

Each of these is described in more detail in this section.

4.1 Cron Jobs

cron(8) is a daemon that runs a command or script on a regular schedule as a specified user. Typically, the user who wishes to schedule a task manually creates a crontab(5) using syntax that can be perplexing to new Unix users. The FreeNAS® GUI makes it easy to schedule when you would like the task to occur.

NOTE: due to a limitation in FreeBSD, users with account names that contain spaces or exceed 17 characters are unable to create cron jobs.

Figure 4.1a shows the screen that opens when you click System → Cron Jobs → Add Cron Job.

Figure 4.1a: Creating a Cron Job

Table 4.1a summarizes the configurable options when creating a cron job.

Table 4.1a: Cron Job Options

Setting

Value

Description

User

drop-down menu

make sure the selected user has permission to run the specified command or script

Command

string

the full path to the command or script to be run; if it is a script, test it at the command line first to make sure that it works as expected

Short description

string

optional

Minute

slider or minute selections

if use the slider, cron job occurs every N minutes; if use minute selections, cron job occurs at the highlighted minutes

Hour

slider or hour selections

if use the slider, cron job occurs every N hours; if use hour selections, cron job occurs at the highlighted hours

Day of month

slider or month selections

if use the slider, cron job occurs every N days; if use day selections, cron job occurs on the highlighted days each month

Month

checkboxes

cron job occurs on the selected months

Day of week

checkboxes

cron job occurs on the selected days

Redirect Stderr

checkbox

disables emailing standard output to the root user account

Redirect Stderr

checkbox

disables emailing errors to the root user account

Enabled

checkbox

uncheck if you would like to disable the cron job without deleting it

4.2 NTP Servers

The network time protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize the time on the computers in a network. Accurate time is necessary for the successful operation of time sensitive applications such as Active Directory.

By default, FreeNAS® is pre-configured to use three public NTP servers. If your network is using Active Directory, ensure that the FreeNAS® system and the Active Directory Domain Controller have been configured to use the same NTP servers.

Figure 4.2a shows the default NTP configuration for FreeNAS®.

Figure 4.2a: Default NTP Configuration

If you wish to change a default server to match the settings used by your network's domain controller, click an entry's Edit button. Alternately, you can delete the default NTP servers and click Add NTP Server to create your own. Figure 4.2b shows the Add NTP Server screen and Table 4.2a summarizes the options when adding or editing an NTP server. ntp.conf(5) explains these options in more detail.

Figure 4.2b: Add or Edit a NTP Server

Table 4.2a: NTP Server Options

Setting

Value

Description

Address

string

name of NTP server

Burst

checkbox

recommended when Max. Poll is greater than 10; only use on your own servers i.e. do not use with a public NTP server

IBurst

checkbox

speeds the initial synchronization (seconds instead of minutes)

Prefer

checkbox

should only be used for NTP servers that are known to be highly accurate, such as those with time monitoring hardware

Min. Poll

integer

power of 2 in seconds; can not be lower than 4 or higher than Max. Poll

Max. Poll

integer

power of 2 in seconds; can not be higher than 17 or lower than Min. Poll

Force

checkbox

forces the addition of the NTP server, even if it is currently unreachable

4.3 Reporting

System → Reporting displays several graphs, as seen in the example in Figure 4.3a.

Figure 4.3a: Reporting Graphs

FreeNAS® uses collectd to provide reporting statistics. The following collectd plugins are enabled in /conf/base/etc/local/collectd.conf, and thus provide reporting graphs:

system load: provides a rough overview of system utilization over a one, five, and fifteen minute average.

processes: displays the number of processes, grouped by state.

disk space: displays free and used space for each volume and dataset. However, the disk space used by an individual zvol is not displayed as it is a block device.

uptime: keeps track of the system uptime, the average running time, and the maximum reached uptime.

CPU usage: collects the amount of time spent by the CPU in various states such as executing user code, executing system code, and being idle.

swap utilization: displays the amount of free and used swap space.

physical memory: displays physical memory usage.

interface: shows received and transmitted traffic in bits per second for each configured interface. If the Plugins Jail is installed, the epair interface is used by the jail.

Reporting data is saved, allowing you to view and monitor usage trends over time. Reporting data is saved to /data/rrd_dir.tar.bz2 and should be preserved across system upgrades and at shutdown.

Use the magnifier buttons next to each graph to increase or decrease the displayed time increment from 10 minutes, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. You can also use the << and >> buttons to scroll through the output.

4.4 Rsync Tasks

Rsync is a utility that automatically copies specified data from one system to another over a network. Once the initial data is copied, rsync reduces the amount of data sent over the network by sending only the differences between the source and destination files. Rsync can be used for backups, mirroring data on multiple systems, or for copying files between systems.

To configure rsync, you need to configure both ends of the connection:

the rsync server: this system pulls (receives) the data. This system is referred to as PULL in the configuration examples.

the rsync client: this system pushes (sends) the data. This system is referred to as PUSH in the configuration examples.

FreeNAS® can be configured as either an rsync client or an rsync server. The opposite end of the connection can be another FreeNAS® system or any other system running rsync. In FreeNAS® terminology, an rysnc task defines which data is synchronized between the two systems. If you are synchronizing data between two FreeNAS® systems, create the rsync task on the rsync client.

FreeNAS® supports two modes of rsync operation:

rsync module mode: exports a directory tree, and its configured settings, as a symbolic name over an unencrypted connection. This mode requires that at least one module be defined on the rsync server. It can be defined in the FreeNAS® GUI under Services → Rsync → Rsync Modules. In other operating systems, the module is defined in rsyncd.conf(5).

rsync over SSH: synchronizes over an encrypted connection. Requires the configuration of SSH user and host public keys.

This section summarizes the options when creating an Rsync Task. It then provides a configuration example between two FreeNAS® systems for each mode of rsync operation.

4.4.1 Creating an Rsync Task

Figure 4.4a shows the screen that appears when you click System → Rsync Tasks → Add Rsync Task. Table 4.4a summarizes the options that can be configured when creating an rsync task.

Figure 4.4a: Adding an Rsync Task

Table 4.4a: Rsync Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Path

browse button

browse to the volume/dataset/directory that you wish to copy; note that a path length greater than 255 characters will fail

Remote Host

string

IP address or hostname of the remote system that will store the copy

Remote SSH Port

integer

only available in Rsync module mode; allows you to specify an alternate SSH port other than the default of 22

Rsync mode>

drop-down menu

choices are Rsync module or Rsync over SSH

Remote Module Name / Remote Path

string

when using Rsync module mode, at least one module must be defined in rsyncd.conf(5) of rsync server or in Services → Rsync → Rsync Modules of another FreeNAS® system; when using Rsync over SSHmode, input the path on the remote host to push or pull (e.g. /mnt/volume

Direction

drop-down menu

choices are Push or Pull; default is to push from the FreeNAS® system to a remote host

Short Description

string

optional

Minute

slider or minute selections

if use the slider, sync occurs every N minutes; if use minute selections, sync occurs at the highlighted minutes

Hour

slider or hour selections

if use the slider, sync occurs every N hours; if use hour selections, sync occurs at the highlighted hours

Day of month

slider or day selections

if use the slider, sync occurs every N days; if use day selections, sync occurs on the highlighted days

Month

checkboxes

task occurs on the selected months

Day of week

checkboxes

task occurs on the selected days of the week

User

drop-down menu

specified user must have permission to write to the specified directory on the remote system; due to a limitation in FreeBSD, the user name can not contain spaces or exceed 17 characters

Recursive

checkbox

if checked, copy will include all subdirectories of the specified volume

Times

checkbox

preserve modification times of files

Compress

checkbox

recommended on slow connections as reduces size of data to be transmitted

Archive

checkbox

equivalent to -rlptgoD (recursive, copy symlinks as symlinks, preserve permissions, preserve modification times, preserve group, preserve owner (super-user only), and preserve device files (super-user only) and special files)

Delete

checkbox

delete files in destination directory that don't exist in sending directory

Quiet

checkbox

suppresses informational messages from the remote server

Preserve permissions

checkbox

preserves original file permissions; useful if User is set to root

Preserve extended attributes

checkbox

both systems must support extended attributes

Extra options

string

rsync(1) options not covered by the GUI

Enabled

checkbox

uncheck if you would like to disable the rsync task without deleting it

If the rysnc server requires password authentication, input --password-file=/PATHTO/FILENAME in the "Extra options" box, replacing /PATHTO/FILENAME with the appropriate path to the file containing the value of the password.

4.4.2 Configuring Rsync Module Mode Between Two FreeNAS® Systems

This configuration example will configure rsync module mode between the two following FreeNAS® systems:

192.168.2.2 has existing data in /mnt/local/images. It will be the rsync client, meaning that an rsync task needs to be defined. It will be referred to as PUSH.

192.168.2.6 has an existing volume named /mnt/remote. It will be the rsync server, meaning that it will receive the contents of /mnt/local/images. An rsync module needs to be defined on this system and the rsyncd service needs to be started. It will be referred to as PULL.

On PUSH, an rsync task is defined in System → Rsync Tasks → Add Rsync Task as shown in Figure 4.4b. In this example:

the Path points to /usr/local/images, the directory to be copied

the Remote Host points to 192.168.2.6, the IP address of the rsync server

the Rsync Mode is Rsync module

the Remote Module Name is backups; this will need to be defined on the rsync server

the Direction is Push

the rsync is scheduled to occur every 15 minutes

the User is set to root so it has permission to write anywhere

the Preserve Permissions checkbox is checked so that the original permissions are not overwritten by the root user

Figure 4.4b: Configuring the Rsync Client

On PULL, an rsync module is defined in Services → Rsync Modules → Add Rsync Module, shown in Figure 4.4c. In this example:

the Module Name is backups; this needs to match the setting on the rsync client

the Path is /mnt/remote; a directory called images will be created to hold the contents of /usr/local/images

the User is set to root so it has permission to write anywhere

Hosts allow is set to 192.168.2.2, the IP address of the rsync client

Descriptions of the configurable options can be found in Rsync Modules.

To finish the configuration, start the rsync service on PULL in Services → Control Services. If the rsync is successful, the contents of /mnt/local/images/ will be mirrored to /mnt/remote/images/.

Figure 4.4c: Configuring the Rsync Server

4.4.3 Configuring Rsync over SSH Mode Between Two FreeNAS® Systems

SSH replication mode does not require the creation of an rsync module or for the rsync service to be running on the rsync server. It does require SSH to be configured before creating the rsync task:

a public/private key pair for the rsync user account (typically root) must be generated on PUSH and the public key copied to the same user account on PULL

to mitigate the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks, the public host key of PULL must be copied to PUSH

the SSH service must be running on PULL

To create the public/private key pair on PUSH, open Shell. The / filesystem must first be mounted as read-write. In the following example, the root user is generating an RSA type of public/private key pair. When creating the key pair, do not enter the passphrase as the key is meant to be used for an automated task.

mount -o rw /
ssh-keygen -t rsa
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/root/.ssh/id_rsa):
Created directory '/root/.ssh'.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
f5:b0:06:d1:33:e4:95:cf:04:aa:bb:6e:a4:b7:2b:df root@freenas.local
The key's randomart image is:
+--[ RSA 2048]----+
|        .o. oo   |
|         o+o. .  |
|        . =o +   |
|         + +  o  |
|        S o .    |
|        .o       |
|       o.        |
|      o oo       |
|       **oE      |
+-----------------+

NOTE: FreeNAS® supports the following types of SSH keys: DSA, and RSA. When creating the key, specify the type you wish to use or, if you are generating the key on another operating system, select a type of key the key generation software supports.

Next, view and copy the contents of the generated public key:

more .ssh/id_rsa.pub
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC1lBEXRgw1W8y8k+lXPlVR3xsmVSjtsoyIzV/PlQPo
SrWotUQzqILq0SmUpViAAv4Ik3T8NtxXyohKmFNbBczU6tEsVGHo/2BLjvKiSHRPHc/1DX9hofcFti4h
dcD7Y5mvU3MAEeDClt02/xoi5xS/RLxgP0R5dNrakw958Yn001sJS9VMf528fknUmasti00qmDDcp/kO
xT+S6DFNDBy6IYQN4heqmhTPRXqPhXqcD1G+rWr/nZK4H8Ckzy+l9RaEXMRuTyQgqJB/rsRcmJX5fApd
DmNfwrRSxLjDvUzfywnjFHlKk/+TQIT1gg1QQaj21PJD9pnDVF0AiJrWyWnR root@freenas.local

Go to PULL and paste (or append) the copied key into the SSH Public Key field of Account → Users → View Users → root → Modify User. The paste for the above example is shown in Figure 4.4d. When pasting the key, ensure that it is pasted as one long line and, if necessary, remove any extra spaces representing line breaks.

Figure 4.4d: Pasting the User's SSH Public Key

While on PULL, verify that the SSH service is running in Services → Control Services and start it if it is not.

Next, copy the host key of PULL using Shell on PUSH. The following command copies the RSA host key of the PULL server used in our previous example. Be sure to include the double bracket >> to prevent overwriting any existing entries in the known_hosts file.

ssh-keyscan -t rsa 192.168.2.6 >> /root/.ssh/known_hosts

You are now ready to create the rsync task on PULL. To configure rsync SSH mode using the systems in our previous example, the configuration would be as follows:

the Path points to /mnt/local/images, the directory to be copied

the Remote Host points to 192.168.2.6, the IP address of the rsync server

the Rsync Mode is Rsync over SSH

the rsync is scheduled to occur every 15 minutes

the User is set to root so it has permission to write anywhere; the public key for this user must be generated on PUSH and copied to PULL

the Preserve Permissions checkbox is checked so that the original permissions are not overwritten by the root user

Once you save the rsync task, the rsync will automatically occur according to your schedule. In this example, the contents of /mnt/local/images/ will automatically appear in /mnt/remote/images/ after 15 minutes. If the content does not appear, use Shell on PULL to read /var/log/messages. If the message indicates a \n (newline character) in the key, remove the space in your pasted key--it will be after the character that appears just before the \n in the error message.

4.5 S.M.A.R.T. Tests

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a monitoring system for computer hard disk drives to detect and report on various indicators of reliability. When a failure is anticipated by S.M.A.R.T., the drive should be replaced. Most modern ATA, IDE and SCSI-3 hard drives support S.M.A.R.T.--refer to your drive's documentation if you are unsure.

Figure 4.5a shows the configuration screen that appears when you click System → S.M.A.R.T. Tests → Add S.M.A.R.T. Test. The tests that you create will be listed under View S.M.A.R.T. Tests. After creating your tests, check the configuration in Services → S.M.A.R.T., then click the slider to ON for the S.M.A.R.T. service in Services → Control Services. The S.M.A.R.T. service will not start if you have not created any volumes.

NOTE: to prevent problems, do not enable the S.M.A.R.T. service if your disks are controlled by a RAID controller as it is the job of the controller to monitor S.M.A.R.T. and mark drives as Predictive Failure when they trip.

Figure 4.5a: Adding a S.M.A.R.T. Test

Table 4.5a summarizes the configurable options when creating a S.M.A.R.T. test.

Table 4.5a: S.M.A.R.T. Test Options

Setting

Value

Description

Disk

list

highlight disk(s) to monitor

Type

drop-down menu

select type of test to run; see smartctl(8) for a description of each type of test (note that some test types will degrade performance or take disk(s) offline)

Short description

string

optional

Hour

slider or hour selections

if use the slider, test occurs every N hours; if use hour selections, test occurs at the highlighted hours

Day of month

slider or day selections

if use the slider, test occurs every N days; if use day selections, test occurs on the highlighted days

Month

checkboxes

select the months when you wish the test to occur

Day of week

checkboxes

select the days of the week when you wish the test to occur

You can verify which tests will run and when by typing smartd -q showtests within Shell.

4.6 Settings

The Settings tab, shown in Figure 4.6a, contains 4 tabs: General, Advanced, Email, and SSL.

Figure 4.6a: General Tab of Settings

4.6.1 General Tab

Table 4.6a summarizes the settings that can be configured using the General tab:

Table 4.6a: General Tab's Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Protocol

drop-down menu

protocol to use when connecting to the administrative GUI from a browser; if you change the default of HTTP to HTTPS, an unsigned certificate and RSA key will be generated and you will be logged out in order to accept the certificate

WebGUI Address

drop-down menu

choose from a list of recent IP addresses to limit the one to use when accessing the administrative GUI; the built-in HTTP server will automatically bind to the wildcard address of 0.0.0.0 (any address) and will issue an alert if the specified address becomes unavailable

WebGUI Port

integer

allows you to configure a non-standard port for accessing the administrative GUI

Language

drop-down menu

select the localization from the drop-down menu; requires a browser reload; you can view the status of localization at pootle.freenas.org

Console Keyboard Map

drop-down menu

select the keyboard layout

Timezone

drop-down menu

select the timezone from the drop-down menu

Syslog server

string

IP address or hostname of remote syslog server to send FreeNAS® logs to; once set, log entries will be written to both the FreeNAS® console and the remote server

NOTE: by default, logs are stored in RAM as there is no space on the embedded device to store logs. This means that logs are deleted whenever the system reboots. If you wish to save the system logs, either configure a remote syslog server, create a script to store the logs on a volume and add the script as a cron job, or use the FreeNAS-Change-Logging script.

If you make any changes, click the Save button.

This tab also contains the following buttons:

Factory Restore: replaces current configuration with the factory default. This means that all of your customizations will be erased, but can be handy if you mess up your system or wish to return a test system to the original configuration.

Save Config: used to create a backup copy of the current configuration database in the format hostname-version-architecture. Always save the configuration after making changes and verify that you have a saved configuration before performing an upgrade. This forum post contains a script to backup the configuration which could be customized and added as a cron job.

Upload Config: allows you to browse to location of saved configuration file in order to restore that configuration.

4.6.2 Advanced Tab

The Advanced tab, shown in Figure 4.6b, allows you to set some miscellaneous settings on the FreeNAS® system. The configurable settings are summarized in Table 4.6b.

Figure 4.6b: Advanced Tab

Table 4.6b: Advanced Tab's Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Enable Console Menu

checkbox

unchecking this box removes the console menu shown in Figure 2.5a

Use Serial Console

checkbox

do not check this box if your serial port is disabled

Serial Port Speed

drop-down menu

select the speed used by the serial port

Enable screen saver

checkbox

enables/disables the console screen saver

Enable powerd (Power Saving Daemon)

checkbox

powerd(8) is used to monitor ACPI power control settings; this forum post demonstrates how to determine if a drive has spun down

Swap size

non-zero integer representing GB

affects new disks only

Show console messages in the footer

checkbox

will display console messages in real time at bottom of browser; click the console to bring up a scrollable screen; check the "Stop refresh" box in the scrollable screen to pause updating and uncheck the box to continue to watch the messages as they occur

Show tracebacks in case of fatal errors

checkbox

provides a pop-up of diagnostic information when a fatal error occurs

Show advanced fields by default

checkbox

several GUI menus provide an Advanced Mode button to access additional features; enabling this shows these features by default

Enable autotune

checkbox

enables the autotune script which attempts to optimize the system depending upon the hardware which is installed

Enable virtio

checkbox

enable this when running FreeNAS® as a KVM guest

MOTD banner

string

input the message to be seen when a user logs in via SSH

If you make any changes, click the Save button.

This tab also contains the following buttons:

Rebuild LDAP/AD Cache: click if you add a user to Active Directory who needs immediate access to FreeNAS®; otherwise this occurs automatically once a day as a cron job.

Save Debug: used to generate a text file of diagnostic information. In the screen shown in Figure 4.6c, check the box(es) for the information that you wish to generate then click the Save button to be prompted for the location to save the generated ASCII text file.

Firmware Update: used to Upgrade FreeNAS®. See Upgrading FreeNAS® From the GUI for details.

Figure 4.6c: Save Debug Screen

4.6.2.1 Autotune

FreeNAS® provides an autotune script which attempts to optimize the system depending upon the hardware which is installed. For example, if a ZFS volume exists on a system with limited RAM, the autotune script will automatically adjust some ZFS sysctl values in an attempt to minimize ZFS memory starvation issues.

The "Enable autotune" checkbox in System → Settings → Advanced is unchecked by default; check it if you would like the autotuner to run at boot time. If you would like the script to run immediately, reboot the system.

If autotuner finds any settings that need adjusting, the changed values will appear in System → Sysctls (for sysctl.conf values) and in System → Tunables (for loader.conf values). If you do not like the changes, you can modify the values that are displayed in the GUI and your changes will override the values that were created by the autotune script. However, if you delete a sysctl or tunable that was created by autotune, it will be recreated at next boot. This is because autotune only creates values that do not already exist.

If you are trying to increase the performance of your FreeNAS® system and suspect that the current hardware may be limiting performance, try enabling autotune.

If you wish to read the script to see which checks are performed, the script is located in /usr/local/bin/autotune.

4.6.3 Email Tab

The Email tab, shown in Figure 4.6d, is used to configure the email settings on the FreeNAS® system. Table 4.6c summarizes the settings that can be configured using the Email tab.

NOTE: it is important to configure the system so that it can successfully send emails. An automatic script send a nightly email to the root user account containing important information such as the health of the disks. Alert events are also emailed to the root user account.

Figure 4.6d: Email Tab

Table 4.6c: Email Tab's Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

From email

string

the From email address to be used when sending email notifications

Outgoing mail server

string or IP address

hostname or IP address of SMTP server

Port to connect to

integer

SMTP port number, typically 25, 465 (secure SMTP), or 587 (submission)

TLS/SSL

drop-down menu

encryption type; choices are Plain, SSL, or TLS

Use SMTP Authentication

checkbox

enables/disables SMTP AUTH using PLAIN SASL

Username

string

used to authenticate with SMTP server<

Password

string

used to authenticate with SMTP server

Send Test Mail

button

click to check that configured email settings are working; this will fail if you do not set the To email address by clicking the Change E-mail button for the root account in Accounts → Users → View Users

4.6.4 SSL Tab

When you change the Protocol value to HTTPS in System → Settings → General, an unsigned RSA certificate and key are auto-generated. Once generated, the certificate and key will be displayed in the SSL Certificate field in System → Settings → SSL, shown in Figure 4.6e. If you already have your own signed certificate that you wish to use for SSL/TLS connections, replace the values in the SSL certificate field with a copy/paste of your own key and certificate. The certificate can be used to secure the HTTP connection (enabled in the Settings → General Tab) to the FreeNAS® system.

Table 4.6d summarizes the settings that can be configured using the SSL tab. This howto shows how to manually generate your own certificate using OpenSSL and provides some examples for the values shown in Table 4.6d.

Figure 4.6e: SSL Tab

Table 4.6d: SSL Tab's Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Organization

string

optional

Organizational Unit

string

optional

Email Address

string

optional

Locality

string

optional

State

string

optional

Country

string

optional

Common Name

string

optional

Passphrase

string

if the certificate was created with a passphrase, input and confirm it; the value will appear as dots in the GUI

SSL Certificate

string

paste the private key and certificate into the box

NOTE: FreeNAS® will check the validity of the certificate and key and will fallback to HTTP if they appear to be invalid.

4.7 Sysctls

sysctl(8) is an interface that is used to make changes to the FreeBSD kernel running on a FreeNAS® system. It can be used to tune the system in order to meet the specific needs of a network. Over five hundred system variables can be set using sysctl(8). Each variable is known as a MIB as it is comprised of a dotted set of components. Since these MIBs are specific to the kernel feature that is being tuned, descriptions can be found in many FreeBSD man pages (e.g. sysctl(3), tcp(4) and tuning(7)) and in many sections of the FreeBSD Handbook.

DANGER! changing the value of a sysctl MIB is an advanced feature that immediately affects the kernel of the FreeNAS® system. Do not change a MIB on a production system unless you understand the ramifications of that change. A badly configured MIB could cause the system to become unbootable, unreachable via the network, or can cause the system to panic under load. Certain changes may break assumptions made by the FreeNAS® software. This means that you should always test the impact of any changes on a test system first.

FreeNAS® provides a graphical interface for managing sysctl MIBs. To add a sysctl, go to System → Sysctls → Add Sysctl, shown in Figure 4.7a.

Figure 4.7a: Adding a Sysctl

Table 4.7a summarizes the options when adding a sysctl.

Table 4.7a: Adding a Sysctl

Setting

Value

Description

Variable

string

must be in dotted format e.g. kern.ipc.shmmax

Value

integer or string

value to associate with MIB; do not make this up, refer to the suggested values in a man page, FreeBSD Handbook page, or tutorial

Comment

string

optional, but a useful reminder for the reason behind using this MIB/value

Enabled

checkbox

uncheck if you would like to disable the sysctl without deleting it

As soon as you add or edit a sysctl, the running kernel will change that variable to the value you specify. As long as the sysctl exists, that value will persist across reboots and upgrades.

Any MIBs that you add will be listed in System → Sysctls → View Sysctls. To change the value of a MIB, click its Edit button. To remove a MIB, click its Delete button.

At this time, the GUI does not display the sysctl MIBs that are pre-set in the installation image. 8.3.1 ships with the following MIBs set:

kern.metadelay=3
kern.dirdelay=4
kern.filedelay=5
kern.coredump=0
net.inet.tcp.delayed_ack=0

Do not add or edit the default MIBS as sysctls as doing so will overwrite the default values which may render the system unusable.

4.8 System Information

System → System Information displays general information about the FreeNAS® system. The information includes the hostname, the build version, type of CPU (platform), the amount of memory, the current system time, the system's uptime, the current load average, and the IP address being used for the connection to the administrative GUI. An example is seen in Figure 4.8a:

Figure 4.8a: System Information Tab

4.9 Tunables

When a FreeBSD-based system boots, loader.conf(5) is read to determine if any parameters should be passed to the kernel or if any additional kernel modules (such as drivers) should be loaded. Since loader values are specific to the kernel parameter or driver to be loaded, descriptions can be found in the man page for the specified driver and in many sections of the FreeBSD Handbook.

FreeNAS® provides a graphical interface for managing loader values. This advanced functionality is intended to make it easier to load additional kernel modules at boot time. A typical usage would be to load a FreeBSD hardware driver that does not automatically load after a FreeNAS® installation. The default FreeNAS® image does not load every possible hardware driver. This is a necessary evil as some drivers conflict with one another or cause stability issues, some are rarely used, and some drivers just don't belong on a standard NAS system. If you need a driver that is not automatically loaded, you need to add a tunable.

DANGER! adding a tunable is an advanced feature that could adversely effect the ability of the FreeNAS® system to successfully boot. It is very important that you do not have a typo when adding a tunable as this could halt the boot process. Fixing this problem requires physical access to the FreeNAS® system and knowledge of how to use the boot loader prompt as described in Recovering From Incorrect Tunables. This means that you should always test the impact of any changes on a test system first.

To add a tunable, go to System → Tunables → Add Tunable, as seen in Figure 4.9a.

Figure 4.9a: Adding a Tunable

Table 4.9a summarizes the options when adding a tunable.

Table 4.9a: Adding a Tunable

Setting

Value

Description

Variable

string

typically the name of the driver to load, as indicated by its man page

Value

integer or string

value to associate with variable; typically this is set to YES to enable the driver specified by the variable

Comment

string

optional, but a useful reminder for the reason behind adding this tunable

Enabled

checkbox

uncheck if you would like to disable the tunable without deleting it

The changes you make will not take effect until the system is rebooted as loader settings are only read when the kernel is loaded at boot time. As long as the tunable exists, your changes will persist at each boot and across upgrades.

Any tunables that you add will be listed alphabetically in System → Tunables → View Tunables. To change the value of a tunable, click its Edit button. To remove a tunable, click its Delete button.

At this time, the GUI does not display the tunables that are pre-set in the installation image. 8.3.1 ships with the following tunables set:

autoboot_delay="2"
loader_logo="freenas"
kern.cam.boot_delay=30000
fuse_load="YES"
geom_mirror_load="YES"
geom_stripe_load="YES"
geom_raid3_load="YES"
geom_raid5_load="YES"
geom_gate_load="YES"
geom_multipath_load=”YES”
debug.debugger_on_panic=1
hw.hptrr.attach_generic=0
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="262144"

Do not add or edit the default tunables as doing so will overwrite the default values which may render the system unusable.

4.9.1 Recovering From Incorrect Tunables

If a tunable is preventing the system from booting, you will need physical access to the FreeNAS® system. Watch the boot messages and press the number 6 key to select "6. Escape to loader prompt" when you see the FreeNAS® boot menu shown in Figure 4.9b.

Figure 4.9b: FreeNAS® Boot Menu

The boot loader prompt provides a minimal set of commands described in loader(8). Once at the prompt, use the unset command to disable a problematic value, the set command to modify the problematic value, or the unload command to prevent the problematic driver from loading.

Example 4.9a demonstrates several examples using these commands at the boot loader prompt. The first command disables the current value associated with the kern.ipc.nmbclusters MIB and will fail with a "no such file or directory" error message if a current tunable does not exist to set this value. The second command disables ACPI. The third command instructs the system not to load the fuse driver. When finished, type boot to continue the boot process.

Example 4.9a: Sample Commands at the Boot Loader Prompt

Type '?' for a list of commands, 'help' for more detailed help.
OK unset kern.ipc.nmbclusters
OK set hint.acpi.0.disabled=1
OK unload fuse
OK boot

Any changes made at the boot loader prompt only effect the current boot. This means that you need to edit or remove the problematic tunable in System → Tunables → View Tunables to make your change permanent and to prevent future boot errors.

5 Network Configuration

The Network section of the administrative GUI contains the following components for viewing and configuring the FreeNAS® system's network settings:

Global Configuration: used to to set non-interface specific network settings.

Interfaces: used to configure a specified interface's network settings.

Link Aggregations: used to configure link aggregation and link failover.

Network Summary: provides an overview of the current network settings.

Static Routes: used to add static routes.

VLANs: used to configure IEEE 802.1q tagging.

Each of these is described in more detail in this section.

5.1 Global Configuration

Network → Global Configuration, shown in Figure 5.1a, allows you to set non-interface specific network settings.

Figure 5.1a: Global Configuration Screen

Table 5.1a summarizes the settings that can be configured using the Global Configuration tab. The hostname and domain will be pre-filled for you, as seen in Figure 5.1a, but can be changed to meet the local network's requirements.

If you will be installing the Plugins Jail, input the default gateway for the network containing the IP address to be used by the Plugins Jail.

If you will be using Active Directory, set the IP address of the DNS server used in the realm.

If your network does not have a DNS server or NFS, SSH, or FTP users are receiving "reverse DNS" or timeout errors, add an entry for the IP address of the FreeNAS® system in the "Host name database" field.

NOTE: if you add a gateway to the Internet, make sure that the FreeNAS® system is protected by a properly configured firewall.

Table 5.1a: Global Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Hostname

string

system host name

Domain

string

system domain name

IPv4 Default Gateway

IP address

typically not set (see NOTE below)

IPv6 Default Gateway

IP address

typically not set (see NOTE below)

Nameserver 1

IP address

primary DNS server (typically in Windows domain)

Nameserver 2

IP address

secondary DNS server

Nameserver 3

IP address

tertiary DNS server

Host name database

string

used to add one entry per line which will be appended to /etc/hosts; use the format IP_address space hostname where multiple hostnames can be used if separated by a space

NOTE: In many cases, a FreeNAS® configuration will deliberately exclude default gateway information as a way to make it more difficult for a remote attacker to communicate with the server. While this is a reasonable precaution, such a configuration does not restrict inbound traffic from sources within the local network. However, omitting a default gateway will prevent the FreeNAS® system from communicating with DNS servers, time servers, and mail servers that are located outside of the local network. In this case, it is recommended that Static Routes be added in order to reach external DNS, NTP, and mail servers which are configured with static IP addresses.

5.2 Interfaces

Network → Interfaces is used to view which interfaces have been manually configured, to add a manually configured interface, and to edit an interface's manual configuration.

NOTE: typically the interface used to access the FreeNAS® administrative GUI is configured by DHCP. This interface will not appear in this screen, even though it is already dynamically configured and in use.

Figure 5.2a shows the screen that opens when you click Interfaces → Add Interface. Table 5.2a summarizes the configuration options when you Add an interface or Edit an already configured interface.

NOTE: when configuring multiple interfaces, they can not be members of the same subnet. Check the subnet mask if you receive an error when setting the IP addresses on multiple interfaces.

Figure 5.2a: Adding or Editing an Interface

Table 5.2a: Interface Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

NIC

drop-down menu

select the FreeBSD device name; will be read-only field when edit an interface

Interface Name

string

description of interface

DHCP

checkbox

requires static IPv4 or IPv6 configuration if unchecked; note that only one interface can be configured for DHCP

IPv4 Address

IP address

set if DHCP unchecked

IPv4 Netmask

drop-down menu

set if DHCP unchecked

Auto configure IPv6

checkbox

if checked, use rtsold(8) to configure the interface; requires manual configuration if unchecked and wish to use IPv6

IPv6 Address

IPv6 address

must be unique on network

IPv6 Prefix Length

drop-down menu

match the prefix used on network

Options

string

additional parameters from ifconfig(8), one per line; for example: mtu 9000 will increase the MTU for interfaces that support jumbo frames

This screen also allows you to configure an alias for the interface. If you wish to set multiple aliases, click the "Add extra alias" link for each alias you wish to configure.

5.3 Link Aggregations

FreeNAS® uses FreeBSD's lagg(4) interface to provide link aggregation and link failover. The lagg interface allows aggregation of multiple network interfaces into a single virtual lagg interface, providing fault-tolerance and high-speed multi-link throughput. The aggregation protocols supported by lagg determine which ports are used for outgoing traffic and whether a specific port accepts incoming traffic. The link state of the lagg interface is used to validate if the port is active or not.

Aggregation works best on switches supporting LACP, which distributes traffic bi-directionally while responding to failure of individual links. FreeNAS® also supports active/passive failover between pairs of links.

The LACP, FEC and load-balance modes select the output interface using a hash that includes the Ethernet source and destination address, VLAN tag (if available), IP source and destination address, and flow label (IPv6 only). The benefit can only be observed when multiple clients are transferring files from your NAS. The flow entering into your NAS depends on the Ethernet switch load-balance algorithm.

The lagg driver currently supports the following aggregation protocols:

Failover: the default protocol. Sends traffic only through the active port. If the master port becomes unavailable, the next active port is used. The first interface added is the master port; any interfaces added after that are used as failover devices. By default, received traffic is only accepted when received through the active port. This constraint can be relaxed, which is useful for certain bridged network setups, by setting net.link.lagg.failover_rx_all to a non-zero value in System → Sysctls → Add Sysctl.

FEC: supports Cisco EtherChannel on older Cisco switches. This is a static setup and does not negotiate aggregation with the peer or exchange frames to monitor the link.

LACP: supports the IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) and the Marker Protocol. LACP will negotiate a set of aggregable links with the peer into one or more link aggregated groups (LAGs). Each LAG is composed of ports of the same speed, set to full-duplex operation. The traffic will be balanced across the ports in the LAG with the greatest total speed; in most cases there will only be one LAG which contains all ports. In the event of changes in physical connectivity, link aggregation will quickly converge to a new configuration. LACP must be configured on the switch as well.

Load Balance: balances outgoing traffic across the active ports based on hashed protocol header information and accepts incoming traffic from any active port. This is a static setup and does not negotiate aggregation with the peer or exchange frames to monitor the link. The hash includes the Ethernet source and destination address, VLAN tag (if available), and IP source and destination address. Requires a switch which supports IEEE 802.3ad static link aggregation.

Round Robin: distributes outgoing traffic using a round-robin scheduler through all active ports and accepts incoming traffic from any active port. This mode can cause unordered packet arrival at the client. This has a side effect of limiting throughput as reordering packets can be CPU intensive on the client. Requires a switch which supports IEEE 802.3ad static link aggregation.

None: this protocol disables any traffic without disabling the lagg interface itself.

NOTE: the FreeNAS® system must be rebooted after configuring the lagg device and TCP access will be lost during reboot. Do not configure the interfaces used in the lagg device before creating the lagg device.

5.3.1 Considerations When Using LACP, MPIO, NFS, or ESXi

LACP bonds Ethernet connections in order to improve bandwidth. For example, four physical interfaces can be used to create one mega interface.

LACP reads the sender and receiver IP addresses and, if they are deemed to belong to the same TCP connection, always sends the packet over the same interface to ensure that TCP does not need to reorder packets. This makes LACP ideal for load balancing many simultaneous TCP connections, but does nothing for increasing the speed over one TCP connection.

MPIO operates at the iSCSI protocol level. For example, if you create four IP addresses and there are four simultaneous TCP connections, MPIO will send the data over all available links. When configuring MPIO, make sure that the IP addresses on the interfaces are configured to be on separate subnets with non-overlapping netmasks or configure static routes to do point to point communication. Otherwise, all packets will pass through one interface.

LACP and other forms of link aggregation generally do not work well with virtualization solutions. In a virtualized environment, consider the use of iSCSI MPIO through the creation of an iSCSI Portal. This allows an iSCSI initiator to recognize multiple links to a target, utilizing them for increased bandwidth or redundancy. This how-to contains instructions for configuring MPIO on ESXi.

NFS does not understand MPIO. Therefore, you will need one fast interface since creating an iSCSI portal will not improve bandwidth when using NFS. LACP does not work well to increase the bandwidth for point to point NFS (one server and one client). LACP is a good solution for link redundancy or for one server and many clients.

5.3.2 Creating a Link Aggregation

Figure 5.3a shows the configuration options when adding a lagg interface using Network → Link Aggregations → Create Link Aggregation.

Figure 5.3a: Creating a lagg Interface

NOTE: if interfaces are installed but do not appear in the Physical NICs in the LAGG list, check that a FreeBSD driver for the interface exists here.

Select the desired aggregation protocol, highlight the interface(s) to associate with the lagg device, and click the OK button.

Once the lagg device has been created, it will be listed in the tree under an entry which indicates the type of protocol. As seen in Figure 5.3b, it will also appear in View Link Aggregations.

Figure 5.3b: Viewing Link Aggregations

Each link aggregation entry provides buttons to edit the lagg interface, edit its member interfaces, or to delete the link aggregation.

Figure 5.3c shows the Edit Interface configuration screen and Table 5.3a describes the options in this screen.

Figure 5.3c: Edit lagg Interface

Table 5.3a describes the options in this screen:

Table 5.3a: Configurable Options for a lagg Interface

Setting

Value

Description

NIC

string

read-only as automatically assigned next available numeric ID

Interface Name

string

by default same as device (NIC) name, can be changed to a more descriptive value

DHCP

checkbox

check if the lagg device gets its IP address info from DHCP server

IPv4 Address

string

mandatory if DHCP is left unchecked

IPv4 Netmask

drop-down menu

mandatory if DHCP is left unchecked

Auto configure IPv6

checkbox

check only if DHCP server available to provide IPv6 address info

IPv6 Address

string

optional

IPv6 Prefix Length

drop-down menu

required if input IPv6 address

Options

string

additional ifconfig(8) options

This screen also allows you to configure an alias for the lagg interface. If you wish to set multiple aliases, click the "Add extra Alias" link for each alias you wish to configure.

If you click an entry's Edit Members button, the interfaces within the link aggregation will be listed. Each interface entry will have an Edit and a Delete button. Figure 5.3d shows the configuration screen that appears when you click the Edit button of a member interface. The configurable options are summarized in Table 5.3b.

Figure 5.3d: Editing a Member Interface

Table 5.3b: Configuring a Member Interface

Setting

Value

Description

LAGG Interface group

drop-down menu

select the member interface to configure

LAGG Priority Number

integer

order of selected interface within the lagg; configure a failover to set the master interface to 0 and the other interfaces to 1, 2, etc.

LAGG Physical NIC

drop-down menu

physical interface of the selected member

Options

string

additional parameters from ifconfig(8)

NOTE: options can be set at either the lagg level or the individual parent interface level. Do not set the option at both levels as each level automatically inherits its options from the other. Typically, changes are made at the lagg level (Figure 5.3b) as each interface member will inherit from the lagg. If you instead configure the interface level (Figure 5.3c), you will have to repeat the configuration for each interface within the lagg. However, some lagg options can only be set by editing the interface. For instance, the MTU of a lagg is inherited from the interface. To set an MTU on a lagg, set all the interfaces to the same MTU.

5.4 Network Summary

Network → Network Summary allows you to quickly view the addressing information of every configured interface. For each interface name, the configured IP address(es), DNS server(s), and default gateway will be displayed.

5.5 Static Routes

By default, no static routes are defined on the FreeNAS® system. Should you need a static route to reach portions of your network, add the route using Network → Static Routes → Add Static Route, shown in Figure 5.5a.

Figure 5.5a: Adding a Static Route

The destination network and gateway fields are mandatory; the description field is optional.

If you add any static routes, they will show in “View Static Routes”. Each route will have an action of Edit or Delete.

5.6 VLANs

FreeNAS® uses FreeBSD's vlan(4) interface to demultiplex frames with IEEE 802.1q tags. This allows nodes on different VLANs to communicate through a layer 3 switch or router. A vlan interface must be assigned a parent interface and a numeric VLAN tag. A single parent can be assigned to multiple vlan interfaces provided they have different tags. If you click Network → VLANs → Add VLAN, you will see the screen shown in Figure 5.6a.

NOTE: VLAN tagging is the only 802.1q feature that is implemented. Additionally, not all Ethernet interfaces support full VLAN processing–see the HARDWARE section of vlan(4) for details.

Figure 5.6a: Adding a VLAN

Table 5.6a summarizes the configurable fields.

Table 5.6a: Adding a VLAN

Setting

Value

Description

Virtual Interface

string

use the format vlanX where X is a number representing the vlan interface

Parent Interface

drop-down menu

usually an Ethernet card connected to a properly configured switch port

VLAN Tag

integer

should match a numeric tag set up in the switched network

Description

string

optional

The parent interface of a vlan has to be up, but it can have an IP address or it can be unconfigured, depending upon the requirements of the VLAN configuration. This makes it difficult for the GUI to do the right thing without trampling the configuration. To remedy this, after adding the VLAN, go to Network → Interfaces → Add Interface. Select the parent interface from the NIC drop-down menu and in the Options field, type up. This will bring up the parent interface. If an IP address is required, it can be configured using the rest of the options in the Add Interface screen.

6 Storage Configuration

The Storage section of the graphical interface allows you to configure the following:

Periodic Snapshot Tasks: used to schedule the automatic creation of ZFS snapshots.

Replication Tasks: used to schedule the replication of snapshots over an encrypted connection.

Volumes: used to create and manage storage volumes.

ZFS Scrubs: used to schedule ZFS scrubs as part of ongoing disk maintenance.

These configurations are described in more detail in this section.

6.1 Periodic Snapshot Tasks

A periodic snapshot task allows you to schedule the creation of read-only versions of ZFS volumes and datasets at a given point in time. Snapshots can be created quickly and, if little data changes, new snapshots take up very little space. For example, a snapshot where no files have changed takes 0 MB of storage, but if you change a 10 GB file it will keep a copy of both the old and the new 10 GB version. Snapshots provide a clever way of keeping a history of files, should you need to recover an older copy or even a deleted file. For this reason, many administrators take snapshots often (e.g. every 15 minutes), store them for a period of time (e.g. for a month), and store them on another system (e.g. using Replication Tasks). Such a strategy allows the administrator to roll the system back to a specific time or, if there is a catastrophic loss, an off-site snapshot can restore the system up to the last snapshot interval.

Before you can create a snapshot, you need to have an existing ZFS volume. How to create a volume is described in Volume Manager.

6.1.1 Creating a Periodic Snapshot Task

To create a periodic snapshot task, click Storage → Periodic Snapshot Tasks → Add Periodic Snapshot which will open the screen shown in Figure 6.1a.

NOTE: if you just need a one-time snapshot, instead use Storage → Volumes → View Volumes and click the Create Snapshot button for the volume or dataset that you wish to snapshot.

Figure 6.1a: Creating a ZFS Periodic Snapshot

Table 6.1a summarizes the fields in this screen:

Table 6.1a: Options When Creating a Periodic Snapshot

Setting

Value

Description

Filesystem / Volume

drop-down menu

select an existing ZFS volume, dataset, or zvol; if you select a volume, separate snapshots will also be created for each of its datasets

Recursive

checkbox

select this box to take separate snapshots of the volume/dataset and each of its child datasets; if unchecked, only one snapshot is taken of the volume/dataset specified in Filesystem / Volume

Lifetime

integer and drop-down menu

how long to keep the snapshot on this system; if the snapshot is replicated, it is not removed from the receiving system when the lifetime expires

Begin

drop-down menu

do not create snapshots before this time of day

End

drop-down menu

do not create snapshots after this time of day

Interval

drop-down menu

how often to take snapshot between Begin and End times

Weekday

checkboxes

which days of the week to take snapshots

Once you click the OK button, a snapshot will be taken and this task will be repeated according to your settings.

If the Recursive box is checked, you do not need to create snapshots for every dataset individually as they are included in the snapshot. The downside is that you can not rollback specific datasets in a recursive snapshot and there is no way to exclude certain datasets from being included in a recursive snapshot.

6.1.2 Managing Periodic Snapshot Tasks

After creating a periodic snapshot task, an entry for the snapshot task will be added to View Periodic Snapshot Tasks. As seen in Figure 6.1b, this entry provides an overview of the snapshot tasks' configuration as well as Modify and Delete buttons.

Figure 6.1b: View Periodic Snapshot Tasks

If you click the ZFS Snapshots tab (above the Add Periodic Snapshot button), you can review the listing of available snapshots. In the example shown in Figure 6.1c, a recursive periodic snapshot task was created for volume1 and this volume contains two datasets named software and jail.

NOTE: if snapshots do not appear, check that the current time does not conflict with the begin, end, and interval settings. If the snapshot was attempted but failed, an entry will be added to /var/log/messages. This log file can be viewed in Shell.

Figure 6.1c: Viewing Available Snapshots

The most recent snapshot for a volume or dataset will be listed last and will have 3 icons. The icons associated with a snapshot allow you to:

Clone Snapshot: will prompt for the name of the clone to create. The clone will be a writable copy of the snapshot and can only be created on the same ZFS volume. Clones do not inherit the properties of the parent dataset, but rather inherit the properties based on where the clone is created in the ZFS pool. Because a clone initially shares all its disk space with the original snapshot, its used property is initially zero. As changes are made to the clone, it uses more space.

Destroy Snapshot: a pop-up message will ask you to confirm this action. Child clones must be destroyed before their parent snapshot can be destroyed. While creating a snapshot is instantaneous, deleting a snapshot can be I/O intensive and can take a long time, especially when deduplication is enabled. In order to delete a block in a snapshot, ZFS has to walk all the allocated blocks to see if that block is used anywhere else; if it is not, it can be freed.

Rollback Snapshot: a pop-up message will ask if you are sure that you want to rollback to this snapshot state. If you click Yes, any files that have changed since the snapshot was taken will be reverted back to their state at the time of the snapshot.

NOTE: rollback is a potentially dangerous operation and will cause any configured replication tasks to fail as the replication system uses the existing snapshot when doing an incremental backup. If you do need to restore the data within a snapshot, the recommended steps are:

Clone the desired snapshot.

Share the clone with the share type or service running on the FreeNAS® system.

Once users have recovered the needed data, destroy the clone.

This approach will never destroy any on-disk data and has no impact on replication.

Periodic snapshots can be configured to appear as shadow copies in newer versions of Windows Explorer. Users can access the files in the shadow copy using Explorer without requiring any interaction with the FreeNAS® graphical administrative interface.

The ZFS Snapshots screen allows you to create filters to view snapshots by selected criteria. To create a filter, click the Define filter icon (near the text “No filter applied”). When creating a filter:

select the column or leave the default of Any Column.

select the condition. Possible conditions are: contains (default), is, starts with, ends with, does not contain, is not, does not start with, does not end with, and is empty.

input a value that meets your view criteria.

click the Filter button to save your filter and exit the define filter screen. Alternately, click the + button to add another filter.

If you create multiple filters, select the filter you wish to use before leaving the define filter screen. Once a filter is selected, the “No filter applied” text will change to “Clear filter”. If you click “Clear filter”, a pop-up message will indicate that this will remove the filter and all available snapshots will be listed.

6.2 Replication Tasks

A replication task allows you to automate the copy of ZFS snapshots to another system over an encrypted connection. This allows you to create an off-site backup of a ZFS dataset or pool.

This section will refer to the system generating the ZFS snapshots as PUSH and the system to receive a copy of the ZFS snapshots as PULL.

Before you can configure a replication task, the following pre-requisites must be met:

a ZFS volume must exist on both PUSH and PULL.

a periodic snapshot task must be created on PUSH. You will not be able to create a replication task before the first snapshot exists.

the SSH service must be enabled on PULL. The first time the service is enabled, it will generate the required SSH keys.

A replication task uses the following keys:

/data/ssh/replication.pub: the RSA public key used for authenticating the PUSH replication user. This key needs to be copied to the root user account on PULL.

/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub: the RSA host public key of PULL used to authenticate the receiving side in order to prevent a man-in-the-middle attack. This key needs to be copied to the replication task on PUSH.

This section will demonstrate how to configure a replication task between the following two FreeNAS® systems:

192.168.2.2 will be referred to as PUSH. This system has a periodic snapshot task for the ZFS dataset /mnt/local/data.

192.168.2.6 will be referred to as PULL. This system has an existing ZFS volume named /mnt/remote which will store the pushed snapshots.

6.2.1 Configure PULL

A copy of the public key for the replication user on PUSH needs to be pasted to the public key of the root user on the PULL system.

To obtain a copy of the replication key: on PUSH go to Storage → View Replication Tasks. Click the View Public Key button and copy its contents. An example is shown in Figure 6.2a.

Figure 6.2a: Copy the Replication Key

Go to PULL and click Account → Users → View Users. Click the Modify User button for the root user account. Paste the copied key into the "SSH Public Key" field and click OK. If a key already exists, append the new text after the existing key.

On PULL, ensure that the SSH service is enabled in Services → Control Services. Start it if it is not already running.

6.2.2 Configure PUSH

On PUSH, verify that a periodic snapshot task has been created and that at least one snapshot is listed in Storage → Periodic Snapshot Tasks → View Periodic Snapshot Tasks → ZFS Snapshots.

To create the replication task, click Storage → Replication Tasks → Add Replication Task. Figure 6.2b shows the required configuration for our example:

the Filesystem/Volume is local/data

the Remote ZFS filesystem is remote

the Remote hostname is 192.168.2.6

the Begin and End times are at their default values, meaning that replication will occur whenever a snapshot is created

once the Remote hostname is input, click the SSH Key Scan button; assuming the address is reachable and the SSH service is running on PULL, its key will automatically be populated to the Remote hostkey box

Table 6.2a summarizes the available options in the Add Replication Task screen.

Figure 6.2b: Adding a Replication Task

Table 6.2a: Adding a Replication Task

Setting

Value

Description

Filesystem / Volume

drop-down menu

the ZFS volume on PUSH containing the snapshots to be replicated; the drop-down menu will be empty if a snapshot does not already exist

Remote ZFS filesystem

string

the ZFS volume on PULL that will store the snapshots; /mnt/ is assumed and should not be included in the path

Recursively replicate

checkbox

if checked will replicate child datasets and replace previous snapshot stored on PULL

Initialize remote side

checkbox

does a reset once operation which destroys the replication data on PULL before reverting to normal operation; use this option if replication gets stuck

Limit (kB/s)

integer

limits replication speed to specified value in kilobytes/second; default of 0 is unlimited

Begin

drop-down menu

the replication can not start before this time; the times selected in the Begin and End fields set the replication window for when replication can occur

End

drop-down menu

the replication must start by this time; once started, replication will occur until it is finished (see NOTE below)

Remote hostname

string

IP address or DNS name of PULL

Remote port

string

must match port being used by SSH service on PULL

Enable High Speed Ciphers

checkbox

note that the cipher is quicker because it has a lower strength

Remote hostkey

string

use the SSH Key Scan button to retrieve the public key of PULL

By default, replication occurs when snapshots occur. For example, if snapshots are scheduled for every 2 hours, replication occurs every 2 hours. The Begin and End times can be used to create a window of time where replication occurs. Change the default times (which allow replication to occur at any time of the day a snapshot occurs) if snapshot tasks are scheduled during office hours but the replication itself should occur after office hours. For the End time, consider how long replication will take so that it finishes before the next day's office hours begin.

Once the replication task is created, it will appear in the View Replication Tasks of PUSH, as seen in Figure 6.2c. Buttons are provided to delete and to edit the replication task.

Figure 6.2c: Viewing the Replication Task

PUSH will immediately attempt to replicate its latest snapshot to PULL. If the replication is successful, the snapshot will appear in the Storage → Periodic Snapshot Tasks → View Periodic Snapshot Tasks → ZFS Snapshots tab of PULL, as seen in Figure 6.2d.

Figure 6.2d: Verifying the Snapshot was Replicated

If the snapshot is not replicated, see the next section for troubleshooting tips.

6.2.3 Troubleshooting Replication

If you have followed all of the steps above and have PUSH snapshots that are not replicating to PULL, check to see if SSH is working properly. On PUSH, open Shell and try to ssh into PULL. Replace hostname_or_ip with the value for PULL:

ssh -vv -i /data/ssh/replication hostname_or_ip

This command should not ask for a password. If it asks for a password, SSH authentication is not working. Go to Storage → Replication Tasks → View Replication Tasks and click the "View Public Key" button. Make sure that it matches the value of /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub on PULL.

Also check /var/log/auth.log on PULL to see if it gives an indication of the error.

If the key is correct and replication is still not working, try deleting all snapshots on PULL except for the most recent one. In Storage → Periodic Snapshot Tasks → View Periodic Snapshot Tasks → ZFS Snapshots check the box next to every snapshot except for the last one (the one with 3 icons instead of 2), then click the global Destroy button at the bottom of the screen.

Once you have only one snapshot, open Shell on PUSH and use the zfs send command. To continue our example, the ZFS snapshot on the local/data dataset of PUSH is named auto-20110922.1753-2h, the IP address of PULL is 192.168.2.6, and the ZFS volume on PULL is remote. Note that the @ is used to separate the volume/dataset name from the snapshot name.

zfs send local/data@auto-20110922.1753-2h | ssh -i /data/ssh/replication \ 192.168.2.6 zfs receive local/data@auto-20110922.1753-2h

NOTE: if this command fails with the error "cannot receive new filesystem stream: destination has snapshots", check the box "initialize remote side for once" in the replication task and try again. If the zfs send command still fails, you will need to open Shell on PULL and use the zfs destroy -R volume_name@snapshot_name command to delete the stuck snapshot. You can then use the zfs list -t snapshot on PULL to confirm if the snapshot successfully replicated.

After successfully transmitting the snapshot, recheck again after the time period between snapshots lapses to see if the next snapshot successfully transmitted. If it is still not working, you can manually send an incremental backup of the last snapshot that is on both systems to the current one with this command:

zfs send local/data@auto-20110922.1753-2h | ssh -i /data/ssh/replication \ 192.168.2.6 zfs receive local/data@auto-20110922.1753-2h

6.3 Volumes

Since the storage disks are separate from the FreeNAS® operating system, you do not actually have a NAS (network-attached storage) system until you configure your disks into at least one volume. The FreeNAS® graphical interface supports the creation of both UFS and ZFS volumes. ZFS volumes are recommended to get the most out of your FreeNAS® system.

NOTE: in ZFS terminology, the storage that is managed by ZFS is referred to as a pool. When configuring the ZFS pool using the FreeNAS® graphical interface, the term volume is used to refer to either a UFS volume or a ZFS pool.

Proper storage design is important for any NAS. It is recommended that you read through this entire chapter first, before configuring your storage disks, so that you are aware of all of the possible features, know which ones will benefit your setup most, and are aware of any caveats or hardware restrictions. If you are new to RAID concepts or would like an overview of the differences between hardware RAID and ZFS RAIDZ*, skim through the section on Hardware Recommendations as well.

6.3.1 Auto Importing Volumes

If you click Storage → Volumes → Auto Import Volume, you can configure FreeNAS® to use an existing software UFS or ZFS RAID volume. This action is typically performed when an existing FreeNAS® system is re-installed (rather than upgraded). Since the operating system is separate from the disks, a new installation does not affect the data on the disks; however, the new operating system needs to be configured to use the existing volume.

Supported volumes are UFS GEOM stripes (RAID0), UFS GEOM mirrors (RAID1), UFS GEOM RAID3, as well as existing ZFS pools. UFS RAID5 is not supported as it is an unmaintained summer of code project which was never integrated into FreeBSD.

Beginning with version 8.3.1, the import of existing GELI-encrypted ZFS pools is also supported. However, the pool must be decrypted before it can be imported.

Figure 6.3a shows the initial pop-up window that appears when you select to auto import a volume.

Figure 6.3a: Initial Auto Import Volume Screen

If you are importing a UFS RAID or an existing, unencrypted ZFS pool, select "No: Skip to import" to access the screen shown in Figure 6.3b.

Figure 6.3b: Auto Importing a Non-Encrypted Volume

Existing software RAID volumes should be available for selection from the drop-down menu. In the example shown in Figure 6.3a, the FreeNAS® system has an existing, unencrypted ZFS pool. Once the volume is selected, click the "Import Volume" button.

NOTE: FreeNAS® will not import a dirty volume. If an existing UFS RAID does not show in the drop-down menu, you will need to fsck the volume. If an existing ZFS pool does not show in the drop-down menu, run zpool import from Shell to import the pool. If you suspect that your hardware is not being detected, run camcontrol devlist from Shell. If the disk does not appear in the output, check to see if the controller driver is supported or if it needs to be loaded by creating a tunable.

6.3.1.1 Auto Importing a GELI-Encrypted ZFS Pool

If you are importing an existing GELI-encrypted ZFS pool, you must decrypt the disks before importing the pool. In Figure 6.3a, select “Yes: Decrypt disks” to access the screen shown in Figure 6.3c.

Figure 6.3c: Decrypting the Disks Before Importing the ZFS Pool

Select the disks in the encrypted pool, browse to the location of the saved encryption key, input the passphrase associated with the key, then click OK to decrypt the disks.

NOTE: the encryption key is required to decrypt the pool. If the pool can not be decrypted, it can not be re-imported after a failed upgrade or lost configuration. This means that it is very important to save a copy of the key and to remember the passphrase that was configured for the key. The View Volumes screen is used to manage the keys for encrypted volumes.

Once the pool is decrypted, it should appear in the drop-down menu of Figure 6.3b. Click the OK button to finish the volume import.

6.3.2 Importing Volumes

The Volume → Import Volume screen, shown in Figure 6.3d, is used to import a single disk or partition that has been formatted with a supported filesystem. FreeNAS® supports the import of disks that have been formatted with UFS, NTFS, MSDOS, or EXT2.

Figure 6.3d: Importing a Volume

Input a name for the volume, use the drop-down menu to select the disk or partition that you wish to import, and select the type of filesystem on the disk.

Before importing a disk, be aware of the following caveats:

FreeNAS® will not import a dirty filesystem. If a supported filesystem does not show in the drop-down menu, you will need to fsck or run a disk check on the filesystem.

earlier versions of FreeNAS® 8 had a bug that prevented the successful import of NTFS drives. Don't try to import NTFS if you are running a version earlier than FreeNAS® 8.0.1-RC1.

FreeNAS® can not import dynamic NTFS volumes at this time. A future version of FreeBSD may address this issue.

if an NTFS volume will not import, try ejecting the volume safely from a Windows system. This will fix some journal files that are required to mount the drive.

6.3.3 Volume Manager

If you have unformatted disks or wish to overwrite the filesystem (and data) on your disks, use the Volume Manager to format the desired disks as a UFS volume or a ZFS pool.

If you click on Storage → Volumes → Volume Manager, you will see a screen similar to the example shown in Figure 6.3e. The options which are displayed will vary depending upon the amount of available disks and which filesystem is selected.

Figure 6.3e: Creating a ZFS Pool Using Volume Manager

Table 6.3a summarizes the configuration options of this screen. The rest of this section describes these features in more detail. It is recommended that you read this entire section first to understand the options which are available before configuring the disks that will be made available to FreeNAS®.

Table 6.3a: Options When Creating a Volume

Setting

Value

Description

Volume name

string

ZFS volumes must conform to these naming conventions; it is recommended to choose a name that will stick out in the logs (e.g. not data or freenas)

Member disks

list

highlight desired number of disks from list of available disks

Filesystem type

bullet

select either UFS or ZFS

Specify custom path

checkbox

only available when select UFS; useful for creating a /var for persistent log storage

Path

string

only available when Specify custom path is checked; must be full name of volume (e.g. /mnt/var) and if no path is provided, it will append the Volume name to /mnt

Force 4096 bytes sector size

checkbox

FreeNAS® always uses 4K sectors for UFS and uses 4K sectors for ZFS if the underlying hard drive is detected as being advanced format; note that the auto-detector is not bullet proof so you should refer to the disk manual to determine if the disk supports 4k; checking this option forces 4K which is useful in a RAIDZ that contains a mix of older and advanced format drives; note that you can not change this setting once the volume/pool is created unless you destroy the volume/pool and recreate it (which deletes the data on the volume/pool)

Enable full disk encryption

checkbox

requires Force 4096 bytes sector size which will be forcibly auto-selected if this box is checked; read the section on Encryption before choosing to use encryption

Initialize with random data checkbox

checkbox

only appears if Enable full disk encryption is checked; recommended as it writes the disks with random data before enabling encryption, however it will take a longer time to create the volume

Deduplication

drop-down menu

carefully consider the NOTE below before changing this setting choices are Off, Verify, and On; carefully consider the section on Deduplication before changing this setting

Group type

bullet

options vary by filesytem type and number of disks selected; may include mirror, stripe, RAID3, RAIDZ1, RAIDZ2, RAIDZ3

ZFS extra

bullet

only available when select ZFS; choices are None, Log, Cache, Spare; see ZFS Extra for descriptions of each option

6.3.3.1 Creating Storage

To configure which disks will be available as storage, use the mouse to select the disk(s) to be used. To select multiple disks, highlight the first disk, then hold the shift key as you highlight the last disk.

NOTE: it is not recommended to create a UFS volume larger than 5TB as it will be inefficient to fsck.

The Add Volume button warns that creating a volume destroys all existing data on selected disk(s) . In other words, creating storage using Volume Manager is a destructive action that reformats the selected disks. If your intent is to not overwrite the data on an existing volume, see if the volume format is supported by the auto-import or import actions. If so, perform the supported action instead. If the current storage format is not supported, you will need to backup the data to an external media, format the disks, then restore the data to the new volume.

How the volume is formatted is determined by your selection in the "Group type" section. The available options differ depending upon the selected "Filesystem type" and the number of highlighted disks:

if you select one disk, you can choose to format with UFS or ZFS

if you select two disks, you can create a UFS or ZFS mirror or stripe

if you select three disks, you can create a UFS or ZFS stripe, a UFS RAID3, or a ZFS mirror or RAIDZ1

if you select four disks, you can create a UFS or ZFS mirror or stripe, or a ZFS RAIDZ1 or RAIDZ2

if you select five disks, you can create a UFS or ZFS stripe, a UFS RAID3, or a ZFS mirror, RAIDZ1, RAIDZ2, or RAIDZ3

If you have more than five disks and are using ZFS, consider the size of your disk groups for best performance and scalability. An overview of the various RAID levels and recommended disk group sizes can be found in RAID Overview.

Depending upon the size and number of disks, the type of controller, the group type, and the type of filesystem, creating the volume may take a few minutes. Since UFS volume creation will format the disks, it may take as long as 10 or 15 minutes for a number of large disks. Once the volume is created, the screen will refresh and the new volume will be listed under Storage → Volumes.

6.3.3.2 ZFS Extra

The ZFS extra options can be used to create a log, cache, or spare device. When creating a ZFS volume, if you leave some disks/SSDs unchecked, they will appear as available within the ZFS extra section. The following options are available:

None: disk(s) are still available to be selected for formatting.

Log: selected disk will be dedicated for storing the ZIL (ZFS Intent Log). See the Separate Log Devices section of the ZFS Best Practices Guide for size recommendations. When two or more log devices are specified, FreeNAS® will mirror them. This is a prevention measure because losing the ZIL on a ZFSv15 pool could lead to disastrous results such as making the entire pool inaccessible. On a ZFSv28 pool, losing the ZIL can still cause the loss of in-flight writes.

Putting the ZIL on high speed devices can improve performance for certain workloads, especially those requiring synchronous writes such as NFS clients connecting to FreeNAS® running on VMWare ESXi. In such cases, a dedicated ZIL will make a big difference in performance. Applications that do not do a lot of synchronous writes are less likely to benefit from having dedicated ZIL devices. For VMWare, if a high speed ZIL device is not an option, using iSCSI instead of NFS is a workaround to achieve better performance.

Cache: selected device, typically an SSD, will be dedicated to L2ARC on-disk cache. See the Separate Cache Devices section of the ZFS Best Practices Guide for size recommendations. Losing an L2ARC device will not affect the integrity of the storage pool, but may have an impact on read performance, depending upon the workload and the ratio of dataset size to cache size.

Spare: will create a hot spare that is only used when another disk fails. Hot spares speed up healing in the face of hardware failures and are critical for high mean time to data loss (MTTDL) environments. One or two spares for a 40-disk pool is a commonly used configuration. Use this option with caution as there is a known bug in the current FreeBSD implementation. This will be fixed by zfsd which will be implemented once it is committed to FreeBSD.

6.3.3.3 Deduplication

The deduplication option warns that enabling dedup may have drastic performance implications and that compression should be used instead. Before checking the deduplication box, read the section on deduplication in the ZFS Overview first. This article provides a good description of the value v.s. cost considerations for deduplication.

Unless you have a lot of RAM and a lot of duplicate data, do not change the default deduplication setting of "Off". The dedup tables used during deduplication need ~8 GB of RAM per 1TB of data to be deduplicated. For performance reasons, consider using dataset compression rather than turning this option on. If you really do have a lot of RAM and a lot of duplicate data, consider creating a dataset for the duplicate data and enabling deduplication on that dataset instead.

If deduplication is changed to On, duplicate data blocks are removed synchronously. The result is that only unique data is stored and common components are shared among files. If deduplication is changed to Verify, ZFS will do a byte-to-byte comparison when two blocks have the same signature to make sure that the block contents are identical. Since hash collisions are extremely rare, verify is usually not worth the performance hit.

6.3.3.4 ZFS Encryption

Beginning with 8.3.1, FreeNAS® supports GELI full disk encryption when creating ZFS volumes. It is important to understand the following when considering whether or not encryption is right for your FreeNAS® system:

This is not the encryption method used by Oracle ZFSv30. That version of ZFS has not been open sourced and is the property of Oracle.

This is full disk encryption and not per-filesystem encryption. The underlying drives are first encrypted, then the pool is created on top of the encrypted devices.

This type of encryption is primarily targeted at users who store sensitive data and want to retain the ability to remove disks from the pool without having to first wipe the disk's contents.

This design is only suitable for safe disposal of disks independent of the encryption key. As long as the key and the disks are intact, the system is vulnerable to being decrypted. The key should be protected by a strong passphrase and any backups of the key should be securely stored.

On the other hand, if the key is lost, the data on the disks is inaccessible. Always backup the key!

The encryption key is per ZFS volume (pool). If you create multiple pools, each pool has its own encryption key.

If the system has a lot of disks, there will be a performance hit if the CPU does not support AES-NI. Without hardware acceleration, there will be about a 20% performance hit for a single disk. Performance degradation will continue to increase with more disks. As data is written, it is automatically encrypted and as data is read, it is decrypted on the fly. If the processor does support the AES-NI instruction set, there should be very little, if any, degradation in performance when using encryption.

Data in the ARC cache and the contents of RAM are unencrypted.

Swap is always encrypted, even on unencrypted volumes.

There is no way to convert an existing, unencrypted volume. Instead, the data must be backed up, the existing pool must be destroyed, a new encrypted volume must be created, and the backup restored to the new volume.

Hybrid pools are not supported. In other words, newly created vdevs must match the existing encryption scheme. When extending a volume, Volume Manager will automatically encrypt the new vdev being added to the existing encrypted pool.

6.3.3.5 Creating an Encrypted Volume

To create an encrypted volume, check the "Enable full disk encryption" box shown in Figure 6.3e. This will automatically check and grey out the "Force 4096 bytes sector size" box as this is needed for encryption to work. It will also display a "Initialize with random data" checkbox. Checking this box will write random data to the disk before encrypting it, which can increase its cryptographic strength. However, doing so significantly adds to the time it takes to create the volume, especially if it contains several disks. After making your encryption selections, input the volume name, select the disks to add to the volume, select the Group type, and click the Add Volume button to make the encrypted volume.

Once the volume is created, it is extremely important to set a passphrase on the key, make a backup of the key, and create a recovery key. Without these, it is impossible to re-import the disks at a later time.

To perform these tasks, go to Storage → Volumes -> View Volumes. This screen is shown in Figure 6.3m.

To set a passphrase on the key, click the "Create Passphrase" button (the key shaped icon in the far right of Figure 6.3m) which will prompt to input and repeat the passphrase. Unlike a password, a passphrase can contain spaces and is typically a series of words. A good passphrase is easy to remember (like the line to a song or piece of literature) but hard to guess (people who know you should not be able to guess the passphrase).

When you set the passphrase, a warning message will remind you to create a new recovery key as a new passphrase needs a new recovery key. This way, if the passphrase is forgotten, the associated recovery key can be used instead. To create the recovery key, click the "Add recovery key" button (second last key icon in Figure 6.3m). This screen will prompt you to the location to save the key.

Finally, download a copy of the encryption key, using the "Download key" button (the first key icon in the second row in Figure 6.3m).

The passphrase, recovery key, and encryption key need to be protected. Do not reveal the passphrase to others. On the system containing the downloaded keys, take care that that system and its backups are protected. Anyone who has the keys has the ability to re-import the disks should they be discarded or stolen.

6.3.4 Using Volume Manager After a Volume Has Been Created

Once a volume exists, an extra “Volume to extend” field will be added to Storage → Volumes → Volume Manager, as seen in Figure 6.3f. This field is mutually exclusive with the "Volume name" field in that you can only use one or the other.

Figure 6.3f: Volume to Extend Field

This screen can be used to perform the following tasks:

Create another UFS or ZFS volume. Input a "Volume name" and create a volume as usual.

Add a ZFS log or cache device to an existing ZFS volume. Select the volume name using the drop-down menu, select the device to add, then select Log or Cache from the ZFS Extra field.

Extend an existing ZFS volume as described below.

NOTE: you can not extend an existing UFS volume.

When extending a volume, ZFS supports the addition of virtual devices (vdevs) to an existing volume (ZFS pool). A vdev can be a single disk, a stripe, a mirror, a RAIDZ1, RAIDZ2, or a RAIDZ3. Once a vdev is created, you can not add more drives to that vdev ; however, you can stripe a new vdev (and its disks) with the same type of existing vdev in order to increase the overall size of ZFS the pool. In other words, when you extend a ZFS volume, you are really striping similar vdevs. Here are some examples:

to extend a ZFS stripe, add one or more disks. Since there is no redundancy, you do not have to add the same amount of disks as the existing stripe.

to extend a ZFS mirror, add the same number of drives. The resulting striped mirror is a RAID 10.

to extend a three drive RAIDZ1, add three additional drives. The result is a RAIDZ+0, similar to RAID 50 on a hardware controller.

to extend a RAIDZ2 requires a minimum of four additional drives. The result is a RAIDZ2+0, similar to RAID 60 on a hardware controller.

In the “Volume to extend” section, select the existing volume that you wish to stripe with. This will grey out the Volume name field and select ZFS as the filesystem type. Highlight the required number of additional disk(s), select the same type of RAID used on the existing volume, and click the Extend Volume button.

If you try to add a single disk to a vdev or a different amount of disks, a red warning message will be displayed to alert you that this is not recommended. If you are willing to create a non-optimized storage pool (not recommended!), you can override this warning by checking the "Force Volume Add" box that appears below the warning.

6.3.5 Creating ZFS Datasets

An existing ZFS volume can be divided into datasets. Permissions, compression, deduplication, and quotas can be set on a per dataset basis, allowing more granular control over access to storage data. A dataset is similar to a folder in that you can set permissions; it is also similar to a filesystem in that you can set properties such as quotas and compression as well as create snapshots.

NOTE: ZFS provides thick provisioning using quotas and thin provisioning using reserved space.

If you select an existing ZFS volume → Create ZFS Dataset, you will see the screen shown in Figure 6.3g. Table 6.3b summarizes the options available when creating a ZFS dataset.

Once a dataset is created, you can click on that dataset and select Create ZFS Dataset, thus creating a nested dataset, or a dataset within a dataset. When creating datasets, double-check that you are using the Create ZFS Dataset option for the intended volume or dataset. If you get confused when creating a dataset on a volume, click all existing datasets to close them--the remaining Create ZFS Dataset will be for the volume.

Figure 6.3g: Creating a ZFS Dataset

Table 6.3b: ZFS Dataset Options

Setting

Value

Description

Dataset Name

string

mandatory

Compression Level

drop-down menu

choose from: Inherit, Off, lzjb, gzip level 6, gzip fastest, gzip maximum, and zle; see NOTE below

Enable atime

Inherit, On, or Off

controls whether the access time for files is updated when they are read; setting this property to Off avoids producing log traffic when reading files and can result in significant performance gains

Quota for this dataset

integer

default of 0 is off; can specify M (megabyte), G (gigabyte), or T (terabyte) as in 20G for 20 GB, can also include a decimal point (e.g. 2.8G)

Quota for this dataset and children

integer

default of 0 is off; can specify M (megabyte), G (gigabyte), or T (terabyte) as in 20G for 20 GB

Reserved space for this dataset

integer

default of 0 is unlimited (besides hardware); can specify M (megabyte), G (gigabyte), or T (terabyte) as in 20G for 20 GB

Reserved space for this dataset and children

integer

default of 0 is unlimited (besides hardware); can specify M (megabyte), G (gigabyte), or T (terabyte) as in 20G for 20 GB

ZFS Deduplication

drop-down menu

read the section on deduplication before making a change to this setting

NOTE on compression: most media (e.g. .mp3, .mp4, .avi) is already compressed, meaning that you'll increase CPU utilization for no gain if you store these files on a compressed dataset. However, if you have raw .wav rips of CDs or .vob rips of DVDs, you will see a performance gain using a compressed dataset. When selecting a compression type, you need to balance performance with the amount of compression. For example, lzjb is optimized for performance while providing decent data compression. gzip varies from levels 1 to 9 where gzip fastest (level 1) gives the least compression and gzip maximum (level 9) provides the best compression but is discouraged due to its performance impact. zle is a fast and simple algorithm to eliminate runs of zeroes.

6.3.6 Creating a zvol

A zvol is a feature of ZFS that creates a block device over ZFS. This allows you to use a zvol as an iSCSI device extent.

To create a zvol, select an existing ZFS volume → Create ZFS Volume which will open the screen shown in Figure 6.3h.

Figure 6.3h: Creating a zvol

The configuration options are described in Table 6.3c:

Table 6.3c: zvol Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

ZFS Volume Name

string

input a name for the zvol

Size

integer

specify size and value such as 10G

Compression Level

drop-down menu

default of Inherit means it will use the same compression level as the existing zpool used to create the zvol

6.3.7 Viewing Volumes

If you click Storage → Volumes → View Volumes, you can view and further configure existing volumes and datasets, as seen in the example shown in Figure 6.3i.

Figure 6.3i: Viewing Volumes

The icons towards the top of the right frame allow you to: access Volume Manager, import a volume, auto import a volume, and view disks. If the system has multipath-capable hardware, an extra button will be added to view multipaths.

The eight icons associated with a ZFS volume are used to:

Detach Volume: allows you to either detach a disk before removing it from the system (also known as a ZFS export) or to delete the contents of the volume, depending upon the choice you make in the screen that pops up when you click this button. The pop-up message, seen in Figure 6.3j, will show the current used space, provide the check box "Mark the disks as new (destroy data), prompt you to make sure that you want to do this, warn you if the volume has any associated shares and ask if you wish to delete them, and the browser will turn red to alert you that you are about to do something that will make the data inaccessible. If you do not check the box to mark the disks as new, the volume will be exported (ZFS volumes only). This means that the data is not destroyed and the volume can be re-imported at a later time. If you will be moving a ZFS drive from one system to another, perform this export action first. This operation flushes any unwritten data to disk, writes data to the disk indicating that the export was done, and removes all knowledge of the pool from the system. If you do check the box to mark the disks as new, the volume and all of its data, datasets, and zvols will be destroyed and the underlying disks will be returned to their raw state.

Figure 6.3j: Detaching or Deleting a Volume

Scrub Volume: ZFS scrubs and how to schedule them are described in more detail in ZFS Scrubs. This button allows you to manually initiate a scrub. A scrub is I/O intensive and can negatively impact performance, meaning that you should not initiate one while the system is busy. A cancel button is provided should you need to cancel a scrub.

NOTE: if you do cancel a scrub, the next scrub will start over from the beginning, not where the cancelled scrub left off.

Edit ZFS Options: allows you to edit the volume's compression level, atime setting, dataset quota, and reserved space for quota. If compression is newly enabled on a volume or dataset that already contains data, existing files will not be compressed until they are modified as compression is only applied when a file is written.

Create ZFS Dataset: allows you to create a dataset.

Create ZFS Volume: allows you to create a zvol to use as an iSCSI device extent.

Change Permissions: allows you to edit the volume's user, group, Unix rwx permissions, type of ACL, and to enable recursive permissions on the volume's subdirectories.

Create Snapshot: allows you to configure the snapshot's name and whether or not it is recursive before manually creating a one-time snapshot. If you wish to schedule the regular creation of snapshots, instead create a periodic snapshot task.

Volume Status: as seen in the example in Figure 6.3k, this screen shows the device name and status of each disk in the ZFS pool as well as any read, write, or checksum errors. For each device, buttons are provided to edit the device's options (shown in Figure 6.3l), replace the device (as described in Replacing a Failed Drive or ZIL Device), or to offline the device.

Figure 6.3k: Volume Status

If you click a disk's Edit button in Volume Status, you will see the screen shown in Figure 6.3l:

Figure 6.3l: Editing a Disk

Table 6.3d summarizes the configurable options.

Table 6.3d: Disk Options

Setting

Value

Description

Name

string

read-only value showing FreeBSD device name for disk

Serial

string

read-only value showing the disk's serial number

Description

string

optional

HDD Standby

drop-down menu

indicates the time of inactivity (in minutes) before the drive enters standby mode in order to conserve energy

Advanced Power Management

drop-down menu

default is Disabled, can select a power management profile from the menu

Acoustic Level

drop-down menu

default is Disabled, can be modified for disks that understand AAM

Enable S.M.A.R.T

checkbox

enabled by default if the disk supports S.M.A.R.T.

S.M.A.R.T. extra options

string

smartctl(8) options

NOTE: versions of FreeNAS® prior to 8.3.1 required a reboot in order to apply changes to the HDD Standby, Advanced Power Management, and Acoustic Level settings. As of 8.3.1, changes to these settings are applied immediately.

A ZFS dataset only has five icons as the scrub volume, create ZFS volume, and volume status buttons only apply to volumes. In a dataset, the Detach Volume button is replaced with the Destroy Dataset button. If you click the Destroy Dataset button, the browser will turn red to indicate that this is a destructive action. The pop-up warning message will warn that destroying the dataset will delete all of the files and snapshots of that dataset.

6.3.7.1 Key Management for Encrypted Volumes

If you check the "Enable full disk encryption" box during the creation of a ZFS volume, five encryption icons will be added to the icons that are typically seen when viewing a volume. An example is seen in Figure 6.3m.

Figure 6.3m: Encryption Icons Associated with an Encrypted ZFS Volume

These icons are used to:

Create Passphrase: click this icon to set and confirm the passphrase associated with the GELI encryption key. Remember this passphrase as you can not re-import an encrypted volume without it. In other words, if you do not create a passphrase or you forget the passphrase, it is possible for the data on the volume to become inaccessible. An example would be a failed USB stick that requires a new installation on a new USB stick and a re-import of the existing pool, or the physical removal of disks when moving from an older hardware system to a new system. Protect this passphrase as anyone who knows it could re-import your encrypted volume, thus thwarting the reason for encrypting the disks in the first place.

When you click this icon, a red warning is displayed: Remember to add a new recovery key as this action invalidates the previous recovery key. Setting a passphrase invalidates the existing key. Once you set the passphrase, immediately click the Add recovery key button to create a new recovery key. Once the passphrase is set, the name of this icon will change to Change Passphrase.

Download Key: click this icon to download a backup copy of the GELI encryption key. Since the GELI encryption key is separate from the FreeNAS® configuration database, it is highly recommended to make a backup of the key. If the key is every lost or destroyed and there is no backup key, the data on the disks is inaccessible.

Encryption Re-key: generates a new GELI encryption key. This requires the passphrase for the current key. Typically this is only performed when the administrator suspects that the current key may be compromised.

Add recovery key: generates a new recovery key and prompts for a location to download a backup copy of the recovery key. This recovery key can be used if the passphrase is forgotten. Always immediately add a recovery key whenever the passphrase is changed.

Remove recover key: Typically this is only performed when the administrator suspects that the current recovery key may be compromised. Immediately create a new passphrase and recovery key.

6.3.8 Viewing Disks

Storage → Volumes → View Disks allows you to view all of the disks recognized by the FreeNAS® system. An example is shown in Figure 6.3n.

Figure 6.3n: Viewing Disks

For each device, the current configuration of the options described in Table 6.3d is displayed. Click a disk's Edit button to change its configuration.

The Wipe button is used to blank a disk and will provide a progress bar of the wipe's status. Use this option before discarding a disk.

NOTE: to determine the serial number of a disk when it is not displayed in this screen, use the smartctl command within Shell. For example, to determine the serial number of disk ada0, type smartctl -a /dev/ada0 | grep Serial.

6.3.9 Setting Permissions

Setting permissions is an important aspect of configuring volumes. The graphical administrative interface is meant to set the initial permissions for a volume or dataset in order to make it available as a share. Once a share is available, the client operating system should be used to fine-tune the permissions of the files and directories that are created by the client.

Sharing contains configuration examples for several types of permission scenarios. This section provides an overview of the screen that is used to set permissions.

Once a volume or dataset is created, it will be listed by its mount point name in Storage → Volumes → View Volumes. If you click the Change Permissions icon for a specific volume/dataset, you will see the screen shown in Figure 6.3o. Table 6.3e summarizes the options in this screen.

Figure 6.3o: Changing Permissions on a Volume or Dataset

Table 6.3e: Options When Changing Permissions

Setting

Value

Description

Owner (user)

drop-down menu

user to control the volume/dataset; users which were manually created or imported from Active Directory or LDAP will appear in drop-down menu

Owner (group)

drop-down menu

group to control the volume/dataset; groups which were manually created or imported from Active Directory or LDAP will appear in drop-down

Mode

checkboxes

check the desired Unix permissions for user, group, and other

Type of ACL

bullet selection

Unix and Windows ACLs are mutually exclusive, this means that you must select the correct type of ACL to match the share; see the paragraph below the Table for more details

Set permission recursively

checkbox

if checked, permissions will also apply to subdirectories of the volume or dataset; if data already exists on the volume/dataset, it is recommended to instead change the permissions recursively on the client side to prevent a performance lag on the FreeNAS® system

When in doubt, or if you have a mix of operating systems in your network, select Unix ACLs as all clients understand them. Windows ACLs are appropriate when the network contains only Windows clients and are the preferred option within an Active Directory domain. Windows ACLs add a superset of permissions that augment those provided by Unix ACLs. While Windows clients also understand Unix ACLs, they won't benefit from the extra permissions provided by Active Directory and Windows ACLs when Unix ACLs are used.

NOTE: if you change your mind about the type of ACL, you do not have to recreate the volume. That is, existing data is not lost if the type of ACL is changed. However, if you change from Windows ACLs to Unix ACLs, the extended permissions provided by Windows ACLs will be removed from the existing files.

6.3.10 Viewing Multipaths

FreeNAS® uses gmultipath(8) to provide multipath I/O support on systems containing hardware that is capable of multipath. An example would be a dual SAS expander backplane in the chassis or an external JBOD.

Multipath hardware adds fault tolerance to a NAS as the data is still available even if one disk I/O path has a failure.

FreeNAS® automatically detects active/active and active/passive multipath-capable hardware. Any multipath-capable devices that are detected will be placed in multipath units with the parent devices hidden. The configuration will be displayed in Storage → Volumes → View Multipaths, as seen in the example in Figure 6.3p. Note that this option will not be displayed in the Storage → Volumes tree on systems that do not contain multipath-capable hardware.

Figure 6.3p: Viewing Multipaths

Figure 6.3p provides an example of a system with a SAS ZIL and a SAS hard drive. The ZIL device is capable of active/active writes, whereas the hard drive is capable of active/read.

6.3.11 Replacing a Failed Drive or ZIL Device

If you are using any form of redundant RAID, you should replace a failed drive as soon as possible to repair the degraded state of the RAID. Depending upon the capability of your hardware, you may or may not need to reboot in order to replace the disk. AHCI capable hardware does not require a reboot.

NOTE: a stripe (RAID0) does not provide redundancy. If you lose a disk in a stripe, the data on the stripe is lost.

Before physically removing the failed drive or ZIL device, go to Storage → Volumes → View Volumes → Volume Status and locate the failed device. Once you have located the failed device in the GUI, perform the following steps:

If the disk is formatted with ZFS, click the disk's Offline button in order to change its status to OFFLINE. This step is needed to properly remove the device from the ZFS pool and to prevent swap issues. If your hardware supports hot-pluggable disks, click the disk's Offline button, pull the disk, then skip to step 3.

NOTE: if the process of changing the disk's status to OFFLINE fails with a "disk offline failed - no valid replicas" message, you will need to scrub the ZFS volume first using its Scrub Volume button in Storage → Volumes → View Volumes. Once the scrub completes, try to Offline the disk again before proceeding.

If the hardware is not AHCI capable, shutdown the system in order to physically replace the disk. When finished, return to the GUI and locate the OFFLINE disk.

Once the disk is showing as OFFLINE, click the disk's Replace button. Select the replacement disk from the drop-down menu and click the Replace Disk button. If the disk is being added to a ZFS pool, it will start to resilver. You can use the zpool status command in Shell to monitor the status of the resilvering.

NOTE: if the ZFS volume is encrypted, you will need to input the passphrase in order to offline the disk.

If the replaced disk continues to be listed after resilvering is complete, use the Detach button to remove the disk from the list.

In the example shown in Figure 6.3q, failed disk ada0 is being replaced by disk ada3.

Figure 6.3q: Replacing a Failed Disk

6.3.12 Replacing Drives to Grow a ZFS Pool

The recommended method for expanding the size of a ZFS pool is to pre-plan the number of disks in a vdev and to stripe additional vdevs using Volume Manager as additional capacity is needed.

However, this is not an option if you do not have open drive ports or the ability to add a SAS/SATA HBA card. In this case, you can replace one disk at a time with a larger disk, wait for the resilvering process to incorporate the new disk into the pool completes, then repeat with another disk until all of the disks have been replaced. This process is slow and places the system in a degraded state. Since a failure at this point could be disastrous, do not attempt this method unless the system has a reliable backup.

NOTE: this method requires the ZFS property autoexpand. This property became available starting with FreeNAS® version 8.3.0. If you are running an earlier version of FreeNAS®, upgrade before attempting this method.

Check and verify that the autoexpand property is enabled before attempting to grow the pool. If it is not, the pool will not recognize that the disk capacity has increased. By default, this property is enabled in FreeNAS® version 8.3.1. To verify the property, use Shell. This example checks the ZFS volume named Vol1:

zpool get all Vol1
NAME  PROPERTY       VALUE                  SOURCE
Vol1  size           4.53T                  -
Vol1  capacity       31%                    -
Vol1  altroot        /mnt                   local
Vol1  health         ONLINE                 -
Vol1  guid           8068631824452460057    default
Vol1  version        28                     default
Vol1  bootfs         -                      default
Vol1  delegation     on                     default
Vol1  autoreplace    off                    default
Vol1  cachefile      /data/zfs/zpool.cache  local
Vol1  failmode       wait                   default
Vol1  listsnapshots  off                    default
Vol1  autoexpand     on                     local
Vol1  dedupditto     0                      default
Vol1  dedupratio     1.00x                  -
Vol1  free           3.12T                  -
Vol1  allocated      1.41T                  -
Vol1  readonly       off                    -
Vol1  comment        -                      default

If autoexpansion is not enabled, enable it by specifying the name of the ZFS volume:

zpool set autoexpand=on Vol1

Verify that autoexpand is now enabled by repeating zpool get all Vol1.

You are now ready to replace one drive with a larger drive using the instructions in Replacing a Failed Drive or ZIL Device.

Replace one drive at a time and wait for the resilver process to complete on the replaced drive before replacing the next drive. Once all the drives are replaced and the resilver completes, you should see the added space in the pool.

6.3.12.1 Enabling ZFS Pool Expansion After Drive Replacement

It is recommended to enable the autoexpand property before you start replacing drives. If the property is not enabled before replacing some or all of the drives, extra configuration is needed to inform ZFS of the expanded capacity.

Verify that autoexpand is set as described in the previous section. Then, bring each of the drives back online with the following command, replacing the volume name and GPT ID for each disk in the ZFS pool:

zpool online -e Vol1 gptid/xxx

Online one drive at a time and check the status using the following example. If a drive starts to resilver, you need to wait for the resilver to complete before preceding to online the next drive.

To find the gptid information for the drives, use zpool status [Pool_Name] which will also show you if any drives are failed or in the process of being resilvered:

zpool status Vol1
  pool: Vol1
  state: ONLINE
  scan: scrub repaired 0 in 16h24m with 0 errors on Sun Mar 10 17:24:20 2013
  config:
        NAME                                            STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        Vol1                                            ONLINE       0     0     0
          raidz1-0                                      ONLINE       0     0     0
            gptid/d5ed48a4-634a-11e2-963c-00e081740bfe  ONLINE       0     0     0
            gptid/03121538-62d9-11e2-99bd-00e081740bfe  ONLINE       0     0     0
            gptid/252754e1-6266-11e2-8088-00e081740bfe  ONLINE       0     0     0
            gptid/9092045a-601d-11e2-892e-00e081740bfe  ONLINE       0     0     0
            gptid/670e35bc-5f9a-11e2-92ca-00e081740bfe  ONLINE       0     0     0

  errors: No known data errors

After onlining all of the disks, type zpool status to see if the drives start to resilver. If this happens, wait for the resilvering process to complete.

Next, export and then import the pool:

zpool export Vol1
zpool import -R /mnt Vol1

Once the import completes, all of the drive space should be available. Verify that the increased size is recognized:

zpool list Vol1
NAME   SIZE  ALLOC   FREE    CAP  DEDUP  HEALTH  ALTROOT
Vol1  9.06T  1.41T  7.24T    31%  1.00x  ONLINE  /mnt

6.3.13 Splitting a Mirrored ZFS Storage Pool

ZFSv28 provides the ability to to split a mirrored storage pool, which detaches a disk or disks in the original ZFS volume in order to create another identical ZFS volume on another system.

NOTE: zpool split only works on mirrored ZFS volumes.

In this example, a ZFS mirror named test contains three drives:

zpool status
  pool: test
state: ONLINE
scan: resilvered 568K in 0h0m with 0 errors on Wed Jul  6 16:10:58 2011
config:
   NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
   test        ONLINE       0     0     0
     mirror-0  ONLINE       0     0     0
       da1     ONLINE       0     0     0
       da0     ONLINE       0     0     0
       da4     ONLINE       0     0     0

The following command splits from the existing three disk mirror test a new ZFS volume named migrant containing one disk, da4. Disks da0 and da1 remain in test.

zpool split test migrant da4

At this point, da4 can be physically removed and installed to a new system as the new pool is exported as it is created. Once physically installed, import the identical pool on the new system:

zpool import migrant

This makes the ZFS volume migrant available with a single disk. Be aware that properties come along with the clone, so the new pool will be mounted where the old pool was mounted if the mountpoint property was set on the original pool.

Verify the status of the new pool:

zpool status
  pool: migrant
state: ONLINE
scan: resilvered 568K in 0h0m with 0 errors on Wed Jul  6 16:10:58 2011
config:
   NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
   migrant     ONLINE       0     0     0
     da4       ONLINE       0     0     0
errors: No known data errors

On the original system, the status now looks like this:

zpool status
  pool: test
state: ONLINE
scan: resilvered 568K in 0h0m with 0 errors on Wed Jul  6 16:10:58 2011
config:
   NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
   test        ONLINE       0     0     0
     mirror-0  ONLINE       0     0     0
       da1     ONLINE       0     0     0
       da0     ONLINE       0     0     0
errors: No known data errors

At this point, it is recommended to add disks to create a full mirror set. This example adds two disks named da2 and da3:

zpool attach migrant da4 da2
zpool attach migrant da4 da3

The migrant volume now looks like this:

zpool status
  pool: migrant
state: ONLINE
scan: resilvered 572K in 0h0m with 0 errors on Wed Jul  6 16:43:27 2011
config:
   NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
   migrant     ONLINE       0     0     0
     mirror-0  ONLINE       0     0     0
       da4     ONLINE       0     0     0
       da2     ONLINE       0     0     0
       da3     ONLINE       0     0     0

Now that the new system has been cloned, you can detach da4 and install it back to the original system. Before physically removing the disk, run this command on the new system:

zpool detach migrant da4

Once the disk is physically re-installed, run this command on the original system:

zpool attach orig da0 da4

Should you ever need to create a new clone, remember to remove the old clone first:

zpool destroy migrant

6.4 ZFS Scrubs

Storage → ZFS Scrubs allows you to schedule and manage scrubs on a ZFS volume. Performing a ZFS scrub on a regular basis helps to identify data integrity problems, detect silent data corruptions caused by transient hardware issues, and to provide early alerts to disk failures. If you have consumer-quality drives, consider a weekly scrubbing schedule. If you have datacenter-quality drives, consider a monthly scrubbing schedule.

NOTE: depending upon the amount of data, a scrub can take a long time. Scrubs are I/O intensive and can negatively impact performance. They should be scheduled for evenings or weekends to minimize the impact to users.

When you create a volume that is formatted with ZFS, a ZFS scrub is automatically scheduled for you. An entry of the same volume name is added to Storage → ZFS Scrubs and a summary of this entry can be viewed in Storage → ZFS Scrubs → View ZFS Scrubs. Figure 6.4a displays the default settings for the volume named volume1. Table 6.4a summarizes the options in this screen.

Figure 6.4a: Viewing a Volume's Default Scrub Settings

Table 6.4a: ZFS Scrub Options

Setting

Value

Description

Volume

drop-down menu

select ZFS volume to scrub

Threshold days

integer

number of days between scrubs; the default is a multiple of 7 to ensure the scrub always occurs on the same day of the week

Description

string

optional

Minute

slider or minute selections

if use the slider, scrub occurs every N minutes; if use minute selections, scrub starts at the highlighted minutes

Hour

slider or hour selections

if use the slider, scrub occurs every N hours; if use hour selections, scrub occurs at the highlighted hours

Day of Month

slider or month selections

if use the slider, scrub occurs every N days; if use month selections, scrub occurs on the highlighted days of the selected months

Month

checkboxes

scrub occurs on the selected months

Day of week

checkboxes

scrub occurs on the selected days; default is Sunday to least impact users

Enabled

checkbox

uncheck to disable the scheduled scrub without deleting it

You should review the default selections and, if necessary, modify them to meet the needs of your environment.

While a delete button is provided, deleting a scrub is not recommended as a scrub provides an early indication of disk issues that could lead to a disk failure. If you find that a scrub is too intensive for your hardware, consider disabling the scrub as a temporary measure until the hardware can be upgraded.

If you do delete a scrub, you can create a new scrub task by clicking Storage → Volumes → ZFS Scrubs → Add ZFS Scrub.

7 Sharing Configuration

Once you have a volume, create at least one share so that the storage is accessible by the other computers in your network. The type of share you create depends upon the operating system(s) running in your network, your security requirements, and expectations for network transfer speeds. The following types of shares and services are available:

Apple (AFP) Shares: the Apple File Protocol (AFP) type of share is a good choice if all of your computers run Mac OS X.

Unix (NFS) Shares: the Network File System (NFS) type of share is accessible by Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, and the professional/enterprise versions (not the home editions) of Windows. It is a good choice if there are many different operating systems in your network. Depending upon the operating system, it may require the installation or configuration of client software on the desktop.

Windows (CIFS) Shares: the Common Internet File System (CIFS) type of share is accessible by Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and BSD computers, but it is slower than an NFS share due to the single-threaded design of Samba. It provides more configuration options than NFS and is a good choice on a network containing only Windows systems. However, it is a poor choice if the CPU on the FreeNAS® system is limited; if your CPU is maxed out, you need to upgrade the CPU or consider another type of share.

If you are looking for a solution that allows fast access from any operating system, consider configuring the FTP service instead of a share and use a cross-platform FTP and file manager client application such as Filezilla. Secure FTP can be configured if the data needs to be encrypted.

If data security is a concern and your network's users are familiar with SSH command line utilities or WinSCP, consider configuring the SSH service instead of a share. It will be slower than unencrypted FTP due to the overhead of encryption, but the data passing through the network will be encrypted.

NOTE: while the GUI will let you do it, it is a bad idea to share the same volume or dataset using multiple types of access methods. Different types of shares and services use different file locking methods. For example, if the same volume is configured to use both NFS and FTP, NFS will lock a file for editing by an NFS user, but a FTP user can simultaneously edit or delete that file. This will result in lost edits and confused users. Another example: if a volume is configured for both AFP and CIFS, Windows users may be confused by the extra filenames used by Mac files and delete the ones they don't understand; this will corrupt the files on the AFP share. Pick the one type of share or service that makes the most sense for the types of clients that will access that volume, and configure that volume for that one type of share or service. If you need to support multiple types of shares, divide the volume into datasets and use one dataset per share.

This section will demonstrate how to create AFP, NFS, and CIFS shares. FTP and SSH configurations are described in Services Configuration.

7.1 Apple (AFP) Shares

FreeNAS® uses the Netatalk AFP server to share data with Apple systems. Configuring AFP shares is a multi-step process that requires you to create or import users and groups, set volume/dataset permissions, create the AFP share(s), configure the AFP service, then enable the AFP service in Services → Control Services.

This section describes the configuration screen for creating the AFP share. It then provides configuration examples for creating a guest share, configuring Time Machine to backup to a dataset on the FreeNAS® system, and for connecting to the share from a Mac OS X client.

7.1.1 Creating AFP Shares

If you click Sharing → Apple (AFP) Shares → Add Apple (AFP) Share, you will see the screen shown in Figure 7.1a. Some settings are only available in Advanced Mode. To see these settings, either click the Advanced Mode button or configure the system to always display these settings by checking the box “Show advanced fields by default” in System → Settings → Advanced.

Figure 7.1a: Creating an AFP Share

Table 7.1a summarizes the available options when creating an AFP share. Refer to Setting up Netatalk for a more detailed explanation of the available options.

Once you press the OK button when creating the AFP share, a pop-up menu will ask "Would you like to enable this service?" Click Yes and Services → Control Services will open and indicate whether or not the AFP service successfully started.

Table 7.1a: AFP Share Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Name

string

volume name that will appear in the Mac computer's “connect to server” dialogue; limited to 27 characters and can not contain a period

Share Comment

string

optional

Path

browse button

browse to the volume/dataset to share

Share password

string

maximum of 8 characters; this password is in addition to the user's password when authenticating

Share Character Set

string

only available in Advanced Mode; examples include UTF8 and ISO–8859-15

Allow List

string

comma delimited list of allowed users and/or groups where groupname begins with a @

Deny List

string

comma delimited list of denied users and/or groups where groupname begins with a @

Read-only Access

string

comma delimited list of users and/or groups who only have read access where groupname begins with a @

Read-write Access

string

comma delimited list of users and/or groups who have read and write access where groupname begins with a @

Disk Discovery

checkbox

enable if there is no DNS record for the FreeNAS® system

Disk discovery mode

drop-down menu

choices are Default or Time Machine (Apple's backup utility); due to a limitation in how Mac deals with low-diskspace issues when multiple Mac's share the same volume, selecting "Time Machine" on multiple shares is discouraged as it may result in intermittent failed backups

Database Path

string

specify the path to store the CNID databases used by AFP (default is the root of the volume); the path must be writable

Cache CNID

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; if checked, AFP uses the ID information stored in AppleDouble header files to reduce database load; do not set this option if the volume is modified by non-AFP clients (e.g. NFS or CIFS)

Translate CR/LF

checkbox

if checked, AFP automatically converts Macintosh line breaks into Unix ones; may break some older programs

Windows File Names

checkbox

if checked, forces 8.3 filename restrictions imposed by older versions of Windows; it is not recommended for volumes mainly used by Macs as it breaks some some applications (e.g. OfficeX)

Enable .AppleDouble

checkbox

should only be unchecked when the network contains no Mac clients

Zero Device Numbers

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; enable when the device number is not constant across a reboot

Disable File ID

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; if enabled, AFP will not advertise createfileid, resolveid, and deleteid calls

Disable :hex Names

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; if this box is checked, AFP disables :hex translations for anything except dot files; this option makes the / character illegal

ProDOS

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; if checked, provides compatibility with Apple II clients

No Stat

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; if checked, AFP won't stat the volume path when enumerating the volumes list; useful for automounting or volumes created by a preexec script

AFP3 UNIX Privs

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; enables Unix privileges supported by OSX 10.5 and higher; do not enable if the network contains Mac OS X 10.4 clients or lower as they do not support these

Default file permission

checkboxes

only works with Unix ACLs; new files created on the share are set with the selected permissions

Default directory permission

checkboxes

only works with Unix ACLs; new directories created on the share are set with the selected permissions

7.1.2 Connecting to AFP Shares As Guest

AFP supports guest logins, meaning that all of your Mac OS X users can access the AFP share without requiring their user accounts to first be created on or imported into the the FreeNAS® system. In this configuration example, the AFP share has been configured for guest access as follows:

A ZFS volume named /mnt/data has its permissions set to the built-in nobody user account and nobody group.

An AFP share has been created with the following attributes:

Name: freenas (this is the name that will appear to Mac OS X clients)

Path: /mnt/data

Share Password: the password that will be used to access the share has been input and confirmed

Allow List: set to nobody

Read-write Access: set to nobody

Disk Discovery: checkbox has been checked

Services → AFP has been configured as follows:

Server Name: freenas

Guest Access: checkbox is checked

nobody is selected in the Guest account drop-down menu

Once the AFP service has been started in Services → Control Services, Mac OS X users can connect to the AFP share by clicking Go → Connect to Server. In the example shown in Figure 7.1b, the user has input afp:// followed by the IP address of the FreeNAS® system.

Figure 7.1b: Connect to Server Dialogue

Click the Connect button and a login box, seen in Figure 7.1c, will appear. Since a password has been configured for this AFP share, the user must input the share password (i.e. not their own password).

Figure 7.1c: Authenticating to the AFP Share

Once connected, Finder will automatically open. The name of the AFP share will be displayed in the SHARED section in the left frame and the contents of the share will be displayed in the right frame. In the example shown in Figure 7.1d, /mnt/data has one folder named images. The user can now copy files to and from the share.

Figure 7.1d: Viewing the Contents of the Share From a Mac System

To disconnect from the volume, click the eject button in the Shared sidebar.

7.1.3 Using Time Machine

Mac OS X includes the Time Machine application which can be used to schedule automatic backups. In this configuration example, Time Machine will be configured to backup to an AFP share on a FreeNAS® system. To configure the AFP share on the FreeNAS® system:

A ZFS dataset named /mnt/data/backup_user1 with a quota of 60G was created in Storage → Volumes → Create ZFS Dataset.

A user account was created as follows:

Username: user1

Home Directory: /mnt/data/backup_user1

the Full Name, E-mail, and Password fields were set where the Username and Password match the values for the user on the Mac OS X system

An AFP share with a Name of backup_user1 has been created with the following attributes:

Path: /mnt/data/backup_user1

Allow List: set to user1

Read-write Access: set to user1

Disk Discovery: checkbox has been checked

Disk Discovery mode: set to Time Machine

Services → AFP has been configured as follows:

Server Name: freenas

Guest Access: checkbox is unchecked

The AFP service has been started in Services → Control Services.

To configure Time Machine on the Mac OS X client, go to System Preferences → Time Machine which will open the screen shown in Figure 7.1e. Click ON and a pop-up menu should show the FreeNAS® system as a backup option. In our example, it is listed as backup_user1 on "freenas". Highlight the entry representing the FreeNAS® system and click the “Use Backup Disk” button. A connection bar will open and will prompt for the user account's password--in this example, the password for the user1 account.

Figure 7.1e: Configuring Time Machine on Mac OS X Lion

Time Machine will create a full backup after waiting two minutes. It will then create a one hour incremental backup for the next 24 hours, and then one backup each day, each week and each month. Since the oldest backups are deleted when the ZFS dataset becomes full, make sure that the quota size you set is sufficient to hold the backups. Note that a default installation of Mac OS X is ~21 GB in size.

If you receive a "Time Machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk image could not be created (error 45)" error when backing up to the FreeNAS® system, you will need to create a sparsebundle image using these instructions.

7.2 Unix (NFS) Shares

FreeNAS® supports the Network File System (NFS) for sharing volumes over a network. Once the NFS share is configured, clients use the mount command to mount the share. Once mounted, the share appears as just another directory on the client system. Some Linux distros require the installation of additional software in order to mount an NFS share. On Windows systems, enable Services for NFS in the Ultimate or Enterprise editions or install an NFS client application.

NOTE: for performance reasons, iSCSI is preferred to NFS shares when FreeNAS is installed on ESXi. If you are considering creating NFS shares on ESXi, read through the performance analysis at Running ZFS over NFS as a VMware Store.

Configuring NFS is a multi-step process that requires you to create NFS share(s), configure NFS in Services → NFS, then start NFS in Services → Control Panel. It does not require you to create users or groups as NFS uses IP addresses to determine which systems are allowed to access the NFS share.

This section demonstrates how to create an NFS share, provides a configuration example, demonstrates how to connect to the share from various operating systems, and provides some troubleshooting tips.

7.2.1 Creating NFS Shares

To create an NFS share, click Sharing → Unix (NFS) Shares → Add Unix (NFS) Share, shown in Figure 7.2a.

Figure 7.2a: Creating an NFS Share

Once you press the OK button when creating the NFS share, a pop-up menu will ask "Would you like to enable this service?" Click Yes and Services → Control Services will open and indicate whether or not the NFS service successfully started.

Table 7.2a summarizes the options in this screen.

Table 7.2a: NFS Share Options

Setting

Value

Description

Comment

string

used to set the share name; if left empty, share name will be the list of selected Paths

Authorized networks

string

comma delimited list of allowed network addresses in the form 1.2.3.0/24 where the number after the slash is a CIDR mask

Authorized IP addresses or hosts

string

comma delimited list of allowed IP addresses or hostnames

All directories

checkbox

if checked, the client can mount any subdirectory within the Path

Read only

checkbox

prohibits writing to the share

Quiet

checkbox

inhibits some syslog diagnostics which can be useful to avoid some annoying error messages; see exports(5) for examples

Maproot User

drop-down menu

if a user is selected, the root user is limited to that user's permissions

Maproot Group

drop-down menu

if a group is selected, the root user will also be limited to that group's permissions

Mapall User

drop-down menu

the specified user's permissions are used by all clients

Mapall Group

drop-down menu

the specified group's permission are used by all clients

Path

browse button

browse to the volume/dataset/directory to share; click “Add extra path” to select multiple paths

When creating the NFS share, keep the following points in mind:

The Maproot and Mapall options are exclusive, meaning you can only use one or the other--the GUI will not let you use both. The Mapall options supersede the Maproot options. If you only wish to restrict the root user's permissions, set the Maproot option. If you wish to restrict the permissions of all users, set the Mapall option.

Each volume or dataset is considered to be its own filesystem and NFS is not able to cross filesystem boundaries.

The network or host must be unique per share and per filesystem or directory.

The "All directories" option can only be used once per share per filesystem.

To better understand these restrictions, consider the following scenario where there are:

2 networks named 10.0.0.0/8 and 20.0.0.0/8

a ZFS volume named volume1 with 2 datasets named dataset1 and dataset2

dataset1 has a directory named directory1

Because of restriction #3, you will receive an error if you try to create one NFS share as follows:

Authorized networks: 10.0.0.0/8,20.0.0.0/8

Path: /mnt/volume1/dataset1 and /mnt/volume1/dataset1/directory1

Instead, you should select the Path of /mnt/volume1/dataset1 and check the "All directories" box.

However, you could restrict that directory to one of the networks by creating two shares as follows.

First NFS share:

Authorized networks: 10.0.0.0/8

Path: /mnt/volume1/dataset1

Second NFS share:

Authorized networks: 20.0.0.0/8

Path: /mnt/volume1/dataset1/directory1

Note that this requires the creation of two shares as it can not be accomplished in one share.

7.2.2 Sample NFS Share Configuration

By default the Mapall options shown in Figure 7.2a show as N/A. This means that when a user connects to the NFS share, they connect with the permissions associated with their user account. This is a security risk if a user is able to connect as root as they will have complete access to the share.

A better scenario is to do the following:

Specify the built-in nobody account to be used for NFS access.

In the permissions of the volume/dataset that is being shared, change the owner and group to nobody and set the permissions according to your specifications.

Select nobody in the Mapall User and Mapall Group drop-down menus for the share in Sharing → Unix (NFS) Shares.

With this configuration, it does not matter which user account connects to the NFS share, as it will be mapped to the nobody user account and will only have the permissions that you specified on the volume/dataset. For example, even if the root user is able to connect, it will not gain root access to the share.

7.2.3 Connecting to the NFS Share

In the following examples, an NFS share on a FreeNAS® system with the IP address of 192.168.2.2 has been configured as follows:

A ZFS volume named /mnt/data has its permissions set to the nobody user account and the nobody group.

A NFS share has been created with the following attributes:

Path: /mnt/data

Authorized Network: 192.168.2.0/24

MapAll User and MapAll Group are both set to nobody

the All Directories checkbox has been checked

7.2.3.1 From BSD or Linux Clients

To make this share accessible on a BSD or a Linux system, run the following command as the superuser (or with sudo) from the client system (repeat for each client that needs access to the NFS share):

mount -t nfs 192.168.2.2:/mnt/data /mnt

The mount command uses the following options:

-t nfs: specifies the type of share.

192.168.2.2: replace with the IP address of the FreeNAS® system

/mnt/data: replace with the name of the NFS share

/mnt: a mount point on the client system. This must be an existing, empty directory. The data in the NFS share will be made available to the client in this directory.

The mount command should return to the command prompt without any error messages, indicating that the share was successfully mounted.

Once mounted, this configuration allows users on the client system to copy files to and from /mnt (the mount point) and all files will be owned by nobody:nobody. Any changes to /mnt will be saved to the FreeNAS® system's /mnt/data volume.

Should you wish to make any changes to the NFS share's settings or wish to make the share inaccessible, first unmount the share on the client as the superuser:

umount /mnt

7.2.3.2 From Microsoft Clients

Enterprise versions of Windows systems can connect to NFS shares using Services for NFS. Connecting to NFS shares is often faster than connecting to CIFS shares due to the single-threaded limitation of Samba. Instructions for connecting from an Enterprise version of Windows 7 can be found at Mount Linux NFS Share on Windows 7.

NOTE: Services for NFS is only available in the Ultimate or Enterprise editions of Windows.

If your Windows client is running a Home Edition of Windows 7, Nekodrive provides an open source graphical NFS client. To use this client, you will need to install the following on the Windows system:

7zip to extract the Nekodrive download files

NFSClient and NFSLibrary from the Nekodrive download page; once downloaded, extract these files using 7zip

.NET Framework 4.0

Once everything is installed, run the NFSClient executable to start the GUI client. In the example shown in Figure 7.2b, the user has connected to the example /mnt/data share of the FreeNAS® system at 192.168.2.2.

Figure 7.2b: Using the Nekodrive NFSClient from Windows 7 Home Edition

7.2.3.3 From Mac OS X Clients

To mount the NFS volume from a Mac OS X client, click on Go → Connect to Server. In the Server Address field, input nfs:// followed by the IP address of the FreeNAS® system and the name of the volume/dataset being shared by NFS. The example shown in Figure 7.2c continues with our example of 192.168.2.2:/mnt/data.

Figure 7.2c: Mounting the NFS Share from Mac OS X

Once connected, Finder will automatically open. The IP address of the FreeNAS® system will be displayed in the SHARED section in the left frame and the contents of the share will be displayed in the right frame. In the example shown in Figure 7.2d, /mnt/data has one folder named images. The user can now copy files to and from the share.

Figure 7.2d: Viewing the NFS Share in Finder

7.2.4 Troubleshooting

Some NFS clients do not support the NLM (Network Lock Manager) protocol used by NFS. You will know that this is the case if the client receives an error that all or part of the file may be locked when a file transfer is attempted. To resolve this error, add the option -o nolock when running the mount command on the client in order to allow write access to the NFS share.

If you receive an error about a "time out giving up" when trying to mount the share from a Linux system, make sure that the portmapper service is running on the Linux client and start it if it is not. If portmapper is running and you still receive timeouts, force it to use TCP by including -o tcp in your mount command.

If you receive an error "RPC: Program not registered", upgrade to the latest version of FreeNAS® and restart the NFS service after the upgrade in order to clear the NFS cache.

If your clients are receiving "reverse DNS" or timeout errors, add an entry for the IP address of the FreeNAS® system in the "Host name database" field of Network → Global Configuration.

7.3 Windows (CIFS) Shares

FreeNAS® uses Samba to share volumes using Microsoft's CIFS protocol. CIFS is built into the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems and most Linux and BSD systems pre-install the Samba client which provides support for CIFS. If your distro did not, install the Samba client using your distro's software repository.

Configuring CIFS shares is a multi-step process that requires you to set permissions, create CIFS share(s), configure the CIFS service in Services → CIFS, then enable the CIFS service in Services → Control Services. If your Windows network has a Windows server running Active Directory, you will also need to configure the Active Directory service in Services → Active Directory. Depending upon your authentication requirements, you may need to create or import users and groups.

This section will demonstrate some common configuration scenarios:

If you would like an overview of the configurable parameters, see Creating CIFS Shares.

If you would like an example of how to configure access that does not require authentication, see Configuring Anonymous Access.

If you would like each user to authenticate before accessing the share, see Configuring Local User Access.

If you would like to use Shadow Copies, see Configuring Shadow Copies.

If you are having problems accessing your CIFS share, see Troubleshooting Tips.

7.3.1 Creating CIFS Shares

Figure 7.3a shows the configuration screen that appears when you click Sharing → Windows (CIFS Shares) → Add Windows (CIFS) Share. Some settings are only available in Advanced Mode. To see these settings, either click the Advanced Mode button or configure the system to always display these settings by checking the box “Show advanced fields by default” in System → Settings → Advanced.

Table 7.3a summarizes the options when creating a CIFS share. smb.conf(5) provides more details for each configurable option.

Once you press the OK button when creating the CIFS share, a pop-up menu will ask "Would you like to enable this service?" Click Yes and Services → Control Services will open and indicate whether or not the CIFS service successfully started.

Figure 7.3a: Adding a CIFS Share

Table 7.3a: Options for a CIFS Share

Setting

Value

Description

Name

string

mandatory; name of share

Comment

string

optional description

Path

browse button

select volume/dataset/directory to share

Export Read Only

checkbox

prohibits write access to the share

Browsable to Network Clients

checkbox

enables Windows clients to browse the shared directory using Windows Explorer

Inherit Owner

checkbox

if checked, ownership for new files and directories is inherited from parent directory rather than from the user

Inherit Permissions

checkbox

if checked, permissions on new files and directories are inherited from parent directory; this can be useful on large systems with many users as it allows a single homes share to be used flexibly by each user; do not check if Type of ACL is set to Windows in the Volume's permissions

Export Recycle Bin

checkbox

deleted files are instead moved to a hidden .recycle directory in the root folder of the share

Show Hidden Files

checkbox

if enabled, will display filenames that begin with a dot (Unix hidden files)

Allow Guest Access

checkbox

if checked, no password is required to connect to the share and all users share the permissions of the guest user defined in Services → CIFS

Only Allow Guest Access

checkbox

requires Allow guest access to also be checked; forces guest access for all connections

Hosts Allow

string

only available in Advanced Mode; comma, space, or tab delimited list of allowed hostnames or IP addresses; see NOTE below

Hosts Deny

string

only available in Advanced Mode; comma, space, or tab delimited list of denied hostnames or IP addresses; allowed hosts take precedence so can use ALL in this field and specify allowed hosts in Hosts Allow; see NOTE below

Auxiliary Parameters

string

only available in Advanced Mode; add additional [share] smb.conf parameters not covered by other option fields

NOTE: hostname lookups add some time to accessing the CIFS share. If you only use IP addresses, uncheck the "Hostnames lookups" box in Services → CIFS.

If you wish some files on a shared volume to be hidden and inaccessible to users, put a veto files= line in the Auxiliary Parameters field. The syntax for this line and some examples can be found here.

7.3.2 Configuring Anonymous Access

To share a volume without requiring users to input a password, configure anonymous CIFS sharing. This type of share can be configured as follows:

Create a guest user account to be used for anonymous access in Account → Users → Add User with the following attributes:

Username: guest

Home Directory: browse to the volume to be shared

check the Disable logins box

Associate the guest account with the volume in Storage → Volumes. Expand the volume's name then click Change Permissions. Select guest as the Owner(user) and Owner(group) and check that the permissions are appropriate for the share. If non-Windows systems will be accessing the CIFS share, leave the type of permissions as Unix. Only change the type of permissions to Windows if the share is only accessed by Windows systems.

Create a CIFS share in Sharing → Windows (CIFS) Shares → Add Windows (CIFS) Share with the following attributes:

Name: freenas

Path: browse to the volume to be shared

check the boxes Allow Guest Access and Only Allow Guest Access

Hosts Allow: add the addresses which are allowed to connect to the share; acceptable formats are the network or subnet address with CIDR mask (e.g. 192.168.2.0/24 or 192.168.2.32/27) or specific host IP addresses, one address per line

Configure the CIFS service in Services → CIFS with the following attributes:

Authentication Model: Anonymous

Guest Account: guest

check the boxes boxes Allow Empty Password and Enable Home Directories

Home Directories: browse to the volume to be shared

Start the CIFS service in Services → Control Services. Click the click the red OFF button next to CIFS. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON, indicating that the service has been enabled.

Test the share.

To test the share from a Windows system, open Explorer, click on Network and you should see an icon named FREENAS. Since anonymous access has been configured, you should not be prompted for a username or password in order to see the share. An example is seen in Figure 7.3b.

Figure 7.3b: Accessing the CIFS Share from a Windows Computer

If you click on the FREENAS icon, you can view the contents of the CIFS share.

To prevent Windows Explorer from hanging when accessing the share, map the share as a network drive. To do this, right-click the share and select "Map network drive..." as seen in Figure 7.3c.

Figure 7.3c: Mapping the Share as a Network Drive

Choose a drive letter from the drop-down menu and click the Finish button as shown in Figure 7.3d.

Figure 7.3d: Selecting the Network Drive Letter

7.3.3 Configuring Local User Access

If you would like each user to authenticate before accessing the CIFS share, configure local user access as follows:

If you are not using Active Directory or LDAP, create a user account for each user in Account → Users → Add User with the following attributes:

Username and Password: matches the username and password on the client system

Home Directory: browse to the volume to be shared

Repeat this process to create a user account for every user that will need access to the CIFS share

If you are not using Active Directory or LDAP, create a group in Account → Groups → Add Group. Once the group is created, click its Members button and add the user accounts that you created in step 1.

Give the group permission to the volume in Storage → View Volumes. When setting the permissions:

set Owner(user) to nobody

set the Owner(group) to the one you created in Step 2

Mode: check the write checkbox for the Group as it is unchecked by default

Create a CIFS share in Sharing → CIFS Shares → Add CIFS Share with the following attributes:

Name: input the name of the share

Path: browse to the volume to be shared

keep the Browsable to Network Clients box checked

NOTE: be careful about unchecking the Browsable to Network Clients box. When this box is checked (the default), other users will see the names of every share that exists using Windows Explorer, but they will receive a permissions denied error message if they try to access someone else's share. If this box is unchecked, even the owner of the share won't see it or be able to create a drive mapping for the share in Windows Explorer. However, they can still access the share from the command line. Unchecking this option provides limited security and is not a substitute for proper permissions and password control.

Configure the CIFS service in Services → CIFS as follows:

Authentication Model: if you are not using Active Directory or LDAP, select Local User

Workgroup: if you are not using Active Directory or LDAP, set to the name being used on the Windows network; unless it has been changed, the default Windows workgroup name is WORKGROUP

Start the CIFS service in Services → Control Services. Click the click the red OFF button next to CIFS. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON, indicating that the service has been enabled.

Test the share.

To test the share from a Windows system, open Explorer and click on Network. For this configuration example, a system named FREENAS should appear with a share named backups. If you click on backups, a Windows Security pop-up screen should prompt for the user's username and password. Once authenticated, the user can copy data to and from the CIFS share.

NOTE: since the share is group writable, any authenticated user can change the data in the share. If you wish to setup shares where a group of users have access to some folders but only individuals have access to other folders (where all these folders reside on the same volume), create these directories and set their permissions using Shell. Instructions for doing so can be found at the forum post Set Permission to allow users to share a common folder & have private personal folder.

7.3.4 Configuring Shadow Copies

Shadow Copies, also known as the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) or Previous Versions, is a Microsoft service for creating volume snapshots. Shadow copies allow you to easily restore previous versions of files from within Windows Explorer. Shadow Copy support is built into Vista and Windows 7. Windows XP or 2000 users need to install the Shadow Copy client.

When you create a periodic snapshot task on a ZFS volume that is configured as a CIFS share in FreeNAS®, it is automatically configured to support shadow copies.

7.3.4.1 Prerequisites

Before using shadow copies with FreeNAS®, be aware of the following caveats:

if the Windows system is not fully patched to the latest service pack, Shadow Copies may not work. If you are unable to see any previous versions of files to restore, use Windows Update to make sure that the system is fully up-to-date.

at this time, shadow copy support only works for ZFS pools or datasets. This means that the CIFS share must be configured on a volume or dataset, not on a directory. Directory support will be added in a future version of FreeNAS®.

at this time, there must be a one-to-one mapping between the periodic snapshot task and the CIFS share. In practical terms, this means that you can either share a ZFS volume to be shared by all users, or you can create a dataset plus an associated CIFS share for each user. Since directories can not be shadow copied at this time, if you configure "Enable home directories" on the CIFS service, any data stored in the user's home directory will not be shadow copied.

shadow copies will not work with a manual snapshot, you must create a periodic snapshot task for the pool or dataset being shared by CIFS. At this time, if multiple snapshot tasks are created for the same pool/dataset being shared by CIFS, shadow copies will only work on the last executed task at the time the CIFS service started. A future version of FreeNAS® will address this limitation.

the periodic snapshot task should be created and at least one snapshot should exist before creating the CIFS share. If you created the CIFS share first, restart the CIFS service in Services → Control Services.

Windows ACLs and appropriate permissions must be configured on the volume/dataset being shared by CIFS.

users can not delete shadow copies on the Windows system due to the way Samba works. Instead, the administrator can remove snapshots from the FreeNAS® administrative GUI. The only way to disable shadow copies completely is to remove the periodic snapshot task and delete all snapshots associated with the CIFS share.

7.3.4.2 Configuration Example

In this example, a Windows 7 computer has two users: user1 and user2. To configure FreeNAS® to provide shadow copy support:

For the ZFS volume named /mnt/data, create two ZFS datasets in Storage → Volumes → /mnt/data → Create ZFS Dataset. The first dataset is named /mnt/data/user1 and the second dataset is named /mnt/data/user2.

If you are not using Active Directory or LDAP, create two users, user1 and user2 in Account → Users → Add User. Each user has the following attributes:

Username and Password: matches that user's username and password on the Windows system

Home Directory: browse to the dataset created for that user

Set the permissions on /mnt/data/user1 so that the Owner(user) and Owner(group) is user1. Set the permissions on /mnt/data/user2 so that the Owner(user) and Owner(group) is user2. For each dataset's permissions, enable Windows ACLs and tighten the Mode so that Other can not read or execute the information on the dataset.

Create two periodic snapshot tasks in Storage → Periodic Snapshot Tasks → Add Periodic Snapshot, one for each dataset. Before continuing to the next step, confirm that at least one snapshot for each dataset is displayed in the ZFS Snapshots tab. When creating your snapshots, keep in mind how often your users need to access modified files and during which days and time of day they are likely to make changes.

Create two CIFS shares in Sharing → Windows (CIFS) Shares → Add Windows (CIFS) Share. The first CIFS share is named user1 and has a Path of /mnt/data/user1; the second CIFS share is named user2 and has a Path of /mnt/data/user2. When creating the first share, click the No button when the pop-up button asks if the CIFS service should be started. When the last share is created, click the Yes button when the pop-up button prompts to start the CIFS service. Verify that the CIFS service is set to ON in Services → Control Services.

From a Windows system, login as user1 and open Windows Explorer → Network → FREENAS. Two shares should appear, named user1 and user2. Due to the permissions on the datasets, user1 should receive an error if they click on the user2 share. Due to the permissions on the datasets, user1 should be able to create, add, and delete files and folders from the user1 share.

Figure 7.3e provides an example of using shadow copies while logged in as user1. In this example, the user right-clicked modified file and selected "Restore previous versions" from the menu. This particular file has three versions: the current version, plus two previous versions stored on the FreeNAS® system. The user can choose to open one of the previous versions, copy a previous version to the current folder, or restore one of the previous versions, which will overwrite the existing file on the Windows system.

Figure 7.3e: Viewing Previous Versions within Explorer

8 Services Configuration

The Services section of the GUI allows you to configure, start, and stop the various services that ship with the FreeNAS® system. FreeNAS® supports the following services:

Active Directory

AFP

CIFS

Dynamic DNS

FTP

iSCSI

LDAP

NFS

Plugins

Rsync

S.M.A.R.T.

SNMP

SSH

TFTP

UPS

This section demonstrates how to start a FreeNAS® service then describes the available configuration options for each FreeNAS® service.

8.1 Control Services

Services → Control Services, shown in Figure 8.1a, allows you to quickly determine which services are currently running, to start and stop services, and to configure services. By default, all services (except for the S.M.A.R.T. service) are off until you start them.

Figure 8.1a: Control Services

In order to provide a separation between the services that were installed with FreeNAS®, and are considered to be core to the NAS, and those third-party services which were installed into the Plugins Jail, this screen is divided into two tabs:

Core: lists the services that are installed with FreeNAS®.

Plugins: lists the services which were installed using Plugins. This tab contains a warning if the Plugins service has not been started in the Core tab of Control Services.

A service is stopped if its icon is a red OFF. A service is running if its icon is a blue ON. To start or stop a service, click its ON/OFF icon.

To configure a core service, click the wrench icon associated with the service or click the name of the service in the Services section of the tree menu.

If a service does not start, go to System → Settings → Advanced and check the box “Show console messages in the footer”. Console messages will now show at the bottom of your browser. If you click the console messages area, it will pop-up as a window, allowing you to scroll through the output and to copy messages. Watch these messages for errors when you stop and start the problematic service.

If you would like to read the system logs to get more information about a service failure, open Shell and type more /var/log/messages.

NOTE: if you are unable to start any core services within ESXi, make sure that you only have one vcpu. If that is not the issue, create a Tunable called kern.hz with a value of 100.

8.2 Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is a service for sharing resources in a Windows network. AD can be configured on a Windows server that is running Windows Server 2000 or higher or on a Unix-like operating system that is running Samba version 4. Since AD provides authentication and authorization services for the users in a network, you do not have to recreate these user accounts on the FreeNAS® system. Instead, configure the Active Directory service so that it can import the account information and imported users can be authorized to access the CIFS shares on the FreeNAS® system.

NOTE: many changes and improvements have been made to Active Directory support within FreeNAS®. If you are not running FreeNAS® 8.3.1-RELEASE, it is strongly recommended that you upgrade before attempting Active Directory integration.

Before configuring the Active Directory service, ensure name resolution is properly configured by pinging the domain name of the Active Directory domain controller from Shell on the FreeNAS® system. If the ping fails, check the DNS server and default gateway settings in Network → Global Configuration on the FreeNAS® system.

Next, add a DNS record for the FreeNAS® system on the Windows server and verify that you can ping the hostname of the FreeNAS® system from the domain controller.

Active Directory relies on Kerberos, which is a time sensitive protocol. This means that the time on both the FreeNAS® system and the Active Directory Domain Controller can not be out of sync by more than a few minutes. The best way to ensure that the same time is running on both systems is to configure both systems to:

use the same NTP server (set in System → NTP Servers on the FreeNAS® system)

have the same timezone

be set to either localtime or universal time at the BIOS level

Figure 8.2a shows the Active Directory Configuration screen and Table 8.2a describes the configurable options. Some settings are only available in Advanced Mode. To see these settings, either click the Advanced Mode button or configure the system to always display these settings by checking the box “Show advanced fields by default” in System → Settings → Advanced.

Figure 8.2a: Configuring Active Directory

Table 8.2a: Active Directory Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Domain Name

string

name of Active Directory domain (e.g. example.com) or child domain (e.g. sales.example.com)

NetBIOS Name

string

hostname of FreeNAS® system

Workgroup Name

string

name of Windows server's workgroup (for older Microsoft clients)

Administrator Name

string

name of the Active Directory administrator account

Administrator Password

string

password for the Active Directory administrator account

Verbose logging

checkbox

if checked, logs attempts to join the domain to /var/log/messages

UNIX extensions

checkbox

only check this box if the AD server has been explicitly configured to map permissions for UNIX users; checking this box provides persistent UIDs and GUIDs, otherwise, users/groups get mapped to the UID/GUID range configured in Samba

Allow Trusted Domains

checkbox

should only be enabled if network has active domain/forest trusts and you need to manage files on multiple domains; use with caution as it will generate more winbindd traffic, slowing down the ability to filter through user/group information

Use default domain

checkbox

when unchecked, the domain name is prepended to the username; if Allow Trusted Domains is checked and multiple domains use the same usernames, uncheck this box to prevent name collisions

Domain Controller

string

can be used to specify hostname of domain controller to use

Global Catalog Server

string

can be used to specify hostname of global catalog server to use

Kerberos Server

string

can be used to specify hostname of kerberos server to use

Kerberos Password Server

string

can be used to specify hostname of kerberos password server to use

AD timeout

integer

in seconds, increase if the AD service does not start after connecting to the domain

DNS timeout

integer

in seconds, increase if AD DNS queries timeout

NOTE: Active Directory places restrictions on which characters are allowed in Domain and NetBIOS names. If you are having problems connecting to the realm, verify that your settings do not include any disallowed characters. Also, the Administrator Password cannot contain the $ character. If a $ exists in the domain administrator's password, kinit will report a "Password Incorrect" error and ldap_bind will report an "Invalid credentials (49)" error.

Once you have configured the Active Directory service, start it in Services → Control Services. It may take a few minutes for the Active Directory information to be populated to the FreeNAS® system. Once populated, the AD users and groups will be available in the drop-down menus of the permissions screen of a volume/dataset. For performance reasons, every available user may not show in the listing. However, it will autocomplete all applicable users if you start typing in a username.

You can verify which Active Directory users and groups have been imported to the FreeNAS® system by using these commands within the FreeNAS® Shell:

wbinfo -u (to view users)

wbinfo -g (to view groups)

In addition, wbinfo -t will test the connection and, if successful, will give a message similar to:

checking the trust secret for domain YOURDOMAIN via RPC calls succeeded

To manually check that a specified user can authenticate:

net ads join -S dcname -U username

If no users or groups are listed in the output of those commands, these commands will provide more troubleshooting information:

getent passwd
getent group

8.2.1 Troubleshooting Tips

If you are running AD in a 2003/2008 mixed domain, see this forum post for instructions on how to prevent the secure channel key from becoming corrupt.

The LDAP code uses DNS to determine the location of the domain controllers and global catalog servers in the network. Use the host -t srv _ldap._tcp.domainname.com command to determine the network's SRV records and, if necessary, change the weight and/or priority of the SRV record to reflect the fastest server. More information about SRV records can be found in the Technet article How DNS Support for Active Directory Works.

The realm that is used depends upon the priority in the SRV DNS record, meaning that DNS can override your Active Directory settings. If you are unable to connect to the correct realm, check the SRV records on the DNS server. This article describes how to configure KDC discovery over DNS and provides some examples of records with differing priorities.

If the cache becomes out of sync due to an AD server being taken off and back online, resync the cache using System → Settings → Advanced → Rebuild LDAP/AD Cache.

An expired password for the administrator account will cause kinit to fail so ensure that the password is still valid.

8.3 AFP

The Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is a network protocol that offers file services for Mac computers. Before configuring this service, you should first create your AFP Shares in Sharing → Apple (AFP) Shares → Add Apple (AFP) Share. After configuring this service, go to Services → Control Panel to start the service. The AFP shares will not be available on the network if this service is not running.

Enabling this service will open the following ports on the FreeNAS® system:

TCP 548 (afpd)

TCP 4799 (cnid_metadata)

UDP 5353 and a random UDP port (avahi)

Figure 8.3a shows the configuration options which are described in Table 8.3a:

Figure 8.3a: AFP Configuration

Table 8.3a: AFP Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Server Name

string

server name that will appear to Mac clients; by default it is freenas

Guest Access

checkbox

if checked, clients will not be prompted to authenticate before accessing the AFP share

Guest Account

drop-down menu

select account to use for guest access; the selected account must have permissions to the volume/dataset being shared

Max Connections

integer

maximum number of simultaneous connections

8.4 CIFS

Common Internet File System (CIFS) is a network protocol that offers file services for (typically) Windows computers. Unix-like systems that provide a CIFS client can also connect to CIFS shares. Before configuring this service, you should first create your CIFS shares in Sharing → Windows (CIFS) Shares → Add Windows (CIFS) Share. After configuring this service, go to Services → Control Services to start the service. The CIFS shares will not be available on the network if this service is not running.

NOTE: after starting the CIFS service, it may take several minutes for the master browser election to occur and for the FreeNAS® system to become available in Windows Explorer.

Starting this service will open the following ports on the FreeNAS® system:

TCP 139 (smbd)

TCP 445 (smbd)

UDP 137 (nmbd)

UDP 138 (nmbd)

Figure 8.4a shows the configuration options which are described in Table 8.4a. This configuration screen is really a front-end to smb.conf(5).

Figure 8.4a: Configuring CIFS

Table 8.4a: CIFS Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Authentication Model

drop-down menu

choices are Anonymous or Local User; this setting is ignored if the Active Directory or LDAP service is running

NetBIOS Name

string

must be lowercase and should be same as the hostname on the FreeNAS® system; it must be different from the Workgroup name

Workgroup

string

must match Windows workgroup name; this setting is ignored if the Active Directory or LDAP service is running

Description

string

optional

DOS Charset

drop-down menu

the character set Samba uses when communicating with DOS and Windows 9x/Me clients; default is CP437

UNIX Charset

drop-down menu

default is UTF-8 which supports all characters in all languages

Log Level

drop-down menu

choices are Minimum, Normal, Full, or Debug

Local Master

checkbox

determines whether or not the FreeNAS® system participates in a browser election; should be disabled when network contains an AD or LDAP server and is not necessary if Windows Vista/7 machines are present

Time Server for Domain

checkbox

determines whether or not the FreeNAS® system advertises itself as a time server to Windows clients; should be disabled when network contains an AD or LDAP server

Guest Account

drop-down menu

account to be used for guest access; that account must have permission to access the shared volume/dataset

File mask

integer

overrides default file creation mask of 0666 which creates files with read and write access for everybody

Directory mask

integer

overrides default directory creation mask of 0777 which grants directory read, write and execute access for everybody

Send files with sendfile(2)

checkbox

newer Windows versions support the more efficient sendfile system call which makes Samba faster

EA Support

checkbox

enables extended attributes

Support DOS File Attributes

checkbox

allows a user who has write access to a file to modify the permissions, even if not the owner of the file

Allow Empty Password

checkbox

if checked, users can just press enter when prompted for a password; requires that the username/password be the same for the FreeNAS® user account and the Windows user account

Auxiliary parameters

string

smb.conf options not covered elsewhere in this screen; see the Samba Guide for additional settings

Enable home directories

checkbox

if checked, a folder with the same name as the user account will be created for each user

Enable home directories browsing

checkbox

users can browse (but not write to) other users' home directories

Home directories

browse button

select volume/dataset where the home directories will be created

Homes auxiliary parameters

string

options specific to the [homes] section of smb.conf; for example, hide dot files = yes hides files beginning with a dot in home directories

Unix Extensions

checkbox

allows non-Windows CIFS clients to access symbolic links and hard links, has no affect on Windows clients

Enable AIO

checkbox

enables asynchronous I/O in FreeNAS® versions 8.0.3-RELEASE and higher; enabling this reduces CIFS speed in some networks

Minimum AIO read size

integer

default is 4096 bytes; Samba will read asynchronously when size of request is bigger than this value

Minimum AIO write size

integer

default is 4096 bytes; Samba will write asynchronously when size of request is bigger than this value

Zeroconf share discovery

checkbox

enable if Mac clients will be connecting to the CIFS share

Hostnames lookups

checkbox

allows you to specify hostnames rather than IP addresses in the Hosts Allow or Hosts Deny fields of a CIFS share; uncheck if you only use IP addresses as it saves the time of a host lookup

Beginning with FreeNAS® versions 8.0.3-RELEASE, changes to CIFS settings and CIFS shares take effect immediately. For previous versions, changes will not take effect until you manually stop and start the CIFS service.

NOTE: do not set the directory name cache size as an auxiliary parameter. Due to differences in how Linux and BSD handle file descriptors, directory name caching is disabled on BSD systems in order to improve performance.

8.4.1 Troubleshooting Tips

Compared to other networking protocols, CIFS is not fast. Enabling the following checkboxes may help to increase network throughput: Large RW support, Send files with sendfile(2), and Enable AIO. Adjusting the Minimum AIO read and write size settings to better fit your networking infrastructure may improve or degrade performance.

Samba's "write cache" parameter has been reported to improve write performance in some configurations and can be added to the Auxiliary Parameters field. Use an integer value which is a multiple of _SC_PAGESIZE (typically 4096) to avoid memory fragmentation. This will increase Samba's memory requirements and should not be used on systems with limited RAM.

If you wish to increase network performance, read the Samba section on socket options. It indicates which options are available and recommends that you experiment to see which are supported by your clients and improve your network's performance.

Windows automatically caches file sharing information. If you make changes to a CIFS share or to the permissions of a volume/dataset being shared by CIFS and are no longer able to access the share, try logging out and back into the Windows system.

Where possible, avoid using a mix of case in filenames as this may cause confusion for Windows users. Representing and resolving filenames with Samba explains this in more detail.

The Common Errors section of the Samba documentation contains additional troubleshooting tips.

8.5 Dynamic DNS

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) is useful if your FreeNAS® system is connected to an ISP that periodically changes the IP address of the system. With dynamic DNS, the system can automatically associate its current IP address with a domain name, allowing you to access the FreeNAS® system even if the IP address changes. DDNS requires you to register with a DDNS service such as DynDNS.

Figure 8.5a shows the DDNS configuration screen and Table 8.5a summarizes the configuration options. The values you need to input will be given to you by the DDNS provider. After configuring DDNS, don't forget to start the DDNS service in Services → Control Services.

Figure 8.5a: Configuring DDNS

Table 8.5a: DDNS Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Provider

drop-down menu

several providers are supported; if your provider is not listed, leave this field blank and specify the custom provider in the Auxiliary parameters field

Domain name

string

fully qualified domain name (e.g. yourname.dyndns.org)

Username

string

username used to logon to the provider and update the record

Password

string

password used to logon to the provider and update the record

Update period

integer

in seconds; be careful with this setting as the provider may block you for abuse if this setting occurs more often than the IP address changes

Forced update period

integer

in seconds so be careful with this setting as the provider may block you for abuse; issues a DDNS update request even when the address has not changed so that the service provider knows that the account is still active

Auxiliary parameters

string

additional parameters passed to the provider during record update; an example of specifying a custom provider is dyndns_system default@no-ip.com

If you are using freedns.afraid.org, see this forum post.

If you are using DNS-O-Matic, see this forum post.

8.6 FTP

FreeNAS® uses the proftpd FTP server to provide FTP services. Once the FTP service is configured and started, clients can browse and download data using a web browser or FTP client software. The advantage of FTP is that easy-to-use cross-platform utilities are available to manage uploads to and downloads from the FreeNAS® system. The disadvantage of FTP is that it is considered to be an insecure protocol, meaning that it should not be used to transfer sensitive files. If you are concerned about sensitive data, see Encrypting FTP.

This section provides an overview of the FTP configuration options. It then provides examples for configuring anonymous FTP, specified user access within a chroot environment, encrypting FTP connections, and troubleshooting tips.

Figure 8.6a shows the configuration screen for Services → FTP. Some settings are only available in Advanced Mode. To see these settings, either click the Advanced Mode button or configure the system to always display these settings by checking the box “Show advanced fields by default” in System → Settings → Advanced.

Figure 8.6a: Configuring FTP

Table 8.6a summarizes the available options when configuring the FTP server:

Table 8.6a: FTP Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Port

integer

port to use for connection requests

Clients

integer

maximum number of simultaneous clients

Connections

integer

maximum number of connections per IP address where 0 means unlimited

Login Attempts

integer

maximum number of attempts before client is disconnected; increase this if users are prone to typos

Timeout

integer

maximum client idle time in seconds before client is disconnected

Allow Root Login

checkbox

discouraged as increases security risk

Allow Anonymous Login

checkbox

allows anyone to browse the data

Path

browse button

root directory of FTP server; must point to the volume/dataset being shared or connections will fail

Allow Local User Login

checkbox

required if Anonymous Login is disabled

Banner

string

message users see when they access the FTP server; if left empty it will show the version of proftpd

File Permission

checkboxes

sets default permissions for newly created files

Directory Permission

checkboxes

sets umask for newly created directories

Enable FXP

checkbox

sets default permissions for newly created directories

Allow Transfer Resumption

checkbox

if transfer is interrupted, server will resume transfer at last known point

Always Chroot

checkbox

forces users to stay in their home directory (always true for Anonymous Login)

Require IDENT Authentication

checkbox

will result in timeouts if identd is not running on the client

Require Reverse DNS for IP

checkbox

will result in timeouts if there isn't a DNS record for the client's hostname

Masquerade address

string

IP address or hostname; set if FTP clients can not connect through a NAT device

Minimum passive port

integer

to be used by clients in PASV mode, default of 0 means any port above 1023

Maximum passive port

integer

to be used by clients in PASV mode, default of 0 means any port above 1023

Local user upload bandwidth

integer

in KB/s, default of 0 means unlimited

Local user download bandwidth

integer

in KB/s, default of 0 means unlimited

Anonymous user upload bandwidth

integer

in KB/s, default of 0 means unlimited

Anonymous user download bandwidth

integer

in KB/s, default of 0 means unlimited

Enable SSL/TLS

checkbox

enables encrypted connections; a certificate will automatically be generated and will appear in the "Certificate and private key" box once you click OK

Certificate and private key

string

the SSL certificate and private key to be used for encrypting FTP connections

Auxiliary parameters

string

include proftpd(8) parameters not covered elsewhere in this screen

The following example demonstrates the auxiliary parameters that will prevent all users from performing the FTP DELETE command:

 <Limit DELE>
  DenyAll
 </Limit>

8.6.1 Anonymous FTP

Anonymous FTP may be appropriate for a small network where the FreeNAS® system is not accessible from the Internet and everyone in your internal network needs easy access to the stored data. Anonymous FTP does not require you to create a user account for every user. In addition, passwords are not required so you don't have to manage changed passwords on the FreeNAS® system.

To configure anonymous FTP:

Give the built-in ftp user account permissions to the volume/dataset to be shared in Storage → Volumes as follows:

Owner(user): select the ftp user in the drop-down menu

Owner(group): select the ftp group

Mode: review that the permissions are appropriate for the share

NOTE: for FTP, the type of client does not matter when it comes to the type of ACL. This means that you always use Unix ACLs, even if Windows clients will be accessing FreeNAS® via FTP.

Configure anonymous FTP in Services → FTP by setting the following attributes:

check the box Allow Anonymous Login

Path: browse to the volume/dataset/directory to be shared

Start the FTP service in Control Services. Click the red OFF button next to FTP. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON , indicating that the service has been enabled.

Test the connection from a client using a utility such as Filezilla.

In the example shown in Figure 8.6b, a user has input the following information into the Filezilla client:

IP address of the FreeNAS® server: 192.168.1.113

Username: anonymous

Password: the email address of the user

Figure 8.6b: Connecting Using Filezilla

The messages within the client indicate that the FTP connection is successful. The user can now navigate the contents of the root folder on the remote site—this is the volume/dataset that was specified in the FTP service configuration. The user can also transfer files between the local site (their system) and the remote site (the FreeNAS® system).

8.6.2 Specified User Access in chroot

If you require your users to authenticate before accessing the data on the FreeNAS® system, you will need to either create a user account for each user or import existing user accounts using Active Directory or LDAP. If you then create a ZFS dataset for each user, you can chroot each user so that they are limited to the contents of their own home directory. Datasets provide the added benefit of configuring a quota so that the size of the user's home directory is limited to the size of the quota.

To configure this scenario:

Create a ZFS dataset for each user in Storage → Volumes. Click an existing ZFS volume → Create ZFS Dataset and set an appropriate quota for each dataset. Repeat this process to create a dataset for every user that will need access to the FTP service.

If you are not using AD or LDAP, create a user account for each user in Account → Users → Add User. For each user, browse to the dataset created for that user in the Home Directory field. Repeat this process to create a user account for every user that will need access to the FTP service, making sure to assign each user their own dataset.

Set the permissions for each dataset in Storage → Volumes. Click the Change Permissions button for a dataset to assign a user account as Owner of that dataset and to set the desired permissions for that user. Repeat for each dataset.

NOTE: for FTP, the type of client does not matter when it comes to the type of ACL. This means that you always use Unix ACLs, even if Windows clients will be accessing FreeNAS® via FTP.

Configure FTP in Services → FTP with the following attributes:

Path: browse to the parent volume containing the datasets

make sure the boxes for Allow Anonymous Login and Allow Root Login are unchecked

check the box Allow Local User Login

check the box Always Chroot

Start the FTP service in Control Services. Click the red OFF button next to FTP. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON , indicating that the service has been enabled.

Test the connection from a client using a utility such as Filezilla.

To test this configuration in Filezilla, use the IP address of the FreeNAS® system, the Username of a user that has been associated with a dataset, and the Password for that user. The messages should indicate that the authorization and the FTP connection are successful. The user can now navigate the contents of the root folder on the remote site—this time it is not the entire volume but the dataset that was created for that user. The user should be able to transfer files between the local site (their system) and the remote site (their dataset on the FreeNAS® system).

8.6.3 Encrypting FTP

To configure any FTP scenario to use encrypted connections:

Enable SSL/TLS in Services → FTP. Check the box Enable SSL/TLS. Once you press OK, a certificate and key will automatically be generated for you and proftpd will restart and be configured to use that certificate. If you prefer to use your own certificate, delete the automatically generated one that appears in the "Certificate and private key" field and paste in your own certificate and key.

Specify secure FTP when accessing the FreeNAS® system. For example, in Filezilla input ftps://IP_address (for an implicit connection) or ftpes://IP_address (for an explicit connection) as the Host when connecting. The first time a user connects, they should be presented with the certificate of the FreeNAS® system. Click OK to accept the certificate and negotiate an encrypted connection.

8.6.4 Troubleshooting

The FTP service will not start if it can not resolve the system's hostname to an IP address using DNS. To see if the FTP service is running, open Shell and issue the command:

sockstat -4p 21

If there is nothing listening on port 21, proftpd isn't running. To see the error message that occurs when FreeNAS® tries to start the FTP service, go to System → Settings → Advanced, check the box “Show console messages in the footer” and click Save. Next, go to Services → Control Services and switch the FTP service off then back on in the GUI. Watch the console messages at the bottom of the browser for errors.

If the error refers to DNS, either create an entry in your local DNS server with the FreeNAS® system's hostname and IP address or add an entry for the IP address of the FreeNAS® system in the "Host name database" field of Network → Global Configuration.

8.7 iSCSI

iSCSI is a protocol standard for the consolidation of storage data. iSCSI allows FreeNAS® to act like a storage area network (SAN) over an existing Ethernet network. Specifically, it exports disk devices over an Ethernet network that iSCSI clients (called initiators) can attach to and mount. Traditional SANs operate over fibre channel networks which require a fibre channel infrastructure such as fibre channel HBAs, fibre channel switches, and discrete cabling. iSCSI can be used over an existing Ethernet network, although dedicated networks can be built for iSCSI traffic in an effort to boost performance. iSCSI also provides an advantage in an environment that uses Windows shell programs; these programs tend to filter "Network Location" but iSCSI mounts are not filtered. FreeNAS® uses istgt to provide iSCSI.

FreeNAS® supports multiple iSCSI drives. When configuring multiple iSCSI LUNs, create a new target for each LUN. Portal groups and initiator groups can be reused without any issue. Since istgt multiplexes a target with multiple LUNs over the same TCP connection, you will experience contention from TCP if there is more than one target per LUN.

Before configuring the iSCSI service, you should be familiar with the following iSCSI terminology:

CHAP: an authentication method which uses a shared secret and three-way authentication to determine if a system is authorized to access the storage device and to periodically confirm that the session has not been hijacked by another system. In iSCSI, the initiator (client) performs the CHAP authentication.

Mutual CHAP: a superset of CHAP in that both ends of the communication authenticate to each other.

Initiator: a client which has authorized access to the storage data on the FreeNAS® system. The client requires initiator software to connect to the iSCSI share.

Target: a storage resource on the FreeNAS® system.

Extent: the storage unit to be shared. It can either be a file or a device.

LUN: stands for logical unit number and represents a logical SCSI device. An initiator negotiates with a target to establish connectivity to a LUN; the result is an iSCSI connection that emulates a connection to a SCSI hard disk. Initiators treat iSCSI LUNs the same way as they would a raw SCSI or IDE hard drive; rather than mounting remote directories, initiators format and directly manage filesystems on iSCSI LUNs.

In order to configure iSCSI:

Decide if you will use authentication, and if so, whether it will be CHAP or mutual CHAP. If using authentication, create an authorized access.

Create either a device extent or a file extent to be used as storage.

Determine which hosts are allowed to connect using iSCSI and create an initiator.

Create at least one portal.

Review the target global configuration parameters.

Create a target.

Associate a target with an extent.

Start the iSCSI service in Services → Control Services.

The rest of this section describes these steps in more detail.

8.7.1 Authorized Accesses

If you will be using CHAP or mutual CHAP to provide authentication, you must create an authorized access in Services → ISCSI → Authorized Accesses → Add Authorized Access. This screen is shown in Figure 8.7a.

NOTE: this screen sets login authentication. This is different from discovery authentication which is set in Target Global Configuration.

Figure 8.7a: Adding an iSCSI Authorized Access

Table 8.7a summarizes the settings that can be configured when adding an authorized access:

Table 8.7a: Authorized Access Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Group ID

integer

allows different groups to be configured with different authentication profiles; for instance, all users with a Group ID of 1 will inherit the authentication profile associated with Group 1

User

string

name of user account that will be created on the FreeNAS® device for CHAP authentication with the user on the remote system; many initiators default to using the initiator name as the user

Secret

Secret (Confirm)

string

password to be associated with User; the iSCSI standard requires that this be at least 12 characters long

Peer User

string

only input when configuring mutual CHAP; in most cases it will need to be the same value as User

Initiator Secret Initiator Secret (Confirm)

string

the mutual secret password which must be different than the Secret; required if the Peer User is set

NOTE: CHAP does not work with GlobalSAN initiators on Mac OS X.

As authorized accesses are added, they will be listed under View Authorized Accesses. In the example shown in Figure 8.7b, three users (test1, test2, and test3) and two groups (1 and 2) have been created, with group 1 consisting of one CHAP user and group 2 consisting of one mutual CHAP user and one CHAP user. Each authorized access entry provides an Edit and a Delete button.

Figure 8.7b: Viewing Authorized Accesses

8.7.2 Extents

In iSCSI, the target virtualizes something and presents it as a device to the iSCSI client. That something can be a device extent or a file extent:

Device extent: virtualizes an unformatted physical disk, RAID controller, zvol, zvol snapshot, or an existing HAST device.

Virtualizing a single disk is slow as there is no caching but virtualizing a hardware RAID controller has higher performance due to its cache. This type of virtualization does a pass-through to the disk or hardware RAID controller. None of the benefits of ZFS are provided and performance is limited to the capabilities of the disk or controller.

Virtualizing a zvol adds the benefits of ZFS such as its read cache and write cache. Even if the client formats the device extent with a different filesystem, as far as FreeNAS® is concerned, the data benefits from ZFS features such as block checksums and snapshots.

File extent: allows you to export a portion of a ZFS volume. When creating a file extent, you can specify either a non-existing file name or an existing ZFS dataset. The advantage of a file extent is that you can create multiple exports per volume.

In theory, a zvol and a file extent should have identical performance. In practice, a file extent outperforms in reads/writes but this is only noticeable at 10 GB Ethernet speeds or higher. For high performance, file extents are recommended at this time. Future changes to FreeBSD's zvol code will increase its performance.

8.7.2.1 Adding a Device Extent

To add a device extent, go to Services → ISCSI → Device Extents → Add Device Extent. In the example shown in Figure 8.7c, the device extent is using the export zvol that was previously created from the /mnt/volume1 volume.

NOTE: in FreeNAS® versions prior to 8.3.1, if a physical disk was used instead of a zvol to create a device extent, a bug wiped the partition table on the disk, resulting in data loss. This bug was fixed in 8.3.1.

Figure 8.7c: Adding an iSCSI Device Extent

Table 8.7b summarizes the settings that can be configured when creating a device extent:

Table 8.7b: Device Extent Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Extent Name

string

required

Comment

string

optional

Disk device

drop-down menu

select the unformatted disk, controller, zvol, zvol snapshot, or HAST device

8.7.2.2 Adding a File Extent

File extents are created in Services → ISCSI → File Extents → Add File Extent. In the example shown in Figure 8.7d, a file extent named data with a maximum size of 20 GB will be created on the ZFS dataset /mnt/volume1. Note that file extent creation will fail if you do not append the name of the file to be created to the volume/dataset name.

Figure 8.7d: Adding an iSCSI File Extent

Table 8.7c summarizes the settings that can be configured when creating a file extent:

Table 8.7c: File Extent Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Extent Name

string

name of file extent; if the Extent size is not 0, it can not be an existing file within the volume/dataset

Path to the extent

browse button

either browse to an existing file and use 0 as the Extent size, or browse to the volume or dataset, click the Close button, append the Extent Name to the path, and specify a value in Extent size

Extent size

integer

if the size is specified as 0, the file must already exist and the actual file size will be used; otherwise specifies the size of the file to create

Comment

string

optional

8.7.3 Initiators

The next step is to configure authorized initiators, or the systems which are allowed to connect to the iSCSI targets on the FreeNAS® system. To configure which systems can connect, use Services → ISCSI → Initiators → Add Initiator, shown in Figure 8.7e.

Figure 8.7e: Adding an iSCSI Initiator

NOTE: beginning with 8.2.0, FreeNAS® contains iscontrol(8). This utility allows the FreeNAS® system to act as an initiator (rather than a target) and must be run from the command line. If you create a custom configuration for iscontrol, back it up as it will not survive a reboot of the system.

Table 8.7d summarizes the settings that can be configured when adding an initiator.

Table 8.7d: Initiator Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Initiators

string

use ALL keyword or a list of initiator hostnames separated by commas with no space

Authorized network

string

use ALL keyword or a network address with CIDR mask such as 192.168.2.0/24

Comment

string

optional description

In the example shown in Figure 8.7f, two groups have been created. Group 1 allows connections from any initiator on any network; Group 2 allows connections from any initiator on the 10.10.1.0/24 network.

Figure 8.7f: Sample iSCSI Initiator Configuration

NOTE: if you delete an initiator, a warning will indicate if any targets or target/extent mappings depend upon the initiator. If you confirm the delete, these will be deleted as well.

8.7.4 Portals

A portal specifies the IP address and port number to be used for iSCSI connections. Services → ISCSI → Portals → Add Portal will bring up the screen shown in Figure 8.7g:

Figure 8.7g: Adding an iSCSI Portal

Table 8.7e summarizes the settings that can be configured when adding a portal. If you need to assign additional IP addresses to the portal, click the link “Add extra Portal IP”.

Table 8.7e: Portal Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Comment

string

optional description; portals are automatically assigned a numeric group ID

Portal IP address

drop-down menu

select the IP address associated with an interface or the wildcard address of 0.0.0.0 (any interface)

Port

integer

TCP port used to access the iSCSI target; default is 3260

FreeNAS® systems with multiple IP addresses or interfaces can use a portal to provide services on different interfaces or subnets. This can be used to configure multi-path I/O (MPIO). MPIO is more efficient than a link aggregation.

If the FreeNAS® system has multiple configured interfaces, portals can also be used to provide network access control. For example, consider a system with four interfaces configured with the following addresses:

192.168.1.1/24

192.168.2.1/24

192.168.3.1/24

192.168.4.1/24

You could create a portal containing the first two IP addresses (group ID 1) and a portal containing the remaining two IP addresses (group ID 2). You could then create a target named A with a Portal Group ID of 1 and a second target named B with a Portal Group ID of 2. In this scenario, istgt would listen on all four interfaces, but connections to target A would be limited to the first two networks and connections to target B would be limited to the last two networks.

Another scenario would be to create a portal which includes every IP address except for the one used by a management interface. This would prevent iSCSI connections to the management interface.

8.7.5 Target Global Configuration

Services → iSCSI → Target Global Configuration, shown in Figures 8.7h, contains settings that apply to all iSCSI shares.

Figure 8.7h: iSCSI Target Global Configuration Variables

Table 8.7f summarizes the settings that can be configured in the Target Global Configuration screen. The integer values in the table are used to tune network performance; most of these values are described in RFC 3720.

LUC (Logical Unit Controller) is an API provided by istgt to control removable media by providing functions to list targets, load or unload a media to a unit, change media file, or reset a LUN.

In order to dynamically add or remove targets without restarting the iSCSI service, which can disrupt iSCSI initiators, set the following options:

check the Enable LUC box

leave the Controller IP address and Control Authorized Network at their default values

change the Controller Auth Method to None

NOTE: the following operations will not take affect until you restart the iSCSI service: changing a target on the fly, adding or deleting LUNs, or changing the size of an existing extent.

Table 8.7f: Target Global Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Base Name

string

see the “Constructing iSCSI names using the iqn. format” section of RFC 3721 if you are unfamiliar with this format

Discovery Auth Method

drop-down menu

configures the authentication level required by the target for discovery of valid devices, where None will allow anonymous discovery, CHAP and Mutual CHAP require authentication, and Auto lets the initiator decide the authentication scheme

Discovery Auth Group

drop-down menu

depends on Discovery Auth Method setting: required if set to CHAP or Mutual CHAP, optional if set to Auto, and not needed if set to None

I/O Timeout

integer representing seconds

sets the limit on how long an I/O can be outstanding before an error condition is returned; values range from 0-300 with a default of 30

NOPIN Interval

integer representing seconds

how often the target sends a NOP-IN packet to keep a discovered session alive; values range from 0-300 with a default of 20

Max. Sessions

integer

limits the number of sessions the target portal will create/accept from initiator portals; values range from 1-64 with a default of 16

Max. Connections

integer

the number of connections a single initiator can make to a single target; values range from 1-64 with a default of 8

Max. pre-send R2T

integer

values range from 1-255 with a default of 32

MaxOutstandingR2T

integer

the maximum number of ready to receive packets (R2Ts) the target can have outstanding for a single iSCSI command, where larger values should yield performance increases until MaxOutstandingR2T exceeds the size of the largest Write I/O divided by MaxBurstLength; values range from 1-255 with a default of 16

First burst length

integer

maximum amount in bytes of unsolicited data an iSCSI initiator may send to the target during the execution of a single SCSI command; values range from 1- 2^32 with a default of 65,536

Max burst length

integer

maximum write size in bytes the target is willing to receive between R2Ts; values range from 1-2^32 with a default of 262,144

Max receive data segment length

integer

in bytes; values range from 1-2^32 with a default of 262,144

DefaultTime2Wait

integer

minimum time in seconds to wait before attempting a logout or an active task reassignment after an unexpected connection termination or reset; values range from 1-300 with a default of 2

DefaultTime2Retain

integer

maximum time in seconds after Time2Wait before which an active task reassignment is still possible after an unexpected connection termination or reset; values range from 1-300 with a default of 60

Enable LUC

checkbox

check if you need to dynamically add and remove targets; if checked, the next three fields are activated and required

Controller IP address

IP address

keep the default value of 127.0.0.1

Controller TCP port

integer

possible values range from 1024-65535 with a default value of 3261

Controller Authorized netmask

subnet mask

keep the default value of 127.0.0.0/8

Controller Auth Method

drop-down menu

choices are None, Auto, CHAP, or Mutual CHAP

Controller Auth Group

drop-down menu

required if Controller Auth Method is set to CHAP or Mutual CHAP, optional if set to Auto, and not needed if set to None

If the settings in this screen differ from the settings on the initiator, set them to be the same. When making changes, always match the larger setting.

If you are changing integer values to optimize the connection, refer to the iSCSI initiator's documentation. For example, the following modifications are recommended if the iSCSI initiator is running on Xenserver:

Max. pre-send R2T: 255

MaxOutstandingR2T: 64

First burst length: 262,144

Max burst length: 2,097,152

8.7.6 Targets

Next, create a Target using Services → ISCSI → Targets → Add Target, as shown in Figure 8.7i. A target combines a portal ID, allowed initiator ID, and an authentication method.

NOTE: an iSCSI target creates a block device that may be accessible to multiple initiators. A clustered filesystem is required on the block device, such as VMFS used by VMWare ESX/ESXi, in order for multiple initiators to mount the block device read/write. If a traditional filesystem such as EXT, XFS, FAT, NTFS, UFS, or ZFS is placed on the block device, care must be taken that only one initiator at a time has read/write access or the result will be filesystem corruption. If you need to support multiple clients to the same data on a non-clustered filesystem, use CIFS or NFS instead of iSCSI or create multiple iSCSI targets (one per client).

Figure 8.7i: Adding an iSCSI Target

Table 8.7g summarizes the settings that can be configured when creating a Target.

Table 8.7g: Target Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Target Name

string

required value; base name will be appended automatically if it does not start with iqn

Target Alias

string

optional user-friendly name

Serial

string

unique ID for target to allow for multiple LUNs; the default is generated from the system's MAC address

Target Flags

drop-down menu

choices are read-write or read-only

Portal Group ID

drop-down menu

leave empty or select number of existing portal to use

Initiator Group ID

drop-down menu

select which existing initiator group has access to the target

Auth Method

drop-down menu

choices are None, Auto, CHAP, or Mutual CHAP

Authentication Group number

drop-down menu

None or integer representing number of existing authorized access

Queue Depth

integer

see this post for an explanation of the math involved; values are 0-255 where 0 is disabled and default is 32

Logical Block Size

integer

should only be changed to emulate a physical disk's size or to increase the block size to allow for larger filesystems on an operating system limited by block count; default is 512

8.7.7 Target/Extents

The last step is associating an extent to a target within Services → ISCSI → Target/Extents → Add Target/Extent. This screen is shown in Figure 8.7j. Use the drop-down menus to select the existing target and extent.

Figure 8.7j: Associating iSCSI Targets/Extents

Table 8.7h summarizes the settings that can be configured when associating targets and extents:

Table 8.7h: Target/Extents Configuration Settings

Setting

Value

Description

Target

drop-down menu

select the pre-created target

Extent

drop-down menu

select the pre-created extent

It is recommended to always associate extents to targets in a 1:1 manner, even though the software will allow multiple extents to be associated with the same target.

Once iSCSI has been configured, don't forget to start it in Services → Control Services. Click the red OFF button next to iSCSI. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON, indicating that the service has been enabled.

8.7.8 Connecting to iSCSI Share

In order to access the iSCSI target, clients will need to use iSCSI initiator software.

An iSCSI Initiator client is pre-installed with Windows 7. A detailed how-to for this client can be found here. A client for Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 can be found here. This how-to shows how to create an iSCSI target for a Windows 7 system.

Mac OS X does not include an initiator. globalSAN is a commercial, easy-to-use Mac initiator.

BSD systems provide command line initiators: iscontrol(8) comes with FreeBSD, iscsi-initiator(8) comes with NetBSD, and iscsid(8) comes with OpenBSD.

Some Linux distros provide the command line utility iscsiadm from Open-iSCSI. Google to see if a package exists for your distribution should the command not exist on your Linux system.

Instructions for connecting from a VMware ESXi Server can be found at How to configure FreeNAS 8 for iSCSI and connect to ESX(i). Note that the requirements for booting vSphere 4.x off iSCSI differ between ESX and ESXi. ESX requires a hardware iSCSI adapter while ESXi requires specific iSCSI boot firmware support. The magic is on the booting host side, meaning that there is no difference to the FreeNAS® configuration. See the iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide for details.

If you can see the target but not connect to it, check the discovery authentication settings in Target Global Configuration.

If the LUN is not discovered by ESXi, make sure that promiscuous mode is set to Accept in the vswitch.

To determine which initiators are connected, type istgtcontrol info within Shell.

8.7.9 Growing LUNs

The method used to grow the size of an existing iSCSI LUN depends on whether the LUN is backed by a file extent or a zvol. Both methods are described in this section.

After the LUN is expanded using one of the methods below, use the tools from the initiator software to grow the partitions and the filesystems it contains.

8.7.9.1 Zvol Based LUN

Before growing a zvol based LUN, make sure that all initiators are disconnected. Stop the iSCSI service in Control Services.

Open Shell and identify the zvol to be grown:

zfs list -t volume
NAME              USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT
tank/iscsi_zvol     4G  17.5G  33.9M  -

Then, grow the zvol. This example grows tank/iscsi_zvol from 4G to 6G:

zfs set volsize=6G tank/iscsi_zvol
zfs set refreservation=6G tank/iscsi_zvol

Verify that the changes have taken effect:

zfs list -t volume
NAME              USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT
tank/iscsi_zvol     6G  17.5G  33.9M  -

You can now start the iSCSI service and allow initiators to connect.

8.7.9.2 File Extent Based LUN

Before growing a file extent based LUN, make sure that all initiators are disconnected. Stop the iSCSI service in Control Services.

Then, go to Services → iSCSI → File Extents → View File Extents to determine the path of the file extent to grow. Open Shell to grow the extent. This example grows /mnt/volume1/data by 2G:

truncate -s +2g /mnt/volume1/data

Go back to Services → iSCSI → File Extents → View File Extents and click the Edit button for the file extent. Set the size to 0 as this causes the iSCSI target to use the existing size of the file.

You can now start the iSCSI service and allow initiators to connect.

8.8 LDAP

FreeNAS® includes an OpenLDAP client for accessing information from an LDAP server. An LDAP server provides directory services for finding network resources such as users and their associated permissions. Examples of LDAP servers include Microsoft Server (2000 and newer), Mac OS X Server, Novell eDirectory, and OpenLDAP running on a BSD or Linux system. If an LDAP server is running on your network, you should configure the FreeNAS® LDAP service so that the network's users can authenticate to the LDAP server and thus be provided authorized access to the data stored on the FreeNAS® system.

NOTE: LDAP will not work with CIFS shares until the LDAP directory has been configured for and populated with Samba attributes. The most popular script for performing this task is smbldap-tools and instructions for using it can be found at The Linux Samba-OpenLDAP Howto.

Figure 8.8a shows the LDAP Configuration screen that is seen when you click Services → LDAP.

Figure 8.8a: Configuring LDAP

Table 8.8a summarizes the available configuration options. If you are new to LDAP terminology, skim through the OpenLDAP Software 2.4 Administrator's Guide. When troubleshooting LDAP, open Shell and look for error messages in /var/log/auth.log.

After configuring the LDAP service, start it in Services → Control Services. If the service will not start, refer to the Common errors encountered when using OpenLDAP Software for common errors and how to fix them.

To verify that the users have been imported, type getent passwd from Shell. To verify that the groups have been imported, type getent group.

Table 8.8a: LDAP Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Hostname

string

hostname or IP address of LDAP server

Base DN

string

top level of the LDAP directory tree to be used when searching for resources (e.g. dc=test,dc=org)

Allow Anonymous Binding

checkbox

instructs LDAP server to not provide authentication and to allow read/write access to any client

Root bind DN

string

name of administrative account on LDAP server (e.g. cn=Manager,dc=test,dc=org)

Root bind password

string

password for Root bind DN

Password Encryption

drop-down menu

select a type supported by the LDAP server, choices are: clear (unencrypted), crypt, md5, nds, racf, ad, exop

User Suffix

string

optional, can be added to name when user account added to LDAP directory (e.g. dept. or company name)

Group Suffix

string

optional, can be added to name when group added to LDAP directory (e.g. dept. or company name)

Password Suffix

string

optional, can be added to password when password added to LDAP directory

Machine Suffix

string

optional, can be added to name when system added to LDAP directory (e.g. server, accounting)

Encryption Mode

drop-down menu

choices are Off, SSL, or TLS

Self signed certificate

string

used to verify the certificate of the LDAP server if SSL connections are used; paste the output of the command openssl s_client -connect server:port -showcerts

Auxiliary Parameters

string

ldap.conf(5) options, one per line, not covered by other options in this screen

NOTE: FreeNAS® automatically appends the root DN. This means that you should not include the scope and root DN when inputting the user, group, password, and machine suffixes.

8.9 NFS

Network File System (NFS) is a protocol for sharing files on a network. Before configuring this service, you should first create your NFS Shares in Sharing → Unix (NFS) Shares → Add Unix (NFS) Share. After configuring this service, go to Services → Control Panel to start the service.

Starting this service will open the following ports on the FreeNAS® system:

TCP and UDP 111 (used by rpcbind)

TCP 2049 (used by nfsd)

Additionally, mountd and rpcbind will each bind to a randomly available UDP port.

Figure 8.9a shows the configuration screen and Table 8.9a summarizes the configuration options for the NFS service.

Figure 8.9a: Configuring NFS

Table 8.9a: NFS Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Number of servers

integer

run sysctl -n kern.smp.cpus from Shell to determine the number; do not exceed the number listed in the output of that command

Asynchronous mode

checkbox

speeds up data access but may result in corruption if a transfer is interrupted; see RFC 1813 for details

Allow non-root mount

checkbox

check this box only if the NFS client requires it

Bind IP Addresses

string

comma delimited list of IP addresses to bind to; if empty, NFS will bind to (listen on) all available addresses

8.10 Plugins

The FreeNAS® plugin system uses a FreeBSD jail to provide an environment for the installation of additional software. In FreeNAS®, this jail is referred to as the Plugins Jail. The jail itself and the installation of software within the jail are managed from Services → Plugins.

A FreeBSD jail provides light-weight, operating system-level virtualization which essentially allows the creation of an independent FreeBSD operating system running on the same hardware. This means that any software and configurations within a jail are isolated from the FreeNAS® operating system. The FreeNAS® implementation includes the vimage jail add-on which provides the Plugins Jail with its own, independent networking stack. This allows the Plugins Jail to do its own IP broadcasting, which is required by some PBIs.

Once the Plugins Jail is installed, the FreeNAS® plugin architecture supports the installation and configuration of PBIs using the FreeNAS® GUI. PBIs were created by the PC-BSD project to provide a graphical installation wrapper to software which has been ported to FreeBSD. FreeNAS® PBIs extend this functionality by providing a graphical front-end to the application's configuration file and by allowing the service to be started and stopped within the FreeNAS® GUI.

Since the Plugins Jail is essentially a FreeBSD installation running within FreeNAS®, you can also install software using FreeBSD ports and packages. This is convenient when a PBI is not yet available for the software that you need. However, installing manually within the jail means that you also have to configure the software manually within the jail (i.e. its configuration options will not show up in the FreeNAS® GUI).

This section demonstrates how to install the Plugins Jail, how to find, install, and configure PBIs, and then provides an overview of the PBIs which are available with FreeNAS® 8.3.1-RELEASE. It then explains the plugin architecture, how to create your own PBIs, and how to install non-PBI software using the FreeBSD ports and packages collections.

8.10.1 Installing the Plugins Jail

The Plugins Jail can be installed to a UFS or ZFS filesystem. While it can be installed into a directory, it is recommended to instead create two ZFS datasets: one to hold the FreeBSD operating system and one to hold the software that you install. This section describes a sample configuration that uses two ZFS datasets.

NOTE: if you plan on using Mount Points be aware that path size within the Plugins Jail is limited to 88 characters. Make sure that the length of your volume name plus the dataset name plus the jail name will not exceed this limit.

Create two ZFS datasets: one for the jail itself and one to hold the installed software. In this example, a volume named /mnt/volume1 has a dataset named jail, which will hold the jail itself, and a second dataset named software, which will hold the installed software.

NOTE: do not create a dataset less than 2 GB in size. If you set a quota on the dataset, make sure that the size will be sufficient to hold the FreeBSD operating system (2 GB), the software you intend to install, and any logs and data used by the applications that you install.

Download the plugins_jail PBI located in the plugins folder for your architecture from the 8.3.1 Sourceforge page.

Create the jail using Services → Plugins → Management → Settings. The initial pop-up message will ask where you would like to temporarily place the jail PBI file. Use the drop-down menu to select a volume (in this example, /mnt/volume1), then press OK to see the screen shown in Figure 8.10a.

Figure 8.10a: Creating the PBI Jail

In this example, the Plugins Jail path is /mnt/volume1/jail, the Jail name is software, the Jail IP address is reachable by the FreeNAS® system, the Jail IP Netmask associated with the Jail IP address has been selected, and the Plugins Path is /mnt/volume1/software. Table 8.10a summarizes these options.

NOTE: the Plugins Jail will not work and installed PBIs will not show up in the GUI if the Jail IP Address is not pingable from the FreeNAS® system. An incorrect Jail IP Netmask can make the IP address unreachable. On systems with multiple interfaces there is currently no way to specify which interface is used as the Plugins Jail chooses the interface with the default gateway. If a default gateway is not set on the FreeNAS® system, add it in Network → Global Configuration. At this time, IPv6 is not supported within the Plugins Jail. If you are using VMware, make sure that the vswitch is set to promiscuous mode.

Table 8.10a: Jail Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Plugins jail path

browse button

mandatory; browse to the directory or ZFS dataset where the jail will be installed

Jail name

string

mandatory; can only contain letters and numbers

Jail IP address

string

mandatory; input an IP address that is reachable by the FreeNAS® system and which is unique on the network

MAC

string

optional; set a permanent MAC address when using port forwarding or MAC address security on a router to bypass the default of changing the MAC address when the system reboots

Jail IP Netmask

drop-down menu

mandatory; select the subnet mask associated with the Jail IP address

Plugins archive path:

browse button

mandatory; browse to the directory or ZFS dataset where the software will be installed

Once you complete the fields and click the Upload Jail PBI button, you will be prompted to browse to the Plugins Jail PBI that you downloaded. Press the Upload Jail PBI button again and the Plugins Jail will be installed.

Start the plugins service. The Plugins Jail and any installed software will not be available whenever this service is not enabled. In Services → Control Services, click the red OFF button next to Plugins in the Core tab. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON, indicating that the jail has been enabled and is now available for use.

Decide how you wish to install software. If a plugin is available for the software that you need, use the instructions in Installing Software Using an Existing Plugin PBI. If a plugin is not available or you prefer to manually install from the command line, use the instructions in Installing non-PBI Software. If a plugin is not available and you wish to create your own PBI, use the instructions in Creating your own FreeNAS® PBIs.

8.10.2 Managing the Plugins Jail

Once the Plugins Jail is installed and started, you can manage mount points, change the jail's settings, delete the jail, import the jail, or update the jail.

8.10.2.1 Mount Points

Services → Plugins → Management → Mount Points allows you to add and manage mount points which can be used by PBIs that store a large amount of data. An example would be transmission, which stores torrents. Mount points use mount_nullfs(8) to "link" data that resides outside of the jail as a mount point within the jail.

To add a mount point, click Services → Plugins → Management → Mount Points → Add Mount Point. You will be prompted to browse to the Source and Destination, where:

Source: is the directory on the FreeNAS® system. This directory resides outside of the jail and will provide storage (e.g. for transmission's torrents).

Destination: is the mount point within the jail. An example would be /mnt/volume1/jail/plugins/mnt.

The GUI will not let you create a mount point where the Source is recursive. For example, if the jail is installed into /mnt/volume1/jail, using a Source beginning with /mnt/volume1/jail would fail, whereas a Source of /mnt/volume1/someotherdir/somedir will work.

NOTE: a mount point provides a pointer to the data on the FreeNAS® system, it is not a copy of that data. This means that if you delete any files from the Destination directory located in the jail, you are really deleting those files from the Source directory located on the FreeNAS® system.

8.10.2.2 Jail Settings

If you click Services → Plugins → Settings, you will see a screen similar to Figure 8.10b.

Figure 8.10b: Plugins Jail Settings

This screen allows you to view the settings for the Plugins Jail and to modify the jail's IP address, subnet mask, and MAC address. This screen also provides the following buttons:

Delete: if you delete the Plugins Jail, it will also delete all of the PBIs that you installed. Should you choose to delete the Plugins Jail, your browser color will change to red to indicate that you have selected an option that could negatively impact users of the FreeNAS® system. The pop-up message shown in Figure 8.10c will also be displayed.

Figure 8.10c: Deleting the Plugins Jail

Since deleting the jail also deletes any installed software, you must first check the box indicating that you are sure that you want to delete the jail before FreeNAS® will perform this operation.

Import Plugins Jail: if you import or auto-import a disk that already contains a Plugins Jail (e.g. after a fresh install or lost configuration), you do not need to reinstall the Plugins Jail. Instead you can import the jail, which will add it back to the Services → Plugins tree of the GUI.

NOTE: at this time, it is not possible to export a jail or save the jail's configurations from the GUI.

The Import Plugins Jail button, shown in Figure 8.10d, will prompt for the Plugins Jail path, the IP address and subnet mask of the jail, and the plugins archive path. Once the import is complete, start the Plugins service in Services → Control Services.

Figure 8.10d: Importing a Plugins Jail

Update Plugins Jail: should a newer version of the Plugins Jail become available, use the Update Plugins Jail button to upgrade to the latest version. Before beginning the upgrade, you must first stop the Plugins service or the upgrade will fail. This means that you should upgrade at a time that will least impact users of the services installed within the Plugins Jail. To start the upgrade, click the Update Plugins Jail button; the resulting pop-up window will prompt for the dataset to temporarily place the PBI file. Click the OK button and you will be prompted to browse to the location of the new Plugins Jail PBI. Click the Upload Jail PBI button to perform the upgrade. When the upgrade is complete, don't forget to restart the Plugins service in Services → Control Services.

8.10.2.3 Accessing the Plugins Jail

If you need to administer the contents of the Plugins Jail, make sure that the Plugins service is showing as ON in Services → Control Services, then open Shell. To determine the ID being used by the jail, use the jls command:

jls
JID  IP Address      Hostname                      Path
 1      -            software                      /mnt/volume1/jail/software

In this example, the jail ID is 1 and the IP Address is listed as "-", which is to be expected. To access the jail, provide the jail ID and the shell that you would like to use as options to the jexec command:

jexec 1 /bin/tcsh
software#

The software# prompt (hostname of the jail) indicates that you are now inside the Plugins Jail.

By default, ssh access is not configured for the Plugins Jail and it can only be accessed through Shell.

To configure ssh access, perform the following within the Plugins Jail.

First, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf:

sshd_enable="YES"

After saving the file, start the ssh daemon:

service sshd start

The host RSA key pair should be generated and the key's fingerprint and random art image displayed.

Next, add a user account which will be used to ssh into the jail. Since the user will want to have superuser privileges, the user needs to be placed in the wheel group. To create the user, type adduser and follow the prompts. When you get to this prompt, do not press enter but instead type wheel:

Login group is user1. Invite user1 into other groups? []: wheel

Once the user is created, test from another system that the user can successfully ssh in and become the superuser. In this example, a user named user1 is ssh'ing into the Plugins Jail at 192.168.2.3. The first time the user logs in, they will be asked to verify the fingerprint of the host:

ssh user1@192.168.2.3
The authenticity of host '192.168.2.3 (192.168.2.3)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is 6f:93:e5:36:4f:54:ed:4b:9c:c8:c2:71:89:c1:58:f0.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added '192.168.2.3' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
Password: 'type_password_here
$ su
jail#

8.10.3 Installing Software Using an Existing Plugin PBI

Official PBIs are available for download from the plugins folder for your architecture at the 8.3.1 Sourceforge page. PBIs end in a .pbi extension. Each plugin has a sha256 checksum, which can be found in its .pbi.sha256.txt file.

NOTE: additional PBIs are available from this page of the forums. These PBIs are still being tested; if you experience any problems using one of these PBIs, leave your feedback for the plugin author so that the PBI can be improved.

To install a PBI, go to Services → Control Services → Plugins tab → Install Plugin. Use the Browse button to locate the downloaded PBI and click the Upload button to install the PBI. In the example shown in Figure 8.10e, the user has browsed to the location of the downloaded transmission PBI.

Figure 8.10e: Installing a PBI

Once installed, an entry for the plugin will be added to the Services → Control Services → Plugins tab, as seen in the example shown in Figure 8.10f. Each entry indicates the name of the plugin, the software version, the name of the PBI (which includes the architecture), the status of the service, and buttons to Update or Delete the PBI.

An entry for each plugin will also be added to the tree in Services → Plugins, as seen in Figure 8.10f. Click that entry to open that plugin's configuration options. These options are discussed in more detail in the next section.

NOTE: if an entry is not added to the Services → Plugins tree, there is a problem with the IP address and/or subnet mask configured for the Plugins Jail. Check that these values are correct and reachable by the FreeNAS® system in Services → Plugins → Settings.

Figure 8.10f: Viewing Installed PBIs

To start the application associated with the entry, click its red OFF button. If the service successfully starts, it will change to a blue ON.

NOTE: always review a PBI's configuration options before attempting to start it in Services → Control Services. Some PBIs have options that need to be set before their service will successfully start. The available options will vary by PBI; the configuration options for the Firefly, MiniDLNA, and Transmission PBIs are described in the next section.

8.10.4 Popular PBIs

This section will summarize the configuration options for the PBIs that are available with FreeNAS® 8.3.1-RELEASE. Over time, as more PBIs become available, the most popular PBIs will be added to this section.

This section is meant to be a guide to get you started with configuring installed software. It is not meant to provide an exhaustive how-to for each software that is available as a PBI. Whenever you configure any software for the first time, refer to the documentation provided by the software, and when none exists, expect to spend some time researching the software's capabilities.

8.10.4.1 Firefly

Firefly Media Server is an open source media server used to serve media files for Roku and iTunes. It was formerly called mt-daapd which is why the binary is named mt-daapd and the configuration file is mt-daapd.conf. Once configured and started, the firefly service provides its own web administrative interface for configuring playlists and forcing index scans.

NOTE: the firefly project is no longer maintained. Another fork, forked-daapd, has not been ported to FreeBSD yet. The port request is here.

Once the firefly PBI is installed, its options can be configured in Services → Plugins → Management → Firefly. Figure 8.10g shows the configuration screen for firefly and Table 8.10b summarizes the configuration options.

Figure 8.10g: Firefly Configuration Screen

Table 8.10b: Firefly Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Port

integer

defaults to 3689, the default iTunes port

Admin pw

string

mandatory; the password to access the web administration interface

Servername

string

the name of the server as advertised via rendezvous and the name of the database exported via DAAP; default displays the version number (%v) and the system's hostname (%h)

Extensions

string

comma separated list (no spaces) of the file extensions that will be indexed and served

MP3 directory

browse button

mandatory; browse to the location that will store the shared mp3 files

Log file

browse button

browse to the location within the Plugins Jail to store the firefly log file

Rescan interval

integer

how often to check to see if any mp3 files have been added or removed; empty or 0 disables background scanning, though a a scan can still be forced from the "status" page of the administrative web interface; automated scanning may waste CPU and increase connection times to the server

Always scan

checkbox

if left unchecked, background rescans of the filesystem at each "Rescan interval" are disabled unless clients are connected, in order to allow the drives to spin down when not in use; checking this box will scan every Rescan interval

Scan type

drop-down menu

sets how aggressively mp3 files should be scanned to determine file length; Normal scans the first mp3 frame to try and calculate size and should be accurate for most files except for VBR files without a Xing tag; Aggressive checks the bitrates of 10 frames in the middle of the song and will still be inaccurate for VBR files without a Xing tag; Painfully aggressive walks through the entire song, counting the number of frames, which will be accurate, takes the most time, but will only occur the first time the file is indexed

Process playlists

checkbox

whether or not to process playlists

Process iTunes

checkbox

whether or not to process iTunes

Process m3u

checkbox

whether or not to process m3u

Auxiliary parameters

string

additional parameters not covered by other option fields; these are described in the file /usr/local/etc/mt-daapd.conf.sample which is installed with the Firefly PBI within the Plugins Jail

Once you have saved your configuration values, start the firefly service using Services → Control Services → Plugins tab.

If you wish to access firefly's built-in administrative GUI, use a web browser to input the IP address of your Plugins Jail followed by a colon and the Port number you configured (the default is 3689). It will prompt for a username and password: input admin as the username and use the value you configured for Admin pw as the password. The firefly administrative interface is shown in Figure 8.10h. In this example, the PBI jail address is 10.0.0.1, the port is 3689, and the smart playlists configuration screen is open.

Figure 8.10h: Firefly Web Administrative Interface

8.10.4.2 MiniDLNA

MiniDLNA is an open source DLNA server that uses UPnP for media management, discovery and control. The MiniDNLA daemon serves media files such as music, pictures, and video to clients on a network. Example clients include applications such as totem and xbmc, and devices such as portable media players, smartphones, and televisions. Unlike firefly, it does not provide its own web interface for administration.

Once the MiniDLNA PBI is installed, its options can be configured in Services → Plugins → Management → MiniDLNA. Figure 8.10i shows the configuration screen for MiniDLNA and Table 8.10c summarizes the configuration options.

Figure 8.10i: MiniDLNA Configuration Screen

Table 8.10c: MiniDLNA Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Friendly name

string

optional; set this if you want to customize the name that shows up on your clients

Media directory

browse button

mandatory; browse to the location of the directory to store the media files; see NOTE below

Port

integer

HTTP port for descriptions, SOAP, and media transfer traffic; default is 8200

Discover interval

integer

how often MiniDLNA broadcasts its availability on the network; default is every 895 seconds

Strict DLNA

checkbox

if checked will strictly adhere to DLNA standards which will allow server-side downscaling of very large JPEG images and may hurt JPEG serving performance on Sony DLNA products

Model number

integer

model number the daemon will report to clients in its XML description; default is 1

Serial

integer

serial number the daemon will report to clients in its XML description; default is 12345678

Rescan on (re)start

checkbox

whether or not the media files are scanned when the MiniDLNA is started or restarted

Auxiliary Parameters

string

additional parameters available in minidlna.conf(5) and not covered by other option fields

NOTE: the Media Directory must be accessible inside the jail so in most cases you will want to add a Mount Point that mounts a directory from the FreeNAS® filesystem to a directory inside the Plugins Jail. For example, create a Mount Point with a source of /mnt/volume1/Video and a destination of /mnt/volume1/jail/software/media. To restrict the media type, add a qualifier to the Auxiliary Parameters section. Examples of qualifiers can be found in the "media_dir" section of minidlna.conf(5).

Once you have saved your configuration values, start the MiniDLNA service using Services → Control Services → Plugins tab.

8.10.4.3 Transmission

Transmission is an open source BitTorrent client. Its features include encryption, a web interface, peer exchange, magnet links, DHT, µTP, UPnP and NAT-PMP port forwarding, webseed support, watch directories, tracker editing, and global and per-torrent speed limits.

Once the Transmission PBI is installed, its options can be configured in Services → Plugins → Management → Transmission. Figure 8.10j shows the configuration screen for Transmission and Table 8.10d summarizes the available configuration options. More information about these options can be found at the Editing Configuration Files page of the Transmission wiki.

Figure 8.10j: Transmission Edit Screen

Table 8.10d: Transmission Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Watch Directory

browse button

browse to the directory transmission will watch for new torrent files

Configuration Directory

browse button

browse to the directory where transmission will store its configuration files

Download Directory

browse button

browse to the directory where files will be downloaded to

Allowed

string

comma-delimited list of allowed IP addresses; supports wildcards (e.g. 127.0.0.1,192.168.*.*)

Blocklist

string

comma-delimited list of blocklists stored in the blocklists subdirectory of Configuration Directory; if you add a new blocklist, restart the transmission service

Logfile

browse button

browse to the directory within the Plugins Jail to store the transmission log file

RPC/WebUI Enabled

checkbox

uncheck this box to disable the transmission web administrative interface

RPC Port

integer

port to listen for RPC requests on; default is 9091

RPC Auth Required

checkbox

if enabled, clients are required to authenticate; requires Username and Password fields to be configured

RPC Username

string

mandatory if RPC auth required checked; username to use for authentication

RPC Password

string

mandatory if RPC auth required checked; password to use for authentication

RPC Whitelist Enabled

checkbox

if checked, only the addresses listed in RPC Whitelist will be granted remote access

RPC Whitelist

string

comma-delimited list of IP addresses from which remote control is permitted

Distributed Hash Table (DHT)

checkbox

when enabled, the DHT protocol is used to track peers downloading torrents without the use of a standard tracker; the protocol stores lists of other nodes/peers which can be used to locate new peers

Local Peer Discovery (LPD)

checkbox

enables the discovery of BitTorrent peers located on the same LAN

Micro Transport Protocol (uTP)

checkbox

enables BitTorrent over UDP

Peer port

integer

port to listen on for incoming peer connections; default is 51413

Portmap

checkbox

enable this to allow other peers to connect to you; instructions for allowing transmission through firewalls/routers are here

Max number of peers

integer

maximum number of connected peers; default is 240

Max number of peers per torrent

integer

maximum number of connected peers for an individual torrent; default is 60

Encryption

drop-down menu

choices are: Prefer unencrypted (encryption will not be used unless the client requires it), Prefer encrypted (encryption will be used if the client supports it), Require encrypted (clients must support encryption)

Global Seed Ratio

integer

how much you’ve downloaded v.s. how much you’ve uploaded; all torrents, unless overridden by a per-torrent setting, should seed until specified ratio; default is 2

Once you have saved your configuration values, start the transmission service using the Services → Control Services → Plugins tab.

If you wish to access transmission's built-in administrative GUI, use a web browser to input the IP address of your Plugins Jail followed by a colon and the RPC port number you configured (the default is 9091). It will prompt for a username and password and by default you can just press enter to access the interface. If you checked the RPC auth required box, input the RPC username and RPC password that you specified in your configuration.

The transmission website has a screenshot of the administrative interface here. A Transmission Support Forum is also available.

8.10.5 Installing non-PBI Software

If a PBI is not available for the software that you wish to install, you can still install and configure the application from the command line using either the FreeBSD ports or packages collection. This section will describe both methods of software installation. You should skim through the entire section first to determine which method of software installation best meets your needs. The commands demonstrated in this section need to be executed from within the Plugins Jail.

8.10.5.1 Installing FreeBSD Packages with pkg_add

The quickest and easiest way to install software inside the jail is to install a FreeBSD package. A FreeBSD package is pre-compiled, meaning that it contains all the binaries and dependencies required for the software to run on a FreeBSD system.

A lot of software has been ported to FreeBSD (currently over 24,000 applications) and most of that software is available as a package. The best way to find FreeBSD software is to use FreshPorts.org.

Figure 8.10k shows the search results for openvpn.

Figure 8.10k: FreshPorts Search Results

The search indicates that seven ports are currently available. Each port includes the name of the software, the version, a description, the category (e.g. security), the email address of the port's maintainer, a CVSWeb link containing the details of the port, and a link to the software's main website. Each entry includes the command used to compile the port (as described in the next section) and the pkg_add -r command used to install the package.

For example, to install openvpn 2.2.2, use the command that FreshPorts indicates to add the package:

pkg_add -r openvpn
Fetching ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/amd64/packages-8.3 release/Latest/openvpn.tbz... Done.
Fetching ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/amd64/packages-8.3-release/All/lzo2-2.04.tbz...  Done.                                                                                                 ### ------------------------------------------------------------------------
###  Edit /etc/rc.conf[.local] to start OpenVPN automatically at system
###  startup. See /usr/local/etc/rc.d/openvpn for details.
### ------------------------------------------------------------------------
###  For compatibility notes when interoperating with older OpenVPN
###  versions, please, see <http://openvpn.net/relnotes.html>
### ------------------------------------------------------------------------
software#

The installation messages indicate that the package and its dependency (lzo2) successfully downloaded. This port provides a post-installation message indicating how to start the service at boot time.

You can confirm that the installation was successful by querying the package database:

pkg_info -ox openvpn
Information for openvpn-2.2.2:
Origin:
security/openvpn

To see what was installed with the package:

pkg_info -Lx openvpn | more
Information for openvpn-2.2.2:
Files:
/usr/local/man/man8/openvpn.8.gz
/usr/local/sbin/openvpn
/usr/local/lib/openvpn-auth-pam.so
/usr/local/lib/openvpn-down-root.so
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/AUTHORS
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/COPYING
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/COPYRIGHT.GPL
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/ChangeLog
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/INSTALL
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/PORTS
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/README
/usr/local/share/doc/openvpn/README.openvpn-auth-pam
<snip output>

In FreeBSD, third-party software is always stored in /usr/local to differentiate it from the software that came with the operating system. Binaries are almost always located in a subdirectory called bin or sbin and configuration files in a subdirectory called etc.

You can also research ahead of time which files will be installed with a package by clicking the CVSWeb link for the software at FreshPorts. Click the version number for the pkg-plist file. Here is a portion of the pkg-plist for openvpn:

sbin/openvpn
lib/openvpn-auth-pam.so
lib/openvpn-down-root.so
%%PORTDOCS%%%%DOCSDIR%%/AUTHORS
%%PORTDOCS%%%%DOCSDIR%%/COPYING

Note that pkg-plist always assumes /usr/local. For example, when reading sbin/openvpn, think /usr/local/sbin/openvpn. %%PORTDOCS%%%%DOCSDIR%% is a substitution for /usr/local/share/doc/name_of_package, as you can see from the pkg_info -Lx output.

8.10.5.2 Compiling FreeBSD Ports with make

Typically, software is installed using the pkg_add command. Occasionally you may prefer to compile the port yourself. Compiling the port offers the following advantages:

not every port has an available package. This is usually due to licensing restrictions or known, unaddressed security vulnerabilities.

sometimes the package is out-of-date and you need a feature that became available in the newer version.

some ports provide compile options that are not available in the pre-compiled package. These options are used to add additional features or to strip out the features you do not need.

Compiling the port yourself has the following dis-advantages:

it takes time. Depending upon the size of the application, the amount of dependencies, the amount of CPU and RAM on the system, and the current load on the FreeNAS® system, the amount of time can range from a few minutes to a few hours or even to a few days.

NOTE: if the port doesn't provide any compile options, you are better off saving your time and the FreeNAS® system's resources by using the pkg_add command instead.

You can determine if the port has any configurable compile options by clicking on its CVSWeb link in FreshPorts. To continue the example shown in Figure 8.10k, Figure 8.10l shows the results when the CVSWeb link is clicked for openvpn 2.2.2.

Figure 8.10l: Reading a Port's CVSWeb in FreshPorts

In FreeBSD, a Makefile is used to provide the compiling instructions to the make command. CVSWeb keeps a history of every version of the port. For example, if you click the hyperlink for "Makefile" you will see a history of all of that port's Makefiles, as well as their commit descriptions. To read the contents of the current Makefile, instead click on the version number (in this example, 1.59). The Makefile is in ascii text, fairly easy to understand, and documented in bsd.port.mk.

If the port has any configurable compile options, they will be listed under OPTIONS. This Makefile contains the following OPTIONS:

OPTIONS=        PW_SAVE "Interactive passwords may be read from a file" off \
                PKCS11  "Use security/pkcs11-helper" off

FreeBSD packages always use the default OPTIONS. In this example, the two options are disabled, meaning that those features won't be available unless you compile the port yourself. When you compile the port, those options will be presented to you in a menu, allowing you to change their default settings.

Before you can compile a port, you must install the ports collection. This can be done using the portsnap utility.

portsnap fetch extract

This command will download the ports collection and extract it to the /usr/ports/ directory.

NOTE: if you install additional software at a later date, you should make sure that the ports collection is up-to-date using this command:

portsnap fetch update
Ports tree is already up to date.

To compile a port, you will cd into a subdirectory of /usr/ports/.

The following example will compile the openvpn 2.2.2 port shown in Figures 8.10k and 8.10l. FreshPorts provides the location to cd into and the make command to run:

cd /usr/ports/security/openvpn
make install clean

Since this port's Makefile includes OPTIONS, we will see the configure screen shown in Figure 8.10m when the make command is issued:

Figure 8.10m: Configuration Options from the Port's Makefile

To change an option's setting, use the arrow keys to highlight the option, then press the spacebar to toggle the selection. Once you are finished, tab over to OK and press enter. The port will begin to compile and install.

NOTE: if you change your mind, the configuration screen will not be displayed again should you stop and restart the build. Type make config && make install clean if you need to change your selected options.

If the port has any dependencies with options, their configuration screens will be displayed and the compile will pause until it receives your input. It is a good idea to keep an eye on the compile until it finishes and you are returned to the command prompt. If you need to perform other configuration tasks, click the x in the upper right corner of Shell. This will detach from the jail without pausing the compile process--when you click Shell again you will be returned to the jail and can view the current progress of the compile.

Once the port is installed, it is registered in the same package database that manages packages. This means that you can use pkg_info to determine what was installed, as described in the previous section.

8.10.5.3 Configuring and Starting the Software

Once the package or port is installed, you will need to configure and start it. If you are familiar with how to configure the software, look for its configuration file in /usr/local/etc or a subdirectory thereof. Many FreeBSD packages contain a sample configuration file to get you started. If you are unfamiliar with the software, you will need to spend some time at the software's website to learn which configuration options are available and which configuration file(s) need to be edited.

Most FreeBSD packages that contain a startable service include a startup script which is automatically installed to /usr/local/etc/rc.d/. Once your configuration is complete, you can test that the service starts by running the script with the onestart option. These commands will run the openvpn startup script and verify that the service started:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/openvpn onestart
Starting openvpn.

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/openvpn onestatus
openvpn is running as pid 45560.

sockstat -4
USER     COMMAND    PID   FD PROTO  LOCAL ADDRESS         FOREIGN ADDRESS
root     openvpn    48386 4  udp4   *:54789               *:*

If you instead receive an error:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/openvpn onestart
Starting openvpn.
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/openvpn: WARNING: failed to start openvpn

Run tail /var/log/messages to see if any error messages hint at the problem. Most startup failures are related to a mis-configuration: either a typo or a missing option in a configuration file.

Once you have verified that the service starts and is working as intended, add a line to /etc/rc.conf to ensure that the service automatically starts whenever the Plugins Jail service starts. The line to start a service always ends in _enable="YES" and typically starts with the name of the software. For example, this is the entry for the openvpn service:

openvpn_enable="YES"

When in doubt, the startup script will tell you which line to put in /etc/rc.conf. This is the description in /usr/local/etc/rc.d/openvpn:

# This script supports running multiple instances of openvpn.
# To run additional instances link this script to something like
# % ln -s openvpn  openvpn_foo
# and define additional openvpn_foo_* variables in one  of
# /etc/rc.conf, /etc/rc.conf.local or /etc/rc.conf.d  /openvpn_foo
#
# Below NAME should be substituted with the name of this script. By default
# it is openvpn, so read as openvpn_enable. If you linked the script to
# openvpn_foo, then read as openvpn_foo_enable etc.
#
# The following variables are supported (defaults are shown).
# You can place them in any of
# /etc/rc.conf, /etc/rc.conf.local or /etc/rc.conf.d/NAME
#
# NAME_enable="NO"      # set to YES to enable openvpn

The startup script will also indicate if any additional parameters are available:

# NAME_if=              # driver(s) to load, set to "tun", "tap" or "tun tap"
#                       # it is OK to specify the if_ prefix.
#
# # optional:
# NAME_flags=                           # additional command line arguments
# NAME_configfile="/usr/local/etc/openvpn/NAME.conf"    # --config file
# NAME_dir="/usr/local/etc/openvpn"     # --cd directory
#
# You also need to set NAME_configfile and NAME_dir, if the configuration
# file and directory where keys and certificates reside differ from the above
# settings.

8.10.6 Creating your own FreeNAS® PBIs

If a FreeNAS® PBI does not already exist for the software that you need, you can create your own PBI. This section describes the PBI architecture, then provides an example of creating a PBI.

8.10.6.1 Introduction to PBI Modules

The PBI (push button installer) architecture was created by Kris Moore for the PC-BSD project. It provides a mechanism for converting existing FreeBSD packages or ports (which are installed through the command line) into self-contained software packages that can be installed through a graphical interface. The FreeNAS® PBI architecture extends this functionality by integrating PBIs into the FreeNAS® graphical interface: making it easy to install, configure, and manage the installed software from a web browser.

In order to create a PBI, the software must already be ported to FreeBSD. The easiest way to confirm whether or not a FreeBSD port exists is to search for the software at FreshPorts.org. If a port does not exist, you can issue a port request at the PC-BSD Port Requests forum using these instructions. Alternately, if you have ported software before, the Porters Handbook contains detailed instructions for porting software to FreeBSD. A table of outstanding PBI requests can be found here.

NOTE: at this time, PC-BSD PBIs are based on FreeBSD 9.0 and FreeNAS® PBI's are based on FreeBSD 8.3. Due to ABI (application binary interface) differences between the FreeBSD 8.x and 9.x series, you can not convert an existing PC-BSD PBI into a FreeNAS® PBI. This will change once FreeNAS® is based on FreeBSD 9.0, which is expected to occur in late 2012.

Each PBI is based upon a module. A PBI module is simply a collection of files which control the contents of the PBI and how it integrates into the FreeNAS® GUI. Existing PBI modules can be found in the Plugins Examples page of the FreeNAS® code repository.

Table 8.10e summarizes the function of the files which are found in a FreeNAS® PBI module. In addition to these files, the resources/ directory of a PBI may contain additional files specific to the configuration of that PBI.

Table 8.10e: FreeNAS® PBI Module Components

File Name

Description

resources/control

this script is used to start, stop, and get the status of the service; it also controls other files that define the configuration options that appear in the FreeNAS® GUI

resources/default.png

the icon used in the tree of the FreeNAS® GUI

resources/tweak-rcconf

adds or removes the plugin entry in /etc/rc.conf so that the service will automatically start if the FreeNAS® system is rebooted

scripts/post-install.sh

script run immediately after the extraction of PBI contents to disk

scripts/post-portmake.sh

optional; script run after the port compile is finished but before the PBI is packaged; typically used to add extra plugins or to compile additional ports not included in the port's Makefile

scripts/pre-install.sh

optional; script run to check conditions before the installation of the PBI (e.g. check for minimum FreeNAS® version)

scripts/pre-remove.sh

optional; script run before deletion of the PBI file; typically used to make sure the service has been stopped, to remove log or temporary files used by the software, or to delete a system account used by the software being deinstalled

pbi.conf

similar to a FreeBSD port's Makefile, this file contains the instructions for compiling the PBI; the variables in this file are documented in the PBI Module Builder Guide

Once you have verified that a FreeBSD port exists, you can create the PBI module from within a FreeNAS® Plugins Jail. If this is your first PBI module, it is recommended that you install an existing PBI and compare the configuration options that you see in the FreeNAS® GUI with the files in that PBI's module. This will give you an idea of how to edit the files to match the needs of the software that you are creating a PBI for.

A summary of the steps needed to create a PBI is as follows:

If you haven't already, install and start the Plugins Jail. The rest of the commands in this section need to be executed from within the jail.

Download the FreeBSD ports tree.

Create the directory structure to contain the PBI module.

Download the plugin example files (recommended).

Create the files used by the PBI module.

Run the pbi_makeport command.

Install the PBI to verify that it installs, contains the desired configuration options in the GUI, and that the service is able to start.

The next section will demonstrate steps 2-5. When creating your own PBI, modify the example to match the needs of the specific application.

8.10.6.2 Download Ports and Create the PBI Module Directory

Since a PBI is based on a FreeBSD port (an application that has been ported to FreeBSD), you will need to install the FreeBSD ports collection before you can build your PBI. The following commands are used to determine the Plugins Jail ID, enter the jail, and install the ports collection:

jls
JID  IP Address      Hostname      Path
1       -            software      /mnt/volume1/jail/software

jexec 1 /bin/tcsh
software# portsnap fetch extract
Fetching public key from portsnap.FreeBSD.org... done.
Fetching snapshot tag from portsnap.FreeBSD.org... done.
Fetching snapshot metadata... done.
Fetching snapshot generated at Tue Jul 17 00:01:37 UTC 2012:
<snip>
Building new INDEX files... done.

Next, create the directory structure to contain the PBI module. When making your directory structure, use the name of the port that you are converting to a PBI. For example, if you are creating a PBI for bacula-bat, create a directory called bacula-bat. A good place to make this directory is in a subdirectory of /usr/local. In this example, all PBI modules are created in /usr/local/my_pbis/, /usr/local/my_pbis/openvpn/ holds the files used by the openvpn PBI module, and -p is used to make any missing subdirectories in the path to the directory.

mkdir -p /usr/local/my_pbis/openvpn/resources
mkdir -p /usr/local/my_pbis/openvpn/scripts

Next, create the files listed in Table 8.10e. The easiest way to do this is to modify the files in an existing PBI module to meet the needs of the software being converted into a PBI. You can find existing PBI modules here. As each file is reviewed in this example, the sections of text that should be modified are listed in red text.

NOTE: at this time, it is not possible to paste into the Plugins Jail. For this reason, we recommend that you download the existing example plugins so that you can refer to them and copy existing files into your PBI's directory structure in order to edit them for the PBI that you are creating.

The easiest way to obtain the most current copy of the example plugins directory is to use the svn co command. This command requires you to install the subversion port. The following example installs the port then copies the example plugins directory structure into /usr/local/my_pbis/.

cd /usr/ports/devel/subversion
make install clean  (press tab then enter whenever a configuration menu is displayed)
rehash
cd /usr/local/my_pbis
svn co https://freenas.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/freenas/branches/8.3.1/nanobsd/plugins/
Error validating server certificate for 'https://freenas.svn.sourceforge.net:443':
- The certificate is not issued by a trusted authority. Use the
  fingerprint to validate the certificate manually!
Certificate information:
- Hostname: *.svn.sourceforge.net
- Valid: from Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:58:41 GMT until Sun, 31 Mar 2013 19:51:44 GMT
- Issuer: GeoTrust, Inc., US
- Fingerprint: 0b:11:76:de:db:4c:74:72:cb:01:49:7d:13:70:c2:f1:13:7b:cb:bf
(R)eject, accept (t)emporarily or accept (p)ermanently? p
<snip download>
Checked out revision 11909.

If you repeat the above cd and svn co commands whenever you create a new PBI, you will always have a copy of the latest plugin examples.

8.10.6.3 Create the Module Components

This section describes how to edit the module components required by any PBI. Depending upon the application's needs, you may also want to create some of the optional files listed in Table 8.10e. Start by creating the mandatory components, then decide if you wish to tweak the PBI further after testing it.

1. post-install.sh

Save this file in the scripts subdirectory of your PBI module. The following example uses a copy of the firefly file with descriptive comments added. When creating your file, replace any text in red with the name of the PBI.

cp /usr/local/my_pbis/plugins/firefly_pbi/scripts/post-install.sh \ /usr/local/my_pbis/openvpn/scripts/
more /usr/local/my_pbis/openvpn/scripts

The following lines are required for any PBI:

#!/bin/sh
# replace red text with PBI name; path should be a subdir of /usr/pbi
firefly_pbi_path=/usr/pbi/firefly-$(uname -m)/
# mandatory; required to integrate into FreeNAS GUI
mkdir -p ${firefly_pbi_path}/mnt
mkdir -p ${firefly_pbi_path}/www
${firefly_pbi_path}/bin/python ${firefly_pbi_path}/fireflyUI/manage.py syncdb --migrate --noinput

The following line is optional, depending upon the needs of the software.

# use if the service requires that the specified system account be created
pw user add daapd -d ${firefly_pbi_path}

Some PBIs require the creation of directories with specific permissions set. The post-install.sh for the transmission and minidlna PBIs provide examples. If you receive permission errors when testing your PBI, research the permission and ownership required by those directories, add that information to this file, then rebuild the PBI and test it again.

2. tweak-rcconf

This file is used to add an entry to /etc/rc.conf when the PBI is installed and to remove that entry when the PBI is uninstalled. On a FreeBSD system, rc.conf is used to determine which services to start at boot time. An entry in this file is a requirement in order to start the PBI using Services → Control Services as the GUI sends the start option to the service's startup script.

Save this file in the the resources subdirectory for the PBI module, changing the text in red to the name of the service.

#!/bin/sh
firefly_path=/usr/pbi/firefly-$(uname -m)
tmpfile=$(mktemp /tmp/.XXXXXX)
grep -v 'firefly_' /etc/rc.conf > ${tmpfile}
cat ${fireflyy_path}/etc/rc.conf >> ${tmpfile}
mv ${tmpfile} /etc/rc.conf

3. pbi.conf

pbi.conf is a shell script that contains the information needed to build the PBI. Typically this file only requires you to modify a few variables, such as the name of the program, its website, and its location in the ports tree. Sometimes you will need to set a few additional variables in order to make sure that required dependencies are included in the PBI. This file should be created in the root of your PBI module directory.

The following example is from the firefly PBI; edit the text in red to match the information for your PBI. You can determine the correct values by searching for the FreeBSD port at FreshPorts.org. Note that your file should not include the PBI_BUILDKEY or PBI_AB_PRIORITY variables as these are only used by the FreeNAS® build server.

#!/bin/sh
# Program Name
PBI_PROGNAME="firefly"
# Program Website
PBI_PROGWEB="http://www.fireflymediaserver.org/"
# Program Author / Vendor
PBI_PROGAUTHOR="Firefly"
# Default Icon (Relative to %%PBI_APPDIR%% or resources/)
PBI_PROGICON="default.png"
# The target port we are building
PBI_MAKEPORT="audio/firefly"
# Additional options for make.conf
PBI_MAKEOPTS="PACKAGE_BUILDING=Y"
# Ports to build before / after
PBI_MKPORTBEFORE=""
PBI_MKPORTAFTER="www/py-django devel/py-jsonrpclib databases/py-south databases/py-sqlite3 www/py-dojango devel/py-jsonrpclib www/py-flup net/py-oauth2"
# Exclude List
PBI_EXCLUDELIST="./include ./share/doc""
export PBI_PROGNAME PBI_PROGWEB PBI_PROGAUTHOR PBI_PROGICON PBI_MAKEPORT PBI_MAKEOPTS PBI_MKPORTBEFORE PBI_MKPORTAFTER PBI_EXCLUDELIST

Table 8.10f summarizes the variables which can be included in this file.

Table 8.10f: pbi.conf Variables

Variable

Description

PBI_PROGNAME=

mandatory; should be the same value as PORTNAME= in the port's Makefile

PBI_PROGWEB=

mandatory unless does not exist; should be the same value as WWW= in the port's pkg-descr

PBI_PROGAUTHOR=

mandatory; often found in the port's pkg-descr or at the website for the application

PBI_PROGICON=

specified icon must exist in resources/ of PBI module; must be a 64x64 .png file with a transparent background

PBI_PROGREVISION=

bump up a PBI's revision number; useful when rebuilding a port with new PBI specific options

PBI_MAKEPORT=

mandatory; the path to the port under /usr/ports/

PBI_MAKEOPTS=

optional; set this to the options that you want saved into make.conf for the port building process (e.g. WITH_CUPS=YES)

PBI_MKPORTBEFORE=

optional; port(s) to build before starting the build for the target port

PBI_MKPORTAFTER=

optional; additional port(s) to build after building the target port

PBI_BUILDKEY=

should not be included; this variable is used on the PBI build server to force the rebuild of a PBI that has failed to build

PBI_REQUIRESROOT=

set to to YES to require this app to be installed as root; default is NO which allows it to be installed as a regular user

PBI_EXCLUDELIST=

list of files or directories to exclude from the final archive, such as ./include or ./share

PBI_AB_PRIORITY=

should only be set by build server administrator; a higher number indicates a greater priority and will be built before lower priority PBIs

export

mandatory; followed by a list of all of the variables used in the file

4. default.png

This icon file will be used when the entry for the installed PBI is added to the FreeNAS® tree. The name of the icon is specified with the PBI_PROGICON= variable and that file must exist in the resources/ directory of the PBI module. If you decide to make your own icon, it must be a 64x64 .png file with a transparent background. Otherwise, copy the default.png file from the firefly PBI.

5. control

The FreeNAS® PBI API uses control to initialize the web interface for the installed plugin. The FreeNAS® GUI communicates with plugins using FastCGI; the role of the control file is to setup the FastCGI server.

The FastCGI API supports many programming languages, including Python and PHP. If you are comfortable using a supported programming language, you can create your own control file and use control as the wrapper pointing to your file. For example, the creator of the transmission PBI created control.py in Python to setup WSGI, the Python FastCGI interface. The creator of the minidlna PBI had the control file point to php-fpm.conf in order to configure php-fpm, the PHP FastCGI interface. If you are familiar with either of those languages, examine that PBI's control file and the rest of the files under that PBI's resources/ directory, comparing the content of those files to the resulting FreeNAS® screens shown in Popular PBIs.

The supported language bindings are listed here. Before selecting a language, you will need to research which bindings are required and build those FreeBSD ports with your PBI. For example, the firefly PBI uses Python and specifies the required bindings in its pbi.conf:

PBI_MKPORTAFTER="www/py-django devel/py-jsonrpclib databases/py-south databases/py-sqlite3 www/py-dojango devel/py-jsonrpclib www/py-flup net/py-oauth2"

NOTE: if you are not familiar with any of the supported programming languages and their bindings, you can still create a PBI without a control file. However, you will have to manually install it using the pbi_add command and it will not integrate into the FreeNAS® GUI. You may find it easier to install software using its FreeBSD package or port, unless your goal is to practice creating PBI software.

8.11 Rsync

Services → Rsync is used to configure an rsync server when using rsync module mode. See Configuring Rsync Module Mode for a configuration example.

This section describes the configurable options for the rsyncd service and rsync modules.

Figure 8.11a shows the rsyncd configuration screen which is accessed from Services → Rsync → Configure Rsyncd.

Figure 8.11a: Rsyncd Configuration

Table 8.11a summarizes the options that can be configured for the rsync daemon:

Table 8.11a: Rsync Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

TCP Port

integer

port for rsyncd to listen on, default is 873

Auxiliary parameters

string

additional parameters from rsync(1)

8.11.1 Rsync Modules

Figure 8.11b shows the configuration screen that appears when you click Services → Rsync → Rsync Modules → Add Rsync Module.

Figure 8.11b: Adding an Rsync Module

Table 8.11b summarizes the options that can be configured when creating a rsync module:

Table 8.11b: Rsync Module Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Module name

string

mandatory; needs to match the setting on the rsync client

Comment

string

optional description

Path

browse button

of volume/dataset to hold received data

Access Mode

drop-down menu

choices are Read and Write, Read-only, or Write-only

Maximum connections

integer

0 is unlimited

User

drop-down menu

select user that file transfers to and from that module should take place as

Group

drop-down menu

select group that file transfers to and from that module should take place as

Hosts allow

string

see rsyncd.conf(5) for allowed formats

Hosts deny

string

see rsyncd.conf(5) for allowed formats

Auxiliary parameters

string

additional parameters from rsyncd.conf(5)

8.12 S.M.A.R.T.

FreeNAS® uses the smartd(8) service to monitor disk S.M.A.R.T. data for disk health. To fully configure S.M.A.R.T. you need to:

Schedule when to run the S.M.A.R.T. tests in System → S.M.A.R.T. Tests → Add S.M.A.R.T. Test.

Enable or disable S.M.A.R.T. for each disk member of a volume in Volumes → View Volumes. By default, this is already enabled on all disks that support S.M.A.R.T.

Check the configuration of the S.M.A.R.T. service as described in this section.

Start the S.M.A.R.T. service in Services → Control Services

Figure 8.12a shows the configuration screen that appears when you click Services → S.M.A.R.T.

Figure 8.12a: S.M.A.R.T Configuration Options

NOTE: smartd will wake up at every Check Interval you configure in Figure 8.12a. It will check the times you configured in your tests (described in Figure 4.5a) to see if any tests should be run. Since the smallest time increment for a test is an hour (60 minutes), it does not make sense to set a check interval value higher than 60 minutes. For example, if you set the check interval for 120 minutes and the smart test to every hour, the test will only be run every 2 hours since the daemon only wakes up every 2 hours.

Table 8.12a summarizes the options in the S.M.A.R.T Configuration screen.

Table 8.12a: S.M.A.R.T Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Check interval

integer

in minutes, how often to wake up smartd to check to see if any tests have been configured to run

Power mode

drop-down menu

the configured test is not performed if the system enters the specified power mode; choices are: Never, Sleep, Standby, or Idle

Difference

integer in degrees Celsius

default of 0 disables this check, otherwise reports if the temperature of a driver has changed by N degrees Celsius since last report

Informal

integer in degrees Celsius

default of 0 disables this check, otherwise will message with a log level of LOG_INFO if the temperature is higher than N degrees Celsius

Critical

integer in degrees Celsius

default of 0 disables this check, otherwise will message with a log level of LOG_CRIT and send an email if the temperature is higher than N degrees Celsius

Email to report

string

email address of person to receive S.M.A.R.T. alert; separate multiple email recipients with a comma and no space

8.13 SNMP

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a protocol used to monitor network-attached devices for conditions that warrant administrative attention. FreeNAS® can be configured as a bsnmpd(8) server using FreeBSD's simple and extensible SNMP daemon. If you enable SNMP, the following port will be enabled on the FreeNAS® system:

UDP 161 (bsnmpd listens here for SNMP requests)

Available MIBS are located in /usr/share/SNMP/mibs and /usr/local/share/SNMP/mibs.

Figure 8.13a shows the SNMP configuration screen and Table 8.13a summarizes the configuration options:

Figure 8.13a: Configuring SNMP

Table 8.13a: SNMP Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Location

string

optional description of FreeNAS® system's location

Contact

string

optional email address of FreeNAS® administrator

Community

string

password used on the SNMP network, default is public and should be changed for security reasons

Send SNMP Traps

checkbox

only available in Advanced Mode; a trap is an event notification message

Auxiliary Parameters

string

additional bsnmpd(8) options not covered in this screen, one per line

8.14 SSH

Secure Shell (SSH) allows for files to be transferred securely over an encrypted network. If you configure your FreeNAS® system as an SSH server, the users in your network will need to use SSH client software in order to transfer files using SSH.

This section shows the FreeNAS® SSH configuration options, demonstrates an example configuration that restricts users to their home directory, and provides some troubleshooting tips.

Figure 8.14a shows the Services → SSH configuration screen and Table 8.14a summarizes the configuration options. Once you have configured SSH, don't forget to start it in Services → Control Services.

Figure 8.14a: SSH Configuration

Table 8.14a: SSH Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

TCP Port

integer

port to open for SSH connection requests; 22 by default

Login as Root with password

checkbox

for security reasons, root logins are discouraged and disabled by default; if enabled, password must be set for root user in Account → Users → View Users

Allow Password Authentication

checkbox

if unchecked, key based authentication for all users is required; requires additional setup on both the SSH client and server

Allow TCP Port Forwarding

checkbox

allows users to bypass firewall restrictions using SSH's port forwarding feature

Compress Connections

checkbox

may reduce latency over slow networks

Host Private Key

string

allows you to paste a specific host key as the default key is changed with every installation

Extra Options

string

additional sshd_config(5) options not covered in this screen, one per line; these options are case-sensitive and mis-spellings may prevent the SSH service from starting

A few sshd_config(5) options that are useful to input in the Extra Options field include:

ClientAliveInterval: increase this number if ssh connections tend to drop

ClientMaxStartup: defaults to 10; increase if you have more users

8.14.1 Chrooting Command Line SFTP Users

By default when you configure SSH, users can use the ssh command to login to the FreeNAS® system. A user's home directory will be the volume/dataset specified in the Home Directory field of their user account on the FreeNAS® system. Users can also use the scp and sftp commands to transfer files between their local computer and their home directory on the FreeNAS® system.

While these commands will default to the user's home directory, users are able to navigate outside of their home directory which can pose a security risk. SSH supports using a chroot to confine users to only the sftp command and to be limited to the contents of their own home directory. To configure this scenario on FreeNAS®, perform the following steps.

NOTE: some utilities such as WinSCP can bypass the chroot. This section assumes that users are accessing the chroot using the command line sftp.

Create a ZFS dataset for each user requiring sftp access in Storage → Volumes.

If you are not using Active Directory or LDAP, create a user account for each user in Account → Users → Add User. In the Home Directory field, browse to the location of the dataset you created for that user. Repeat this process to create a user account for every user that will need access to the SSH service.

Set permissions for each dataset in Storage → Volume → View Volumes. SSH chroot is very specific with regards to the required permissions (see the ChrootDirectory keyword in sshd_config(5) for details). Your configuration will not work if the permissions on the datasets used by SSH chroot users differ from those shown in Figure 8.14b.

Figure 8.14b: Permissions Required by SSH Chroot

Create a home directory within each dataset using Shell. Due to the permissions required by SSH chroot, the user will not have permissions to write to the root of their own dataset until you do this. Since your intention is to limit them to the contents of their home directory, manually create a home directory for each user within their own dataset and change the ownership of the directory to the user. Example 8.14a demonstrates the commands used to create a home directory called user1 for the user account user1 on dataset /mnt/volume1/user1:

Example 8.14a: Creating a User's Home Directory

mkdir /mnt/volume1/user1/user1
chown user1:user1 /mnt/volume1/user1/user1

Configure SSH in Services → SSH. Add these lines to the Extra Options section:

Match Group sftp
ChrootDirectory %h
ForceCommand internal-sftp
AllowTcpForwarding no

Start the SSH service in Control Services. Click the red OFF button next to SSH. After a second or so, it will change to a blue ON, indicating that the service has been enabled.

Test the connection from a client using a utility such as WinSCP.

In the example shown in Figure 8.14c, user1 is connecting to a FreeNAS® server with an IP address of 192.168.2.9. The password matches the one set in their user account on the FreeNAS® system and SFTP has been selected as the File protocol for the connection.

Figure 8.14c: Connecting to the SSH chroot from WinSCP

Once connected, the user can see the files on their Windows system in the left frame and the files on the FreeNAS® system in the right frame, as shown in Figure 8.14d.

Figure 8.14d: Using WinSCP Within a chroot

Notice that the directory structure on the FreeNAS® system starts at <root>. If the user clicks on <root>, they can not navigate to a higher folder. If the user tries to copy a file from the Windows system to <root>, the operation will fail. However, if the user clicks on their home folder (in this example, user1), they will enter that folder and can copy files to/from the Windows system within that folder.

8.14.2 Troubleshooting SSH Connections

If you add any Extra Options in the SSH configuration screen, be aware that the keywords listed in sshd_config(5) are case sensitive. This means that your configuration will fail to do what you intended if you do not match the upper and lowercase letters of the keyword.

If your clients are receiving "reverse DNS" or timeout errors, add an entry for the IP address of the FreeNAS® system in the Host name database field of Network → Global Configuration.

When configuring SSH, you should always test your configuration as an SSH user account to ensure that the user is limited to what you have configured and that they have permission to transfer files within the intended directories. If the user account is experiencing problems, the SSH error messages are usually pretty specific to what the problem is. Type the following command within Shell to read these messages as they occur:

tail -f /var/log/messages

Additional messages regarding authentication errors may be found in /var/log/auth.log.

8.15 TFTP

Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a light-weight version of FTP usually used to transfer configuration or boot files between machines, such as routers, in a local environment. TFTP provides an extremely limited set of commands and provides no authentication.

If the FreeNAS® system will be used to store images and configuration files for the network's devices, configure and start the TFTP service. Starting the TFTP service will open UDP port 69.

NOTE: in versions of FreeNAS® prior to 8.3.0, TFTP is limited to a maximum file size of 32MB.

Figure 8.15a shows the TFTP configuration screen and Table 8.15a summarizes the available options:

Figure 8.15a: TFTP Configuration

Table 8.15a: TFTP Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Directory

browse button

browse to the directory to be used for storage; some devices require a specific directory name, refer to the device's documentation for details

Allow New Files

checkbox

enable if network devices need to send files to the FreeNAS® system (e.g. backup their config)

Port

integer

UDP port to listen for TFTP requests, 69 by default

Username

drop-down menu

account used for tftp requests; must have permission to the Directory

Umask

integer

umask for newly created files, default is 022 (everyone can read, nobody can write); some devices require a less strict umask

Extra options

string

additional tftpd(8) options not shown in this screen, one per line

8.16 UPS

FreeNAS® uses NUT (Network UPS Tools) to provide UPS support. If the FreeNAS® system is connected to a UPS device, configure the UPS service then start it in Control Services → Services.

Figure 8.16a shows the UPS configuration screen:

Figure 8.16a: UPS Configuration Screen

Table 8.16a summarizes the options in the UPS Configuration screen.

Table 8.16a: UPS Configuration Options

Setting

Value

Description

Identifier

string

can contain alphanumeric, period, comma, hyphen, and underscore characters

Driver

drop-down menu

supported UPS devices are listed at http://www.networkupstools.org/stable-hcl.html

Port

drop-down menu

select the serial or USB port the UPS is plugged into (see NOTE below)

Auxiliary Parameters

string

additional options from ups.conf (5)

Description

string

optional

Shutdown mode

drop-down menu

choices are UPS goes on battery and UPS reaches low battery

Shutdown timer

integer

in seconds; will initiate shutdown after this many seconds after UPS enters Shutdown mode, unless power is restored

UPS Master User Password

string

default is known value fixmepass and should be changed; can not contain a space or #

Extra users

string

defines the accounts that have administrative access; see upsd.users(5) for examples

Remote monitor

checkbox

if enabled, be aware that the default is to listen on all interfaces and to use the known values user upsmon and password fixmepass

Send Email Status Updates

checkbox

if checked, activates the To email field

To email

email address

if Send Email box checked, email address of person to receive status updates

Email subject

string

if Send Email box checked, subject of email updates

NOTE: for USB devices, the easiest way to determine the correct device name is to check the box "Show console messages" in System → Settings → Advanced. Plug in the USB device and the console messages will give the name of the /dev/ugenX.X device; where the X's are the numbers that show on the console.

upsc(8) can be used to get status variables from the UPS daemon such as the current charge and input voltage. It can be run from Shell using the following syntax. The man page gives some other usage examples.

upsc ups@localhost

9 Additional Options

This section covers the remaining miscellaneous options available from the FreeNAS® graphical administrative interface.

9.1 Display System Processes

If you click Display System Processes, a screen will open showing the output of top(1). An example is shown in Figure 9.1a.

Figure 9.1a: System Processes Running on FreeNAS®

The display will automatically refresh itself. Simply click the X in the upper right corner to close the display when you are finished. Note that the display is read-only, meaning that you won't be able to issue a kill command within it.

9.2 Shell

Beginning with version 8.2.0, the FreeNAS® GUI provides a web shell, making it easy to run command line tools from the web browser as the root user. In previous versions of FreeNAS®, you either had to have physical access to a keyboard attached to the FreeNAS® console, or you had to enable the SSH service, add a user to the wheel group, and set a password for root in order to access a root console shell. Both of those access methods could be considered security risks in some environments.

The link to Shell is the third entry from the bottom of the menu tree. In Figure 9.2a, the link has been clicked and Shell is open.

Figure 9.2a: Web Shell

The prompt indicates that the current user is root, the hostname is freenas, and the current working directory is ~ (root's home directory).

While you are in Shell, you will not have access to any of the other GUI menus. If you are using Shell for troubleshooting purposes and need to leave the Shell in order to modify a configuration, click the x in the window's upper right corner. The next time you enter Shell, you will return to your last session. When you are finished using Shell, type exit to leave the session completely.

Shell provides history (use your up arrow to see previously entered commands and press enter to repeat the currently displayed command) and tab completion (type a few letters and press tab to complete a command name or filename in the current directory).

NOTE: not all of Shell's features render correctly in Chrome. Firefox is the recommended browser for using Shell.

Due to the embedded nature of FreeNAS®, some FreeBSD components are missing and noticeable in Shell. For example, man pages are not included; however, FreeBSD man pages can be read online. Most FreeBSD command line utilities should be available in Shell. Additional troubleshooting utilities that are provided by FreeNAS® are described in Useful Command Line Utilities.

9.3 Reboot

If you click Reboot, you will receive the warning message shown in Figure 9.3a and your browser color will change to red to indicate that you have selected an option that will negatively impact users of the FreeNAS® system.

Figure 9.3a: Reboot Warning Message

Click the Cancel button if you wish to cancel the reboot request. Otherwise, click the Reboot button to reboot the system. Rebooting the system will disconnect all clients, including the web administration GUI. The URL in your web browser will change to add /system/reboot/ to the end of the IP address. Wait a few minutes for the system to boot, then use your browser's back button to return to the FreeNAS® system's IP address. If all went well, you should receive the GUI login screen. If the login screen does not appear, you will need physical access to the FreeNAS® system's monitor and keyboard so that you can determine what problem is preventing the system from resuming normal operation.

9.4 Shutdown

If you click Shutdown, you will receive the warning message shown in Figure 9.4a and your browser color will change to red to indicate that you have selected an option that will negatively impact users of the FreeNAS® system.

Figure 9.4a: Shutdown Warning Message

Click the Cancel button if you wish to cancel the shutdown request. Otherwise, click the Shutdown button to halt the system. Shutting down the system will disconnect all clients, including the web administration GUI, and will power off the FreeNAS® system. You will need physical access to the FreeNAS® system in order to turn it back on.

9.5 Help

The Help button in the upper right corner provides hyperlinks to the various FreeNAS® online resources, including: the community forum, mailing lists, IRC channel, bug tracker, and this documentation. These resources are discussed in more detail in the next section.

It also displays the currently installed FreeNAS® version and revision number.

9.6 Log Out

To log out of the FreeNAS® GUI, simply click the Log Out button in the upper right corner. You will immediately be logged out. An informational message will indicate that you are logged out and will provide a hyperlink which you can click on to log back in.

9.7 Alert

FreeNAS® provides an alert system to provide a visual warning of any conditions that require administrative attention. The Alert button in the far right corner will flash red when there is an outstanding alert. For example, the first time you access the administrative GUI, the alert button will be flashing. If you click the icon, you will see the message shown in Figure 9.7a:

Figure 9.7a: Example Alert Message

Behind the scenes, an alert script checks for various alert conditions, such as volume and disk status, and writes the current conditions to /var/tmp/alert. A javascript retrieves the current alert status every 5 minutes and will change the solid green alert icon (if there are no current alert conditions) to flashing red (if a new alert is detected).

Some of the conditions that trigger an alert include:

Plugins Jail IP address is unreachable

non-optimal multipath states

UPS ONBATT/LOWBATT event

ZFS pool status changes from HEALTHY

the system is unable to bind to the WebGUI Address set in System → Settings → General

the system can not find an IP address configured on an iSCSI portal

Section 3: Getting Help

10 FreeNAS® Support Resources

FreeNAS® has a large installation base and an active user community. This means that many usage questions have already been answered and the details are available on the Internet. If you get stuck using FreeNAS®, spend a few moments searching the Internet for the word FreeNAS with some key words that describe your error message or the function that you are trying to implement.

The rest of this section discusses the following resources which are available to FreeNAS® 8.x users:

Website and Social Media

Trac Database

IRC

Mailing Lists

Forums

Instructional Videos

Professional Support

10.1 Website and Social Media

The FreeNAS® website contains links to all of the available documentation, support, and social media resources. Major announcements are also posted to the main page.

Users are welcome to network on the FreeNAS® social media sites:

LinkedIn

Google+

Facebook

A blog and twitter feed is also available.

10.2 Trac Database

The FreeNAS® trac database can be used to view existing support tickets to see if your issue has already been reported and to create new tickets for unreported issues. You do not need to create a login account in order to view existing tickets, but you will need to use the Register link if you wish to create a ticket. See Submit Bug Reports for instructions on how to create a support ticket.

10.3 IRC

If you wish to ask a question in “real time”, you can try the #freenas channel on IRC Freenode. Depending upon the time of day (and your time zone), a FreeNAS® developer or other FreeNAS® users may be available to assist you. If you do not get an answer right away, remain on the channel as other users tend to read the channel history in order to answer questions as they are able to.

You will need an IRC client in order to access the #freenas channel.

To get the most out of the IRC channel, keep the following points in mind:

do not ask "can anyone help me?"; instead, just ask your question. If someone knows the answer, they will try to assist you.

do not ask a question and then leave. Users who know the answer can not help you if you disappear.

do not take it personally if no one answers or demand that someone answers your question. Maybe no one who knows the answer is available, maybe your question is really hard, or maybe it is a question that has already been answered many times in the other support resources. Try asking again in a few hours or research the other resources to see if you have missed anything.

do not post error messages in the channel as the IRC software will probably kick you out. Instead, use a pasting service such as pastebin and refer to the URL on channel. If you prefer to paste an image of your error, you can upload it to a temporary screenshot hosting service such as Upload Screenshot and post the URL to your uploaded image.

10.4 Mailing Lists

Several FreeNAS® mailing lists are available which allow users and developers to ask and answer questions related to the topic of the mailing list. To post an email to a list, you will need to subscribe to it first. Each mailing list is archived, allowing you to browse for information by date, thread name, or author.

The following mailing lists are available:

freenas-announce: this is a low-volume, read-only list where major milestones, such as new releases, are announced.

freenas-commit: this is a read-only list. As code changes in the FreeNAS® repository, the commit message is automatically sent to this list.

freenas-devel: FreeNAS® developers are subscribed to this list. Technical questions about the current FreeNAS® release can be posted here.

freenas-docs: this list is for discussion regarding FreeNAS® documentation.

freenas-testing: FreeNAS® developers are subscribed to this list. Technical questions about the upcoming FreeNAS® release and feedback on testing snapshots can be posted here.

freenas-translations: this list is for discussion regarding FreeNAS® localization and translating FreeNAS® documentation.

Archives of the mailing lists are available from Gmane which allows you to read the archives in various formats (blog style, news reader style) and to subscribe to RSS feeds for the lists.

10.5 Forums

Another information source for FreeNAS® is the Forums. Forums contain user-contributed tips and guides which have been categorized, making it an ideal resource if you wish to learn more about a certain aspect of FreeNAS®. A searchbar is included should you wish to search by keyword; alternately, you can click a category to browse through the threads that exist for that topic.

The following categories are available under Help and Support:

FreeNAS 4 N00bs: post here if you are new to FreeNAS® and are unsure which category best matches your question.

Feature Requests: for the discussion of upcoming features and to request features not listed on the Roadmap.

Bug Reporting: use this forum if you think you have found a bug in FreeNAS® and want to discuss it before creating a support ticket.

Hardware: for the discussion of hardware and tips for getting the most out of your hardware.

User Authentication: LDAP and Active Directory.

Sharing: AFP, CIFS, NFS, and iSCSI.

Storage: replication, snapshots, volumes, and ZFS.

Networking: networking hardware, performance, link aggregation, VLANs, DDNS, FTP, SNMP, SSH, and TFTP.

Installation: installing help or advice before performing the installation.

Plugins: provides a discussion area for creating and troubleshooting PBIs and the Plugins Jail.

The following categories are available under Development:

FreeNAS: general development discussion.

nanobsd: the embedded operating system FreeNAS® is based upon.

Django: the web framework used by the FreeNAS® graphical administrative interface.

Dojo Toolkit: the javascript toolkit used to create widgets and handle client side processing.

The following categories are available under How-To Guides:

Hacking: undocumented tricks for getting the most out of your FreeNAS® system.

Installation: specific installation scenarios (hardware and/or software).

Configuration: specific configuration scenarios (e.g. software or client configuration).

Hardware: instructions for setting up specific hardware.

As new testing snapshots become available and new software versions are released, they are announced in the Announcements forum.

If you are looking for tips on how to test and increase the performance of your system, check out the Performance forum.

The following categories are available under Community Forum:

Off-topic: want to discuss something of interest to FreeNAS® users but which is not necessarily related to FreeNAS®? This is your place.

Resources: blogs, reviews, and other sources of FreeNAS® information not listed at freenas.org.

Introductions: FreeNAS® Community meet 'n greet - introduce yourself and let us know who we are chatting with.

The following language-specific categories are available under International, allowing FreeNAS® users to interact with each other in their native language:

Dutch - Nederlands

German - Deutsch

French - Francais

Italian - Italiano

Spanish – Espanol

Turkish - Türkçe

If you wish to ask a question on the forum, you will need to click the Register link to create an account and login using that account.

NOTE: if you receive a spam error when trying to register for the forum, follow the instructions in README If You are Unable to Post or Register.

When asking a question on the forum, it is important that you:

first check to see if the question has already been asked. If you find a similar question, do not create a new thread. Instead use the "Reply to Thread" button to add your comments to the existing thread.

review the available categories to see which one is most closely related to your question. Click on that category and use the "Post New Thread" button to open the editor. After typing your post and before you click the "Submit New Thread" button, make sure the "Subscribe to this thread and notify me of changes" box is checked. That way you will be notified whenever anyone answers your question.

10.6 Instructional Videos

A series of instructional videos is being created for FreeNAS® 8.x. The videos that are available so far include:

How to Install FreeNAS® 8

FreeNAS® 8.0.1 System Configuration Overview

FreeNAS® 8.0.1: Volumes Overview

FreeNAS® 8.0.1: Shares Overview

FreeNAS® 8.0.1: Network Configuration Overview

FreeNAS® 8.0.1: iSCSI In-depth

FreeNAS® 8.0.1: All in One

FreeNAS® 8.0.1: LAGG and VLAN

FreeNAS® 8.0.1: Backups in Depth

FreeNAS 8.0.3: FTP Configuration

FreeNAS 8.2.0 Plugins Part 1: Installing

FreeNAS 8.3.0-BETA2 Plugins Part 2: Plugins Configuration

NOTE: videos are version-specific, meaning that some details of the tasks demonstrated may have changed in more recent versions of FreeNAS®. When in doubt, refer to the documentation specific to your version of FreeNAS®.

The Too Smart Guys show also has a series of videos:

Building a FreeNAS 8 Box - Part 1 Hardware

FreeNAS 8 - Build and Install

FreeNAS 8 EP3 Configuration

FreeNAS 8 Part 4 - FTP Server Setup

FreeNAS 8.2 Step by Step setup in about 15min!

FreeNAS 8.2 Plugin Installation

10.7 Professional Support

In addition to the freely available community resources, iXsystems offers professional support packages. iXsystems' development team works hard to improve new and current versions of FreeNAS®, providing them with the insight to provide expert FreeNAS® support and consultation services. Their Professional Services team can also configure your FreeNAS® hardware and software to deliver the highest levels of performance, stability, and security. See the TrueNAS® Software Support page to request a quote.

11 Useful Command Line Utilities

Several command line utilities which are provided with FreeNAS® are demonstrated in this section.

The following utilities can be used for benchmarking and performance testing:

Iperf: used for measuring maximum TCP and UDP bandwidth performance

Netperf: a tool for measuring network performance

IOzone: filesystem benchmark utility used to perform a broad filesystem analysis

arcstat.py and arc_summary.py: used to gather ZFS ARC statistics

XDD: a tool for measuring and characterizing disk subsystem I/O

The following utilities are specific to RAID controllers:

tw_cli: used to monitor and maintain 3ware RAID controllers

MegaCli: used to configure and manage LSI MegaRAID SAS family of RAID controllers

IPMItool: used to manage and configure IPMI devices

This section also describes the following utilities:

freenas-debug: the backend used to dump FreeNAS® debugging information

tmux: a terminal multiplexer similar to GNU screen

Dmidecode: reports information about system hardware as described in the system's BIOS

11.1 Iperf

Iperf is a utility for measuring maximum TCP and UDP bandwidth performance. It can be used to chart network throughput over time. For example, you can use it to test the speed of different types of shares to determine which type best performs on your network.

FreeNAS® includes the Iperf server. To perform network testing, you will need to install an Iperf client on a desktop system that has network access to the FreeNAS® system. This section will demonstrate how to use the xjperf GUI client as it works on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and BSD systems.

Since this client is java based, you will also need to install the appropriate JRE for the client operating system.

Linux and BSD users will need to install the iperf package using their operating system's package management system.

To start xjperf on Windows: unzip the downloaded file, start Command Prompt in Run as administrator mode, cd to the unzipped folder, and run jperf.bat.

To start xjperf on Mac OS X, Linux, or BSD, unzip the downloaded file, cd to the unzipped directory, type chmod u+x jperf.sh, and run ./jperf.sh.

Once the client is ready, you need to start the Iperf server on FreeNAS®. To see the available server options, open Shell and type:

iperf --help | more
Usage: iperf [-s|-c host] [options]
      iperf [-h|--help] [-v|--version]

Client/Server:
 -f, --format    [kmKM]   format to report: Kbits, Mbits, KBytes, MBytes
 -i, --interval  #        seconds between periodic bandwidth reports
 -l, --len       #[KM]    length of buffer to read or write (default 8 KB)
 -m, --print_mss          print TCP maximum segment size (MTU - TCP/IP header)
 -o, --output    <filename> output the report or error message to this specified file
 -p, --port      #        server port to listen on/connect to
 -u, --udp                use UDP rather than TCP
 -w, --window    #[KM]    TCP window size (socket buffer size)
 -B, --bind      <host>   bind to <host>, an interface or multicast address
 -C, --compatibility      for use with older versions does not sent extra msgs
 -M, --mss       #        set TCP maximum segment size (MTU - 40 bytes)
 -N, --nodelay            set TCP no delay, disabling Nagle's Algorithm
 -V, --IPv6Version        Set the domain to IPv6

Server specific:
 -s, --server             run in server mode
 -U, --single_udp         run in single threaded UDP mode
 -D, --daemon             run the server as a daemon

Client specific:
 -b, --bandwidth #[KM]    for UDP, bandwidth to send at in bits/sec
                          (default 1 Mbit/sec, implies -u)
 -c, --client    <host>   run in client mode, connecting to <host>
 -d, --dualtest           Do a bidirectional test simultaneously
 -n, --num       #[KM]    number of bytes to transmit (instead of -t)
 -r, --tradeoff           Do a bidirectional test individually
 -t, --time      #        time in seconds to transmit for (default 10 secs)
 -F, --fileinput <name>   input the data to be transmitted from a file
 -I, --stdin              input the data to be transmitted from stdin
 -L, --listenport #       port to receive bidirectional tests back on
 -P, --parallel  #        number of parallel client threads to run
 -T, --ttl       #        time-to-live, for multicast (default 1)
-Z, --linux-congestion <algo>  set TCP congestion control algorithm (Linux only)

Miscellaneous:
 -x, --reportexclude [CDMSV]   exclude C(connection) D(data) M(multicast) S(settings) V(server)  reports
 -y, --reportstyle C      report as a Comma-Separated Values
 -h, --help               print this message and quit
 -v, --version            print version information and quit

[KM] Indicates options that support a K or M suffix for kilo- or mega-

The TCP window size option can be set by the environment variable
TCP_WINDOW_SIZE. Most other options can be set by an environment variable
IPERF_<long option name>, such as IPERF_BANDWIDTH.

For example, to perform a TCP test and start the server in daemon mode (so that you get your prompt back), type:

iperf -sD
------------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 64.0 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
Running Iperf Server as a daemon
The Iperf daemon process ID: 4842

NOTE: if you close Shell, the daemon process will stop. Have your environment setup (e.g. shares configured and started) before starting the iperf process.

From your desktop, open the client. Input the IP of address of the FreeNAS® system, specify the running time for the test under Application layer options → Transmit (the default test time is 10 seconds), and click the Run Iperf! button. Figure 11.1a shown an example of the client running on a Windows system while an SFTP transfer is occurring on the network.

Figure 11.1a: Viewing Bandwidth Statistics Using xjperf

Depending upon the traffic being tested (e.g. the type of share running on your network), you may need to test UDP instead of TCP. To start the iperf server in UDP mode, use iperf -sDu as the u specifies UDP; the startup message should indicate that the server is listening for UDP datagrams. If you are not sure if the traffic that you wish to test is UDP or TCP, run this command to determine which services are running on the FreeNAS® system:

sockstat -4 | more
USER     COMMAND    PID   FD PROTO  LOCAL ADDRESS         FOREIGN ADDRESS
root     iperf      4870  6  udp4   *:5001                *:*
root     iperf      4842  6  tcp4   *:5001                *:*
www      nginx      4827  3  tcp4   127.0.0.1:15956       127.0.0.1:9042
www      nginx      4827  5  tcp4   192.168.2.11:80       192.168.2.26:56964
www      nginx      4827  7  tcp4   *:80                  *:*
root     sshd       3852  5  tcp4   *:22                  *:*
root     python     2503  5  udp4   *:*                   *:*
root     mountd     2363  7  udp4   *:812                 *:*
root     mountd     2363  8  tcp4   *:812                 *:*
root     rpcbind    2359  9  udp4   *:111                 *:*
root     rpcbind    2359  10 udp4   *:886                 *:*
root     rpcbind    2359  11 tcp4   *:111                 *:*
root     nginx      2044  7  tcp4   *:80                  *:*
root     python     2029  3  udp4   *:*                   *:*
root     python     2029  4  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9042        *:*
root     python     2029  7  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9042        127.0.0.1:15956
root     ntpd       1548  20 udp4   *:123                 *:*
root     ntpd       1548  22 udp4   192.168.2.11:123      *:*
root     ntpd       1548  25 udp4   127.0.0.1:123         *:*
root     syslogd    1089  6  udp4   127.0.0.1:514         *:*

When you are finished testing, either type killall iperf or close Shell to terminate the iperf server process.

11.2 Netperf

Netperf is a benchmarking utility that can be used to measure the performance of unidirectional throughput and end-to-end latency.

Before you can use the netperf command, you must start its server process using this command:

netserver
Starting netserver with host 'IN(6)ADDR_ANY' port '12865' and family AF_UNSPEC

The following command will display the available options for performing tests with the netperf command. The Netperf Manual describes each option in more detail and explains how to perform many types of tests. It is the best reference for understanding how each test works and how to interpret your results. When you are finished with your tests, type killall netserver to stop the server process.

netperf -h |more
Usage: netperf [global options] -- [test options]
Global options:
   -a send,recv      Set the local send,recv buffer alignment
   -A send,recv      Set the remote send,recv buffer alignment
   -B brandstr       Specify a string to be emitted with brief output
   -c [cpu_rate]     Report local CPU usage
   -C [cpu_rate]     Report remote CPU usage
   -d                Increase debugging output
   -D [secs,units] * Display interim results at least every secs seconds
                     using units as the initial guess for units per second
   -f G|M|K|g|m|k    Set the output units
   -F fill_file      Pre-fill buffers with data from fill_file
   -h                Display this text
   -H name|ip,fam *  Specify the target machine and/or local ip and family
   -i max,min        Specify the max and min number of iterations (15,1)
   -I lvl[,intvl]    Specify confidence level (95 or 99) (99)
                     and confidence interval in percentage (10)
   -j                Keep additional timing statistics
   -l testlen        Specify test duration (>0 secs) (<0 bytes|trans)
   -L name|ip,fam *  Specify the local ip|name and address family
   -o send,recv      Set the local send,recv buffer offsets
   -O send,recv      Set the remote send,recv buffer offset
   -n numcpu         Set the number of processors for CPU util
   -N                Establish no control connection, do 'send' side only
   -p port,lport*    Specify netserver port number and/or local port
   -P 0|1            Don't/Do display test headers
   -r                Allow confidence to be hit on result only
   -s seconds        Wait seconds between test setup and test start
   -S                Set SO_KEEPALIVE on the data connection
   -t testname       Specify test to perform
   -T lcpu,rcpu      Request netperf/netserver be bound to local/remote cpu
   -v verbosity      Specify the verbosity level
   -W send,recv      Set the number of send,recv buffers
   -v level          Set the verbosity level (default 1, min 0)
   -V                Display the netperf version and exit

For those options taking two parms, at least one must be specified; specifying one value without a comma will set both parms to that value, specifying a value with a leading comma will set just the second parm, a value with a trailing comma will set just the first. To set each parm to unique values, specify both and separate them with a comma.
* For these options taking two parms, specifying one value with no comma will only set the first parms and will leave the second at the default value. To set the second value it must be preceded with a comma or be a comma-separated pair. This is to retain previous netperf behaviour.

11.3 IOzone

IOzone is a disk and filesystem benchmarking tool. It can be used to test file I/O performance for the following operations: read, write, re-read, re-write, read backwards, read strided, fread, fwrite, random read, pread, mmap, aio_read, and aio_write.

FreeNAS® ships with IOzone, meaning that it can be run from Shell. When using IOzone on FreeNAS®, cd to a directory in a volume that you have permission to write to, otherwise you will get an error about being unable to write the temporary file.

Before using IOzone, read through the IOzone documentation PDF as it describes the tests, the many command line switches, and how to interpret your results.

If you have never used this tool before, these resources provide good starting points on which tests to run, when to run them, and how to interpret the results:

How To Measure Linux Filesystem I/O Performance With iozone

Analyzing NFS Client Performance with IOzone

10 iozone Examples for Disk I/O Performance Measurement on Linux

You can receive a summary of the available switches by typing the following command.

iozone -h | more
iozone: help mode
 Usage: iozone[-s filesize_Kb] [-r record_size_Kb] [-f [path]filename] [-h]
              [-i test] [-E] [-p] [-a] [-A] [-z] [-Z] [-m] [-M] [-t children]
              [-l min_number_procs] [-u max_number_procs] [-v] [-R] [-x] [-o]
              [-d microseconds] [-F path1 path2...] [-V pattern] [-j stride]
              [-T] [-C] [-B] [-D] [-G] [-I] [-H depth] [-k depth] [-U mount_point]
              [-S cache_size] [-O] [-L cacheline_size] [-K] [-g maxfilesize_Kb]
              [-n minfilesize_Kb] [-N] [-Q] [-P start_cpu] [-e] [-c] [-b Excel.xls]
              [-J milliseconds] [-X write_telemetry_filename] [-w] [-W]
              [-Y read_telemetry_filename] [-y minrecsize_Kb] [-q maxrecsize_Kb]
              [-+u] [-+m cluster_filename] [-+d] [-+x multiplier] [-+p # ]
              [-+r] [-+t] [-+X] [-+Z] [-+w percent dedupable] [-+y percent_interior_dedup]
              [-+C percent_dedup_within]
          -a  Auto mode
          -A  Auto2 mode
          -b Filename  Create Excel worksheet file
          -B  Use mmap() files
          -c  Include close in the timing calculations
          -C  Show bytes transferred by each child in throughput testing
          -d #  Microsecond delay out of barrier
          -D  Use msync(MS_ASYNC) on mmap files
          -e  Include flush (fsync,fflush) in the timing calculations
          -E  Run extension tests
          -f filename  to use
          -F filenames  for each process/thread in throughput test
          -g #  Set maximum file size (in Kbytes) for auto mode (or #m or #g)
          -G  Use msync(MS_SYNC) on mmap files
          -h  help
          -H #  Use POSIX async I/O with # async operations
          -i #  Test to run (0=write/rewrite, 1=read/re-read, 2=random-read/write
             3=Read-backwards, 4=Re-write-record, 5=stride-read, 6=fwrite/re-fwrite
             7=fread/Re-fread, 8=random_mix, 9=pwrite/Re-pwrite, 10=pread/Re-pread
                11=pwritev/Re-pwritev, 12=preadv/Re-preadv)
          -I  Use VxFS VX_DIRECT, O_DIRECT,or O_DIRECTIO for all file operations
          -j #  Set stride of file accesses to (# * record size)
          -J #  milliseconds of compute cycle before each I/O operation
          -k #  Use POSIX async I/O (no bcopy) with # async operations
          -K  Create jitter in the access pattern for readers
          -l #  Lower limit on number of processes to run
          -L #  Set processor cache line size to value (in bytes)
          -m  Use multiple buffers
          -M  Report uname -a output
          -n #  Set minimum file size (in Kbytes) for auto mode (or #m or #g)
          -N  Report results in microseconds per operation
          -o  Writes are synch (O_SYNC)
          -O  Give results in ops/sec.
          -p  Purge on
          -P #  Bind processes/threads to processors, starting with this cpu
          -q #  Set maximum record size (in Kbytes) for auto mode (or #m or #g)
          -Q  Create offset/latency files
          -r #  record size in Kb
             or -r #k .. size in Kb
             or -r #m .. size in Mb
             or -r #g .. size in Gb
          -R  Generate Excel report
          -s #  file size in Kb
             or -s #k .. size in Kb
             or -s #m .. size in Mb
             or -s #g .. size in Gb
          -S #  Set processor cache size to value (in Kbytes)
          -t #  Number of threads or processes to use in throughput test
          -T  Use POSIX pthreads for throughput tests
          -u #  Upper limit on number of processes to run
          -U  Mount point to remount between tests
          -v  version information
          -V #  Verify data pattern write/read
          -w  Do not unlink temporary file
          -W  Lock file when reading or writing
          -x  Turn off stone-walling
          -X filename  Write telemetry file. Contains lines with (offset reclen compute_time) in ascii
          -y #  Set minimum record size (in Kbytes) for auto mode (or #m or #g)
          -Y filename  Read  telemetry file. Contains lines with (offset reclen compute_time) in ascii
          -z  Used in conjunction with -a to test all possible record sizes
          -Z  Enable mixing of mmap I/O and file I/O
          -+E Use existing non-Iozone file for read-only testing
          -+K Sony special. Manual control of test 8.
          -+m  Cluster_filename   Enable Cluster testing
          -+d  File I/O diagnostic mode. (To troubleshoot a broken file I/O subsystem)
          -+u  Enable CPU utilization output (Experimental)
          -+x # Multiplier to use for incrementing file and record sizes
          -+p # Percentage of mix to be reads
          -+r Enable O_RSYNC|O_SYNC for all testing.
          -+t Enable network performance test. Requires -+m
          -+n No retests selected.
          -+k Use constant aggregate data set size.
          -+q Delay in seconds between tests.
          -+l Enable record locking mode.
          -+L Enable record locking mode, with shared file.
          -+B Sequential mixed workload.
          -+A #  Enable madvise. 0 = normal, 1=random, 2=sequential
                                 3=dontneed, 4=willneed
          -+N Do not truncate existing files on sequential writes.
          -+S # Dedup-able data is limited to sharing within each numerically
                identified file set
          -+V Enable shared file. No locking.
          -+X Enable short circuit mode for filesystem testing ONLY
              ALL Results are NOT valid in this mode.
          -+Z Enable old data set compatibility mode. WARNING.. Published
              hacks may invalidate these results and generate bogus, high
              values for results.
          -+w ## Percent of dedup-able data in buffers.
          -+y ## Percent of dedup-able within & across files in buffers.
          -+C ## Percent of dedup-able within & not across files in buffers.
          -+H Hostname    Hostname of the PIT server.
          -+P Service     Service  of the PIT server.
          -+z Enable latency histogram logging.

As you can see from the number of options, IOzone is comprehensive and it may take some time to learn how to use the tests effectively.

NOTE: if you prefer to visualize the collected data, scripts are available to render IOzone's output in Gnuplot.

11.4 arcstat

Arcstat is a script that prints out ZFS ARC statistics. Originally it was a perl script created by Sun. That perl script was ported to FreeBSD and was then ported as a Python script for use on FreeNAS®.

Watching ARC hits/misses and percentages will provide an indication of how well your ZFS pool is fetching from the ARC rather than using disk I/O. Ideally, you want as many things fetching from cache as possible. Keep your load in mind as you review the stats. For random reads, expect a miss and having to go to disk to fetch the data. For cached reads, expect it to pull out of the cache and have a hit.

Like all cache systems, the ARC takes time to fill with data. This means that it will have a lot of misses until the pool has been in use for a while. If there continues to be lots of misses and high disk I/O on cached reads, there is cause to investigate further and tune the system.

The FreeBSD ZFS Tuning Guide provides some suggestions for commonly tuned sysctl values. It should be noted that performance tuning is more of an art than a science and that any changes you make will probably require several iterations of tune and test. Be aware that what needs to be tuned will vary depending upon the type of workload and that what works for one person's network may not benefit yours.

In particular, the value of pre-fetching depends upon the amount of memory and the type of workload, as seen in these two examples:

Understanding ZFS: Prefetch

ZFS prefetch algorithm can cause performance drawbacks

11.4.1 Using the Scripts

FreeNAS® provides two command line scripts:

arc_summary.py: used to watch the statistics in real time

arcstat.py: provides a summary of the statistics

For now, these scripts can be manually run from Shell. Future FreeNAS® versions will automatically integrate their results into a System → Reporting graph.

The advantage of these scripts is that they can be used to provide real time (right now) information, whereas the current GUI reporting mechanism is designed to only provide graphs charted over time.

To view the help for arcstat.py:

arcstat.py -h
Usage: arcstat [-hvx] [-f fields] [-o file] [-s string] [interval [count]]
        -h: Print this help message
        -v: List all possible field headers and definitions
        -x: Print extended stats
        -f: Specify specific fields to print (see -v)
        -o: Redirect output to the specified file
        -s: Override default field separator with custom character or string
Examples:
       arcstat -o /tmp/a.log 2 10
       arcstat -s "," -o /tmp/a.log 2 10
       arcstat -v
       arcstat -f time,hit%,dh%,ph%,mh% 1

To view ARC statistics in real time, specify an interval and a count. This command will display every 1 second for a count of five.

arcstat.py 1 5
    time  read  miss  miss%  dmis  dm%  pmis  pm%  mmis  mm%  arcsz     c
06:19:03     0     0      0     0    0     0    0     0    0   425K  6.6G
06:19:04     0     0      0     0    0     0    0     0    0   425K  6.6G
06:19:05     0     0      0     0    0     0    0     0    0   425K  6.6G
06:19:06     0     0      0     0    0     0    0     0    0   425K  6.6G
06:19:07     0     0      0     0    0     0    0     0    0   425K  6.6G

This command provides a brief description of the fields in the output:

arcstat.py -v
   Usage: arcstat [-hvx] [-f fields] [-o file] [-s string] [interval [count]]
Field definitions are as follows:
   l2bytes: bytes read per second from the L2ARC
    l2hits: L2ARC hits per second
      read: Total ARC accesses per second
      dmis: Demand Data misses per second
       mru: MRU List hits per second
     dread: Demand data accesses per second
     mread: Metadata accesses per second
         c: ARC Target Size
       ph%: Prefetch hits percentage
    l2hit%: L2ARC access hit percentage
       pm%: Prefetch miss percentage
       mfu: MFU List hits per second
       mm%: Metadata miss percentage
     pread: Prefetch accesses per second
      miss: ARC misses per second
      mrug: MRU Ghost List hits per second
      dhit: Demand Data hits per second
      mfug: MFU Ghost List hits per second
      hits: ARC reads per second
       dm%: Demand Data miss percentage
     miss%: ARC miss percentage
      mhit: Metadata hits per second
       dh%: Demand Data hit percentage
       mh%: Metadata hit percentage
      pmis: Prefetch misses per second
   l2miss%: L2ARC access miss percentage
    l2miss: L2ARC misses per second
      mmis: Metadata misses per second
      phit: Prefetch hits per second
      hit%: ARC Hit percentage
     eskip: evict_skip per second
     arcsz: ARC Size
      time: Time
    l2read: Total L2ARC accesses per second
    l2size: Size of the L2ARC
    mtxmis: mutex_miss per second
      rmis: recycle_miss per second

To receive a summary of the ARC data collected:

arc_summary.py |more
System Memory:
       1.57%   123.20  MiB Active,     0.73%   56.90   MiB Inact
       2.45%   192.06  MiB Wired,      0.01%   868.00  KiB Cache
       95.23%  7.28    GiB Free,       0.01%   516.00  KiB Gap
       Real Installed:                         8.00    GiB
       Real Available:                 98.73%  7.90    GiB
       Real Managed:                   96.84%  7.65    GiB
       Logical Total:                          8.00    GiB
       Logical Used:                   8.24%   675.13  MiB
       Logical Free:                   91.76%  7.34    GiB
Kernel Memory:                                  86.86   MiB
       Data:                           83.48%  72.51   MiB
       Text:                           16.52%  14.35   MiB
Kernel Memory Map:                               7.65    GiB
       Size:                           0.34%   26.43   MiB
       Free:                           99.66%  7.62    GiB
ARC Summary: (HEALTHY)
       Storage pool Version:                   15
       Filesystem Version:                     4
       Memory Throttle Count:                  0
ARC Misc:
       Deleted:                                25
       Recycle Misses:                         0
       Mutex Misses:                           0
       Evict Skips:                            0
ARC Size:                               0.01%   425.66  KiB
       Target Size: (Adaptive)         100.00% 6.65    GiB
       Min Size (Hard Limit):          12.50%  851.08  MiB
       Max Size (High Water):          8:1     6.65    GiB
ARC Size Breakdown:
       Recently Used Cache Size:       50.00%  3.32    GiB
       Frequently Used Cache Size:     50.00%  3.32    GiB
ARC Hash Breakdown:
       Elements Max:                           46
       Elements Current:               100.00% 46
       Collisions:                             0
       Chain Max:                              0
       Chains:                                 0
ARC Efficiency:                                 581
       Cache Hit Ratio:                96.39%  560
       Cache Miss Ratio:               3.61%   21
       Actual Hit Ratio:               96.39%  560
       Data Demand Efficiency:         100.00% 4
CACHE HITS BY CACHE LIST:
         Most Recently Used:           23.04%  129
         Most Frequently Used:         76.96%  431
         Most Recently Used Ghost:     2.14%   12
         Most Frequently Used Ghost:   1.61%   9
       CACHE HITS BY DATA TYPE:
         Demand Data:                  0.71%   4
         Prefetch Data:                0.00%   0
         Demand Metadata:              99.29%  556
         Prefetch Metadata:            0.00%   0
       CACHE MISSES BY DATA TYPE:
         Demand Data:                  0.00%   0
         Prefetch Data:                0.00%   0
         Demand Metadata:              100.00% 21
         Prefetch Metadata:            0.00%   0
File-Level Prefetch: (HEALTHY)
DMU Efficiency:                                 2.27k
       Hit Ratio:                      98.63%  2.24k
       Miss Ratio:                     1.37%   31
       Colinear:                               31
         Hit Ratio:                    0.00%   0
         Miss Ratio:                   100.00% 31
       Stride:                                 2.24k
Hit Ratio:                    100.00% 2.24k
         Miss Ratio:                   0.00%   0
DMU Misc:
       Reclaim:                                31
         Successes:                    0.00%   0
         Failures:                     100.00% 31
       Streams:                                1
         +Resets:                      0.00%   0
         -Resets:                      100.00% 1
         Bogus:                                0
VDEV Cache Summary:                             21
       Hit Ratio:                      90.48%  19
       Miss Ratio:                     9.52%   2
       Delegations:                    0.00%   0
ZFS Tunable (sysctl):
       kern.maxusers                           384
       vm.kmem_size                            8213114880
       vm.kmem_size_scale                      1
       vm.kmem_size_min                        0
       vm.kmem_size_max                        329853485875
       vfs.zfs.l2c_only_size                   0
       vfs.zfs.mfu_ghost_data_lsize            0
       vfs.zfs.mfu_ghost_metadata_lsize        0
       vfs.zfs.mfu_ghost_size                  0
       vfs.zfs.mfu_data_lsize                  2048
       vfs.zfs.mfu_metadata_lsize              37888
       vfs.zfs.mfu_size                        39936
       vfs.zfs.mru_ghost_data_lsize            0
       vfs.zfs.mru_ghost_metadata_lsize        512
       vfs.zfs.mru_ghost_size                  512
       vfs.zfs.mru_data_lsize                  3584
       vfs.zfs.mru_metadata_lsize              184832
       vfs.zfs.mru_size                        323584
       vfs.zfs.anon_data_lsize                 0
       vfs.zfs.anon_metadata_lsize             0
       vfs.zfs.anon_size                       0
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_norw                      1
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_feed_again                1
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_noprefetch                0
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_feed_min_ms               200
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_feed_secs                 1
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_headroom                  2
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_write_boost               8388608
       vfs.zfs.l2arc_write_max                 8388608
       vfs.zfs.arc_meta_limit                  1784843264
       vfs.zfs.arc_meta_used                   430248
       vfs.zfs.mdcomp_disable                  0
       vfs.zfs.arc_min                         892421632
       vfs.zfs.arc_max                         7139373056
       vfs.zfs.zfetch.array_rd_sz              1048576
       vfs.zfs.zfetch.block_cap                256
       vfs.zfs.zfetch.min_sec_reap             2
       vfs.zfs.zfetch.max_streams              8
       vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable                0
       vfs.zfs.check_hostid                    1
       vfs.zfs.recover                         0
       vfs.zfs.txg.write_limit_override        0
       vfs.zfs.txg.synctime                    5
       vfs.zfs.txg.timeout                     30
       vfs.zfs.scrub_limit                     10
       vfs.zfs.vdev.cache.bshift               16
       vfs.zfs.vdev.cache.size                 10485760
       vfs.zfs.vdev.cache.max                  16384
       vfs.zfs.vdev.aggregation_limit          131072
       vfs.zfs.vdev.ramp_rate                  2
       vfs.zfs.vdev.time_shift                 6
       vfs.zfs.vdev.min_pending                4
       vfs.zfs.vdev.max_pending                10
       vfs.zfs.cache_flush_disable             0
       vfs.zfs.zil_disable                     0
       vfs.zfs.zio.use_uma                     0
       vfs.zfs.version.zpl                     4
       vfs.zfs.version.spa                     15
       vfs.zfs.version.dmu_backup_stream       1
       vfs.zfs.version.dmu_backup_header       2
       vfs.zfs.version.acl                     1
       vfs.zfs.debug                           0
       vfs.zfs.super_owner                     0

When reading the tunable values, 0 means no, 1 typically means yes, and any other number represents a value. To receive a brief description of a sysctl value, use sysctl -d. For example:

sysctl -d vfs.zfs.zio.use_uma
vfs.zfs.zio.use_uma: Use uma(9) for ZIO allocations

The ZFS tunables require a fair understanding of how ZFS works, meaning that you will be reading man pages and searching for the meaning of acronyms you are unfamiliar with. Do not change a tunable's value without researching it first. If the tunable takes a numeric value (rather than 0 for no or 1 for yes), do not make one up. Instead, research examples of beneficial values that match your workload.

If you decide to change any of the ZFS tunables, continue to monitor the system to determine the effect of the change. It is recommended that you test your changes first at the command line using sysctl. For example, to disable pre-fetch (i.e. change disable to 1 or yes):

sysctl vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable=1
vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable: 0 -> 1

The output will indicate the old value followed by the new value. If the change is not beneficial, change it back to the original value. If the change turns out to be beneficial, you can make it permanent by creating a tunable.

11.5 XDD

XDD is a utility which provides accurate and detailed measurements of disk I/O performance. This section provides some usage examples.

Type the name of the command without any options to see its usage:

xdd
Usage: xdd command-line-options
 -align [target <target#>] <#bytes>
 -blocksize [target <target#>] <#bytes/block>
 -combinedout <filename>
 -createnewfiles [target <target#>]
 -csvout <filename>
 -datapattern [target <target#>] <c> |random|sequenced|ascii <asciistring>|hex <hexdigits>|replicate
 -delay #seconds
 -deletefile [target <target#>]
 -deskew
 -devicefile
 -dio [target <target#>]
 -errout <filename>
 -fullhelp
 -heartbeat #
 -id "string" | commandline
 -kbytes [target <target#>] <#>
 -lockstep <mastertarget#> <slavetarget#> <time|op|percent|mbytes|kbytes> # <time|op|percent|mbytes|kbytes># <wait|run> <complete|stop>
 -lockstepoverlapped
 -maxall
 -maxerrors #
 -maxpri
 -mbytes [target <target#>] <#>
 -minall
 -nobarrier
 -nomemlock
 -noproclock
 -numreqs [target <target#>] <#>
 -operation [target <target#>] read|write
 -output <filename>
 -passes #
 -passoffset [target <target#>] <#blocks>
 -preallocate [target <target#>] <#blocks>
 -processlock
 -processor target# processor#
 -queuedepth #cmds
 -qthreadinfo
 -randomize [target <target#>]
 -readafterwrite [target #] trigger <stat|mp> |lag <#> | reader <hostname>|port <#>
 -reallyverbose
 -recreatefiles [target <target#>]
 -reopen [target <target#>]
 -reportthreshold [target #] <#.#>
 -reqsize [target <target#>] <#blocks>
 -roundrobin # or 'all'
 -runtime #seconds
 -rwratio [target <target#>] <ratio>
 -seek [target <target#>] save <filename> |load <filename> |disthist #buckets | seekhist #buckets|sequential|random|range #blocks|stagger|interleave #blocks|seed # | none
 -setup filename
 -sgio
 -sharedmemory [target <target#>]
 -singleproc #
 -startdelay [target <target#>]#.#seconds
 -startoffset [target <target#>] #
 -starttime #seconds
 -starttrigger <target#> <target#> <<time|op|percent|mbytes|kbytes> #>
 -stoptrigger <target#> <target#> <<time|op|percent|mbytes|kbytes> #>
 -syncio #
 -syncwrite [target <target#>]
 -target filename
 -targetdir [target <target#>] <directory_name>
 -targetoffset # -targets # filename filename filename... -or- -targets -# filename
 -targetstartdelay #.#seconds
 -throttle [target <target#>] <ops|bw|var> <#.#ops | #.#MB/sec | #.#var>
 -timelimit [target <target#>] <#seconds>
 -timerinfo
 -timeserver <host hostname | port # | bounce #>
 -ts [target <target#>] summary|detailed|wrap|oneshot|size #|append|output <filename>|dump  <filename>|triggertime <seconds>|triggerop <op#>
 -verbose
 -verify [target <target#>] location|contents
 -version

Here is an example of a ZFS write test:

xdd –op write –targets 2 /mnt/tank/BIGFILE1 /mnt/tank/BIGFILE2 -blocksize 512 \ -reqsize 128 -mbytes 2048 –verbose –passes 3

This test will write sequentially from two existing target files, /mnt/tank/BIGFILE1 and /mnt/tank/BIGFILE2. It starts at the beginning of each file using a fixed request size of 128 blocks with 512 bytes per block until it has read 2048 MB, at which time it will end the current pass and proceed to the next pass. It will do this 3 times and display performance information for each pass. The combined performance of both devices is calculated and displayed at the end of the run. Once the test is finished, you can test the read performance by changing the -op to read.

You can also test read or write operations on a specified disk. Replace /dev/ada0 with the device name for the disk you wish to test.

xdd –op read –targets 1 /dev/ada0 –reqsize 128 -mbytes 64 –passes 3 –verbose

If you use the same switches often, create a setup file and refer to it with the -setup switch. For example, in a writeable location (e.g. volume or dataset) create a xdd.setup file containing this line:

–reqsize 128 -mbytes 64 –passes 3 –verbose

Now your command would be:

xdd –op read –targets 1 /dev/ada0 -setup xdd.setup

To perform a random I/O test on the specified disk:

xdd –op read –targets 1 /dev/ada0 –reqsize 8 -mbytes 16 –passes 3 –verbose –seek \ random –seek range 4000000

This random I/O test will read from the target device at some random location using a fixed request size of 8 blocks until it has read 16 MB. It will do this 3 times and display performance information for each pass. Since this is a random I/O pattern, the read requests are distributed over a range of 4,000,000 blocks. This is useful in constraining the area over which the random locations are chosen from. The same seek locations are used for each pass in order to generate reproducible results. In fact, upon each invocation of xdd using the same parameters, the same random locations are generated each time. This allows the user to change the disk or starting offset and observe the effects. The random locations may be changed from pass to pass within an xdd run by using the -randomize option which generates a new set of locations for each pass. The random locations may be changed from run to run using the –seek seed option to specify a different random number generation seed value for each invocation of xdd.

11.6 tw_cli

FreeNAS® includes the tw_cli command line utility for providing controller, logical unit, and drive management for AMCC/3ware ATA RAID Controllers. The supported models are listed in the man pages for the twe(4) and twa(4) drivers.

Before using this command, read its man page as it describes the terminology and provides some usage examples.

If you type tw_cli in Shell, the prompt will change, indicating that you have entered interactive mode where you can run all sorts of maintenance commands on the controller and its arrays.

Alternately, you can specify one command to run. For example, to view the disks in the array:

tw_cli /c0 show
Unit  UnitType  Status         %RCmpl  %V/I/M  Stripe  Size(GB)  Cache AVrfy
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
u0    RAID-6    OK             -       -       256K    5587.88   RiW   ON
u1    SPARE     OK             -       -       -       931.505   -     OFF
u2    RAID-10   OK             -       -       256K    1862.62   RiW   ON
VPort Status         Unit Size      Type  Phy Encl-Slot    Model
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
p8    OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt0  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p9    OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt1  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p10   OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt2  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p11   OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt3  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p12   OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt4  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p13   OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt5  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p14   OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt6  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p15   OK             u0   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt7  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p16   OK             u1   931.51 GB SAS   -   /c0/e0/slt8  SEAGATE ST31000640SS
p17   OK             u2   931.51 GB SATA  -   /c0/e0/slt9  ST31000340NS
p18   OK             u2   931.51 GB SATA  -   /c0/e0/slt10 ST31000340NS
p19   OK             u2   931.51 GB SATA  -   /c0/e0/slt11 ST31000340NS
p20   OK             u2   931.51 GB SATA  -   /c0/e0/slt15 ST31000340NS
Name  OnlineState  BBUReady  Status    Volt     Temp     Hours LastCapTest
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
bbu   On           Yes       OK        OK       OK       212  03-Jan-2012

Or, to review the event log:

tw_cli /c0 show events
Ctl  Date                        Severity  AEN Message
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c0   [Thu Feb 23 2012 14:01:15]  INFO      Battery charging started
c0   [Thu Feb 23 2012 14:03:02]  INFO      Battery charging completed
c0   [Sat Feb 25 2012 00:02:18]  INFO      Verify started: unit=0
c0   [Sat Feb 25 2012 00:02:18]  INFO      Verify started: unit=2,subunit=0
c0   [Sat Feb 25 2012 00:02:18]  INFO      Verify started: unit=2,subunit=1
c0   [Sat Feb 25 2012 03:49:35]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=2,subunit=0
c0   [Sat Feb 25 2012 03:51:39]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=2,subunit=1
c0   [Sat Feb 25 2012 21:55:59]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=0
c0   [Thu Mar 01 2012 13:51:09]  INFO      Battery health check started
c0   [Thu Mar 01 2012 13:51:09]  INFO      Battery health check completed
c0   [Thu Mar 01 2012 13:51:09]  INFO      Battery charging started
c0   [Thu Mar 01 2012 13:53:03]  INFO      Battery charging completed
c0   [Sat Mar 03 2012 00:01:24]  INFO      Verify started: unit=0
c0   [Sat Mar 03 2012 00:01:24]  INFO      Verify started: unit=2,subunit=0
c0   [Sat Mar 03 2012 00:01:24]  INFO      Verify started: unit=2,subunit=1
c0   [Sat Mar 03 2012 04:04:27]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=2,subunit=0
c0   [Sat Mar 03 2012 04:06:25]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=2,subunit=1
c0   [Sat Mar 03 2012 16:22:05]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=0
c0   [Thu Mar 08 2012 13:41:39]  INFO      Battery charging started
c0   [Thu Mar 08 2012 13:43:42]  INFO      Battery charging completed
c0   [Sat Mar 10 2012 00:01:30]  INFO      Verify started: unit=0
c0   [Sat Mar 10 2012 00:01:30]  INFO      Verify started: unit=2,subunit=0
c0   [Sat Mar 10 2012 00:01:30]  INFO      Verify started: unit=2,subunit=1
c0   [Sat Mar 10 2012 05:06:38]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=2,subunit=0
c0   [Sat Mar 10 2012 05:08:57]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=2,subunit=1
c0   [Sat Mar 10 2012 15:58:15]  INFO      Verify completed: unit=0

If you add some disks to the array and they are not showing up in the GUI, try running the following command:

tw_cli /c0 rescan

Use the drives to create units and export them to the operating system. When finished, run camcontrol rescan all and they will show up in Volume Manager in the GUI.

11.7 MegaCli

MegaCli is the command line interface for the LSI MegaRAID SAS family of RAID controllers. FreeNAS® also includes the mfiutil(8) utility which can be used to configure and manage connected storage devices.

The MegaCli command is quite complex with several dozen options. While it is fully documented in this 442 page PDF, the commands demonstrated in the Emergency Cheat Sheet can get you started.

11.8 IPMItool

IPMItool provides a command line interface to the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) found in IPMI devices.

An IPMI device provides side-band management should the FreeNAS® system become unavailable through the graphical administrative interface. This allows for a few vital functions, such as checking the log, accessing the BIOS setup, and powering on the system without requiring physical access to the system. Before using the ipmitool command, ensure that the IPMI management interface is connected to the network.

NOTE: the ipmitool will fail if the system does not recognize that a BMC is installed.

To see all of the options and commands, refer to ipmitool(1).

IBM has an excellent document that provides an overview of IPMI and how to get the most out of IPMItools.

11.9 freenas-debug

The FreeNAS® GUI provides an option to save debugging information to a text file using System → Settings → Advanced → Save Debug. This debugging information is created by the freenas-debug command line utility and a copy of the information is saved to /var/tmp/freenas-debug.txt.

Using Shell, you can run this command manually to gather the specific debugging information that you need. To see the available options, type:

freenas-debug
usage: /usr/local/bin/freenas-debug <options>
Where options is:
   -e          A list of comma delimited list of email addresses to email the debug log to.
   -a          Dump Active Directory Configuration
   -c          Dump (AD|LDAP) Cache
   -g          Dump GEOM configuration
   -h          Dump Hardware Configuration
   -l          Dump LDAP Configuration
   -T          Loader Configuration Information
   -n          Dump Network Configuration
   -s          Dump SSL Configuration
   -y          Dump Sysctl Configuration
   -t          Dump System Information
   -z          Dump ZFS configuration

For example, if you are troubleshooting your Active Directory configuration, try the following commands. Note that your current directory needs to be writeable (e.g. a volume or dataset).

/usr/local/bin/freenas-debug -a > debug.txt
more debug.txt

11.10 tmux

tmux is a terminal multiplexer which enables a number of terminals to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux is an alternative to GNU screen. Similar to screen, tmux can be detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then later reattached.

To start a session, simply type tmux. As seen in Figure 11.10a, a new session with a single window will open with a status line at the bottom of the screen. This line shows information on the current session and is used to enter interactive commands.

Figure 11.10a: tmux Session

To create a second window, press ctrl b then ". To close a window, type exit within the window.

tmux(1) lists all of the key bindings and commands for interacting with tmux windows and sessions.

If you close Shell while tmux is running, it will detach its session. The next time you open Shell, it will return to the tmux session. To leave the tmux session entirely, type exit; if you have multiple windows running, you will need to exit out of each first.

11.11 Dmidecode

Dmidecode reports hardware information as reported by the system BIOS. Dmidecode does not scan the hardware, it only reports what the BIOS told it to. A sample output can be seen here.

To view the BIOS report, type the command with no arguments:

dmidecode | more

dmidecode(8) describes the supported strings and types.

Section 4: Contributing to FreeNAS®

12 How to Get Involved

As an open source community, FreeNAS® relies on the input and expertise of its users to help improve FreeNAS®. When you take some time to assist the community, your contributions benefit everyone who uses FreeNAS®.

This section describes some areas of participation to get you started. It is by no means an exhaustive list. If you have an idea that you think would benefit the FreeNAS® community, bring it up on one of the resources mentioned in FreeNAS® Support Resources.

This section demonstrates how you can:

Assist with Localization

Submit Bug Reports

Test Upcoming Versions

12.1 Assist with Localization

FreeNAS® uses Pootle, an open source application, for managing the localization of the menu screens used by the FreeNAS® graphical administrative interface. Pootle makes it easy to find out the localization status of your native language and to translate the text for any menus that have not been localized yet. By providing a web editor and commenting system, Pootle allows translators to spend their time making and reviewing translations rather than learning how to use a translation submission tool.

To see the status of a localization, open pootle.freenas.org in your browser, as seen in Figure 12.1a:

Figure 12.1a: FreeNAS® Localization System

The localizations FreeNAS® users have requested are listed alphabetically on the left. If your language is missing and you would like to help in its translation, send an email to the translations mailing list so it can be added.

The green bar in the Overall Completion column indicates the percentage of FreeNAS® menus that have been localized. If a language is not at 100%, it means that the menus that currently are not translated will appear in English instead of in that language.

If you wish to help localize your language, you should first join the translations mailing list and introduce yourself and which language(s) you can assist with. This will allow you to meet other volunteers as well as keep abreast of any notices or updates that may effect the translations. You will also need to click on the Register link in order to create a Pootle login account.

The first time you log into the FreeNAS® Pootle interface, you will be prompted to select your language so that you can access that language's translation whenever you login. Alternately, you can click the Home link to see the status of all of the languages. To work on a translation, click the link for the language → click the FreeNAS® link for the project → click the link for LC_MESSAGES → and click the link for django.po. Every text line available in the GUI menu screens has been assigned a string number. If you click the number, an editor will open where you can translate the text. In the example shown in Figure 12.1b, a user has selected string number 46 in the German translation; the other strings in the screenshot have already been translated:

Figure 12.1b: Using the Pootle Interface to Edit a Translation String

Simply type in the translated text and click the Submit button to save your change.

12.2 Submit Bug Reports

FreeNAS® uses Trac, an open source bug reporting system, to manage bug reports and feature requests submitted by users. You can search for existing bugs and submit a bug report at support.freenas.org.

If you find a bug while using FreeNAS® or if you would like to request a feature in an upcoming version, take the time to research your bug/feature before submitting your bug report. This is so that you don't end up duplicating an existing report and to ensure that your report contains the information that the developers need in order to implement the fix or the feature.

Before submitting a bug report, perform the following steps:

determine if you are running the latest release of FreeNAS®. FreeNAS® developers tend to fix bugs rapidly and new features are being implemented as 8.x matures. If you are not running the latest version, it is quite likely that the bug has already been fixed or the missing feature has been implemented. If this is the case, your best course of action is to backup your data and configuration and perform an upgrade to the latest version.

if you are running the latest version, use the search feature at support.freenas.org to see if a similar report/request already exists. If one does, do not create another ticket. Instead, add a comment to the existing ticket if you have additional information to add.

If a similar report does not already exist, keep the following points in mind when you create your bug report or feature request:

you will need to register for an account, confirm you registration email address, and be logged in before you can create a new ticket.

in the Summary section shown in Figure 12.2a, include descriptive keywords that describe your problem or feature request. This is useful for other users who search for a similar problem. You can also include a comma separated list of keywords in the Keywords section.

in the Description section, describe the problem, how to recreate it, and include the text of any error messages. If you are requesting a feature, describe the benefit provided by the feature and, if applicable, provide examples of other products that use that feature or the URL of the homepage for the software. If you would like to include a screenshot of your configuration or error, check the "I have files to attach to this ticket" box.

under Type, select defect if it is a bug report or enhancement if it is a feature request.

for bug reports, be sure to select the version of FreeNAS® that you are using.

press the Preview button to read through your ticket before submitting it. Make sure it includes all of the information that someone else would need to understand your problem or request. Once you are satisfied with your ticket, click the Create Ticket button to submit it.

if you get stuck in how to fill out a field in the ticket, the TracTickets link at the bottom of the ticket creation page has several examples.

Figure 12.2a: Creating a New Ticket

12.3 Test an Upcoming Version

Prior to any release, there is a beta period where testing snapshots will be announced on the FreeNAS® website, blog, and social media sites. This beta period is meant to provide users an opportunity to test the upcoming release and to provide feedback on bugs and errors so that they can be fixed prior to release. Feedback can be sent to the Freenas-testing mailing list or a bug report can be created as described in the previous section.

12.3.1 Testing a Nightly Snapshot

Changes to FreeNAS® occur daily as developers address the bugs and enhancement requests reported by FreeNAS® users. A testing version that incorporates these changes is automatically built daily and is available for download as a nightly release.

If you wish to install or upgrade to the testing version of FreeNAS® (i.e. the version that addresses all fixed bugs up to today's date) or you need to upgrade to a version that incorporates a fix you are waiting for, you can download the latest nightly version.

NOTE: it is possible that a recently implemented change will not work as expected or will break something else. If you experience this, take the time to add a comment to the applicable support ticket so that the developers can address the problem.

DANGER! upgrading from a nightly snapshot to a RELEASE is not supported! Be wary of installing a nightly in a production environment and be sure to backup your configuration before attempting a full install of a later RC or RELEASE version.

Nightly builds are available as ISO, GUI upgrade, or .img images. If you are upgrading to a nightly from an earlier version of FreeNAS® 8.x, see the Upgrading FreeNAS® for instructions on how to upgrade.

12.3.2 Rolling Your Own Testing Snapshot

Users who wish to create their own custom ISO for testing purposes can download and compile the latest FreeNAS® source from the svn repository. Read the README first so that you are aware of any gotchas and currently known limitations.

If you wish to build your own testing snapshot, you will need to install FreeBSD 8.3 in a virtual environment or on a test system. If you are using a virtual environment, a 64-bit system with at least 4 GB of RAM is recommended. Download the FreeBSD version (i386 or amd64) that matches the architecture that you wish to build and, when prompted to choose your distribution set during the installation, select the Minimal install option.

After booting into the newly installed FreeBSD system, become the superuser (type su and enter the root user's password) and run the following commands. First, install the software you'll need and refresh your path so it is aware of the new binaries:

pkg_add -r subversion
pkg_add -r nano
pkg_add -r cdrtools
pkg_add -r python27
pkg_add -r pbi-manager
rehash

Change to the directory where you would like to store the FreeNAS® source, then use this command to download the source:

cd /usr/local
svn co https://freenas.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/freenas/trunk
cd trunk
setenv FREEBSD_CVSUP_HOST cvsup10.freebsd.org

You are now ready to build the image:

env FREEBSD_CVSUP_HOST=cvsup1.freebsd.org sh build/do_build.sh

Once the build completes, you will have an image in obj.yyyy/FreeNAS—VVVV-XXXX-yyyy.img.xz where:

VVVV is the release branch version

XXXX is the svn revision from the FreeNAS® repo

yyyy is either i386 or amd64 depending on your platform and what was provided via $FREENAS_ARCH on the command line or in an environment setting

This is a compressed raw disk image which needs to be decompressed and converted to your favorite virtual machine container format before use. There will also be a CD image called obj.yyy/FreeNAS-VVVV-XXXX-yyyy.full.iso that you can burn to disk and use to install or upgrade FreeNAS®.