Have you set your sights on a real NAS, but are the hefty prices holding you back? Then know that it can also be done as well as for free. Pretty much the only condition is that you have an extra PC and are willing to install and configure TrueNAS CORE once. That is a free and software-based NAS that has just about everything you can expect from a smart network drive.
‘NAS’ stands for network-attached storage, which means as much as: storage space that you and your family members (or colleagues) (home) network can approach. As an administrator, you would prefer to determine which network folders are accessible and to whom. That is perfectly possible with TrueNAS CORE. The name may not tell you much, but in fact this NAS software stems from the very popular FreeNAS project.TrueNAS CORE relies on FreeBSD, but don’t let that scare you: except for installation, all components can be easily moved from operate a graphical web interface.
In this first part we will install TrueNAS, so that in the next issue of Techzle we can completely customize the tool and share plenty of data.
Hardware
You download TrueNAS CORE in the form of an ISO file that you then have to convert into a bootable disk. Unless you virtualize the entire installation process (see text box ‘Virtual machine’), this means that you must have an (extra) computer that will boot from TrueNAS.
The most important conditions are a 64-bit processor and (preferably) 8 GB of RAM. You also need at least two storage media. A hefty and fast medium for your actual data (preferably even two or more, so that you can place the disks in RAID: see also under ‘Storage space’) and a modest medium for the installation of TrueNAS itself. In principle, 8 GB is sufficient for the latter. If you absolutely do not want to sacrifice a hard disk or ssd for this, it can be done on a USB stick, but experience has taught us that this does not work nearly as smoothly.
Virtual Machine
If you prefer to experiment with TrueNAS CORE first, you can consider a virtual installation. We show you how to do that with VirtualBox.
Install the program, open the administration window and click New. Enter TrueNAS and choose Type the option Other and with Version the option Other/Unknown (64-bit). Press Next one and enter as much working memory as possible (preferably 8GB). Press Next one, choose Create new virtual hard drive now and click Create. Choose VDI, Press Next one (2x) and select minimum 8GB as disk size. Confirm with Create.
Select your TrueNAS virtual machine and choose Settings. Open the section Storage, select Empty and click on the CD icon. Select Choose a virtual optical disc file and reference your TrueNAS iso file. Click now Controller:IDE and the plus button Add hard drive. Choose Create and enter a name, location and storage size for your data. End with Create.
Open the section Network and choose Bridged Adapter Bee Linked to, along with the active network adapter, so that you can access the TrueNAS web interface from your physical machine(s) after installation. Confirm with OK and click Start. The installation can begin.
At the end you choose OK, Shutdown System and OK. Finally, in Settings, open the section again Storage, right click on the iso file and choose Remove connection. Your virtual TrueNAS installation is ready. You can find the machine’s IP address by clicking on the start menu for shell to choose and ifconfig to be carried out.
Preparation
Once the hardware is ready, you can start using the software. surf to www.tiny.cc/trucdl and click No Thank you […] and Download Now to download the TrueNAS CORE iso file (900 MB). You now need to convert this disk image to a live system. You can do that with a USB stick and a free tool like Win32 Disk Imager. Insert an (empty) USB stick into your PC and start the tool. Refer to your iso file via the folder icon, but change the drop-down menu with Disk Images in *.*. Then select the stick at Target device and you only need to confirm with To write and yes.
It is now the intention that you start the other PC from this stick. If that doesn’t work, disable the function in the BIOS Secure Boot or set the UEFI BIOS to Legacy Bios Mode or csm boot.
Next, we’re going to install TrueNAS on that PC. As mentioned, this can be done on a USB stick (you must also have it plugged in), but it runs much better on a hard drive or SSD.
Installation
Shortly after the PC has booted from the installation stick, a selection menu will appear. Confirm the top option (Boot TrueNAS Installer) with the Enter key and then choose 1 Install/Upgrade. You will receive a notification if your system has less than 8 GB of RAM. If you still want to continue in this case, choose yes.
In the next window TrueNAS asks you which disk you want to install the system on and that is the second stick or, much better, a (small) hard disk. Confirm your choice with the space key so that an asterisk appears next to the selected medium. Confirm with OK and with yes. As a future administrator of TrueNAS, you naturally want to provide a strong password (2x). Confirm again with OK. Finally you choose Boot through BIOS (unless you’re with Boot via UEFI want to try), so that the actual installation can begin.
Normally it takes about ten minutes (on a stick much longer). With some options it can seem as if your system is freezing: the message is to wait. Afterwards, confirm with OK and choose your preference 4 Shutdown System, so that you have the time to remove the installation stick from the PC before the restart.
After this reboot, the TrueNAS boot medium takes over and you can Boat TrueNAS Selecting. A little later, a boot menu with eleven options appears. That looks quite complicated, but fortunately TrueNAS can also be operated from a beautiful graphical interface.
Basic settings
Under the menu with the eleven options, you should also see the IP address of the TrueNAS machine appear, for example http(s)://192.168.0.128. In principle, you should now also be able to reach this machine on any other network PC. All you have to do is type this IP address into your browser.
TrueNAS will of course ask you to register first. You do that with root if username and the previously entered password as password. You now land in the Dashboard with the status window of TrueNAS, with an impressive number of headings like . on the left Accounts, System, Tasks, Network, Storage, sharing and so forth. We will return to some of these in the next section. To unsubscribe, click on the top right power and choose your Log Out.
In the dashboard you will also find the button Check for updates at. It is a good idea to try this feature regularly. This can also be done via System / Update.
The interface language is set to English by default, which isn’t too bad, as most TrueNAS forums, tutorials, and how-to videos are also in English. Via System / General you can in principle also set the language to Dutch (nl), but that turned out to have no effect on our system, even after a reboot via Power / Restart / Confirm / Restart.
Take the opportunity to immediately check the time zone to set (on Europe/Amsterdam). Confirm with Save.
Storage area
You still have (at least) one other disk in your system for your data, but unfortunately this storage space is not just usable. So open the section first Storage and choose Polish (volume). Then click Add / Create pool. Enter a name for your volume, preferably all lowercase. Leave the option encryption undisturbed, unless you know what the consequences are – on www.tiny.cc/encdoc read more about it here. In addition, place a check mark next to the medium that you want to use as data storage space and move it with the blue arrow button to Dates VDevs.
This selection process can also be somewhat ‘automated’ via the button Suggested layout. TrueNAS then tries to come up with an optimal layout for your storage space. This is especially useful if you want to use multiple physical drives for your storage. The use of multiple disks is safe: the built-in RAID function can then store your data redundantly, so that it can possibly survive a disk crash.
If you only have one disk, the message may appear that a ‘stripe data vdev’ is not the most appropriate solution. But life goes on and so you choose successively Force / Confirm / Continue / Create / Confirm / Create pool. The affected media will now be formatted to receive your data.
In our next episode you can read how to put your new software NAS into use.
Alternatives
TrueNAS may be well developed, but it is of course not the only way to connect a NAS to your network. In addition to hardware solutions from well-known manufacturers such as Synology and QNAP, there are also software services that can be compared with TrueNAS.
Other well-known and free open source alternatives include the Open Media Vault and the ‘personal cloud’ RockStor, both of which are based on Linux. It’s also free XigmaNAS, which, like TrueNAS, is derived from FreeNAS.
