In the previous installment of this duplicate article, we explained how to install the free TrueNAS Core NAS solution both virtually and on a physical machine, and how to add the attached disk or disks to a logical ‘pool’. In this episode, we’re picking up this thread again, creating user accounts with the necessary permissions, and accessing NAS shares from Windows.
You should have restarted the machine with TrueNAS by now and you are looking at a boring command-line menu, in which there is a lot to configure. Fortunately, we can ignore this menu, since TrueNAS has a user-friendly graphical interface.
You can also easily reach it from your favorite PC, assuming that it is in same network is located. All you have to do is type the IP address into the address bar of your browser: you can find that address at the bottom of the TrueNAS command-line menu (for example http://192.168.0.127). Then you log in with user root and the previously set password. A little later, the TrueNAS dashboard is visible again and you can continue.
Check up
It’s not a bad idea to put on your dashboard or via System / Update regularly check for updates, download and install them (check Apply updates and reboot system after downloading). For safety’s sake, first save the current configuration with Save configuration.
We ourselves use TrueNAS Core 12.0-U3.1. Through www.tiny.cc/truenasnotes you will find more information about this.
It is also wise to check the storage space of your NAS. When you have followed the instructions from the previous article and the section Storage / Polish opens, the logical pool of one or more physical drives that you previously added to that pool will appear. In addition to the pool name, you can also read about how much free and occupied disk space you have.
We intend to set certain permissions on that pool. But before we do that, let’s create some users first.
Stand-by
Your own machine with TrueNAS already has one disadvantage compared to a ready-made NAS from, for example, QNAP or Synology: the power consumption is usually greater. You can, however, ensure that your drives automatically go to standby after a while.
Open for this Storage and choose Discs. Place a checkmark next to the disk or disks that you use for your data storage and click Edit disc(s). Change HDD Standy of the default value Always On in for example 30. This means that the drive will go into standby after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Possibly you also Advanced Power Management in on (for example) Level 1 – Minimum power usage with Standby (spindown) for an even more economical energy policy. Keep in mind that it can take a few seconds before the drive is fully awake again. Also make sure there is a check mark next to Enable SMART Confirm with Save.
Accounts
You create and manage user accounts via the sections Accounts / Users. For now you will only find the user root here. So just press the button Add and enter both the full name and the username. They can be the same names, but use with username preferably only lowercase letters. Of course you also link a strong password to each account.
You may use the same username and password as that of a Windows account on the device with which you want to access shared folders (shares) afterwards. After all, that makes authenticating that little bit easier. Then put a check in Microsoft Account, at the bottom right of the window.
You can leave the other options untouched. Confirm your changes with Submit. A little later you will find the newly added user neatly in the list with Users at. If you want to change something, click on the arrow button to the right of the user and choose edit, or click delete to delete the user. You can now create other accounts in the same way.
User rights
The user has been created, but there is not much for him to experience yet. What exactly is allowed and not allowed, you can arrange by assigning specific permissions to your pool. So open the sections again Storage / Polish. In the volume overview, press the button with the three dots, on the far right of your pool. In the drop-down menu, first select Add Dataset and enter a name for this dataset (for example data); you can basically leave the other option undisturbed. Confirm with Submit, so that you return to your pool overview.
Now click on the button with the three dots next to the newly added dataset and choose Edit Permissions. In the drop-down menu at User select the user account you just added and put a checkmark next to it Apply user. Here too you can leave the other options untouched. Record your choice with Save.
Shares
Ultimately, the intention is that that user (the dataset in) can reach the pool from any PC in your home network. To make that possible, you must first create a shared folder – a so-called ‘share’ – on the NAS. To do this, open the section sharing and choose Windows Shares (SMB). By the way, note that you will find other share types here, including Apple Shares (AFP) and WebDAV Shares, but we will not go into this further.
Now press the button Add, click the black folder icon (near /mnt) and descend in this way until you reach your pool’s dataset, so that the full path can be seen at the top (e.g. /mnt/computertotal-editors/data). add Name Enter a suitable name, preferably in lowercase.
Out of curiosity you also want to go on Advanced click options. By default there are options like Enable ACL and Browseable to Network Clients enabled, and you definitely want to leave it that way. Only change the other options if you know what they stand for. A click on the question mark gives you brief feedback. Confirm your settings with Submit.
SMB service
Since you have indicated that you want to share data via Windows Shares (SMB), TrueNAS now automatically suggests activating this SMB service. So just click Enable service. Normally the question also appears Configure permissions for this share’s dataset now, but you don’t have to go into that (for now).
However, it is wise to check whether the SMB service is running. To do this, open the Services section and make sure the slider in the column running Bee SMB is enabled and that there is a check mark next to Start Automatically (That also applies to the service by the way SMART.). Note that there are quite a few other quite interesting services available here, such as Dynamic DNS, FTP, OpenVPN Client, OpenVPN Server, SSH, Rsync and WebDAV. Unfortunately, we don’t have the space to explore it further.
Windows share
The share for that user is now basically ready for use. So it’s time to test it out from a Windows PC in the same network.
Here you press the combination Windows key+R fill in, fill in \
If you accidentally saved the wrong login details, open it Control Panel and choose User Accounts / Credential Manager / Windows Credentials. Select the relevant item, click on remove and confirm with Yes.
If all is well, the newly created share will now appear in the Explorer. You can open it just like any other folder. You can also create, modify and delete files and folders here.
Network connection
If you use this folder frequently, it is useful to make a permanent network connection for it. To do this, right-click the name of the share in the navigation pane of the Explorer. You can usually find it at the bottom, in the section Network.
Choose Network connection. Select a free drive letter and make sure the path is set correctly (for example, \192.168.0.127show). Leave the check mark at Reconnection create at sign up and finish with Complete.
The selected drive letter now appears as a (network) folder in the Explorer and can be accessed just like other folders, with the correct references, though. Of course you can also perform these actions on other Windows PCs in your network.
Plugins
There are many other features and options in TrueNAS, which become immediately apparent as you cycle through the various sections of the graphical interface. Unfortunately, we don’t have the space to explore them all further.
However, we would like to draw attention to the section Plugins. The first time you have to indicate in which pool you want to save it (via Choose). By default, TrueNAS chooses the (own) iXsystems collection for the plug-in offer. There are already some well-known examples among them, such as Nextcloud, Plex Media Server and sync thing. You can also draw from the Community Collection, which has over sixty plugins, including ClamAV, Drupal8, Duplicati, Emby (Server) and OpenVPN Server.
To install a plugin, select it, press install and after some time follow the further instructions of the setup wizard. After installation, the plugin will appear at the bottom of the section Plugins. Select it and click manage for further configuration.
