4. System¶

4.1. Information¶

System → Information displays general information about the TrueNAS® system. An example is seen in Figure 4.1.1.

The information includes the hostname, the build version, type of CPU (platform), the amount of memory, the current system time, the system’s uptime, and the current load average.

To change the system’s hostname, click its Edit button, type in the new hostname, and click “OK”. The hostname must include the domain name. If the network does not use a domain name add .local to the end of the hostname.

Fig. 4.1.1 System Information Tab

4.2. General¶

System → General is shown in Figure 4.2.1.

Fig. 4.2.1 General Screen

Table 4.2.1 summarizes the settings that can be configured using the General tab:

After making any changes, click the Save button.

This screen also contains these buttons:

Factory Restore: resets the configuration database to the default base version. However, it does not delete user SSH keys or any other data stored in a user’s home directory. Since any configuration changes stored in the configuration database will be erased, this option is handy if you mess up your system or wish to return a test system to the original configuration.

Save Config: used to save a backup copy of the current configuration database in the format hostname-version-architecture to the system being used to access the administrative interface. It is recommended to always save the configuration after making any configuration changes. Note that while TrueNAS® automatically backs up the configuration database to the system dataset every morning at 3:45, this backup will not occur if the system is shutdown at that time and the backup will not be available if the system dataset is stored on the boot pool and the boot pool becomes unavailable. You can determine and change the location of the system dataset using System → System Dataset.

Upload Config: allows you to browse to the location of a previously saved configuration file in order to restore that configuration. The screen will turn red as an indication that the system will need to reboot in order to load the restored configuration.

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 or other directory services. By default, TrueNAS® is pre-configured to use three public NTP servers. If your network is using a directory service, ensure that the TrueNAS® system and the server running the directory service have been configured to use the same NTP servers. To add a NTP server on the TrueNAS® system, click NTP Servers → Add NTP Server to open the screen shown in Figure 4.2.2. Table 4.2.2 summarizes the options available when adding an NTP server. ntp.conf(5) explains these options in more detail.

Fig. 4.2.2 Add an NTP Server

4.3. Boot¶

TrueNAS® supports a feature of ZFS known as multiple boot environments. With multiple boot environments, the process of updating the operating system becomes a low-risk operation as the updater automatically creates a snapshot of your current boot environment and adds it to the boot menu before applying the update. If the update fails, simply reboot the system and select the previous boot environment from the boot menu to instruct the system to go back to that system state.

As seen in Figure 4.3.1, two boot environments are created when TrueNAS® is installed. The system will boot into the default boot environment and users can make their changes and update from this version. The other boot environment, named Initial-Install can be booted into if the system needs to be returned to a pristine, non-configured version of the installation.

If you used the Wizard, a third boot environment called Wizard-date is also created indicating the date and time the wizard was run.

Fig. 4.3.1 Viewing Boot Environments

Each boot environment entry contains the following information:

• Name: the name of the boot entry as it will appear in the boot menu.
• Active: indicates which entry will boot by default if the user does not select another entry in the boot menu.
• Created: indicates the date and time the boot entry was created.
• Keep: indicates whether or not this boot environment can be pruned if an update does not have enough space to proceed. Click the entry’s Keep button if that boot environment should not be automatically pruned.

Highlight an entry to view its configuration buttons. The following configuration buttons are available:

• Rename: used to change the name of the boot environment.
• Keep/Unkeep: used to toggle whether or not the updater can prune (automatically delete) this boot environment if there is not enough space to proceed with the update.
• Clone: used to create a copy of the highlighted boot environment.
• Delete: used to delete the highlighted entry, which also removes that entry from the boot menu. Since you cannot delete an entry that has been activated, this button will not appear for the active boot environment. If you need to delete an entry that is currently activated, first activate another entry, which will clear the On reboot field of the currently activated entry. Note that this button will not be displayed for the default boot environment as this entry is needed in order to return the system to the original installation state.
• Activate: only appears on entries which are not currently set to Active. Changes the selected entry to the default boot entry on next boot. Its status changes to On Reboot and the current Active entry changes from On Reboot, Now to Now, indicating that it was used on the last boot but will not be used on the next boot.

The buttons above the boot entries can be used to:

• Create: a manual boot environment. A pop-up menu will prompt you to input a “Name” for the boot environment. When entering the name, only alphanumeric characters, underscores, and dashes are allowed.
• Scrub Boot: can be used to perform a manual scrub of the boot devices. By default, the boot device is scrubbed every 35 days. To change the default interval, input a different number in the Automatic scrub interval (in days) field. The date and results of the last scrub are also listed in this screen. The condition of the boot device should be listed as HEALTHY.
• Status: click this button to see the status of the boot devices. In the example shown in Figure 4.3.2, there is only one boot device and it is ONLINE.

Fig. 4.3.2 Viewing the Status of the Boot Device

If one of the boot devices has a Status of OFFLINE, click the device to replace, select the new replacement device, and click Replace Disk to rebuild the boot mirror.

Figure 4.3.3 shows a sample boot menu.

Fig. 4.3.3 Boot Environments in Boot Menu

The first entry is the active boot environment, or the one that the system has been configured to boot into. To boot into a different boot environment, press the spacebar to pause this screen, use the down arrow to select Boot Environment Menu, and press Enter. A menu displays the other available boot environments. Use the up/down arrows to select the desired boot environment and press Enter to boot into it. To always boot into that boot environment, go to System → Boot, highlight that entry, and click the Activate button.

4.4. Advanced¶

System → Advanced is shown in Figure 4.4.1. The configurable settings are summarized in Table 4.4.1.

Fig. 4.4.1 Advanced Screen

If you make any changes, click the Save button.

This tab also contains the following buttons:

Backup: used to backup the TrueNAS® configuration and ZFS layout, and, optionally, the data, to a remote system over an encrypted connection. Click this button to open the configuration screen shown in Figure 4.4.2. Table 4.4.2 summarizes the configuration options. The only requirement for the remote system is that it has sufficient space to hold the backup and it is running an SSH server on port 22. The remote system does not have to be formatted with ZFS as the backup will be saved as a binary file. To restore a saved backup, use the 12) Restore from a backup option of the TrueNAS® console menu shown in Figure 2.6.1.

Save Debug: used to generate a text file of diagnostic information. Once the debug is created, it will prompt for the location to save the generated ASCII text file.

Fig. 4.4.2 Backup Configuration Screen

4.5. Email¶

System → Email, shown in Figure 4.5.1, is used to configure the email settings on the TrueNAS® system. Table 4.5.1 summarizes the settings that can be configured using the Email tab.

Fig. 4.5.1 Email Screen

Click the Send Test Mail button to verify that the configured email settings are working. If the test email fails, double-check the destination email address by clicking the Change E-mail button for the root account in Account → Users → View Users. Test mail cannot be sent unless the root email address has been set.

4.6. System Dataset¶

System → System Dataset, shown in Figure 4.6.1, is used to select the pool which will contain the persistent system dataset. The system dataset stores debugging core files and Samba4 metadata such as the user/group cache and share level permissions. If the TrueNAS® system is configured to be a Domain Controller, all of the domain controller state is stored there as well, including domain controller users and groups.

Fig. 4.6.1 System Dataset Screen

The system dataset can optionally be configured to also store the system log and Reporting information. If there are lots of log entries or reporting information, moving these to the system dataset will prevent /var/ on the device holding the operating system from filling up as /var/ has limited space.

Use the drop-down menu to select the ZFS volume (pool) to contain the system dataset.

To store the system log on the system dataset, check the Syslog box.

To store the reporting information on the system dataset, check the Reporting Database box.

If you make any changes, click the Save button to save them.

If you change the pool storing the system dataset at a later time, TrueNAS® will automatically migrate the existing data in the system dataset to the new location.

4.7. Tunables¶

System → Tunables can be used to manage the following:

1. FreeBSD sysctls: a sysctl(8) makes changes to the FreeBSD kernel running on a TrueNAS® system and can be used to tune the system.
2. FreeBSD loaders: a loader is only loaded when a FreeBSD-based system boots and can be used to pass a parameter to the kernel or to load an additional kernel module such as a FreeBSD hardware driver.
3. FreeBSD rc.conf options: rc.conf(5) is used to pass system configuration options to the system startup scripts as the system boots. Since TrueNAS® has been optimized for storage, not all of the services mentioned in rc.conf(5) are available for configuration. Note that in TrueNAS®, customized rc.conf options are stored in /tmp/rc.conf.freenas.

Since sysctl, loader, and rc.conf values are specific to the kernel parameter to be tuned, the driver to be loaded, or the service to configure, descriptions and suggested values can be found in the man page for the specific driver and in many sections of the FreeBSD Handbook.

To add a loader, sysctl, or rc.conf option, go to System → Tunables → Add Tunable, to access the screen shown in seen in Figure 4.7.1.

Fig. 4.7.1 Adding a Tunable

Table 4.7.1 summarizes the options when adding a tunable.

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

Some sysctls are read-only, meaning that they require a reboot in order to enable their setting. You can determine if a sysctl is read-only by first attempting to change it from Shell. For example, to change the value of net.inet.tcp.delay_ack to 1, use the command sysctl net.inet.tcp.delay_ack=1. If the sysctl value is read-only, an error message will indicate that the setting is read-only. If you do not get an error, the setting is now applied. For the setting to be persistent across reboots, the sysctl must still be added in System → Tunables.

The GUI does not display the sysctls that are pre-set when TrueNAS® is installed. TrueNAS® 9.10.1-STABLE ships with the following sysctls set:

kern.metadelay=3
kern.dirdelay=4
kern.filedelay=5
kern.coredump=0
net.inet.carp.preempt=1
debug.ddb.textdump.pending=1
vfs.nfsd.tcpcachetimeo=300
vfs.nfsd.tcphighwater=150000
vfs.zfs.vdev.larger_ashift_minimal=0
net.inet.carp.senderr_demotion_factor=0
net.inet.carp.ifdown_demotion_factor=0

Do not add or edit these default sysctls as doing so may render the system unusable.

The GUI does not display the loaders that are pre-set when TrueNAS® is installed. TrueNAS® 9.10.1-STABLE ships with these loaders set:

autoboot_delay="2"
loader_logo="truenas-logo"
loader_menu_title="Welcome to TrueNAS"
loader_brand="truenas-brand"
loader_version=" "
kern.cam.boot_delay="10000"
debug.debugger_on_panic=1
debug.ddb.textdump.pending=1
hw.hptrr.attach_generic=0
ispfw_load="YES"
module_path="/boot/kernel;/boot/modules;/usr/local/modules"
net.inet6.ip6.auto_linklocal="0"
vfs.zfs.vol.mode=2
kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable="0"
hint.ahciem.0.disabled="1"
hint.ahciem.1.disabled="1"
kern.msgbufsize="524288"
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="262144"
kern.hwpmc.nbuffers="4096"
kern.hwpmc.nsamples="4096"
hw.memtest.tests="0"
vfs.zfs.trim.enabled="0"
kern.cam.ctl.ha_mode=2

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

The ZFS version used in 9.10.1-STABLE deprecates these tunables:

vfs.zfs.write_limit_override
vfs.zfs.write_limit_inflated
vfs.zfs.write_limit_max
vfs.zfs.write_limit_min
vfs.zfs.write_limit_shift
vfs.zfs.no_write_throttle

If you upgrade from an earlier version of TrueNAS® where these tunables are set, they will automatically be deleted for you. You should not try to add these tunables back.

4.8. Update¶

TrueNAS® uses signed updates rather than point releases. This provides the TrueNAS® administrator more flexibility in deciding when to upgrade the system in order to apply system patches or to add new drivers or features. It also allows the administrator to “test drive” an upcoming release. Combined with boot environments, an administrator can try new features or apply system patches with the knowledge that they can revert to a previous version of the operating system, using the instructions in If Something Goes Wrong. Signed patches also mean that the administrator no longer has to manually download the GUI upgrade file and its associated checksum in order to perform an upgrade.

Figure 4.8.1 shows an example of the System → Update screen.

Fig. 4.8.1 Update Options

By default, the system will automatically check for updates and will issue an alert when a new update becomes available. To disable this default, uncheck the box Automatically check for updates.

This screen lists the URL of the official update server, should that information be needed in a network with outbound firewall restrictions. It also indicates which software branch, or train, the system is currently tracking updates for. The following trains are available:

• TrueNAS-9.10-STABLE: this is the recommended train for production use. Once new fixes and features have been tested as production-ready, they are added to this train. It is recommended to follow this train and to apply any of its pending updates.
• TrueNAS-9.3-STABLE: this is the maintenance-only mode for an older version of TrueNAS®. Unless an iX support engineer indicates otherwise, it is recommended to upgrade to TrueNAS-9.10-STABLE, by selecting that train, to ensure that the system receives bug fixes and new features.

The Verify Install button goes through the operating system files in the current installation, looking for any inconsistencies. When finished, a pop-up menu lists any files with checksum mismatches or permission errors.

To see if any updates are available, click the Check Now button. Any available updates are listed.

To apply updates immediately, make sure that there aren’t any clients currently connected to the TrueNAS® system and that a scrub is not running. Click the OK button to download and apply the updates. Note that some updates will automatically reboot the system after they are applied.

Alternately, you can download the updates and apply them later. To do so, uncheck the Apply updates after downloading box before pressing OK. In this case, this screen closes after updates are downloaded. Downloaded updates are listed in the Pending Updates section of the screen shown in Figure 4.8.1. When ready to apply the previously downloaded updates, click the Apply Pending Updates button and be aware that the system may reboot after the updates are applied.

4.8.3. Upgrading a ZFS Pool¶

In TrueNAS®, ZFS pools can be upgraded from the graphical administrative interface.

Before upgrading an existing ZFS pool, be aware of these caveats first:

• the pool upgrade is a one-way street, meaning that if you change your mind you cannot go back to an earlier ZFS version or downgrade to an earlier version of the software that does not support those feature flags.
• before performing any operation that may affect the data on a storage disk, always back up 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.
• upgrading a ZFS pool is optional. It is not necessary to upgrade the pool if you do not need newer feature flags or if you want to keep the possibility of reverting to an earlier version of TrueNAS® or repurposing the disks in another operating system that supports ZFS. If you decide to upgrade the pool to the latest feature flags, it will not be possible to import that pool into another operating system that does not yet support those feature flags.

To perform the ZFS pool upgrade, go to Storage → Volumes → View Volumes and highlight the volume (ZFS pool) to upgrade. Click the Upgrade button as shown in Figure 4.8.2.

Note

If the Upgrade button does not appear, the pool is already at the latest feature flags and does not need to be upgraded.

Fig. 4.8.2 Upgrading a ZFS Pool

The warning reminds you that a pool upgrade is irreversible. Click OK to proceed with the upgrade.

The upgrade itself only takes a few seconds and is non-disruptive. It is not necessary to stop any sharing services to upgrade the pool. However, it is best to upgrade when the pool is not being heavily used. The upgrade process will suspend I/O for a short period, but is nearly instantaneous on a quiet pool.

4.9. CAs¶

TrueNAS® can act as a Certificate Authority (CA). If you plan to use SSL or TLS to encrypt any of the connections to the TrueNAS® system, you will need to first create a CA, then either create or import the certificate to be used for encrypted connections. Once you do this, the certificate will appear in the drop-down menus for all the services that support SSL or TLS.

Figure 4.9.1 shows the initial screen if you click System → CAs.

Fig. 4.9.1 Initial CA Screen

If your organization already has a CA, you can import the CA’s certificate and key. Click the Import CA button to open the configuration screen shown in Figure 4.9.2. The configurable options are summarized in Table 4.9.1.

Fig. 4.9.2 Importing a CA

To instead create a new CA, first decide if it will be the only CA which will sign certificates for internal use or if the CA will be part of a certificate chain.

To create a CA for internal use only, click the Create Internal CA button which will open the screen shown in Figure 4.9.3.

Fig. 4.9.3 Creating an Internal CA

The configurable options are described in Table 4.9.2. When completing the fields for the certificate authority, use the information for your organization.

To instead create an intermediate CA which is part of a certificate chain, click the Create Intermediate CA button. This screen adds one more option to the screen shown in Figure 4.9.3:

• Signing Certificate Authority: this drop-down menu is used to specify the root CA in the certificate chain. This CA must first be imported or created.

Any CAs that you import or create will be added as entries in System → CAs. The columns in this screen will indicate the name of the CA, whether or not it is an internal CA, whether or not the issuer is self-signed, the number of certificates that have been issued by the CA, the distinguished name of the CA, the date and time the CA was created, and the date and time the CA expires.

If you click the entry for a CA, the following buttons become available:

• Export Certificate: will prompt to browse to the location, on the system being used to access the TrueNAS® system, to save a copy of the CA’s X.509 certificate.
• Export Private Key: will prompt to browse to the location, on the system being used to access the TrueNAS® system, to save a copy of the CA’s private key. Note that this option only appears if the CA has a private key.
• Delete: will prompt to confirm before deleting the CA.

4.10. Certificates¶

TrueNAS® can import existing certificates, create new certificates, and issue certificate signing requests so that created certificates can be signed by the CA which was previously imported or created in CAs.

Figure 4.10.1 shows the initial screen if you click System → Certificates.

Fig. 4.10.1 Initial Certificates Screen

To import an existing certificate, click the Import Certificate button to open the configuration screen shown in Figure 4.10.2. The configurable options are summarized in Table 4.10.1.

Fig. 4.10.2 Importing a Certificate

To instead create a new self-signed certificate, click the Create Internal Certificate button to see the screen shown in Figure 4.10.3. The configurable options are summarized in Table 4.10.2. When completing the fields for the certificate authority, use the information for your organization. Since this is a self-signed certificate, use the CA that you imported or created using CAs as the signing authority.

Fig. 4.10.3 Creating a New Certificate

If you need to use a certificate that is signed by an external CA, such as Verisign, instead create a certificate signing request. To do so, click the Create Certificate Signing Request button. A screen like the one in Figure 4.10.3 opens, but without the Signing Certificate Authority field.

All certificates that you import, self-sign, or make a certificate signing request for will be added as entries to System → Certificates. In the example shown in Figure 4.10.4, a self-signed certificate and a certificate signing request have been created for the fictional organization My Company. The self-signed certificate was issued by the internal CA named My Company and the administrator has not yet sent the certificate signing request to Verisign so that it can be signed. Once that certificate is signed and returned by the external CA, it should be imported using the mport Certificate button so that is available as a configurable option for encrypting connections.

Fig. 4.10.4 Managing Certificates

If you click an entry, it will activate the following configuration buttons:

• View: once a certificate is created, it cannot be edited. The Name, Certificate, and Private Key fields can be viewed. If a certificate must be changed, Delete and recreate it.
• Export Certificate: used to save a copy of the certificate or certificate signing request to the system being used to access the TrueNAS® system. For a certificate signing request, send the exported certificate to the external signing authority so that it can be signed.
• Export Private Key: used to save a copy of the private key associated with the certificate or certificate signing request to the system being used to access the TrueNAS® system.
• Delete: used to delete a certificate or certificate signing request.

4.11. Support¶

The TrueNAS® Support tab, shown in Figure 4.11.1, is used to view or update the system’s license information. It also provides a built-in ticketing system for generating support requests.

Fig. 4.11.1 Support Tab

In this example, the system has a valid license which indicates the hardware model, system serial number, support contract type, licensed period, customer name, licensed features, and additional supported hardware.

If the license expires or additional hardware, features, or contract type are required, contact your iXsystems support engineer. Once you have the new license string, click the Update License button, paste in the new license, and click OK. The new details will be displayed.

To generate a support ticket, complete the following fields:

• Name: input the name of the person the iXsystems Support Representative should contact to assist with the issue.
• E-mail: input the email address of the person to contact.
• Phone: input the phone number of the person to contact.
• Category: use the drop-down menu to indicate whether the ticket is to report a software bug, report a hardware failure, ask for assistance in installing or configuring the system, or request assistance in diagnosing a performance bottleneck.
• Environment: use the drop-down menu to indicate the role of the affected system. Choices are Production, Staging, Test, Prototyping, or Initial Deployment/Setup.
• Criticality: use the drop-down menu to indicate the critical level. Choices are Inquiry, Loss of Functionality, or Total Down.
• Attach Debug Info: it is recommended to leave this box checked so that an overview of the system’s hardware and configuration is automatically generated and included with the ticket.
• Subject: enter a descriptive title for the ticket.
• Description: enter a one- to three-paragraph summary of the issue that describes the problem, and if applicable, what steps can be taken to reproduce it.
• Attachments: this is the only optional field. It is useful for including configuration files or screenshots of any errors or tracebacks.

Once you have finished completing the fields, click the Submit button to generate and send the support ticket to iXsystems. A pop-up menu will provide a clickable URL so that you can view the status of or add additional information to that support ticket. Clicking this URL will prompt you to login, or register a new login, if you are not already logged into the iXsystems Support page.

4.12. Failovers¶

If the TrueNAS® array has been licensed for High Availability (HA), a Failover tab is added to System. HA-licensed arrays use the Common Address Redundancy Protocol (CARP) to provide high availability and failover. CARP was originally developed by the OpenBSD project and provides an open source, non patent-encumbered alternative to the VRRP and HSRP protocols. TrueNAS® uses a two-unit active/standby model and provides an HA synchronization daemon to automatically monitor the status of the active node, synchronize any configuration changes between the active and the standby node, and failover to the standby node should the active node become unavailable.

To configure HA, turn on both units in the array. Use the instructions in the Console Setup Menu to log into the graphical interface for one of the units, it doesn’t matter which one. If this is the first login, it will automatically display the Upload License screen. Otherwise, click System → Support → Upload License.

Paste the HA license you received from iXsystems and press OK to activate it. The license contains the serial numbers for both units in the chassis. After the license is activated, the Failovers tab is added to System and some fields are modified in Network so that the peer IP address, peer hostname, and virtual IP can be configured. An extra IPMI (Node A/B) tab will also be added so that IPMI can be configured for the other unit.

To configure HA networking, go to Network → Global Configuration. The Hostname field is replaced by two fields:

• Hostname (Node A/B): enter the hostname to use for the other node.
• Hostname (This Node): enter the hostname to use for this node.

Next, go to Network → Interfaces → Add Interface. The HA license adds several fields to the usual Interfaces screen:

• IPv4 Address (Node A/B): if the other node will use a static IP address, rather than DHCP, set it here.
• IPv4 Address (This Node): if this node will use a static IP address, rather than DHCP, set it here.
• Virtual IP: input the IP address to use for administrative access to the array.
• Virtual Host ID: the Virtual Host ID (VHID) must be unique on the broadcast segment of the network. It can be any unused number between 1 and 255.
• Critical for Failover: check this box if a failover should occur when this interface becomes unavailable. How many seconds it takes for that failover to occur depends upon the value of the Timeout, as described in Table 4.12.1. This checkbox is interface-specific, allowing you to have different settings for a management network and a data network. Note that checking this box requires the Virtual IP to be set and that at least one interface needs to be set as Critical for Failover to configure failover.
• Group: this drop-down menu is grayed out unless the Critical for Failover checkbox is checked. This box allows grouping multiple, critical-for-failover interfaces. In this case, all of the interfaces in a group must go down before failover occurs. This can be a useful configuration in a multipath scenario.

Once the network configuration is complete, logout and log back in, this time using the Virtual IP address. You can now configure volumes and shares as usual and the configurations will automatically synchronize between the active and the standby node. A HA Enabled icon will be added after the Alert icon on the active node and the passive node will indicate the virtual IP address that is used for configuration management. The standby node will also have a red Standby icon and will no longer accept logins as all configuration changes must occur on the active node.

The options available in System → Failovers are shown in Figure 4.12.1: and described in Table 4.12.1.

Fig. 4.12.1 Example Failovers Screen

hactl
Node status: Active
Failover status: Enabled

hactl
Node status: Not an HA node