TrueNAS SCALE: The voyage begins with version 20.10

Kris Moore

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After a very successful development cycle with 200+ trial users, the first version of TrueNAS SCALE is now available. As our initial community post and blog on SCALE indicated, TrueNAS SCALE is defined by its acronym:

Scale-Out ZFS: Capacity & Performance
Converged compute and storage
Active-Active reliability
Linux containers; Docker, K8s, and KVM
Easy Setup & Management

TrueNAS starts from the TrueNAS 12.0 base which includes OpenZFS 2.0, all the storage services, the middleware to coordinate these, and the web UI to present a user-oriented view of the system. This base has been tested by hundreds of thousands of users over the last few years. The new capabilities being added are based on Debian Linux and these define the new opportunities for SCALE:

KVM Virtualization: Mature Hypervisor with good reliability, Guest OS support, and Enterprise features.

Kubernetes: Applications can be single (docker) containers or “pods” of containers.

Scale-out ZFS: SCALE will enable datasets to be defined as ZFS datasets or cluster datasets which span multiple nodes and ZFS pools. Cluster datasets will have a variety of redundancy properties and still support ZFS snapshots.

Unlike other Hyperconverged Infrastructure solutions, TrueNAS SCALE will have deployment benefits as a single node, a dual-node “HA” system, or as a cluster of multiple nodes. Start with a single node system and in the future, you will be able to scale-out.

The high level release plan follows this process.


Typical Use CaseTrueNAS SCALE TagTarget Date
DevelopersNIGHTLYJune 2020
TestersNIGHTLYAugust 2020
Enthusiasts (1 Node)ALPHAOctober 2020
Enthusiasts (Cluster)BETADecember 2020
Home UsersRCQ1 2021
Business UsersRELEASEQ2 2021



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“ANGELFISH”

Angelfish is the codename for the feature set described by a set of feature groups. Each “feature group” is described as either PREVIEW, ALPHA, BETA, RC, or RELEASE quality. This first version is called TrueNAS SCALE 20.10 (Angelfish) and is described as follows:


Feature GroupsQuality
Debian LinuxRELEASE
Open ZFS 2.0RC
TrueNAS Middleware and REST APIBETA
TrueNAS WebUI (new features)ALPHA
NFS, SMB, AFP, iSCSI, S3, WebDAVBETA
KVM VirtualizationBETA
Kubernetes and Docker ContainersPREVIEW
Cluster DatasetsPREVIEW



Users should read the release notes to confirm support for their particular use case. KVM has little testing by this community at this point but is widely used elsewhere. Kubernetes is based on stable, released code (k3s), but the WebUI and Middleware are PREVIEW quality.

Cluster datasets require some additional TrueCommand features (expected in TrueCommand 2.0 - November) to provide an easy-to-use WebUI to manage them. In the meantime, the CLI and APIs can be tested, and this feature group also has PREVIEW status.

The UI, while similar to TrueNAS CORE, has also been improved with some new UX enhancements across the networking and settings sub-sections. Further UX improvements are expected to arrive later this year.

We appreciate the community feedback and bug reports and hope to get all those features to RELEASE quality faster.

A special thanks also goes to the large number of community members who joined the development and test team. We’ve really enjoyed your contributions and teamwork and it has greatly contributed to the accelerated development process. We look forward to a continued engagement and a few drinks at some point (physically or virtually).

Is TrueNAS SCALE for Users or Developers?

Out of the gate, TrueNAS SCALE is primarily for developers and bug hunters and can be downloaded here. For Linux developers, there are many opportunities to contribute to the Open Source TrueNAS SCALE project. We have made it a very well coordinated and managed environment to develop the best Open Hyperconverged Infrastructure. For more information, see this Community post.

This TrueNAS SCALE 20.10 version is also intended for tech-savvy enthusiasts who have a single node, a backup plan, and a willingness to resolve any issues they find. The 20.12 version to be released in December is intended for multi-node expansion.

In 2021, TrueNAS SCALE is expected to get to full RELEASE quality for a clustered system. It will be able to run on High Availability (HA) X-Series and M-Series systems, as well as industry-standard servers.

If you have any additional questions or need advice on a new project, please email us at info@iXsystems.com. We are standing by to help.
 

KevDog

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I think I already might know the answer to this question -- but whats the migration path from FreeNAS to this wonderful project?
 

Kris Moore

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I think I already might know the answer to this question -- but whats the migration path from FreeNAS to this wonderful project?

Right now you'll need to install fresh and import your data pool. We're working on a migration tool, but that will be a few months out before we're ready for testing.
 

ornias

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Right now you'll need to install fresh and import your data pool. We're working on a migration tool, but that will be a few months out before we're ready for testing.
That being said:
That mostly just trashes your shares and settings, but your jails aren't portable anyway for example ;)
 

Octopuss

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So where is the FreeNAS equivalent?
This new naming is completely confusing. I thought it was supposed to be called TrueNAS Core or something.
 

Dan Tudora

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hello
I try to update to Angelfish from master/nightly with no success
I change the train and click update
message say "cannot downgrade from bla, bla"
right now reinstall and I hope the old fashion with save config and restore config works
crossfingers
 

Rusty!

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So where is the FreeNAS equivalent?
This new naming is completely confusing. I thought it was supposed to be called TrueNAS Core or something.
TrueNAS Core = FreeNAS
TrueNAS Scale = This linux based project
 

Dan Tudora

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hello
reinstall with Angelfish and save config/restore config works
I spend much time to "find" where is the upload file/restore setting
is was in System settings>General settings> GUI> tree dot in right corner
weird
where is old fashion, when find what you need quickly/intuitive
maybe I am a old man
and maybe tired
 

ornias

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hello
reinstall with Angelfish and save config/restore config works

where is old fashion, when find what you need quickly/intuitive
SCALE in general (and the GUI ) is still pretty much WIP.
This is an alpha which is jargon for:
"This thing kinda somewhat runs as expected, but isn;t finished at all and might eat all your data."
 

Dan Tudora

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SCALE in general (and the GUI ) is still pretty much WIP.
This is an alpha which is jargon for:
"This thing kinda somewhat runs as expected, but isn;t finished at all and might eat all your data."
ya, ya
but what developers do not inspire/copy a logical manner if is works well
you must stay in 1 foot (on the left of course) and scratch in the left ear with RIGHT hand from 3 to 3 second to work something
for that is ALPHA, BETA and other things. TO tell developers what we think about they works
 

Kris Moore

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hello
I try to update to Angelfish from master/nightly with no success
I change the train and click update
message say "cannot downgrade from bla, bla"
right now reinstall and I hope the old fashion with save config and restore config works
crossfingers

You cannot update directly to it (yet), needs fresh install and pool import.
 

Kris Moore

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Any chance the next version (21.04?) will add the 5.9 kernel so we can get $25 2.5Gbit pci-e adapters (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y2GWVB8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) working?

Installed 20.10 Scale last night, it's working at 1Gbit at the moment. Latest version of Ubuntu 20.10 with the 5.8 kernel updates have the adapter working at 2.5Gbit.

20.10 has the 5.8 kernel right now, but its on my TODO to update us again and grab the 5.9 kernel soon. Should land in the nightlies in coming weeks, and then be available in the 20.12 version in a few months.
 

Octopuss

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TrueNAS Core = FreeNAS
TrueNAS Scale = This linux based project
Oh ok.
And what's the point in having two of the same? Give me TL;DR please, I am a Windows guy.
 

HoneyBadger

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Oh ok.
And what's the point in having two of the same? Give me TL;DR please, I am a Windows guy.
TL;DR - They aren't the same.

TrueNAS CORE carries on as the "storage first" option, with some ability to run light workloads via jails/plugins/bhyve VMs. It's currently based on FreeBSD, but the use of OpenZFS and the middleware being portable means that one day, TrueNAS may end up being Linux-based. It can't "scale out" or cluster beyond the two-node HA configuration supported in the enterprise version.

TrueNAS SCALE is a Linux-based hyperconverged solution, designed to offer compute and storage in a single box. It can "scale out" by adding additional nodes, which bring both compute and storage to the party.
 

Dan Tudora

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You cannot update directly to it (yet), needs fresh install and pool import.
ya, I do that
but the question is VERY actually with the GUI
what you fuk**** doing with that ??
I spend very much time to "find" where can change name of the NAS and where is the upload config file menu
weird
 

Kris Moore

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ya, I do that
but the question is VERY actually with the GUI
what you fuk**** doing with that ??
I spend very much time to "find" where can change name of the NAS and where is the upload config file menu
weird

Some of the UI is being reorganized, so pardon the construction ;)

Network section is one of the first which is mostly complete, others will land in 20.12.
 
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usern

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Will it be possible to install TrueNAS scale from debian apt package manager at some point in future? Would be great for quickly setting up SCALE on hosted servers that offer Debian as base OS.
 

morganL

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Will it be possible to install TrueNAS scale from debian apt package manager at some point in future? Would be great for quickly setting up SCALE on hosted servers that offer Debian as base OS.
Not planned at this stage. TrueNAS has to make sure its own version of Debian is used... otherwise, there will be bugs.
 

Kris Moore

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Not planned at this stage. TrueNAS has to make sure its own version of Debian is used... otherwise, there will be bugs.

While that would be cool, Morgan is right. Not possible, since we also customize the boot device layout with ZFS, as well as other things that make it more than just a typical Debian installer.
 
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