Confused about the best way forward (rsync/ssh...)

[George51]

Okay so I am slowly coming to terms with FreeNAS, but I am still very new to it.

What I would like to do is be able to add files to my FreeNAS box over WAN. I've googled/searched these forums for what I think the solution would be, and its turned up some stuff about rsync or SSH. However the threads always turn to what the OP is trying to achieve and don't quite give me what I am looking for.

I have files on my windows machine, the intent is to be able to add them to my FreeNAS pool over WAN without comprising security.
What is the best way to achieve this?

Kind Regards

 

[danb35]

How is your FreeNAS server connected to the Internet? If you can set up a VPN from the location of your windows box to the network containing the FreeNAS, you can then mount the shares just as though they were local and copy away.

 

[George51]

How is your FreeNAS server connected to the Internet? If you can set up a VPN from the location of your windows box to the network containing the FreeNAS, you can then mount the shares just as though they were local and copy away.

Currently it is just connected to my home broadband. Now that sounds like it would be a good solution, can this be done and still maintain the connection it has to other devices on the LAN back at home? If that is a yes what is the best way of the doing it? OpenVPN?
I have multiple devices that connect to the FreeNAS server over LAN, and a Plex jail that I use over LAN and WAN. If I can set up a VPN alongside this (or that doesn't stop all of this working), that would be fanastic

 

[danb35]

I assume you have a router on your home LAN--does it support VPN? If it doesn't, can you install alternate firmware like DD-WRT or tomato that does? On the router is where I'd want to have the VPN running, and then the rest of the process should be transparent (albeit quite a bit slower than if your Windows box were on the same LAN).

 

[George51]

I assume you have a router on your home LAN--does it support VPN? If it doesn't, can you install alternate firmware like DD-WRT or tomato that does? On the router is where I'd want to have the VPN running, and then the rest of the process should be transparent (albeit quite a bit slower than if your Windows box were on the same LAN).

Yep - you assume right, unfortunately it is a BT Homehub - so neither supports VPN (as far as I know after a brief google) or alternative firmware. So ruling out putting the VPN on the router, is it do-able on the FreeNAS system itself. The rest of the processes transparent is exactly what I would like, and I am more than happy to accept the performance hit on the windows box.

 

[danb35]

It is probably possible, though I don't think it's recommended. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with trying to install a VPN server under FreeNAS (it would probably go in a jail) to help on that issue.

 

[George51]

It is probably possible, though I don't think it's recommended. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with trying to install a VPN server under FreeNAS (it would probably go in a jail) to help on that issue.

That's a shame. Thanks for your help anyway.
Out of curiosity - am I right in thinking, that if I had a router where I could put openvpn on, it would make a VPN tunnel to a 'client' I installed on my windows box, but the rest of my internet traffic would just be bog standard, i.e. not going through my VPN, which only ends at my windows box?

Cheers

 

[danb35]

Yes, that's how I'd expect it to work. I've used a different VPN solution, but the same concept.

 

[diedrichg]

I'm pretty sure FreeNAS has OpenVPN already baked in. I haven't messed with it though.

I own a Asus RT-AC66U wireless router. It has both PPTP and OpenVPN as VPN options and this is what I use.

 

[cyberjock]

I'm pretty sure FreeNAS has OpenVPN already baked in. I haven't messed with it though.

I own a Asus RT-AC66U wireless router. It has both PPTP and OpenVPN as VPN options and this is what I use.

It doesn't. You have to setup a jail for that. ;)

 

[DaPlumber]

It doesn't. You have to setup a jail for that. ;)

Presumably the openvpn builds from http://pbibuild64.pcbsd.org/index.php?ver=9 would then be a start of what to put in it? Possibly with portjail as the template?

I'm one of those with a pfSense next to my FreeNAS, and the idea of one hosting the other seems to keep cropping up?

As for the OP: Given your stated requirements the simplest is probably to set up a port forward on your router from your port of choice (say 2222) to port 22 on FreeNAS and then use something like WinSCP on the windows client from either the LAN on FreeNAS:22 or WAN on Router-dynamicDNS:2222. Rsync can use ssh as a transport. There are plenty of freeware Windows ssh and rsync clients, and some will even present ssh as a filesystem. The latter, while convenient and avoiding the "ftp-like" experience can have a high overhead and not be that usable on a slow connection IMO, YMMV.

 

[Ericloewe]

I'm one of those with a pfSense next to my FreeNAS, and the idea of one hosting the other seems to keep cropping up?

That's a sticky in the PfSense forums. It can be summed up as nope.avi.

 

[DaPlumber]

That's a sticky in the PfSense forums. It can be summed up as nope.avi.

Oh I understand. I was merely lamenting that it seems to be a perennial "bright idea" that keeps occurring. Sigh.