FreeNAS-11.1-U2 update using console, GUI "Shell", or SSH session?

[f.rizzo]

I recently installed FreeNAS-11.1-U2 on a new server without any problems. This was a new, bare-metal installation on freshly-wiped drives. This was not an upgrade. The installation completed successfully.

Using the FreeNAS GUI, I set up networking (IP address and default gateway) and the DNS servers. I can ping and resolve hosts on the Internet with no problems, including pkg.freebsd.org.

I read through the excellent FreeNAS 11 User Guide (http://doc.freenas.org/11/freenas.html), and I know that I can update the system using the FreeNAS GUI following the instructions in section "5.8. Update" of the User Guide.

I tried updating FreeNAS using the GUI "Shell" and the "pkg update" command, but got the following error:

Code:

[root@freenas ~]# pkg update -f												
Updating local repository catalogue...										
pkg: Repository local load error: access repo file(/var/db/pkg/repo-local.sqlite
) failed: No such file or directory											
pkg: file:///usr/ports/packages/meta.txz: No such file or directory			
repository local has no meta file, using default settings					  
pkg: file:///usr/ports/packages/packagesite.txz: No such file or directory	
Unable to update repository local											  
Error updating repositories!												  
[root@freenas ~]#

I know that my networking settings and DNS servers are working correctly, so I suspected that the "pkg update" command failed because the following files and/or directories referenced in the command output were missing or did not exist:

* /var/db/pkg/repo-local.sqlite
* /usr/ports/packages/meta.txz
* /usr/ports/packages/packagesite.txz

The /var/db/pkg directory exists, but the repo-local.sqlite file does not exist. There are 2 files in /var/db/pkg: local.meta and local.sqlite.

The /usr/ports/packages directory exists, but it is empty, there are no files there.

I suspect this is normal for FreeNAS, and that the inability to update or install software on FreeNAS using the console, GUI Shell, or SSH session was planned, so as to keep FreeNAS working properly by not allowing users to possibly break it by modifying any package dependencies.

So my questions are:

1. Is FreeNAS set up to only allow updates through the FreeNAS GUI, or am I missing something with the updates with the console, GUI Shell, or SSH?

2. Is it possible to install packages on the base FreeNAS system, alongside, but not over the packages already there (as opposed to using Jails)?

In reference to question # 2 above, I can install different versions of packages in RHEL/CentOS without disturbing the "golden master" versions of the same packages already included in that distribution/version. I was wondering if the same applies to FreeNAS or FreeBSD.

Thank you for the awesome software and community you have here!

 

[m0nkey_]

You want freenas-update. Do not use pkg.

 

[Kevin Horton]

I recently installed FreeNAS-11.1-U2 on a new server without any problems. This was a new, bare-metal installation on freshly-wiped drives.

...

I tried updating FreeNAS using the GUI "Shell" and the "pkg update" command, but got the following error:

You already have the latest FreeNAS version. What exactly are you trying to update?

 

[f.rizzo]

The reason I wanted to run the update command on the GUI Shell, was because I wanted to install a package on the base FreeNAS system, not in a Jail. Thus, I needed to run update, before I could search for and install any packages, as I would normally do on a FreeBSD system.

Specifically, I was trying to install mtr (https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=mtr), so I could analyze packet loss and latency to other hosts, although I'm sure I would have wanted to install other packages too later on.

I've used FreeBSD on and off for a number of years, but I'm fairly new to FreeNAS, and I'm not yet familiar with all of the differences between FreeNAS and FreeBSD. I suspect many differences exist to keep FreeNAS stable.

Thank you m0nkey for the freenas-update suggestion, I was not familiar with that Python script, and I did not see any reference to it in any of the FreeNAS 11 guides I previously read, but it's possible I missed something:

* FreeNAS 11.1-U2 User Guide (http://doc.freenas.org/11/freenas.html)
* FreeNAS 11.1-U2 User Guide, February 2018 Edition (http://freenas.2trux.com/FreeNAS.pdf)
* FreeNAS 11.1-RELEASE User Guide, December 2017 Edition (http://freenas.2trux.com/FreeNAS_11.1_release.pdf)
* FreeNAS 11.0-U1 User Guide, July 2017 Edition (http://freenas.2trux.com/FreeNAS_11.0-U1.pdf)

Unless freenas-update is discouraged from being used, or is being deprecated or phased out, it would be nice to see it mentioned in those user user guides under their "Update" sections, so users know that freenas-update exists.

Back to my original questions, so can anyone tell me if I'm able to install FreeBSD packages alongside the base FreeNAS system? I'm referring to a local package installation, as in a user's ~/bin directory (or whatever), with all of its own dependencies, independent of the base FreeNAS installation.

This would be a great option to have, where one could install local packages that they would like to have for whatever reason (system management utilities, etc), without the need for using Jails. This would be especially useful for less powerful systems.

Local package installations are easily doable in RHEL/CentOS, and I've provided an example below, for those who are not familiar with this idea:

* How to Download and Install Yum Packages Locally (https://www.slothparadise.com/how-to-download-yum-packages-locally/)

Thank you.

 

[m0nkey_]

Back to my original questions, so can anyone tell me if I'm able to install FreeBSD packages alongside the base FreeNAS system?

No. The base OS is not intended to be modified by the end user. Custom software must be installed in a jail. If there is something specific that you need, I suggest you open a feature request to include it in the next release.