FreeNAS 11.2 new GUI suggestions and discussion thread

[Chris Moore]

Does anyone find the new interface less intuitive? I don't know if it's because it's just a beta but... It's too confuse right now

It looks to be the way of the future with UI design. It appears that everyone is designing them to work with touch-screen / tablet devices instead of working with desktop computers.

 

[ZoneRanger]

I have been using FreeNAS for 3 years now and really enjoy the platform. It is one of the most reliable I have dealt with. The new UI looks great so far though as others have noted it could use to condense some of the unused space to provide more information at a single glance.

Under the reporting for the disks I note that I have to click 32 times to reach the first graph that contains any information. My system has 32 disks which generate a lot of graphs. Having a way to filter or group graphs would be very helpful.

I would also like to note that a lot of the functions that I use often are either too hidden to find or are missing in the new UI. These include volume status, view disks, any of the encryption related actions. I know this is in Beta right now so if they are still to come great, if not they need to be.

There were a few buttons that didn't have any labels also. I was in the main settings screen and I almost rebooted my system thinking I was hitting a cancel button. IMO, reboot and delete buttons shouldn't be easy to hit even if they do have confirmation windows and they should always be very clear what they are.

I would also add my vote for the tree view of volumes and datasets. I don't use any of the fancy features like vm's and jails, for me this is a storage solution. For me it should do all the storage functions better than anything else. Everything else is icing.

These are just some of my observations and opinions. I hope they help.

 

[mow4cash]

Is my screen resolution messed up? Also what is the importance of the IX root user taking up a huge amount of prime real estate?

 

[Chris Moore]

Is my screen resolution messed up? Also what is the importance of the IX root user taking up a huge amount of prime real estate?

Yes, your resolution is wacked.

 

[geopfarth]

I'm not sure if this is a bug or an issue with my install, but when I upgraded to 11.1-U2 I am no longer able to open the shell via the GUI. I have tried Chrome, Edge and Firefox.

 

[iposner]

I don't see the point of showing the Idle process in graphs by default. It's just confusing and doesn't convey anything meaningful.

 

[diskdiddler]

I thought I'd try the new UI again, what's this mean on first login?

Code:

"
Error 201:[ENOMETHOD] Method "summary" not found in "network.general""


"
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 893, in _method_lookup
	serviceobj = self.get_service(service)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 822, in get_service
	return self.__services[name]
KeyError: 'network.general'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 150, in call_method
	result = await self.middleware.call_method(self, message)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/asyncio/coroutines.py", line 109, in __next__
	return self.gen.send(None)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 902, in call_method
	serviceobj, methodobj = self._method_lookup(message['method'])
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 896, in _method_lookup
	raise CallError(f'Method "{method_name}" not found in "{service}"', CallError.ENOMETHOD)
middlewared.service_exception.CallError: [ENOMETHOD] Method "summary" not found in "network.general"
"

Same system works fine on old UI
EDIT: something is broken with dashboard at a guess.

 

[diskdiddler]

Systemsprocesses on the left doesn't work, nor does shell.
(it also didn't remember my theme on page reload)

 

[diskdiddler]

Under system: general, items listed are :

Protocol, WebGui IPv4 Address, etc

However, due to my 2560x1600 screen, the useful little (?) to give information for these is nearly a foot away on the other side of the monitor.
Any way to put these on the left so one doesn't need to scroll across to read the tooltip.
(Good move having the entire bar clickable, so people need not use the little triangles to the far right also)

 

[diskdiddler]

The system : update page is lacking significant information / boxes that the old UI has.
(Update server URL, current train, ticked for auto check for updates, manual update option, verify install, etc)

 

[diskdiddler]

Finally, before I switch back to the old UI, the alerts system has a bell with a red "1" on it, is it yellow for moderate or also red for moderate?
Clicking the bell reveals a tame piece of text saying

Code:

The capacity for the volume 'ARRAY' is currently at 93%, while the recommended value is below 80%.

(yeah it's that bad, yes I need to address it)

Shouldn't this critical warning look a little more ominous in the side bar which pops open? It is after all a critical not a yellow level in the old UI.

 

[Ericloewe]

I thought I'd try the new UI again, what's this mean on first login?
"
Error 201:[ENOMETHOD] Method "summary" not found in "network.general""


"
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 893, in _method_lookup
serviceobj = self.get_service(service)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 822, in get_service
return self.__services[name]
KeyError: 'network.general'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 150, in call_method
result = await self.middleware.call_method(self, message)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/asyncio/coroutines.py", line 109, in __next__
return self.gen.send(None)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 902, in call_method
serviceobj, methodobj = self._method_lookup(message['method'])
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 896, in _method_lookup
raise CallError(f'Method "{method_name}" not found in "{service}"', CallError.ENOMETHOD)
middlewared.service_exception.CallError: [ENOMETHOD] Method "summary" not found in "network.general"
"



Same system works fine on old UI
EDIT: something is broken with dashboard at a guess.

That's a known bug in 11.1-U2, which will be fixed in the next release.

 

[rogerh]

I just had a look at the new GUI. I tried to open the "jails" tab by clicking on it, purely out of curiosity, and nothing visibly happened. This is with Firefox 58.0.2. However, it seems to have made a new dataset called "iocage" in my main pool, which has sub-directories, and is mounted at /mnt/iocage. Is this supposed to happen, when I had no intention of doing anything with jails except look at the tab? I do have a warden jail, in case this is relevant.

 

[Ericloewe]

That behavior has been changed and should be out in the next update. It should ask you where to place the dataset.

 

[diskdiddler]

Any thoughts on my other 4 posts regarding the user interface?

Also, why on a 2560 screen at 50% width (ie: 1280 resolution) is stuff still not readable? ....... due to wasted space (see circled items)

Multiple column headings, not readable, because there's all this giant space everywhere?

 

[Ericloewe]

What version is that?

 

[diskdiddler]

I'd tell you, but I've found another bug.... stopping me confirm the version.



When clicking away from the main dashboard and then returning to it, it will /intermittently/ end up not rendering anything.
Both Chrome and Firefox.


Even refreshing the page won't work with a relogin,... this is using 1/2 or 1/4 of a 2560x1600 screen (so 1280x800 spacing)

That's Chrome and Firefox, both producing the same result......
We're not seriously considering using this UI as the primary UI in the near future are we? We need not shed even more users after the FN10 fiasco.........

 

[diskdiddler]

Oh and the cog (settings) top right, intermittently won't open, making me unable to reboot the machine (cleanly) without logging in to the terminal.

 

[Ericloewe]

I'd tell you, but I've found another bug.... stopping me confirm the version.



When clicking away from the main dashboard and then returning to it, it will /intermittently/ end up not rendering anything.
Both Chrome and Firefox.


Even refreshing the page won't work with a relogin,... this is using 1/2 or 1/4 of a 2560x1600 screen (so 1280x800 spacing)

That's Chrome and Firefox, both producing the same result......
We're not seriously considering using this UI as the primary UI in the near future are we? We need not shed even more users after the FN10 fiasco.........

Yeah, that happened to me earlier, but then it fixed itself...

 

[Jailer]

Are you running some sort of browser add on that blocks certain information. Something like adblock or privacy badger?