FreeNAS 9.X and 10bees

[Mikkel]

The guys at 10Bees (free online server monitoring) have fixed some issues I pointed out to them regarding FreeNAS and their FreeBSD agent now works smoothly on FreeNAS 9.X once perl is installed.

And expanded

I ran these commands to set it up:

Code:

[root@nas] ~# mount -uw /
[root@nas] ~# pkg_add -r perl
[root@nas] ~# pkg_add -r http://10bees-agent.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/freebsd/agent.tbz

 

[dlavigne]

Any idea which open source license they are using? I didn't see it after a quick skim of their website and repo.

This would be a cool feature request to make at bugs.freenas.org to include in the base install. If you do, post the issue number here.

 

[Yatti420]

You placed this in a jail? Editing the root usb can cause issues..

 

[cyberjock]

LOL.. FAIL.

Installing stuff on the USB stick is just asking for a f*cked up server. Great idea..... /smh

 

[Mikkel]

Because monitoring inside a Jail is super useful

And if it screws up - good thing FreeNAS is easy to 'reinstall' :P

 

[cyberjock]

Because monitoring inside a Jail is super useful

Oh, and because its inconvenient then that obviously negates the technical reasons for NOT doing what you did.

Shoo. Thanks for clearing that up!

/sarcasm

 

[Mikkel]

And what are they in this particular case where you install perl and a selfcontained agent that only requires perl?

 

[cyberjock]

Search the forums for others that have made comments or recommendations for installing packages. There's too many to list.

 

[Mikkel]

Search the forums for others that have made comments or recommendations for installing packages. There's too many to list.

I've yet to find one that relates to this specific situation, if there are so many please find some that covers why it's bad to install perl and a selfcontained agent that doesn't need /var

 

[cyberjock]

Sorry, I don't do research for topics anymore. But, the manual says not to install anything on it. If the developers telling you not to do it isn't enough, well, that's your thing.

 

[Mikkel]

Sorry, I don't do research for topics anymore. But, the manual says not to install anything on it. If the developers telling you not to do it isn't enough, well, that's your thing.

Convenient for you, but let's take what the Manual/FAQ actually says about it (and no where does it say not to):

How can I install packages for FreeBSD that are not included on FreeNAS®?

A.Packages that you want to install on FreeNAS should be installed to the jail only. The FreeNAS installation has very limited disk free space and needs that free space to function properly. Additionally, any files you install on the FreeNAS partition will be lost when you upgrade FreeNAS.

Whenever I make changes to config files or settings on the root filesystem '/' they keep disappearing after a reboot, why?

A. The USB stick is mounted in read-only mode to ensure longevity of the boot drive. To make changes you need to do the following from the CLI.

1. mount -uw /

make the applicable changes you want

1. mount -ur /

The last command may take some time to execute. Be patient and it will eventually save all of the changes to the USB stick.
Note that many of the files on FreeNAS are generated on the fly when FreeNAS boots up. Depending on what file you edit your changes may be immediately overwritten on a reboot.

Why do changes I make at the command line to config files or settings disappear after a reboot?

A. FreeNAS® is booted from a compressed filesystem and the configuration that is stored in a database is loaded into RAM. Any changes made at the command line do not get added to the configuration database. While you can make changes persist using the tips in this forum post, those changes won't survive an upgrade and it is not recommended to manually add command line edits to the database. Instead, if the functionality you desire is not possible through the GUI, go to support.freenas.org and search to see if a feature request to add that functionality already exists. If there is no existing ticket, create a ticket describing the needed functionality.

 

[pirateghost]

Where does it say so in those examples?

The first line in the first answer...

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[Mikkel]

Where does it say so in those examples?

The first line in the first answer...

Sent from my Nexus 5

'Shouldn't be' is not the same as 'must never be'. I don't modify FreeNAS' structure or configuration doing this.

But each to it's own, this works perfectly and I don't mind doing it again after an upgrade.

 

[pirateghost]

Ok. Have it your way. If you want to use your appliance in a manner not consistent with how the developers intended, that's your business.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[Mikkel]

Ok. Have it your way. If you want to use your appliance in a manner not consistent with how the developers intended, that's your business.

Sent from my Nexus 5

Yup - I'm also pretty sure the developers didn't intend on FreeNAS' primary use would be as an automated piracy download system, but that's what it is now to a majority of new users. And it's good at it too :)

 

[pirateghost]

Yup - I'm also pretty sure the developers didn't intend on FreeNAS' primary use would be as an automated piracy download system, but that's what it is now to a majority of new users. And it's good at it too :)

Through plug-ins and jails, but whatever.

I like the software and would like to see it included in the standard release, but what you are doing is encouraging people to install something in their system that we will likely be called upon to support when they break it.

That's the point of the warning.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[Mikkel]

Oh, got your point now and you are absolutely right. I didn't mean to encourage people to install it, I was just happy it was working :)

And official agent would be pretty awesome!

 

[alexander_10bees]

Any idea which open source license they are using? I didn't see it after a quick skim of their website and repo.

This would be a cool feature request to make at bugs.freenas.org to include in the base install. If you do, post the issue number here.

That is currently an open source agent with the license allowing it's modification and usage within the 10bees.com project.

Regarding a FreeNAS build-in package - the idea sounds interesting, and I'm adding this to our roadmap - once done I will post an update here. If anyone has any requirements or wishes - we would be glad to hear that.