FreeNAS not appearing on Network

[Steve Lindenberg]

I've been pulling my hair out trying to get my FreeNAS mini (from iX Systems) working in my new city.

I use it for Time Machine backups and as a media drive. (clients are running OSX)
It was working great when I left Vancouver.
Wanting to be very careful with it, it came with me as carry-on, and I was very careful to prevent any jostling.
I'm now setup in Oslo, and my internet service is through Get

I was hoping/expecting it to be a simple matter of plugging it and going.
It has not been that.
I'm connecting with the same computers, but through a different router (it is a Get Box 2).

My Issue

As far as I can tell, my FreeNAS OS is not connecting to the network.

Here is what I've tried so far:

I've ruled out bad ports and cables by making sure the laptop works on all ports/cables in use.
(I found that port 3 of 4 on my router doesn't work, not sure how much that slowed me down earlier...)

I've used the connected device IP listings on the router to find addresses I can use to find the admin panel.
None of the addresses seem to point to the OS admin, I'm only able to get what I assume is the motherboard admin.
It is an ASRock admin panel, every one of the sensor readings is lit up green.
I've repeated this search for all three network connections on the back of the NAS, no luck on any.

Given that I can find the motherboard admin and my wifi extender admin, I'm ok with ruling out router shenanigans as far as hiding devices from each other.

What I'm worried might be happening (though it doesn't fully make sense to me):

In Vancouver, I had assigned the NAS a fixed IP.
I know I had done this at the router level, but I have vague recollections of doing something similar in the admin panel of the NAS.
(I'm sure you can tell, but my networking knowledge is not super deep)
Based on what I think I know, I'm doubting the NAS will only function if it exists at a particular address.
I could be way off, and I encourage you to spare no detail in telling me how wrong I am.

What I would love to try (and why I can't):

My first choice would be to setup the same fixed IP for my NAS through the router.
It does not appear that this is an option on this router, I've spent quite a bit of time looking for that.

I would also love to plug in a monitor and see what's up.
I tried going VGA->DVI, but to no avail.
I remember that not working in Vancouver, and having to use my projector.
I just moved across the world, and the projector did not make the trip.



So, if anybody has any suggestions for what I can try next, it would be very much appreciated.
Bonus points if your response does not include buying a really old monitor.

 

[depasseg]

I'm pretty sure the mini has an IPMI port for remote management. If this is true, you can connect it directly to a laptop (or you can use a switch if you are sure of your network skills) and configure your laptop with a static ip address in the same range. I can't find the default IP address of IPMI, so you might need to check your documentation. IPMI will then allow you to have a remote graphical interface to the machine where you can reconfigure the LAN port and address of FreeNAS.

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yes, this model has an IPMI port.
I found this manual to try and figure out that process: http://www.asrockrack.com/support/IPMI.pdf

From what I can gather, I need to configure my laptops IP into the bios on the NAS before this will work.
If I understood that correctly, I'm stuck with the same problem of having no monitor for my NAS to tweak the bios (mentioned in my initial post).

Can you let me know if this understanding matches yours?

 

[Ericloewe]

I need to configure my laptops IP into the bios on the NAS before this will work.

No! That's the BMC's IP.

If I understood that correctly, I'm stuck with the same problem of having no monitor for my NAS to tweak the bios (mentioned in my initial post).

No, IPMI provides remote console functionality. It's even faster than waiting for your average monitor to sync on the VGA signal.

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

Alright, I guess I'll go learn about what all of those things are....

Thanks Eric.

 

[depasseg]

Eric - Do you know if the mini's IPMI has a default IP? Or are they required to set a BMC IP address in BIOS first?

 

[Ericloewe]

Eric - Do you know if the mini's IPMI has a default IP? Or are they required to set a BMC IP address in BIOS first?

No, but Supermicro's deafults to DHCP. I imagine ASRock does the same.

A quick glance in the DHCP server's lease list should reveal the address.

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

I'm appreciating this help, I am - but I'm painfully lost.

I can login to the ASRock Rack panel, no problem.
Is this where you're talking about? (image attached).

I've already declared networking is not an area I've studied much.
It looks like the networking variables shifted away from DHCP.

Should I (the self-admitted noob) try and correct what my router did in this configuration area?

 

[depasseg]

If you've gotten to that screen I wouldn't change anything.

Go to the remote control tab to get access to the FreeNAS screen.

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

Within the remote control tab, whenever I try to launch anything, it triggers a download that starts, stalls, then does nothing.

 

[depasseg]

Welcome to my hate for Java. You need to have a Java JRE installed. And then there's a possible version and/or security compatibility issue, but we'll get to that later.
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jre8-downloads-2133155.html

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

I have a Java version installed for my IDE, I think I'm on 6 (eek). The IDE broke with 7, so I share your pain on the Java hate.

Do you recommend that I risk upsetting my IDE balance to get to 8, or should I try connecting my browser to the existing version?

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

Three browsers later, I'm in business.

Here's what I can discern from the magical 720x400 squeezed down into my window:

2x:
https://web.ixsystems.com/updates/ix_crl.gem
freenas_alert.py: pfreenas<?>.Configuration:5971 Unable to load https://web.ixsystems.com/updates/ix_crl.pem <urlopen error |Errno 81 hostname or servname provided, or not known)

3x (these three, three times):
freenas ntpd_initrez12492I: host name not found: 0.freebsd.goo(????)ntp.org
freenas ntpd_initrez12492I: host name not found: 1.freebsd.goo(????)ntp.org
freenas ntpd_initrez12492I: host name not found: 2.freebsd.goo(????)ntp.org


I've attached a screen cap, in case you're able to draw more from it than I can.

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

Took a while to convince OSX to let me open viewer, here's a bigger look

 

[depasseg]

I would try it with what you have. I haven't use ASRock, but on my supermicro, when I try to view teh remote console, a file gets downloaded, and then I have to open that file, which starts the console. You might want to find that download and open it.

 

[depasseg]

Took a while to convince OSX to let me open viewer, here's a bigger look

Awesome! that's the console logging that you see. just hit enter to refresh the menu.

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

Great!

It's showing that my old route is still it's preferred location.
I've tried to reconfigure/reset a few things, but it's held on so far.

Can you advise which setting I should focus on?

 

[depasseg]

Start with #1 - you need to get a new IP address compatible with your new router. Then fix #4,5 and 6. again be compatible with your new ISP and router.

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

My configurations don't seem to be taking.

I'm left with:
No configured interfaces were found. Try to do it manually.

Wondering if a factory reset makes sense?
How broad are those effects?

 

[Steve Lindenberg]

Not to jinx it, but I think I'm in business.

I can see my FreeNAS from OSX now, and my laptop is preparing it's first backup in close to a month.

Will come back to shower you with praise after the moment of truth.