Google Wifi Change my Default IP Now I Can't Turn on my Plex Plugin

[Fernando Zoota]

I recently upgrade my router to Google WIFI because my old router was deficient. My cable modem remained the same and the wifi option is disable. Since switching to Google WIFI, my default IP address was changed in the process. I can still access my frenas server and all the contents from windows, however it took some searching because it's address changed as well. I tried turning on my plex plugin, but it shows "An Error Occurred". I know i need to update the ip or subnet information, but I'm not sure what to do.

 

[Nick2253]

There's quite a bit we need to unpack here.

First off, some basic networking. Each machine on your network needs an IP address to communicate. Most devices are configured using DHCP, which means they get an IP address that is automatically given out by a central server. For most home networks, the router acts as a DHCP server. On the other hand, most servers are configured with a static IP address. This IP doesn't change, and allows you (the user) and other machines (the clients) to reliably access the services on the server.

Most likely, what happened is that, when you switched your router, you also switched your DHCP server to the new Google WiFi router. This DHCP server has no idea what previous IPs were on your network, and just handed out IPs, first-come, first-server, like it's programmed to. This means, when your Plex jail requested an IP, it got something completely different than it was used to. Same thing happened to FreeNAS.

Our end goal is to set your FreeNAS server, and all the jails, to static IP addresses. However, there are a couple things we should do first.

First, let's make a plan of your network. I believe the Google WiFi uses 192.168.86.1 as its IP on 192.168.86.0/24 as the network (the /24 is CIDR notation. You might also see this as subnet mask 255.225.255.0). What this means is that all your devices are on the network 192.168.86.x. The default DHCP range for the Google WiFi is 192.168.86.20-250. This means we want all of our static devices to live in the range of 192.168.86.2-19. I'm going to make some choices, and you can make different ones, you just have to be consistent.

Here are our used IPs

• Google WiFi Router - 192.168.86.1
• FreeNAS - 192.168.86.5
• Plex Jail - 192.168.86.6
• DHCP range - 192.168.86.20-250

(I left a few IPs in low numbers for future network expansion, if you ever go that route. Again, that's my preference).

Now, we have our IPs, but we need some more information to set them. Three important pieces of information are your Gateway, your DNS server(s), and your subnet mask. I'm going to guess that the first two are both 192.168.86.1 and the last is 255.255.255.0, but let's confirm: from a command prompt on Windows, run the command

Code:

ipconfig /all

. You should see a line that says "Default Gateway", one or more lines that say "DNS Servers", and a line than says "subnet mask". Note these down.

Now, we're ready! The easiest way to set a static IP for FreeNAS is from the console: http://blog.programster.org/freenas-set-static-ip

Now that FreeNAS is set to a static IP, you can set the jail to a static IP: go to your jail settings, Advanced options, and set the static IP: https://doc.freenas.org/9.3/freenas_jails.html#adding-jails

 

[Jailer]

And after you've done all that you'll have to change the nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf in the jail to match your default gateway.

 

[Fernando Zoota]

Wow, your assessment was spot on.

My old default gateway was 192.168.1.1. With the new Google WIFI it was changed to 192.168.86.1. I chose to stay consistent with your choice for IP address' and your DHCP range was correct.

I changed the freenas IP to a static IP consistent with your suggestion, 192.168.86.5. The instructions were perfect. The wheels came off when i attempted to change the jail to a static IP. I went to Jails/Edit/Advanced Mode and changed IPv4 address: from 192.168.1.7 to 192.168.86.6.

I went back to installed plugins, turned on the plex plugin and I received "some error occurred".

If this is helpful, I went to Jails/Configuration/Advanced Mode;

IPv4 Network: 192.168.86.0/24
IPv4 Network Start Address: 192.168.86.20
IPv4 Network End Address: 192.168.86.250

 

[Nick2253]

If this is helpful, I went to Jails/Configuration/Advanced Mode;

IPv4 Network: 192.168.86.0/24
IPv4 Network Start Address: 192.168.86.20
IPv4 Network End Address: 192.168.86.250

So, we're a little off here.

This range is for the jail dynamic IP space. If you want to run the equivalent of a DHCP server specifically for your jails, this is what you set here. You also need to make sure that these settings do not overlap with your router DHCP server, which is the problem we're seeing here. You need to clear these settings. I would suggest that you simply check the "IPv4 DHCP" setting so your jails will use your network's DHCP server.

I went to Jails/Edit/Advanced Mode and changed IPv4 address: from 192.168.1.7 to 192.168.86.6.

Can you post a screenshot of the advanced configuration for this jail?

 

[Fernando Zoota]

I wasn't sure exactly what advance configuration you were referring to so I sent to screen shots.

 

[Nick2253]

From your second screenshot, it looks like your Plex jail is configured for DHCP. You'll want to change that to be a static IP.

 

[Fernando Zoota]

I unchecked IPv4 which allowed me to input an IP address into "IPv4 address:". I entered 192.168.86.6. When I go back into Jails/PlexJail/Edit, it still shows as DHCP. With that said, the plex jail does show the corrected IP address.

 

[Nick2253]

So, where are we at with Plex? Working? Not working?

 

[Fernando Zoota]

not working. I still can't turn on the plug-in. I feel like we're close though. You're help has been great.

 

[Nick2253]

Did you change the nameserver per @Jailer's post? This should be your DNS server, which I predicted before as 192.168.86.1.

 

[Fernando Zoota]

I did not change the nameserver. I didn't understand what was meant. Change the nameserver in Freenas or in Google WIFI?

 

[Fernando Zoota]

within Freenas, it says "no name server defined"

 

[Nick2253]

We'll need to add that nameserver to FreeNAS. DNS stands for Domain Name System, and a "DNS server" is the same thing as a "name server".

We also need to do this in the jail. We'll have to get into the jail via command line to make this change.

The steps to do this go generally:

• Enable SSH on FreeNAS
• SSH into FreeNAS
• Use "jexec" to open a shell into your jail.
• Using a text editor like "vi", edit the /etc/resolv.conf file.

There are actually multiple ways to accomplish the above, but that is the route I'd go. I'm going to guess that much of the above is foreign speak to you, but I'm going to encourage you to do some searching and to try and figure out the above steps on your own. You will learn a tremendous amount working through it. And, if you get stuck, and can't figure out what to do next, feel free to post back here and I'm glad to help!

 

[Jailer]

within Freenas, it says "no name server defined"

You need to enter your ipv4 default gateway address in the Network -> global configuration tab. It should be the LAN address of your router. That is also what you need to add to your jails /etc/rc.conf file.

After you've set your ipv4 default gateway in the GUI go to your jails tab. Highlight your plex jail by lciking on it and open the shell using the shell icon at the bottom of the page. Once it's open type ee /etc/rc.conf and it will open the file in question. Use the arrow keys to navigate down to the nameserver entry and change that address to your default gateway. Once you've done that hit the Esc key and save your changes.

 

[Fernando Zoota]

I don't see the line that needs to be changed.

 

[Jailer]

Crap, what was I thinking. ee /etc/resolv.conf

Sorry about that.

 

[Fernando Zoota]

that worked. don't worry about the mistake. If i had a nickle for everyone I made, i'd be sailing on my yacht ; )

 

[Fernando Zoota]

Plex is now up and running!!!!!!!!!!! thank you Jailer and Nick2253!

 

[Jailer]

Awesome!