New to TrueNAS, need help!

[jschiltz]

Hi Everyone,

Not sure where to start on this.

I have no experience at all with TrueNAS or servers. My son built my wife and I a TrueNAS server last year for us to use for storage of family photos, files, etc. He unexpectedly passed away in September of last year so I don't have him around to assist me with the server. I am hoping this community will be able to.

I recently started looking into the server to try and put it to use and can't figure how to utilize it. Again, I have absolutely no experience with this. I did manage to figure out how to login to it and get to the dashboard. He had mapped the drive to my PC so I am able to see it in my file folder structure. I am not able to save anything to the server, I get a "permissions" error. Watched a video on changing permissions, tried it and get this error message "Error: [EFAULT] [EPERM]Changing permissions on jail dataset path is not permitted: /mnt/Schiltz/iocage". I am completely lost and have no idea what any of this means. Any assistance would be greatly appriciated.

 

[IOSonic]

Hi @jschiltz

Foremost, I am sorry for the loss of your son.

If there are valuable memories on your storage--and it sounds like there are---I strongly advise you to suspend further attempts to modify this device until you can get help from someone who has a baseline level of Linux and storage knowledge. Storage systems are complicated, and TrueNAS is not for beginners; I am worried you could unintentionally destroy your data without prior experience.

Do you have a backup of this data somewhere else?

If help is not an option and you want to continue despite this warning, please understand that operating this system will require you to read documentation, ask questions here and acquire baseline levels of knowledge along the way. And during this learning process, you will most likely make a mistake which may have negative implications for your data.


(If you choose to continue despite the warning)
The specific problem you are trying to solve is a little unclear to me. What are you trying to do (what functionality are you trying to achieve)? What happens when you try to do it now?

In the meantime, here are two articles I want you to read:

1. Snapshots (please read through the "Creating a single snapshot" section.
2. Linux file system permissions (please skip the section about "Using chmod in absolute mode", it's not important right now).

 

[joeschmuck]

I will echo what @IOSonic has said but in my own way. Sorry for your loss.

As for the TrueNAS system you have, this is not a setup and leave alone type system, it requires routine interaction to ensure it continues to run properly. If this is not something you are willing or able to do, you should copy all your information off of the NAS while it is working onto a CD/DVD (or some other media) where it would be safer and easier to access.

I would not mess with changing permissions if your data is accessible (you can read it), even someone fairly experienced can screw this up. The priority should be to save your data on other media.

If you plan to learn TrueNAS, you should read the User Guide (at the top of the webpage under Documentation).

There are two current versions of TrueNAS, Core and Scale. You should be aware which one you are using as it very well may impact the instructions you are provided should someone give them to you.

Since we do not know how much available space you have on your system, I would not create a Snapshot without knowing more about your system and the available storage capacity.

Best of luck.

 

[jschiltz]

Hi @jschiltz

Foremost, I am sorry for the loss of your son.

If there are valuable memories on your storage--and it sounds like there are---I strongly advise you to suspend further attempts to modify this device until you can get help from someone who has a baseline level of Linux and storage knowledge. Storage systems are complicated, and TrueNAS is not for beginners; I am worried you could unintentionally destroy your data without prior experience.

Do you have a backup of this data somewhere else?

If help is not an option and you want to continue despite this warning, please understand that operating this system will require you to read documentation, ask questions here and acquire baseline levels of knowledge along the way. And during this learning process, you will most likely make a mistake which may have negative implications for your data.


(If you choose to continue despite the warning)
The specific problem you are trying to solve is a little unclear to me. What are you trying to do (what functionality are you trying to achieve)? What happens when you try to do it now?

In the meantime, here are two articles I want you to read:

1. Snapshots (please read through the "Creating a single snapshot" section.
2. Linux file system permissions (please skip the section about "Using chmod in absolute mode", it's not important right now).

Hi @IOSonic,

Thank you for your reply and direction in dealing with this. I have quickly learned this is far too complicated for me to try and figure out, even with help. I was able to backup all of our data onto a remote hard drive, so we haven't lost anything.

For now, I think I am just going to leave the server as is. I may try to look into learning more about it in the future.

Thank you again for your condolences and your help, it is very appreciated.

 

[jschiltz]

I will echo what @IOSonic has said but in my own way. Sorry for your loss.

As for the TrueNAS system you have, this is not a setup and leave alone type system, it requires routine interaction to ensure it continues to run properly. If this is not something you are willing or able to do, you should copy all your information off of the NAS while it is working onto a CD/DVD (or some other media) where it would be safer and easier to access.

I would not mess with changing permissions if your data is accessible (you can read it), even someone fairly experienced can screw this up. The priority should be to save your data on other media.

If you plan to learn TrueNAS, you should read the User Guide (at the top of the webpage under Documentation).

There are two current versions of TrueNAS, Core and Scale. You should be aware which one you are using as it very well may impact the instructions you are provided should someone give them to you.

Since we do not know how much available space you have on your system, I would not create a Snapshot without knowing more about your system and the available storage capacity.

Best of luck.

Hi @joeschmuck ,

Thanks for the reply. I was bale to backup my data to a remote hard drive. I think I am just going to leave the server be for now.

Thanks again for your condolences and reply!

Cheers