New user to install TrueNAS Core and how to create partitions before installation

[Patrick Siu]

Hi. I'm a new user on TrueNAS Core. I want to run TrueNAS Core on my desktop computer. It has a raid controller card with Primary Hard disk 4TB & Second Hard disk 4TB as mirror for raid 1 operating system. I have a boot up USB disk with Truenas Core ISO image installer. I don't want to install the OS 8GB only on whole hard disk. How can I create partitions on hard disk before installation.

 

[Ericloewe]

The simple answer is "you do not". TrueNAS expects to boot from a dedicated ZFS pool on dedicated boot devices.

To elaborate a bit on what you propose:

I want to run TrueNAS Core on my desktop computer

As in "the computer you work on"? That's not likely to be a remotely sane solution.

It has a raid controller card

That is completely inadequate for TrueNAS.

 

[sretalla]

Setting aside the points made by @Ericloewe , you could do what you're saying (if you're satisfied and comfortable ending up with an unsupported install that will probably require some manual intervention to maintain over version upgrades and implies comfort with UNIX command line).

If you care about your data, read this first before going ahead with the last one:

What's all the noise about HBA's, and why can't I use a RAID controller?

This is relevant to FreeNAS and TrueNAS CORE. Some parts of it might also be relevant to Scale, but I don't really know how reliable the Linux drivers are. 1) An HBA is a Host Bus Adapter. This is a controller that allows SAS and SATA devices to be attached to, and communicate directly with...

www.truenas.com

Use this last one if you're comfortable to go ahead... substitute your 4TB HDDs for the SSDs given in the example (but know your performance will be much worse in accordance):

HOWTO: setup a pair of larger SSDs for boot pool and data

Moderator Warning: This HOWTO will damage the ability of your TrueNAS appliance to properly maintain itself, will break the ability to replace failed drives, and may cause problems with upgrades and updates. TrueNAS is not designed to do this sort of partitioning, and the developers are not...

www.truenas.com

 

[Patrick Siu]

Thank you for the reply, I may need some time to figure it out, much appreciate it.

Setting aside the points made by @Ericloewe , you could do what you're saying (if you're satisfied and comfortable ending up with an unsupported install that will probably require some manual intervention to maintain over version upgrades and implies comfort with UNIX command line).

If you care about your data, read this first before going ahead with the last one:

What's all the noise about HBA's, and why can't I use a RAID controller?

This is relevant to FreeNAS and TrueNAS CORE. Some parts of it might also be relevant to Scale, but I don't really know how reliable the Linux drivers are. 1) An HBA is a Host Bus Adapter. This is a controller that allows SAS and SATA devices to be attached to, and communicate directly with...

www.truenas.com

Use this last one if you're comfortable to go ahead... substitute your 4TB HDDs for the SSDs given in the example (but know your performance will be much worse in accordance):

HOWTO: setup a pair of larger SSDs for boot pool and data

Moderator Warning: This HOWTO will damage the ability of your TrueNAS appliance to properly maintain itself, will break the ability to replace failed drives, and may cause problems with upgrades and updates. TrueNAS is not designed to do this sort of partitioning, and the developers are not...

www.truenas.com