All I have setup is the pools
Welcome to FreeNAS Scale, you are on the right direction.
If I understand correctly, you want to have SMB shares available in your Windows PC. This is a very simple process which requires zero customizations to TrueNAS, so your vanilla install is a great start. To create an SMB share available on Windows, you need to:
- Be on same network, for both your PC and TrueNAS server
- Create a specific dataset you plan to share it with your Windows PC
- Create an user allowed to access your Samba shares
- Start the SMB service
- Add a Samba share
Let me share few screenshots, from my setup.
1. Be on same network
Scale will pick an IP address assigned by DHCP server running on your home router. In my router, I've made sure the DHCP server has a reserved IP address, based on the server MAC address (e.g. Scale server will always have the 192.168.1.8 IP, when I access it from other computers):
Having a fixed IP address is useful, when you run any applications on Scale. You will learn about this later, when you get a gist of this beautiful software.
2. Create a specific dataset you plan to share with other Windows computers
You already have your pool created, so the first step is done. Next, you need to create a dataset, so you tell the SMB service what needs to be shared. To create a dataset, go to Storage, you should see the pool you created. In my case, I'll use the default pool name, as reference:
You notice the
media dataset listed below my
default pool. To create a dataset, simply click on the 3 dots next to your pool name and add a dataset. Set the
Name to whatever you like (in my case I named it
media) and leave the rest of options default. Optionally, scroll down to
Advanced Settings button and click on it. Scroll all the way down and set the
Share Type to
SMB
, then save. Some old versions of Windows don't like the default
Share Type. You are done with this part.
3. Create an user allowed to access your Samba shares
Go to Credentials > Local Users and press
Add to create a new user. Enter the username and password, which will be used to access your Samba shares, leave anything else default. Save the info, you are done with this part.
4. Start the SMB service
Go to System Settings > Services and configure SMB service:
Click on the pencil to configure the service and scroll down to
Advanced Settings. Enter the username you created earlier, into
Administrators Group field. Next, enter
server signing = mandatory
into
Auxiliary Parameters field and save. To accept the new settings, toggle on the
Running option and tick the
Start Automatically option. You are done with this part.
5. Add a Samba share
Go to
Shares and add a SMB share, pick the path to your dataset, leave the rest of options default and save:
On Windows, use the username and password you created earlier to access the share. Your NAS will be automatically detected, under Network.