Trouble setting up FreeNAS and Plex server using VirtualBox

[goku]

All I’m trying to do is get a quick plex server up and running so I can test across my network to see if it’s worth getting the hardware and building a permanent NAS solution

I’ve used many guides such as:

https://www.ceos3c.com/freenas/how-to-install-plex-on-freenas-11-1/

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...to-install-plex-in-a-freenas-11-0-jail.19412/

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...to-install-plex-in-a-freenas-11-0-jail.19412/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isvHJ51YRBk


I have followed various steps, but not documented any of the errors. Could someone please check the following steps and let me know where I’m going wrong? Note: I have managed to get it working using the first link on another machine using VirtualBox, so I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong here.


1. Set virtualisation in host computer bios to allow 64bit freebsd machine

2. Create 3 drives on VirtualBox

a. 1 for boot drive (16gb)

b. 2 for Raid 1 mirror (130gb each)

3. Set up bridged network adapter to get LAN ip address

4. Load up iso as a virtual disk in cd drive

5. Install freenas 11.1 on boot drive (i.e. the one in step 2a) using BIOS (not UEFI)

6. Navigate to url presented in shell

7. Follow wizard and set up windows share and unix share with a new user and new group

8. Set up dataset for media share

9. Ensure that nameserver is in network settings and check with shell if I can ping out to google.co.uk

10. Install plex media server plugin which automatically creates a jail

11. Check jail settings and update IP address

12. Start jail and start plugin

13. Navigate to URL and to URL:32400


Nothing happens on the last step


Note the following variations:

7. Used without wizard and created volumes manually in Raid 1 mirror

10. Tried creating jail manually and then installing plex through shell:

5. Tried with freenas 11.2 stable


My network settings and the latest alert I'm facing are as follows:

I have tried rebooting and starting S.M.A.R.T service, but no luck here.

 

[goku]

Update: I just had a quick read through the guide, the other machine that I used had16GB of RAM, and I must have used the minimum required 8GB, so I guess that's why this isn't working. I will try again in the other machine with a new install and report back.

 

[danb35]

RAM is a possibility, but there's a problem with network connectivity in your jail.

 

[goku]

You're right. When I set the IP address of the Jail to 192.168.0.99 and unticked VIMAGE, then it somehow changeed the IP address of the WebUI of the FreeNAS os.

I decided to create an interface as I was relying on the settings that were automatically set when I installed the OS.

I couldn't see the installed plugins anymore, so I removed the jail and reinstalled the plex plugin using the UI (thus having the jail created for me automatically). The IP address of the jail was set to 192.168.0.2, so I manually changed it to something else. This caused the plugin to disappear, so I set it back to 192.168.0.2. I started the plugin and tried to access the web interface. No luck.

Set the IP address of the jail via DHCP and restarted. Still no luck that way either.

Is there a command that I can run to show you the Jail network settings?

 

[goku]

Also, the previously working machine had 8GB of RAM too, so it's not a RAM issue.

 

[goku]

I decided to start again from scratch. However, there was no luck in getting the plex interface up on my browser. Any pointers or investigation points would be appreciated.

1. Create Virtual Machine with 16GB boot disk
2. Install FreeNAS
3. Create two equally sized virtual disks (main + mirror)
4. Launch FreeNAS and navigate to IP address
5. Set system > general: correct Web GUI IPv4 address and timezone. Save
6. Set Network > global configuration: IPv4 default gateway (router), and 3 Nameservers (router + 2 x google NSs). Save
7. Add interface in Network > Interfaces: Set to an IP address which is not being used (checked via ping). Save and navigate to new IP address
8. Create volume via Storage > Volume Manager
9. Create group and user
10. Create dataset (windows, no compression, insensitive) and assign permissions
11. Create windows share then map to network drive on another machine
12. Create plex group and user
13. Create plex dataset (unix, no compression, insensitive) and assign permissions
14. Create windows share for plex then map to network drive on another machine
15. Install plex plugin
16. Edit jail IP address to one that is not being used
17. Set storage for jail
18. Reboot
19. Check Jail is running and Start Plex plugin
20. Navigate to Plex jail IP address (as well as go to Plex plugin and "click here"). Error provided in chrome "ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT"

 

[goku]

A bit of digging has revealed that I cannot ping the gateway or an outside network/address from the jail. I clicked on the C:\ icon in the jails screen (i.e. open a shell in the jail) and tried to run some pings from there. Reminder: I have created the server in a VirtualBox VM using a NAT adapter and a Bridged adapter; this does work as I am able to access the server from other machine in the network (i.e. the WebGUI), and I am able to ping out to other networks using the server's shell interface.

Below are screenshots of different commands (as advised on https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/jail-nat-vs-bridge.56603/):

cat /etc/rc.conf

cat /etc/jail.conf

ifconfig -a

netstat -rn

 

[goku]

Finally got it working. I stopped the jail. Edited the settings and unchecked VIMAGE (this time it didn't change the interface IP address of the server - I suspect because the jail was stopped). Then I started the jail and everything started working (after a restart of the plugin).

 

[goku]

I suspect what was happening was that the server was creating a network within itself (i.e. a layer down). I suspect this because I was able to ping the server, however I wasn't able to ping the jail within the server