Using pre built Plugins vs Custom jails

[STREBLO]

I've seen people talking about running certain applications custom built in jails that are available as pre built plugins and I was wondering what the real benefit was for this. Is there any reason besides the educational aspect of setting it all up yourself considering that the plugins are also set up in jails?

I have seen people mentioning that it is harder to upgrade plugins then software that has just been set up in jails, why is this? Is there any real difference between the way a plugin is set up in a jail and something that you set up yourself in a jail? Are the plugins not just preconfigured for you in the same way you would set them up yourself?

I obviously see the benefit of setting things up yourself as you know exactly how they are configured and that is part of the reason I am using FreeNAS as opposed to an out-of-the-box solution. However, from a performance point of view will there be any real difference between something you set up yourself properly, and a plugin you have used?

What have people's experiences been with the plugins?

 

[Fuganater]

Your title is deciving. Plugins are installed INTO jails which you stated. 'Plugins Vs Jails' makes it sould like you can use either or.

 

[STREBLO]

Your title is deciving. Plugins are installed INTO jails which you stated. 'Plugins Vs Jails' makes it sould like you can use either or.

Thanks, I'll clarify that.

 

[dlavigne]

However, from a performance point of view will there be any real difference between something you set up yourself properly, and a plugin you have used?

There shouldn't be as they really are the same thing. The difference is in how you get there: either with a quick click install of a pre-packaged something or a build your own.

 

[danb35]

However, from a performance point of view will there be any real difference between something you set up yourself properly, and a plugin you have used?

The plugins are configured in a certain way, for a certain application. That application may or may not be the same as what you want. To give one example, the ownCloud plugin is packaged using sqlite for database storage. Sqlite is small and lightweight, but it severely limits performance and scalability. An alternative would be to use mysql/mariadb instead of sqlite--but that has much greater requirements for both RAM and disk space. If you want the performance/scalability, and you have the RAM and the disk space, you can do that, but you'll have to install and configure it yourself.

Upsides to plugins are that they install with just a click, and generally require minimal (if any) configuration. Downsides are that their configuration may or may not meet your needs, and you're dependent on the plugin maintainer to do any updates.

 

[STREBLO]

I've heard people complaining about plugins breaking upon update though, why would this be any different than updating a jail?

 

[Joshua Parker Ruehlig]

plugins come as a single PBI file which is usually about 20-100MB depending on what dependencies are compressed in there. when uncompressed this can be several GB. I believe the update process involves diff'ing this directory, tar'ing it, uncompressing the new pbi, all of which take CPU and io time. these background jobs all need to concide with the freenas python process, and a timeout or hung process can mean things get out of sink.

I don't know if the FN10 plugin system will use PBIs, but if it does I hope that system gets improved. also having an asyncrynous webui should help.

 

[STREBLO]

In practice how often does this end up breaking updates?

 

[Joshua Parker Ruehlig]

In practice how long does this end up breaking updates?

not sure what you are asking exactly. sometimes updates won't apply for people, which means they could never update unless they workaround the issue. but it is unreliable in that updates work for some and not for others, and sometimes specific plugins won't update.

 

[sremick]

I can definitely attest that installing Plex into a generic jail is preferable to using the plug-in. It is far, far easier (and faster) to maintain and update Plex Media Server in the generic jail using standard port update methods than it is to use the non-standard hacks to update the plug-in. Also, the plug-in is only the general version... if you pay to become a PlexPass member, there's another manual route/hack to get onto that app.

It's really not that hard if you're willing to learn a bit about FreeBSD. I knew a ton about FreeBSD before my use of FreeNAS but still, I don't consider it to be hard for anyone who is adept enough to be using FreeNAS to begin with. The pay-off is worth it, and will help you immensely as you continue to use FreeNAS and desire other jails for other purposes.