Where do PBIs / plugins actually get stored?

[hungarianhc]

I apologize if this is obvious, but in reading the docs here, http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Plugins , it wasn't clear to me...

My understanding is that the USB flash drive that we install FreeNAS onto is an image, and thus, it can't be written to, but in this case, is there a configuration section of the ZFS volume that the PBIs get written to? Straighten me out, please!

 

[Yatti420]

What version of FreeNAS are you using? When you install a .pbi it will create a plugin jail and install itself..

If you haven't installed any plugins you may want to change the jail root directory (perhaps to mirrored SSD etc)..

You can also now change the system log dataset since it must be on a pool now for optimal function? This without intervention should be the first (or only) pool of "zpool list".. (Settings > Advanced) - See the 9.2.1.x docs.. If you wanted to sleep a pool this can prevent it.. You can also have NAS syslog pointed at that dataset for permanent storage..

Plugins are not stored on the USB.. It may update the USB when you install plugins but that should be all..

 

[hungarianhc]

I don't have my FreeNAS box yet. I'm putting it together this weekend after the parts arrive. Are there a set of guidelines on where it is recommended to place the jail root directory? What is the default? I don't see this info in the guide. I'll be on the newest version of FreeNAS.

 

[Yatti420]

The jail root has to go in a zfs pool.. Im not sure what you are setting up drive wise.. Shouldn't be an issues sitting on spinning rust unless you plan to run something intensive in a jail.. SSDs for jails would be the fastest though if you had sata ports etc.. My jails and .system dataset which reside on a single drive pool and performance is fine.. I'm in the process of acquiring more disks to get that redundancy.. I have wireless computers so thats where my bottleneck occurs.. I can stream standard content no issues..

 

[hungarianhc]

Ah okay. I'll be setting up RAIDZ2 5 drive array, with FreeNAS running off of a USB stick. Thus, if I were to not change any defaults, the jail root would be somewhere on my zfs pool automatically, right? That answers my question, if that's correct... Jails get installed somewhere on my drive array. As you suggested, I could theoretically create an SSD just for my jail mounts, but I don't see the need for that. Thank you very much.

 

[Yatti420]

I can't remember if you have to specify path before jail creation but yes it will go on the raidz2 pool.. You won't have to specify .system dataset it'll on the raidz2 pool..

 

[panz]

Putting jails on a dedicated SSD (possibly a mirror) is a good idea.

 

[TheSmoker]

I have the jails and the syslog on a smal dedicated ssd so i can put the rest of the disks to sleep.

 

[hungarianhc]

I ordered a small 32GB SSD to place the jails on. I'll have a 5-disk Raidz2 array, but would it make sense to just format the SSD as UFS? I don't care about redundancy of the SSD. The only data that is important there is Plex metadata, and I'll have cron job rsync that to my ZFS pool anyways.

 

[Yatti420]

Jails need to reside on a ZFS pool I thought..

 

[panz]

I ordered a small 32GB SSD to place the jails on. I'll have a 5-disk Raidz2 array, but would it make sense to just format the SSD as UFS? I don't care about redundancy of the SSD. The only data that is important there is Plex metadata, and I'll have cron job rsync that to my ZFS pool anyways.

UFS is dead from the point of view of FreeNAS philosophy.

 

[hungarianhc]

Okay so UFS is dead... It looks like the way I should configure the SSD is to first build out my RAIDZ2 array of drives, and then afterwards, I'll plug the SSD and configure it as a new volume in ZFS "stripe" mode, which according to the documentation, requires only one disk. Correct? Then I mount the jails there...

 

[Yatti420]

Yes a single disk is fine but provides no redundancy..

 

[hungarianhc]

Yes a single disk is fine but provides no redundancy..

Yup - no redundancy needed. Just putting jails on there, and all config data that is important will be rsync'd to my raidz2 pool.

 

[Yatti420]

Are you moving the .system dataset and syslog to the SSD? I'm not sure what will happen if the .system dataset or syslog can't be found..

 

[ser_rhaegar]

Are you moving the .system dataset and syslog to the SSD? I'm not sure what will happen if the .system dataset or syslog can't be found..

From what I can tell, it runs in RAM. Then when the .system dataset returns, it offloads the data to that spot.

At least this is my experience if I boot up a system with an encrypted pool which contains the .system dataset. The server works fine, logs work (presumably in RAM), then when I unlock the pool, the pool initially only has old logs but after a few moments the current data appears appended to them.

Granted this is starting out without the dataset, not losing it midrun.

 

[hungarianhc]

Are you moving the .system dataset and syslog to the SSD? I'm not sure what will happen if the .system dataset or syslog can't be found..

No I was just planning on locating the jails on the SSD. This is possible, right? It would be easier if I had the UI up in front of me, but I'm not putting this thing together until this weekend!

 

[Yatti420]

No I was just planning on locating the jails on the SSD. This is possible, right? It would be easier if I had the UI up in front of me, but I'm not putting this thing together until this weekend!

Yes it is all do-able from the GUI..