TrueNAS CORETrueNAS CORE Nightly Development Documentation
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Sharing Storage

With TrueNAS Storage configured and backed up, it’s time to begin sharing data. There are several available sharing solutions, but we’ll look at the most common in this article. Choose a tab to get started with simple sharing examples:

Sharing Data

Requirements

  • Dataset with Share Type set to SMB.
  • TrueNAS user accounts with Samba Authentication set.

Set Permissions

Go to Storage > Pools and find the dataset to share. Click and Edit Permissions.

StoragePoolsEditACL

Click SELECT AN ACL PRESET, open the drop down, and choose OPEN. Click SAVE.

Create the Share

Go to Sharing > Windows Shares (SMB) and click ADD.

SMBShareAdd

Only the Path and Name are initially required. The Path is the directory tree on TrueNAS that is shared using the SMB protocol. The Name forms part of the “full share pathname” when SMB clients connect.

SharingSMBAddBasicExample

Click SUBMIT to save the configuration to Sharing > Windows Shares (SMB).

Activate the Service

Go to Services and toggle SMB. Set Start Automatically when you want the share to become accessible immediately after TrueNAS boots.

Connecting to the Share

On a Windows 10 system, open the File Browser.

WindowsFileBrowser

In the navigation bar, enter \\ and the TrueNAS system name. When prompted, enter the TrueNAS user account credentials and begin browsing the dataset.

WindowsSMBShareConnected

Requirements

  • TrueNAS dataset to share.
  • Client systems might require additional packages like nfs-common.

Creating the Share

Go to Sharing > Unix Shares (NFS) and click ADD.

SharingNFSAdd

Use the file browser to select the dataset to be shared and click SUBMIT. When prompted, click ENABLE SERVICE to immediately begin sharing the dataset.

Accessing the Dataset

On a Unix-like system, open a command line. Enter showmount -e IPADDRESS, replacing IPADDRESS with your TrueNAS system address:

tmoore@ChimaeraPrime:~$ showmount -e 10.238.15.194
Export list for 10.238.15.194:
/mnt/pool1/testds (everyone)

Now make a local directory for the NFS mount:

tmoore@ChimaeraPrime:~$ sudo mkdir nfstemp/

Finally, mount the shared directory:

tmoore@ChimaeraPrime:~$ sudo mount -t nfs 10.238.15.194:/mnt/pool1/testds nfstemp/

From here, cd into the local directory and view or modify the files as needed.

Block sharing is a complicated scenario that requires detailed configuration steps and knowledge of your network environment. A simple configuration is beyond the scope of this getting started guide, but detailed articles are available in iSCSI Shares.

With simple sharing done, TrueNAS is now installed, accessible, and capable to receive or share data over your network. Now it is time to protect the TrueNAS storage by setting up data backups.