TrueNAS SCALE Documentation Archive
This content follows the TrueNAS SCALE 22.12 (Bluefin) releases. Archival documentation is provided for reference only and not actively maintained.
Use the Product and Version selectors above to view content specific to different TrueNAS software or major version.

Installing SCALE

14 minute read.

Last Modified 2024-03-19 08:47 EDT

After you download the .iso file, you can start installing TrueNAS SCALE!

This article describes verifying the .iso file and installing SCALE using that file, and selecting the type of installation as either on physical hardware or a virtual machine (VM).

TrueNAS Enterprise
SCALE Enterprise customers should receive their systems already installed and ready for UI configuration. If there are any issues with SCALE that requires you to install or re-install SCALE on your TrueNAS server, contact iXsystems Support for assistance.
Enterprise customers with High Availability (HA) systems should not attempt to re-install their systems on their own. The dual controller install process is complicated and the risk of causing serious network issues is high. Contact iXsystems Support for assistance!
Contacting Support
Customers who purchase iXsystems hardware or that want additional support must have a support contract to use iXsystems Support Services. The TrueNAS Community forums provides free support for users without an iXsystems Support contract.
Contact Method Contact Options
Web https://support.ixsystems.com
Email support@ixsystems.com
Telephone Monday - Friday, 6:00AM to 6:00PM Pacific Standard Time:

US-only toll-free: 1-855-473-7449 option 2
Local and international: 1-408-943-4100 option 2
Telephone After Hours (24x7 Gold Level Support only):

US-only toll-free: 1-855-499-5131
International: 1-408-878-3140 (international calling
rates apply)

Contact Method	Contact Options
Web	https://support.ixsystems.com
Email	support@ixsystems.com
Telephone	Monday - Friday, 6:00AM to 6:00PM Pacific Standard Time: US-only toll-free: 1-855-473-7449 option 2 Local and international: 1-408-943-4100 option 2
Telephone	After Hours (24x7 Gold Level Support only): US-only toll-free: 1-855-499-5131 International: 1-408-878-3140 (international calling rates apply)

ISO Verification

The iXsystems Security Team cryptographically signs TrueNAS .iso files so that users can verify the integrity of their downloaded file. This section demonstrates how to verify an .iso file using the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and SHA256 methods.

Performing PGP ISO Verification

You need an OpenPGP encryption application for this method of ISO verification.

Click here for the verification process.

Obtain an OpenPGP encryption application to used. There are many different free applications available, but the OpenPGP group provides a list of available software for different operating systems at https://www.openpgp.org/software/. The examples in this section show verifying the TrueNAS .iso using gnupg2 in a command prompt, but Gpg4win is also a good option for Windows users.
To verify the .iso source, go to https://www.truenas.com/download-tn-scale/, expand the Security option, and click PGP Signature to download the Gnu Privacy Guard signature file. This file may be a (.gpg) or a (.sig) file. Open the PGP Public key link and note the address in your browser and Search results for string.

Use one of the OpenPGP encryption tools mentioned above to import the public key and verify the PGP signature.

Go to the .iso and the .iso.gpg or .iso.sig download location and import the public key using the keyserver address and search results string:

user@ubuntu /tmp> gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys 0xc8d62def767c1db0dff4e6ec358eaa9112cf7946
gpg: DBG: Using CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB flag
gpg: key 358EAA9112CF7946: public key "IX SecTeam <security-officer@ixsystems.com>" imported
gpg: DBG: Using CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB flag
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1
user@ubuntu /tmp>

Use gpg --verify to compare the .iso and the .iso.gpg or .iso.sig files:

user@ubuntu /tmp>  gpg --verify TrueNAS-SCALE-21.04-ALPHA.1.iso
gpg: Signature made Thu May 27 10:49:02 2021 EDT using RSA key ID 12CF7946
gpg: Good signature from "IX SecTeam <security-officer@ixsystems.com>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: C8D6 2DEF 767C 1DB0 DFF4  E6EC 358E AA91 12CF 7946
user@ubuntu /tmp>

This response means the signature is correct but still untrusted.

Go back to the browser page that has the PGP Public key. Open and manually confirm that the key is issued for IX SecTeam <security-officer@ixsystems.com> (iX Security Team) on October 15, 2019 and is signed by an iXsystems account.

Using SHA256 Verification

SHA256 verification uses the checksum to validate/verify the file.

Click here for the verification process.

The command to verify the checksum varies by operating system:

BSD use command sha256 isofile
Linux use command sha256sum isofile
Mac use command shasum -a 256 isofile

Freeware or online checksum utilities are available for Windows users.

The value produced by running the command must match the value shown in the sha256.txt file. Different checksum values indicate a corrupted installer file that you should not use.

Installing SCALE

You can install SCALE on either physical hardware or a virtual machine.

Prior to starting the update process, confirm that the system storage has enough space to handle the update. The update stops if there is insufficient space for it to finish.

Installing on Physical Hardware

TrueNAS SCALE is very flexible and can run on any x86_64 compatible (Intel or AMD) processor. SCALE requires at least 8GB of RAM (more is better) and a 20GB Boot Device.

Preparing the Install File

Physical hardware requires burning the TrueNAS SCALE installer to a device, typically a CD or removable USB device. This device is temporarily attached to the system to install TrueNAS SCALE to the system permanent boot device.

Write TrueNAS installer to a USB stick on Linux

To write the TrueNAS installer to a USB stick on Linux, plug the USB stick into the system and open a terminal.

Start by making sure the USB stick connection path is correct. There are many ways to do this in Linux, but a quick option is to enter the command lsblk -po +vendor,model and note the path to the USB stick. This shows in the NAME column of the lsblk output.

Next, use command dd to write the installer to the USB stick.

Be very careful when using dd, as choosing the wrong of= device path can result in irretrievable data loss!

Enter command dd status=progress if=path/to/.iso of=path/to/USB in the CLI.

If this results in a permission denied error, use command sudo dd with the same parameters and enter the administrator password.

Installing From the Device Media

Before you begin:

Locate the hotkey defined by the manufacturer of your motherboard to uses in this process.
Disable SecureBoot if your system supports it so or set it to Other OS so you can boot to the install media.

With the installer added to a device (CD or USB), you can now install TrueNAS SCALE onto the desired system using the TrueNAS installer.

Insert the install media and reboot or boot the system. At the motherboard splash screen, use the hotkey defined by your motherboard manufacturer to boot into the motherboard UEFI/BIOS.

Choose to boot in UEFI mode or legacy CSM/BIOS mode. When installing TrueNAS, make the matching choice for the installation. For Intel chipsets manufactured in 2020 or later, UEFI is likely the only option.

If your system supports SecureBoot, and you have not disable it or set it to Other OS, do it now so you can boot the install media.

Select the install device as the boot drive, exit, and reboot the system. If the USB stick is not shown as a boot option, try a different USB slot. Slots available for boot differs by hardware.

Using the TrueNAS Installer Console Setup

If you are doing a clean install from the SCALE .iso file as part of migrating from a different version of TrueNAS CORE or SCALE, or to recover from a serious issue that requires you to re-install SCALE from the .iso, have your network configuration information ready to use after the installation completes. Also have your SCALE system configuration file and data backups handy so you can recover your system settings and import your data into the recovered SCALE clean-install system.

After the system boots into the installer, follow these steps.

TrueNAS Installer Console Setup Instructions

Select Install/Upgrade.
Select the desired install drive.
Select Yes.
Select Fresh Install to do a clean install of the downloaded version of TrueNAS SCALE. This erases the contents of the selected drive!
When the operating system device has enough additional space, you can choose to allocate some space for a swap partition to improve performance.
Select option 1 Administrative user (admin) and then OK to install SCALE, and create the admin user account. SCALE Bluefin has implemented rootless login. Create an admin account and password. The system retains root as a fallback but it is no longer the default. This account has full control over TrueNAS and is used to log in to the web interface. Set a strong password and protect it.
Next, enter a password for the new admin user.
Select Create Swap at the Create 16 GB Swap prompt, then arrow down to select OK and press Enter.
Select Boot via UEFI at the TrueNAS Boot Mode prompt, then select OK and press Enter to begin the installation.

After following the steps to install, reboot the system and remove the install media.

Troubleshooting

If the system does not boot into TrueNAS SCALE, there are several things you can check to resolve the situation:

Check the system BIOS and see if there is an option to change the USB emulation from CD/DVD/floppy to hard drive. If it still does not boot, check to see if the card/drive is UDMA compliant.
Check to see if the system BIOS supports UEFI with BIOS emulation, if not, see if it has an option to boot using legacy BIOS mode.
If the system starts to boot but hangs with this repeated error message: run_interrupt_driven_hooks: still waiting after 60 seconds for xpt_config, go into the system BIOS and look for an onboard device configuration for a 1394 Controller. If present, disable that device and try booting again.
If the burned image fails to boot and the image was burned using a Windows system, wipe the USB stick before trying a second burn using a utility such as Active@ KillDisk. Otherwise, the second burn attempt fails as Windows does not understand the partition that was written from the image file. Be very careful to specify the correct USB stick when using a wipe utility!

Installing on a Virtual Machine

Because TrueNAS SCALE is built and provided as an .iso file, it works on all virtual machine solutions (VMware, VirtualBox, Citrix Hypervisor, etc). This section describes installing on a VM using VMware Workstation Player on Windows.

Minimum Virtual Machine Settings

Regardless of virtualization application, use these minimum settings:

RAM: at least 8192MB (8GB)
DISKS: two virtual disks with at least 16GB, one for the operating system and boot environments and at least one additional virtual disk to use as data storage.
NETWORK: Use NAT, bridged, or host-only depending on your host network configuration.

Networking Checks for VMWare

When installing TrueNAS in a VMWare VM, double check the virtual switch and VMWare port group. A misconfigured virtual switch or VMWare port group can cause network connection errors for TrueNAS systems with additional applications installed inside the TrueNAS VM. Enable MAC spoofing and promiscuous mode on the switch first, and then the port group the VM is using.

Jail Networking

If you have installed TrueNAS in VMware, you need functional networking to create a jail.

For the jail to have functional networking, you have to change the VMware settings to allow Promiscuous, MAC address changes, and Forged Transmits.

Setting	Description
Promiscuous Mode	When enabled at the virtual switch level, objects defined within all portgroups can receive all incoming traffic on the vSwitch.
MAC Address Changes	When set to Accept, ESXi accepts requests to change the effective MAC address to a different address than the initial MAC address.
Forged Transmits	When set to Accept, ESXi does not compare source and effective MAC addresses.

Installing on a Generic Virtual Machine

For most hypervisors, the procedure for creating a TrueNAS VM is the same.

Generic VM Install Instructions

Create a new virtual machine as usual, taking note of the following:

The virtual hardware has a bootable CD/DVD device pointed to the TrueNAS SCALE installer image (this is usually an .iso).
The virtual network card configuration allows your network to reach it. bridged mode is optimal as this treats the network card as one plugged into a simple switch on the existing network.
Some products require you identify the OS you plan to install on the VM. The ideal option is Debian 11 64 bit. If this is not available, try options like Debian 11, Debian 64 bit, 64 bit OS, or Other.
For VMWare hypervisors, install in BIOS mode.
Ensure the VM has sufficient memory and disk space. For TrueNAS set to at least 8 GB RAM and 20 GB disk space. Not all hypervisors allocate enough memory by default.

Boot the VM and install TrueNAS as usual.
When installation completes, shut down the VM instead of rebooting, and disconnect the CD/DVD from the VM before rebooting the VM.
After rebooting into TrueNAS, install VM tools if applicable for your VM, and if they exist for Debian 11, or ensure they loaded on boot.

Example VMWare Player 15.5 Installation

This example describes installing TrueNAS SCALE using VMWare Player 15.5.

Click here for more information.

Open VMware Player and click Create a New Virtual Machine to enter the New Virtual Machine Wizard.

Install disk image file.
Select the Installer disk image file (.iso) option, click Browse…, and upload the TrueNAS SCALE .iso downloaded earlier.
Name the virtual machine.
In this step, you can change the virtual machine name and location.
Specify the disk capacity.
Specify the maximum disk size for the initial disk. The default 20GB is enough for TrueNAS.
Next, select Store virtual disk as a single file.
Review the virtual machine.
Review the virtual machine configuration before proceeding. By default, VMware Player does not set enough RAM for the virtual machine.
Click Customize Hardware… > Memory. Drag the slider up to 8GB and click Ok.
Power on the machine after creation if desired. Select Power on this virtual machine after creation.

Adding Virtual Disks

After installing SCALE on a virtual machine (VM), add virtual disks to the VM. You need a minimum of two disks, 16 GB each. One disk is for the boot environment the other for data storage.

Click Here for More Information

After creating the virtual machine, select it from the virtual machine list and click Edit virtual machine settings.
Click Add… and select Hard Disk. Select SCSI as the virtual disk type.
Select Create a new virtual disk. Specify the maximum size of this additional virtual disk. This disk stores data in TrueNAS. If desired, allocate the disk space immediately by setting Allocate all disk space now.
Select Store virtual disk as single file.
Name and chose a location for the new virtual disk.

Repeat this process until enough disks are available for TrueNAS to create ideal storage pools. This depends on your specific TrueNAS use case. See Pool Creation for descriptions of the various pool (“vdev”) types and layouts.

Using the TrueNAS Installer

Just as with installing SCALE on physical hardware, you complete the install in the VM by booting into the TrueNAS installer.

Using the TrueNAS Installer in a Virtual Machine

Select the virtual machine from the list and click Play virtual machine. The machine starts and boots into the TrueNAS installer.

Select Install/Upgrade.
Select the desired disk for the boot environments.
Select Yes. This erases all contents on the disk!
Select option 1 Administrative user (admin) and then OK to install SCALE and create the admin user account. SCALE Bluefin has implemented rootless login. Create an admin account and password. The system retains root as a fallback but it is no longer the default. This account has full control over TrueNAS and is used to log in to the web interface. Set a strong password and protect it.
Next, enter a password for the new admin user.
Select Boot via BIOS.

After the TrueNAS SCALE installation completes, reboot the system. The Console Setup Menu displays when the system boots successfully.

Congratulations, TrueNAS SCALE is now installed!

The next step is to configure SCALE network and general settings. Experienced users can use the Console Setup Menu to configure network settings, but if you are unfamiliar with the Console setup menu and how network configuration works, we recommend you use the SCALE UI to configure settings. TrueNAS SCALE uses DHCP to assign an IP address to the primary system interface and displays it at the top of the Console setup menu screen so you can log into the web UI.

Installing SCALE

ISO Verification

Performing PGP ISO Verification

Using SHA256 Verification

Installing SCALE

Installing on Physical Hardware

Preparing the Install File

Installing From the Device Media

Using the TrueNAS Installer Console Setup

Installing on a Virtual Machine

Minimum Virtual Machine Settings

Networking Checks for VMWare

Installing on a Generic Virtual Machine

Example VMWare Player 15.5 Installation

Adding Virtual Disks

Using the TrueNAS Installer

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