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Configuring Virtualization and Apps
6 minute read.
Configuring TrueNAS to work with virtualized features, such as virtual machines (VMs) and applications, is part of the setup process that, when optimized, takes advantage of the network storage capabilities that TrueNAS offers.
This article assumes you have the latest release version of TrueNAS installed on your system. The following steps are a list of configuration prerequisites you have completed and are familiar with before beginning VM and application installations.
The primary network interface is configured as part of the installation process. Go to Network > Global Configuration screen in the TrueNAS web UI to determine if the default gateway, host name, domain, and DNS name servers have been configured correctly. See Console Setup Menu Configuration for more information on network settings.
If VMs need to access local NAS storage, you need to create a network bridge and assign it to the VM. Applications or sandboxes that need access to local storage within the container must use a bridge or mount a local storage location as a host path for the application.
You can configure a virtual LAN (VLAN) to route traffic for your VMs. VLAN benefits include the reduction of broadcast traffic and the ability to group resources in different physical locations into a broadcast domain. VLANs virtually segment a network. Different VLANs can communicate with each other using layer 3 devices. See Setting Up a Network VLAN for more information on creating virtual LANs (VLAN).
Storage pool creation is part of the initial process of setting up storage. A TrueNAS dataset is a file system within a data storage pool. See Setting Up Storage to review storage pool creation and Adding and Managing Datasets for information on dataset configuration.
After creating the pool and datasets, set up shares to enable data access and sharing. Different types of data sharing methods are discussed in Setting Up Data Sharing. You should investigate more specific coverage of each share based on your use case.
SMB Shares Screens and Setting Up SMB Home Shares provide a good introduction as to how TrueNAS handles SMB shares.
See Adding NFS Shares for information on creating a basic NFS share. Adjust access permissions using the advanced options.
Certain directory services must be set up as part of SMB and NFS share configuration. See Active Directory Screen for a better understanding of how to configure Active Directory and Configuring Kerberos for an outline of required Kerberos information. For LDAP best practices see Configuring LDAP.
Virtualization in TrueNAS 25.04With this change comes redesigned Virtualization screens in the TrueNAS UI. The content in this article is in the process of being rewritten to reflect new virtualization features and procedures.
To run a virtual machine (VM), hardware requirements include an x86 machine running a recent Linux kernel using either an Intel processor with VT extensions or an AMD processor with SVM extensions (AMD-V). To install a VM, first research the minimum and recommended specifications for the OS you plan to use and your full use case for that VM. Allocating too many resources to a VM can cause performance on the TrueNAS system to suffer. We recommend you plan for and ensure your system has the resources to run itself and a full VM deployment effectively, taking into account the need for high availability (HA) and persistent storage.
Software requirements include an installer for the OS you intend to install on the VM.
A TrueNAS storage pool is required. We recommend you create additional datasets beneath the storage pool to organize your VM data further.
Review Virtualization Screens to determine requirements for VM installation. See Adding and Managing VMs for more information on adding or managing VMs.
The first time you open the Applications screen, it displays an Apps Service Not Configured status on the screen header.
Click Settings > Choose Pool to choose a storage pool for Apps.
A storage pool for applications must be chosen before application installation can begin. Select a pool with enough space for all the application containers you intend to use. Set up a new dataset before installing your applications if you want to store your application data in a separate location from other storage on your system.
After an Apps storage pool is configured, the status changes to Apps Service Running.
Use Discover Apps to view available applications. See Apps tutorials and Apps reference guide for more information.
For custom applications, Install Custom App details each field on the Install Custom App screen. Before beginning a custom application installation, determine the following information:
- Container host networking requirements, including host interface
- IP address management: DHCP or static IP
- DNS policy and nameservers
- Container entrypoint (executables run when the container is started): commands or arguments
- Container environment variables: names and values
- Port forwarding
- Storage: host path and mount path configuration
You can find additional options for configuring general network interfaces and IP addresses for application containers in Apps > Settings > Advanced Settings.