TrueNASTrueNAS Nightly Development Documentation
This content follows experimental nightly development software. Pre-release software is intended for testing purposes only.
Use the Product and Version selectors above to view content specific to a stable software release.

Preparing for TrueNAS UI Configuration

Users installing and configuring TrueNAS on their own servers should follow the instructions in this article to prepare for their deployment.

For support or assistance refer to the TrueNAS community forums, Discord, or the tutorials included in the TrueNAS Documentation Hub.

If you are not the administrator responsible for network access in your company, contact your network administrator for assistance. If your company obtains network hardware and support from an Internet or cable service provider, contact them for assistance with where to obtain this information.

Physical Access

When in the same location as the hardware designated for the TrueNAS installation, you can connect a monitor and keyboard to the system to do the initial installation and configuration. An additional USB port is required when using a USB storage device to install TrueNAS from an .iso file.

IPMI Access

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) servers provide access to servers and allow remote users to install software and configure or administrate systems at the console level, or as though you are in the room with the server when you are working remotely. Ensure IPMI is properly configured for secure remote management of TrueNAS servers.

To provide for remote administration of your TrueNAS system, assign access through an IPMI server to the TrueNAS server. To make this possible assign an IP address to use for access and set up administrator credentials (user name and password) to access the TrueNAS IPMI connections.

Network Access

TrueNAS uses DHCP to assign the IP address to the primary system network interface. DHCP only provisions one IP address. You can use this DHCP-provided address, or you can assign a static IP address. You must assign an IP address to each network interface card (NIC) installed in your system if you want to communicate over your network using the interfaces.

To configure your TrueNAS server to work with your network, you need:

  • DHCP broadcast messages enabled on the network or the subnet(s) in your network where TrueNAS is installed.
  • DNS name sever IP addresses in your network (TrueNAS can accommodate up to three name server IP addresses).
  • IP address for the Network Time Protocol (NTP) server you use to synchronize time across your servers and network.
  • Main domain name or the domain name for the portion of your network where the TrueNAS server is deployed.
  • Host name you want to use if not using the default-assigned host name in TrueNAS (truenas).
  • IP address for each additional network interface added in your system and connected to your network (static IP not provided by DHCP).
  • IP address assigned to the controller. Either allow DHCP to assign the IP address or assign a static IP.

If you obtained network equipment and Internet service access from either an Internet or cable service provider, contact their support departments for assistance with network addresses.

SMTP Access

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service or servers allow for the transfer of electronic mail across an Internet connection. TrueNAS uses either SMTP to send mail from TrueNAS to administrator or designated individual email addresses for system alert notifications.

If you do not know this information and do not have a network administrator in your company, or if you are a home user, contact your Internet or cable service provider to obtain the SMTP addresses to allow TrueNAS to send emails from your network.

Directory Service Access

This section does not apply to small companies with very few users or home deployments of TrueNAS.

TrueNAS works with either Active Directory or LDAP directory servers, and it can also work with Kerberos and IDmap. Active Directory and LDAP configuration settings have similar requirements.

Active Directory

Provide the following information to configure TrueNAS Active Directory access:

  • Domain name for where the Active Directory server is located
  • Authentication credentials for access to the Active Directory server (admin user name and password to allow TrueNAS to communicate with the server)
  • List of trusted domains TrueNAS should allow
LDAP

Provide the following information to configure TrueNAS LDAP access:

  • Host name where the LDAP sever is located and where TrueNAS accesses it
  • Base and bind distinguished names (DN) and the bind password which are the authentication credentials
  • Kerberos realm and keytab information if used in your directory server deployment for TrueNAS to use for authentication
Advanced Directory Services

When configuring Kerberos and/or IDmap, you might need to provide:

  • Kerberos realm and keytab information
  • IDmap schema information