Virtual Machines
TrueNAS has built-in virtualization capabilities that allow running multiple operating systems on a single system. Virtual machines provide strong isolation between different operating systems and applications.
Installing TrueNAS
After you download the .iso file, you can start installing TrueNAS!
This article describes verifying the .iso file, then installing TrueNAS using that file, and selecting the type of installation as either on physical hardware or a virtual machine (VM).
TrueNAS Enterprise
TrueNAS Enterprise customers should receive their systems already installed and ready for UI configuration. If any issues require you to install or re-install TrueNAS, contact TrueNAS Enterprise Support for assistance.
Creating and Managing Containers
Linux containers, powered by LXC, offer a lightweight, isolated environment that shares the host system kernel while maintaining its own file system, processes, and network settings. Containers start quickly, use fewer system resources than virtual machines (VMs), and scale efficiently, making them ideal for deploying and managing scalable applications with minimal overhead.
What system resources do containers require?
Containers are lightweight and share the host kernel, requiring fewer resources than virtual machines. However, proper resource allocation ensures optimal performance and system stability.
Creating VMWare Snapshots
Use this procedure to create ZFS snapshots when using TrueNAS as a VMWare datastore.
You must have a paid edition of VMWare ESXi to use the TrueNAS VMWare Snapshots feature. ESXi free has a locked (read-only) API that prevents using TrueNAS VMWare Snapshots.
This tutorial uses ESXi version 8.
When creating a ZFS snapshot of the connected dataset, VMWare automatically takes a snapshot of any running virtual machines on the associated datastore. VMware snapshots can integrate VMware Tools, making it possible to quiesce VM snapshots, sync filesystems, take shadow copy snapshots, and more. Quiescing snapshots is the process of bringing VM data into a consistent state, suitable for creating automatic backups. Quiesced snapshots can be file-system consistent, where all pending data or file-system changes complete, or application consistent, where applications complete all tasks and flush buffers, prior to creating the snapshot.See Manage Snapshots from VMWare for more information.
Adding and Managing VM Devices
Using the Create Virtual Machine wizard configures at least one disk and NIC, and optionally a CD-ROM and display as part of the process, but you can add more devices to suit your use case. Go to Virtual Machines, then click anywhere on a VM entry to expand it and show the options for the VM.
Proxmox VE Storage Plugin
The TrueNAS Proxmox VE Storage Plugin lets you use TrueNAS as high-performance block storage for Proxmox VE clusters, accessible via iSCSI or NVMe/TCP. Unlike standard iSCSI, the plugin automates zvol creation, iSCSI extent mapping, and target association through the TrueNAS API. You provision storage directly from Proxmox without manual setup on the TrueNAS side. It uses ZFS to provide instant, space-efficient snapshots, including live VM state with RAM. It supports CHAP authentication, thin provisioning, ZFS compression, and multipath I/O. It works with Proxmox cluster deployments that use shared storage.
Virtual Machines Screens
The Virtual Machines screen allows users to add, edit, or manage virtual machines (VMs) or VM devices in TrueNAS. The No Virtual Machines screen shows when there are no VMs configured in or deleted from TrueNAS.
Containers Screens
The Containers screen allows users to add, edit, or manage Linux containers.
The Containers screen displays No Containers before you create the first container.
VMware
There are several configuration recommendations and troubleshooting tips when using TrueNAS with a VMware hypervisor.
iSCSI IQN is an acronym that stands for “iSCSI Qualified Name”. It is comprised of the following naming schema with a preamble, node name and unique identifier:
VMware requires using an IQN in their software iSCSI implementation.
A VMware datastore backed by iSCSI-based storage will consist of at least three distinct pieces: the storage host, the switching infrastructure, and the VMware host itself. In order to maximize service availability, each of these elements needs to be able to tolerate some level of failure without significantly disrupting iSCSI traffic.
VMWare Snapshots Screen
Use the VMware Snapshot Integration option on the Data Protection > Periodic Snapshot Tasks widget to create snapshots when you are using TrueNAS as a VMWare datastore. See Creating VMWare Snapshots for a detailed tutorial.
VMware Snapshot Integration opens the VMWare Snapshots screen.
Add opens the Add VMware Snapshot screen.
Setting Description Hostname Enter the IP address or host name of the VMWare host. When clustering, enter the vCenter server for the cluster. Username Enter the user on the VMWare host with permission to snapshot virtual machines. Password Enter the password associated with the user entered in Username. Datastore Select a VMFS datastore to synchronize with the host from the dropdown list of options. Click Fetch DataStores to populate this list with options from the VMWare host. You must click Fetch Datastores before you click in this field or the creation process fails. Selecting a datastore also selects any mapped datasets. ZFS Filesystem Select a TrueNAS ZFS dataset from the dropdown list of options. This field does not populate until you click Fetch Datastores. You must click Fetch Datastores before clicking in this field or the creation process fails. Click Fetch DataStores to connect TrueNAS to the VMWare host. This synchronizes TrueNAS with the VMWare host and populates the ZFS Filesystem and Datastore dropdown lists with the information from TrueNAS and the VMWare host response.
