No templates should show in 9.10 as php-virtualbox has been removed and the default one does not show. The only templates that should show on 9.10 are the ones you create yourself using the instructions in
http://doc.freenas.org/9.10/jails.html#managing-jail-templates.
"No templates should show in 9.10" - This would have been nice if it was added in the Release Notes, along with the note on the change in jails; it would have saved about 6+ hours of weekend time searching and reading through forums, while trying to figure out why no templates appeared.
I started my build with 9.10.1-U4, and have since upgraded to 9.10.2-U1 (86c7ef5). Recently I wanted to start learning about Jails and Plugins, so I installed the Plex plugin (very easy to install and administer, kudos to the team that created it). Today I came across a need to run a VM with either Windows 7 (x64) or Windows 10 (x64); after a quick search on Google, it seemed like FreeNAS could handle this and VirtualBox was the way to go. Also, VirtualBox was at least something I had some experience with vs. VM Ware, or bhyove (or whatever that silly name was). I came across
CyberJock's thread on how to install VirtualBox on FreeNAS. So I read through the thread, and came to the part where he said this method was old and to use the template instead. Knowing that I was on a newer version of FreeNAS, I thought "GREAT! The template has probably been improved since CyberJock's post. I can start with a template, and build from there." I went looking for the template in the Jails->Templates, but ran into a, previously unknown to me, issue; my FreeNAS box wasn't seeing any templates, "Uh-oh".
After a reading a few threads (e.g.
#1,
#2,
...) on jails missing templates, one of them led me to the
FreeNAS 9.10-RELEASE now available! thread, and I started reading about people upgrading from 9.3 to 9.10.2 having the same issue of templates not appearing. People were saying that jails and plugins needed to be deleted, and the jails dataset needed to be deleted. Since I had started with 9.10, I hoped I might not be in the same situation, since this was a bit extreme. While trying to relate what I had vs. what others were reporting, I found the Jails Collection URL was pointing to "
http://download.freenas.org/latest/RELEASE/x64/jails", which resulted in the 404 error some people mentioned. So the answer seemed to be to change the Collection URL to "
http://download.freenas.org/jails/10/x64/", so I did that, but no luck; it was still blank.
I also read that the /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf should point to the proper location. However, when I read /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf, mine was almost completely empty:
Code:
FreeBSD: {
enabled: no
}
So, I figured, what the heck, why not try deleting the jails, this is still a pretty fresh system, and I intended it to be something I could blow out and re-install as I learned. Though that phase is nearing an end, as the need for the server and its storage is growing. I then did the following:
- Opened the FreeNAS WebGUI and went to the Plugins tab
- Stopped the Plex plugin (it was the only plugin or jail I had installed and running)
- I hit the Delete button next to the plugin.
- Opened View Volumes and Destroyed the jails dataset
- Shutdown the server
- Waited for complete shutdown
- Powered the server back on
- Re-opened the FreeNAS WebGUI
- Looked at the Jails Configuration to make sure it was pointing to the correct place
- Checked the Volumes/Datasets
At this point the jails dataset had reappeared. WT..?!
- So I, Destroyed the jails dataset (again!)
- Chose Reboot this time, instead of Shutdown
- Waited for the server to come back up
- Re-opened the FreeNAS WebGUI
- Checked the Volumes/Datasets (and viola! the dataset is gone)
- So, just to be sure it wasn't going to come back on its own, I Shutdown the server
- Waited for complete shutdown
- Powered the server back on
- Re-opened the FreeNAS WebGUI
- Checked the Volumes/Datasets (and the dataset was still gone)
- Made another check of the Jails Configuration (still pointing to the correct place)
- Tried hitting Save on the Jails Configuration, but FreeNAS reported the jails location did not exist (good, makes sense)
When I had originally installed the Plex plugin, it had created (and presumably configured) the jails dataset for me. Re-reading the Plugins and Jails documentation confirmed the plugin had created the jails dataset. So, making things easy on myself, I installed the Plex plugin again, and had it create the jails dataset (but this time with the updated configuration). Still, no jails templates...:(
A bit more poking around, and it dawned on me that people weren't really talking about /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf, but actually meant /mnt/<Volume>/jails/<location of a jail>/usr/local/etc/pgk/repos/FreeBSD.conf; that file has a bit more to it, and seems okay from what I can tell.
Code:
FreeBSD: {
url: "pkg+http://pkg.FreeBSD.org/freebsd:10:x86:64/latest",
mirror_type: "srv",
enabled: yes
}
Started poking around some more, came across this thread, and read, "No templates should show in 9.10 as php-virtualbox has been removed and the default one does not show. The only templates that should show on 9.10 are the ones you create yourself..." SRSLY?!
Well, that was a rather huge waste of time and effort.
At least I got to know the system a little bit better. Along the way I learned that VirtualBox template support is going away, and the preferred method will be some bhyve, but until it's ready (sometime when FreeNAS 10.x is declared stable) we'll have to use iohyve (buuuuut...
iohyve doesn't support a gui... so no Windows, MacOS, X11, etc.,
unless you can install a VNC Server on the host VM. Once bhyve and FreeNAS 10.x are stable
we should get the GUI support back). Hopefully FreeNAS 10.x will be declared stable sooner, rather than later, and we can not only get VMs that support Gui's, but also some templates to help get them configured and setup.
