FreeNAS as a File, Boot, Active Directory Server Like you could with Sun Microsystem Clint Server.

[Bob-PTi]

I would like to set up my FreeNAS server as a
1. Active Directory server for PCs running Windows 10 - keeping user accounts and files on the FreeNAS server.
2. Able to boot my Windows 10 PC and my Ubuntu PC from the FreeNAS if local machine has no disk or a local swap disk install.
3. Able to install new OS to a broken PC running windows 10 or Ubuntu from files on the FreeNAS.
4. Use FreeNAS as a DNS server.
5. Best backup software to backup my FreeNAS with incremental file backups not a mirror or a Snapshot.

I would like to be able to place a new computer on site and from the FreeNAS server install a new OS "windows 10 or Ubuntu or X". I can do most of this on my Synology boxes but do not know how to do this on FreeNAS. I use to do this with Sun Microsystem Machines 20 years ago.

What software do I need to do this?

 

[jgreco]

Sun used a combination of BOOTP, TFTP, NFS, and (at the userland) things like YP to support diskless boot services. FreeBSD works similarly though the specifics are different. I would go so far as to say that this shares relatively little with Windows.

The ability to do a diskless boot of Windows is basically a matter of creating the proper file tree to use for boot purposes. FreeNAS is capable of DHCP, TFTP, CIFS, and other services that are needed for this. Turning those services on and configuring them is within the scope of this forum. However, creating the proper file tree is really a Windows thing and probably beyond the scope of this forum. If you have already succeeded in doing this from your Synology, I would suggest taking that file tree, copying it to FreeNAS, and then asking for any necessary help regarding the configuration of equivalent DHCP/TFTP/CIFS services on the FreeNAS box.

Having built a variety of diskless boot services over the years, including relatively complicated multi-boot environments, most of the difficulty is really in getting the file tree set up.