IP address help for noob please

[davidppp]

Hello all.

I am trying to assemble a low rent but reliable home server for our family photos and videos.
This is my first install and I have searched for a couple hours on " IP address" etc..
the system details are
HP Proliant Microserver N40L
8GB HP ECC ram
two 3tb and one 1 tb discs.(one bay vacant)
boot from toshiba 8gb usb installed internally.
latest ISO of 9.3 stable.
Hash matches
the NIC1 MAC in the bios is E4-11-5B-12-BE-46

hard connected cat 6 to an EE brightbox modem which also serves two other PC's.

All went as described in the manual until I reached the 14 item menu, when it asked me to manually set the IP address.
I simply copied this from the eaxample.
It turns out this is the router address!
Despite much midnight oil, I cannot figure out how to set an IP address manually in the configuration wizard .

PLease help..I am aware this must be a very very embarassingly simple question..

KInd regards
David

 

[davidppp]

PS.

Past Bitter Experience has discouraged me from experimentally trying various random numbers..what would be the safest procedure please?

KInd regards
David

 

[dlavigne]

Does the router not give a DHCP address? If so, FreeNAS by default will display which IP address it received.

Also, which manual are you reading that gives menu item 14?

 

[davidppp]

Hello, dlavign, and thank you.

No I have the router screen up and it does not show the HP box at all..only the other two PC's.
Sorry to confuse..what I am reffeing to is the console configuration menu which has 14 items..item nmber one being the manual configuration of the IP etc..
It suggests I try to manually configure the IP..so I slect item 1 ..

That brings up a wizard which I filled in using the example IP adrress it gave..which truns out to be the router.

Kind regards
David

 

[dlavigne]

You need to make sure that the router is giving out IP addresses (check that it is not filtering by MAC addresses or that it is not limited to only give out 2 IP addresses). You want the FreeNAS system to automatically get an IP from your router.

 

[davidppp]

Hello, dlavign, and thank you.

No I have the router screen up and it does not show the HP box at all..only the other two PC's.
Sorry to confuse..what I am reffeing to is the console configuration menu which has 14 items..item nmber one being the manual configuration of the IP etc..
It suggests I try to manually configure the IP..so I slect item 1 ..

That brings up a wizard which I filled in using the example IP adrress it gave..which truns out to be the router.

Kind regards
David

 

[davidppp]

Thanks, Dlavigne.

I'll do a shutdown and restart the router, and reset the freenas HP box to factory settings..item 8 in the menu.

Kind regards
David

 

[pirateghost]

You can't use the EXAMPLE IP because...well, it is an EXAMPLE. every network is slightly different....

You should not have to do anything to the box. The router should provide you with an IP address, and it will display on the screen. The menu that comes up on FreeNAS does NOT mean you have to go through each item....once you have the IP address displayed on that screen, all configuration is done over the web gui.

 

[davidppp]

Thanks..pirateghost.

Rebooting the freenas shows three options on the grub..one is normal default...one is initial and the other went before I could read.
The boot failed saying Getty repeat ...
I rebooted and selected initial and got back to the console setup menu but still no configured interfaces found.
I'll unplug the other PCs and just connect the fteenas box reset the router and reboot
Thanks again.
David

 

[pirateghost]

Thanks..pirateghost.

Rebooting the freenas shows three options on the grub..one is normal default...one is initial and the other went before I could read.
The boot failed saying Getty repeat ...
I rebooted and selected initial and got back to the console setup menu but still no configured interfaces found.
I'll unplug the other PCs and just connect the fteenas box reset the router and reboot
Thanks again.
David

Not getting an IP is one thing. 'No configured interfaces' is another.

 

[davidppp]

hello again.

the router screen now shows freenas with an IP address!
putting this into the firefox url box brings up a freenas login screen, which requires a username and password.

I set a password in the orgnal install, but was not asked for a username as far as I recall.

So now I am stuck again!

KInd regards
David

 

[pirateghost]

username is root

you are aware we have really good documentation on using FreeNAS, right?

http://doc.freenas.org/

 

[davidppp]

Yes, I have read it many times and its very goo...I m using root as the username, but either this or the password I set on the install is not working..hence I wondered whther I needed something else?

Kind regards
David

 

[pirateghost]

root
<yourpassword>

that's it. the documentation covers this exact detail
http://doc.freenas.org/9.3/freenas_quick.html

 

[davidppp]

Thanks, guys.

I think the password I originally entered must have been corrupted or something..I was able to selct rest from the cosole setup, and reentred the password and its all up and working, thanks to this great community!

No doubtI'll get stuck again, but thanks for now..

Kind regards
David

 

[SweetAndLow]

Random person passing by:

Your HDD choices are interesting. Why do you have the 1TB drive? You would get more total capacity if you just mirror the two 3TB drives and not use the 1TB drive. By adding the 1TB drive to your vdev you limit the 3TB drives to only 1TB. Your other option would be to put that 1TB drive in its own pool with no redundancy but I doubt you want to do that.

 

[davidppp]

Thanks!

I just happened to end up with those drives, really..
I'll remove the 1tb drive now.
stop press......I have actually just bought two external USB 3tb drives off ebay, new in sealed boxes, quite cheap..so I'll take the drives out and install them in the other two slots after testing them fully.

I guess there is a utility I can run under widoze to test the USB drives before committing to install them?
Do I need to do anything special to reformat the drives I take from the external systems?
Can anyone advise please?

Kind regards
David

 

[davidppp]

PS.

I have slept on this and now realise what must have gone wrong, in case it helps someone else.
First, the router needed to be reset with the freeneas running to give out a new IP address to the freenas box.

Second, the password I set must have been deleted when I ticked the option to return factory settings..hence it was not recognised by the login screen when trying to access the freenas box from the GUI machine..
I used the reset password option on the freenas machine and it then worked from the login.

Thanks again to all.

Kind regards
David

 

[Rilo Ravestein]

First, the router needed to be reset with the freeneas running to give out a new IP address to the freenas box.

This is definately problem with your router (or network). A normal functioning (router with) DHCP server does not need a reboot for that.

Second, the password I set must have been deleted when I ticked the option to return factory settings.

Of course. That's what a return to factory settings does. Same as a reinstall. ;)

 

[CraftyClown]

Glad you got there in the end David :)

Freenas can be both daunting and challenging from the offset, especially if you don't have an IT background, however with some perseverance the rewards are great and yes it is a fantastic community, always willing to help those in need.