Kicking the tires

[clacour]

I have an ageing NAS that I am looking to replace and have been looking at the FreeNAS MINI XL but wanted to test things out before buying. I know that this is probably not the place to post about an issue but I was not sure if this should go under "Installation and Updates", "Plugins and Jails" or "General QUestions and Help". I figured that I would be told where this should go and I can repost it there.

Quite a while back I tried FreeNAS 9.2 running under VirtualBox and there was an issue with using IPv6 where the plugin status URL was not being encoded properly so the last portion of the IP was seen as the port. That seems to have been fixed. Over the last couple of days I have tried installing 9.10.2 under VirtualBox and none of the plugins seem to work.

For example after installing the Plex plugin I get the following in /var/log/messages:

Code:

Dec 29 13:08:06 freenas manage.py: [plugins.utils:91] Couldn't retrieve http://192.168.XXX.XXX/plugins/plexmediaserver/1/_s/status: HTTP Error 503: OK

The Jail for the plugin is running and the Installed Plugin page loads but the above error is logged and the plugin shows as stopped and if I try to start it I get the same error in the log.

 

[Bisquit]

Others are having issues with 9.10.2 as well, me included. Try installing 9.10.1.

 

[clacour]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I see 9.10.1 through 9.10.1-U4, would you recommend the original 9.10.1 or Update 4?

 

[Bisquit]

I installed 9.10.1 this week and upgraded to U4. U4 is running fine here including plugins.

 

[clacour]

I tried going with the U4 ISO and I have the same issue:

Code:

Dec 29 16:10:34 freenas manage.py: [plugins.utils:91] Couldn't retrieve http://192.168.XXX.XXX/plugins/plexmediaserver/1/_s/status: HTTP Error 503: OK

I will try the 9.10.1 with mo updates now.

 

[clacour]

Still the same issue with the same error.

 

[dlavigne]

Sounds like this bug: https://bugs.freenas.org/issues/18826.

 

[clacour]

It looks like it could be that bug, I saw the error I got in the log in the bug report. I have tried 9.10 as well and the issue exists. I have not gone all the way back to 9.3 to test

I like the hardware platform and that the file-system is ZFS but this seems like a big deal, it is not like it is a obscure piece of functionality. For a bug like this to exist through 7 updates and to get into a "stable" release at all makes me question switching to this platform.

 

[MatthewSteinhoff]

The core of FreeNAS, @clacour, is rock-solid and a wonder to behold. Your data is unquestionably safe. (At least as safe as data gets.) Performance per dollar is remarkable. FreeNAS as a NAS works well right out of the box.

The further you stray from enterprise-level file services and into the consumer zone (Plex, etc.), the more annoyances you will find. If you're tech-savvy, FreeNAS is still an amazing choice built on a well-supported open platform where just about any problem can be solved with some internet sleuthing.

Finally, virtualization brings its own challenges and oddities. The delta between 'should work' and 'will work' is often greater than liked in such an environment.

We are happily running 9.10.1-U4 and that's the version I'd recommend. We also still have a 9.3 server in production. Our FreeNAS boxes are just for file services, no jails or plugins. Your mileage may vary. I won't think less of you if you end up using another platform.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[clacour]

The solid platform of the file services is definitely what I want and having been a Solaris admin I am familiar with and like ZFS. The whole reason I have looked at FreeNAS and the iXsystems FreeNAS Mini XL is because of the thought and design I can see has gone into them.

It may be great to have boxes dedicated to just file services but when you are dealing with home use I really don't want to have a handful of systems to do various functions. It is these extras and their ease of use that make me look at prebuilt systems like this instead of building it my self.

I don't know if I just have bad timing or what but this is the second time going through evaluating FreeNAS. If you look at bug report #4964 that I submitted over 2 years ago for version 9.2.1 there was a very similar error but it only occurred with IPv6. I went through updating a couple of times to versions that were supposed to work to no avail so I gave up. Now when I try again I run into a similar issue as before.

Without digging into the code/scripts I could be wrong but it seems to me that the web service API call to get status of plugins would be a core to the functionality to the plugin system and not an issue with virtualization of some application or process. I would assume that if it was an issue with virtualization it would affect the plugins that trigger the bug and not every one I tried unless I was just unlucky and just tried the broken ones.

 

[MatthewSteinhoff]

Those using IPv6 are in the extreme minority. Those using IPv6 with BSD are a smaller subset. Those using IPv6 with FreeNAS are an even smaller subset. If IPv6 is a requirement, this may not be your product.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[SweetAndLow]

This is strange because no one is really taking about this issue. It's working just fine for everyone else. Can you provide more details like static or dynamic IP address, all ipv6 network or gateway settings?

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[clacour]

I am sorry I brought up the old IPv6 issue. It is not having an issue with IPv6, the IPv6 issue as I said in my post was 2 years ago under 9.2. In the 9.10 through 9.10.2 builds I tried IPv6 is working and not the source of my current issue. I brought it up because the effect of the old IPv6 bug is giving similar errors and having the same effect as what I am experiencing now.

I really don't understand the mindset of not implementing IPv6 on devices since the last public IPv4 address blocks were assigned by IANA 6 years ago and over a year ago ARIN has had to start recovering unused IPv4 blocks. FreeBSD was used as a reference implementation of IPv6 and had support of IPv6 over a decade ago. FreeBSD 9.0 was available 5 years ago as an IPv6 Only system.

The plugin and management portion of FreeNAS seems to take a back seat to the "enterprise" features which makes sense but with the features for home use relying on plugins I would hope that the ability to install and configure plugins would not get ignored for at least 8 months and 7 minor releases.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I am sorry I brought up the old IPv6 issue. It is not having an issue with IPv6, the IPv6 issue as I said in my post was 2 years ago under 9.2. In the 9.10 through 9.10.2 builds I tried IPv6 is working and not the source of my current issue. I brought it up because the effect of the old IPv6 bug is giving similar errors and having the same effect as what I am experiencing now.

I really don't understand the mindset of not implementing IPv6 on devices since the last public IPv4 address blocks were assigned by IANA 6 years ago and over a year ago ARIN has had to start recovering unused IPv4 blocks. FreeBSD was used as a reference implementation of IPv6 and had support of IPv6 over a decade ago. FreeBSD 9.0 was available 5 years ago as an IPv6 Only system.

The plugin and management portion of FreeNAS seems to take a back seat to the "enterprise" features which makes sense but with the features for home use relying on plugins I would hope that the ability to install and configure plugins would not get ignored for at least 8 months and 7 minor releases.

They work perfectly fine for everyone else. Something is funny about your setup.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[pirateghost]

I'm not sure why you seem to think this is a widespread issue. It works fine for lots of people...

 

[clacour]

You can't say that they work for every one else. There is the bug: https://bugs.freenas.org/issues/18826. When I spoke to someone I work with who has a FreeNAS MINI and I asked plugins were working and he replied: "No...I've had that bug for awhile". Also above Bisquit said: "Others are having issues with 9.10.2 as well, me included"

On the versions I have tried: 9.10.2, 9.10.1_U4 ,9.10.1 and 9.10, I created a virtual system with Virtual Box based on the instructions under section 2.6.1 of the 9.10 Users guide. I do the install boot into Free NAS, set the admin password and go through the wizard and install then install a plugin and it can't see the status of it. Not sure what could be wrong. I have tried this with a DHCP assigned address as well as with a static address, with and without IPv6. I can see shares and ssh to and from the FreeNAS VM. There is nothing that I can see as being wrong with the core network functionality. I have tried this with the Intel PRO and paravirtulized virtual NICs with and without the ability to be put into promiscuous mode.

 

[clacour]

To validate that the issue is version related I just installed 9.3 from FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201605170422.iso and the plugin status and control works. I then updated to the latest 9.10.2 via FreeNAS-9.10-STABLE and the plugin still works. I also tried installing a plugin after the update and it also worked. So this seems to be an issue with initially installing under 9.10 or later.

I will re-validate my initial install attempts using 9.10.2 again.

 

[SweetAndLow]

You can't say that they work for every one else. There is the bug: https://bugs.freenas.org/issues/18826. When I spoke to someone I work with who has a FreeNAS MINI and I asked plugins were working and he replied: "No...I've had that bug for awhile". Also above Bisquit said: "Others are having issues with 9.10.2 as well, me included"

On the versions I have tried: 9.10.2, 9.10.1_U4 ,9.10.1 and 9.10, I created a virtual system with Virtual Box based on the instructions under section 2.6.1 of the 9.10 Users guide. I do the install boot into Free NAS, set the admin password and go through the wizard and install then install a plugin and it can't see the status of it. Not sure what could be wrong. I have tried this with a DHCP assigned address as well as with a static address, with and without IPv6. I can see shares and ssh to and from the FreeNAS VM. There is nothing that I can see as being wrong with the core network functionality. I have tried this with the Intel PRO and paravirtulized virtual NICs with and without the ability to be put into promiscuous mode.

Just so you know I just downloaded 9.10.2 and created a vm with 4GB memory and a single 20GB disk. I did zero configuration and just installed the plex plugin and turned it on. I have zero errors and I can get to the plex gui. Something is funky with your network or your setup.

 

[clacour]

Can you answer why it worked with 9.3 and not 9.10 using the same config on the same network?

I created a VM with the following:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
VMHOME=/app/VMs
ISOHOME=/app/ISOs
VMNAME=vFreeNAS
vboxmanage createvm -name "${VMNAME}" -ostype FreeBSD_64 --register
vboxmanage modifyvm "${VMNAME}" --cpus 2 --memory 8192 --nic1 bridged --nictype1 virtio --rtcuseutc on
vboxmanage storagectl "${VMNAME}" --add sata --name "SATA-01"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 8192 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-System.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 0 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-System.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 1 --type dvddrive --medium "${ISOHOME}/FreeNAS-9.10.2.iso"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data00.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 2 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data00.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data01.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 3 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data01.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data02.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 4 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data02.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data03.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 5 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data03.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data04.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 6 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data04.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data05.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 7 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data05.vdi"

Installed useing the FreeNAS-9.10.2.iso with a sha256 checksum of: 34098d6818252175ecbb8b2e6803202e108447cc7af5af9c14c11eda22acb083

Once booted through the console I configured the static IPv4 address and default route as well as the DNS info. I logged into the Web UI and went through the wizard and tried installing Plex plugin and once it was done the status failed and I can't control the plugin.

If I take a VM that I install 9.3 and successfully install a plugin and then either upgrade or do a reinstall with 9.10.2 and import the existing ZFS volume installing a plugin works. Setting up with a completely new set of data disks it fails with 9.10.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Can you answer why it worked with 9.3 and not 9.10 using the same config on the same network?

I created a VM with the following:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
VMHOME=/app/VMs
ISOHOME=/app/ISOs
VMNAME=vFreeNAS
vboxmanage createvm -name "${VMNAME}" -ostype FreeBSD_64 --register
vboxmanage modifyvm "${VMNAME}" --cpus 2 --memory 8192 --nic1 bridged --nictype1 virtio --rtcuseutc on
vboxmanage storagectl "${VMNAME}" --add sata --name "SATA-01"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 8192 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-System.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 0 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-System.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 1 --type dvddrive --medium "${ISOHOME}/FreeNAS-9.10.2.iso"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data00.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 2 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data00.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data01.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 3 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data01.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data02.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 4 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data02.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data03.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 5 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data03.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data04.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 6 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data04.vdi"
vboxmanage createmedium disk --format VDI -size 65536 --filename "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data05.vdi"
vboxmanage storageattach "${VMNAME}" --storagectl "SATA-01" --port 7 --type hdd --medium "${VMHOME}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-Data05.vdi"

Installed useing the FreeNAS-9.10.2.iso with a sha256 checksum of: 34098d6818252175ecbb8b2e6803202e108447cc7af5af9c14c11eda22acb083

Once booted through the console I configured the static IPv4 address and default route as well as the DNS info. I logged into the Web UI and went through the wizard and tried installing Plex plugin and once it was done the status failed and I can't control the plugin.

If I take a VM that I install 9.3 and successfully install a plugin and then either upgrade or do a reinstall with 9.10.2 and import the existing ZFS volume installing a plugin works. Setting up with a completely new set of data disks it fails with 9.10.

Try again and don't configure the network stuff. Just let it do the DHCP thing. There is a huge difference between 9.3 and 9.10, 9.10 is based on freebsd 10.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk