Misc 9.3 Beta Feedback

[Deleted User #319254452]

Here is some 9.3 feedback having supported FreeNAS for about two years. Will think if some warrant bug reports or formal feature requests.

* Make it clear that the ISO doubles as a memstick

* Don't mention "ISO" when it's time to reboot after installation (esp. if booted from memstick...)

* WARNING: Firmware version 14 does not match driver version 16 for /dev/mps0 (Maybe mention that this is an LSI controller...)

# WARNING: You need to upgrade the volume server (Perhaps "The zpool version for the volume "server" is out of date")

* It is not quite clear on the suggested size for installation media. The FAQ has "2GB Flash Drive for installation (use 4GB to be sure it's big enough)" Is this still valid for 9.3? Maybe have a "hardware requirements" section?

* NO ONE will mind if you put the messages in the footer by default.

* A choice of Shell font size would sure be nice.

* Perhaps include a menu to mirror the boot device.
Boot: Create | Scrub Boot | Mirror Boot

* Perhaps include one of the many Django-based file managers.

* Boot: "On Reboot, Now" means what exactly?

* A picture of a boot for Boot? Seriously? :)

* Block/iSCSI Global Config: add some (?) info icons to "ISNS Servers" and "Pool Available Size Threshold (%):" What are they?

* Should there be some nifty VMware and Microsoft options under iSCSI or are they all on by default?

* All CTL now? No option of the userland iSCSId? Works great?

* Scrubs: Threshold days: Which month has 35 days?

* Replication Tasks: "Replicate now" button for testing the configuration, PLEASE! :)

* Perhaps lose the one tab and highlight the icon for the section.

* Now that the top and left menus are sync'd, maybe give the option to hide one? Extra vertical space is always appreciated. Lose one?

* Forum sign-up: 3rd letter of the alphabet? WHICH ALPHABET? :)

* Forum sign-up cont: Please correct the following errors:

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Sigh. I have finally joined the forums. Hi CyberJock.

 

[anodos]

* It is not quite clear on the suggested size for installation media. The FAQ has "2GB Flash Drive for installation (use 4GB to be sure it's big enough)" Is this still valid for 9.3? Maybe have a "hardware requirements" section?

I know. It's almost as if the person writing that FAQ wasn't very familiar with freenas. :) sphinx.freenas.org has documentation for 9.3

* Scrubs: Threshold days: Which month has 35 days?

five weeks have 35 days and have a somewhat more regular duration than 1 month. Perhaps though it should be based off lunar months.

* Forum sign-up: 3rd letter of the alphabet? WHICH ALPHABET? :)

I don't know of any non-english languages that use the word "alphabet" for alphabet. :)

 

[jkh]

* Make it clear that the ISO doubles as a memstick

Thanks, that's now noted in the ReleaseNotes (as of just now :))

* Don't mention "ISO" when it's time to reboot after installation (esp. if booted from memstick...)

Not sure I follow this one. It's still the ISO you need to eject. Whether it's written to a CD or to a USB drive, it's the same image either way?

* WARNING: Firmware version 14 does not match driver version 16 for /dev/mps0 (Maybe mention that this is an LSI controller...)

It does! That's the /dev/mpso bit - everyone knows that's an LSI controller. :) In all seriousness, if we change anything in FreeNAS, it will be to just make that warning go away entirely since there is no firmware update utility included in FreeNAS and it's kind of something you can't do much about unless you're expert enough to know how to boot into an OS with the firmware update utility anyway.

# WARNING: You need to upgrade the volume server (Perhaps "The zpool version for the volume "server" is out of date")

So your suggestion is that the term "volume" is insufficiently precise? This is a can of worms that Dru tried to open awhile back as well, and we all yelled because "pool" is also an alien concept for all the folks new to ZFS (they really look at you blankly until you use the word "volume" and then they go "aaaah, why didn't you just call it that?"), and "zpool" is even less explanatory. I don't know about this one. There would be a lot of stuff to change all through the UI if we changed this terminology now!

* It is not quite clear on the suggested size for installation media. The FAQ has "2GB Flash Drive for installation (use 4GB to be sure it's big enough)" Is this still valid for 9.3? Maybe have a "hardware requirements" section?

I thought the FAQ was basically dead. :( It sure hasn't been updated for a long time. I think the only definitive source of information going forward is going to be the 9.3 documentation - does it not say in there? I honestly haven't looked. The size, TBH, should really be at least 8GB now.

* NO ONE will mind if you put the messages in the footer by default.

You're talking about the console log? A lot of people don't like it there. :( I don't think changing the option would be wise.

* A choice of Shell font size would sure be nice.

I have no idea where that's even specified. TBH, you can't even change the font size in the rest of the UI, either. Are you sure this isn't better suited to being a browser setting?

* Perhaps include a menu to mirror the boot device.
Boot: Create | Scrub Boot | Mirror Boot

A disk manager is coming to that screen for -RELEASE, it just didn't make the BETA. This is how you'll be able to add or replace drives to the freenas-boot pool.

* Perhaps include one of the many Django-based file managers.

Ugh. Probably never going to happen. :) There are simply too many capable (and much better) file managers that you can install into a jail and then punch through the storage you want to manage that way.

* Boot: "On Reboot, Now" means what exactly?

It means this will be the boot environment that gets booted on the next reboot, and is booted off of now. The two can diverge depending on what you do in the UI.

* A picture of a boot for Boot? Seriously? :)

That icon is awesome! Seriously though, what would YOU pick?

* Block/iSCSI Global Config: add some (?) info icons to "ISNS Servers" and "Pool Available Size Threshold (%):" What are they?

Sounds like a good bug report!

* Should there be some nifty VMware and Microsoft options under iSCSI or are they all on by default?

Not sure what you mean. What options would you add UI for?

* All CTL now? No option of the userland iSCSId? Works great?

Yes. No. Yes. :)

* Scrubs: Threshold days: Which month has 35 days?

Who says it has to be an even month's worth of days?

* Replication Tasks: "Replicate now" button for testing the configuration, PLEASE! :)

I've had that request in for many months now. Apparently it is hard because of the way "Now" would break the existing replication schedule (the snapshots themselves become key place markers in how the scheduling works).

* Perhaps lose the one tab and highlight the icon for the section.

Not sure what you mean.

* Now that the top and left menus are sync'd, maybe give the option to hide one? Extra vertical space is always appreciated. Lose one?

Wait for FreeNAS 10. This is all changing. :)

* Forum sign-up: 3rd letter of the alphabet? WHICH ALPHABET? :)

Cyrillic.

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Something is always wrong with the Forums. To fix that, we'd have to replace it with vBulletin. ;)

Sigh. I have finally joined the forums. Hi CyberJock.

SUCKER! :p

 

[cyberjock]

^^^ What he said.

Howdy @michaeldexter

We have you in our grips now! Mwahahahahah!

 

[Deleted User #319254452]

Thanks JKH!

Some clarifications before I figure out the commenting syntax…

* Don't mention "ISO" when it's time to reboot after installation (esp. if booted from memstick…)

I think we (all) need a term for the combined iso/img. I never want to see an ISO again. :) Maybe it should refer to the "Hybrid ISO" before download through after installation when it prompts for removal of it.

* "Volume" vs. "Pool" (Yes, a can of worms) I'm glad you don't call "scrub" "polish"

* Boot Icon: Use a car trunk, obviously. Or a floppy icon. I suppose it is complicated from the fact that there are a number of types of device that one might boot from. I'll have to think about it.

* Perhaps lose the one tab and highlight the icon for the section.
Translation: The main window has one tab, down from several. This is good. Because there is a now a one to one mapping to the icons at the top of the main page, the tab is somewhat redundant short of it having a longer name than the icon. I see the icons turn blue for the selected pane (until you click away). The "Storage" one is a good example of the redundancy as the "Storage" icon is right above the "Storage" tab. See the attached file. I could not keep the blue highlighting though.

 

[Norleif]

...
* Don't mention "ISO" when it's time to reboot after installation (esp. if booted from memstick…)

I think we (all) need a term for the combined iso/img. I never want to see an ISO again. :) Maybe it should refer to the "Hybrid ISO" before download through after installation when it prompts for removal of it.

Would a term like "Installation media" be too confusing?

 

[solarisguy]

I am voting for installation media, instead of ISO :)

And would like to see ZFS terminology. I understand that you are trying to make it simpler to those who are already trained professionals. However, trained professionals quickly learn. You may want to add an occasional volume in brackets in the initial wizard :) .

People new to FreeNAS are often new to any kind of sophisticated storage. Using terminology that is not aligned with ZFS makes it even more confusing to them. They search Internet for additional information about volumes, and they get Veritas or NetApp advice... They search for ZFS advice, they get it, but it does not fit FreeNAS language...

 

[Deleted User #319254452]

Perhaps shorten that to "Install Media"? <insert the install smiley>

 

[Apollo]

Should it be more accurate to state: "install Medium"? but then it becomes more confusing.

 

[jkh]

Installation Source Overlay it is! I think I will abbreviate it, however, since that's kind of long...

 

[Apollo]

Better yet,
If you decide to accept this mission your installation media will self destroy in 5 seconds, then there is no need to take it out for the system to reboot.

 

[Apollo]

In the same spirit as Michaeldexter, would it be possible to add more information, mostly pointing to log files, maybe, when the following error message appears on top of the web gui:

"Some error occurred"

This happens for instance, when you want to start a pluggin, and it fails.

Also, I have experienced the issue where I need to delete a folder or dataset and I can't delete it because the device is busy. A few times I have been looking around for the cause of the error, it can be because of a user pwd in the above mentioned folder, or a share is currently active or a snapshot is holding it.
If there was a clear description of the source of the issue, it would be quite an improvement.

 

[jkh]

In the same spirit as Michaeldexter, would it be possible to add more information, mostly pointing to log files, maybe, when the following error message appears on top of the web gui:

"Some error occurred"

Yeah, that error appears when the system is basically too confused about what's going on behind the scenes to say anything more meaningful (or it would). The middleware/UI combo in FreeNAS 9.3 is limited by insufficient abstraction and too little information being passed upwards. Everything you just asked for is FreeNAS 10 material, a level of reporting that will be possible once everything has been redesigned with that kind of information exchange in mind. Look for the first early access versions to come out next summer.

 

[anodos]

Installation Source Overlay it is! I think I will abbreviate it, however, since that's kind of long...

Insov?