noVNC appears to have been removed and SPICE not working well

[Scott Anderson]

It would appear that noVNC has been removed and we being 'forced' to use SPICE to connect to our VM's, at least during their initial setup.

However, SPICE seems unusable. I can't get through the installation of ubuntu as the keyboard input corruption means you can't login. By the time you're half through your password a single keystroke will be 5-8 of the same characters.

On mint, the mouse pointer just disappears after a while and you can be typing and the screen just logs you out (screensaver).

When you lose the mouse, you need to refresh the browser page and enter the 'bloody password no one asked for!!!"

People on here appear to rave about SPICE...am I the only one finding the change a change for the worse? I'm back to using TrueNAS for storage only...what a shame it was working perfectly before they removed noVNC.

 

[huizingajm]

I am having the exact same issue as you. After 30 seconds to a minute the keyboard and mouse just don't work on SPICE. I can remote in, but as soon as I turn my VPN on I lose all access. Even tried using Tailscale to connect but again once the VPN is active I cannot remote into it. I have to use SPICE.

 

[sfatula]

People on here appear to rave about SPICE...am I the only one finding the change a change for the worse? I

Are you speaking of Spice in the browser via the UI, or Spice via client software? I am guilty of raving (I doubt there were many if any others!), however, I am not speaking of in a browser. The browser issue would indeed be a problem and shouldn't be that way. But I've seen a lot of people posting the problem, not sure if anyone made a trouble ticket or not.

My comments were about connecting to Truenas VMs from some other machine via Spice software. I use that with all my VMs.

 

[huizingajm]

My issues are with the browser from the TrueNAS UI. RDP works great until I try to turn on a VPN on the VM.

 

[Scott Anderson]

Are you speaking of Spice in the browser via the UI, or Spice via client software? I am guilty of raving (I doubt there were many if any others!), however, I am not speaking of in a browser. The browser issue would indeed be a problem and shouldn't be that way. But I've seen a lot of people posting the problem, not sure if anyone made a trouble ticket or not.

My comments were about connecting to Truenas VMs from some other machine via Spice software. I use that with all my VMs.

I'm talking about from a browser (Safari, Firefox, Brave and Chrome) i.e. you click 'Display' and it opens up a new window in the browser. There isn't any freely available SPICE client software for Mac's as far as I know.

Sorry about the rant on the opening thread...I just get very frustrated when working things get changed and the world comes tumbling down . I simpley can't connect to the VM's long enough now to actually configure another means to remotely manage them i.e. setting up VNC inside the VM. The only one that works is a Windows10 VM and that's due to RDP being pre-setup (although that VM didn't work after the upgrade due to the 'Display' not having a password as it moved over to SPICE and needed a password). I don't hink I cold install another one.

I have a very simple homelab setup and moved from Proxmox over to TrueNAS due to TrueNAS not managing memory well once vurtualised on Proxmox. Everything was great..create a VM, login via the VNC local connection in the browser, setup remote desktop within the VM and away you go. Now it's broken and I can't install any new VM's as I can't connect long enough or stable enough to do anything.

 

[sfatula]

So, try a Spice client then. Run Spice on a machine other than Truenas and see if you can make it work that way, that should let you do the install then from another machine. Or, try this:

cant create vm : Error while creating the DISPLAY device. [EINVAL] password: Empty value not allowed

cant create new VM with following error Error while creating the DISPLAY device. [EINVAL] password: Empty value not allowed Error: Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 184, in call_method result = await...

www.truenas.com

You can build virt-viewer, or maybe it's in brew or macports. Another one is remmina if that exists in brew or macports.

Note, I am not saying you should have to go through this trouble, just trying to find a solution for now.

 

[Scott Anderson]

So, try a Spice client then. Run Spice on a machine other than Truenas and see if you can make it work that way, that should let you do the install then from another machine. Or, try this:

cant create vm : Error while creating the DISPLAY device. [EINVAL] password: Empty value not allowed

cant create new VM with following error Error while creating the DISPLAY device. [EINVAL] password: Empty value not allowed Error: Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/main.py", line 184, in call_method result = await...

www.truenas.com

You can build virt-viewer, or maybe it's in brew or macports. Another one is remmina if that exists in brew or macports.

Note, I am not saying you should have to go through this trouble, just trying to find a solution for now.

Thanks for the input.

There doesn't appear to be a SPICE client for OSX (off-the-shelf i.e. App Store) without having to build it yourself.

The link seems to cover part of the issue...i.e. it shows that they were using VNC, after the upgrade they were forced to use SPICE (which is problem). I had a similar issue with the Windows10 VM but thankfully it was happy with an RDP connection without any fuss.

I can't be fussed messing around just trying to get a stable connection to the console of a VM (should be a basic stable function). I think I would rather leave TrueNAS to provide a very solid storage platform and move back to Proxmox for a solid virtualisation platform. That way I'll get the best of both worlds but it's a shame that ixsystems have made the change. Until this point, I was enjoying the move over to TrueNAS.

Hell, I can't complain, it's a very capable storage platform and doesn't cost me anything. So I should be grateful for what I get.

 

[Scott Anderson]

old dog with a bone and all that...

(for those with Mac's) I followed the instructions here: https://gist.github.com/tomdaley92/789688fc68e77477d468f7b9e59af51c

This allowed me to install a Spice client for OSX. Although it's designed for use with Proxmox, it works with TrueNAS VM's.

When the pop-up window asks for connection address I used the following spice://192.168.0.221:5900 and its works (thanks sfatula for the idea). The 5900 is the device/display port configured during the creation of the vm and will obviously change for each vm you have.

Then go to the command prompt in Terminal type the following:

$ cat > remote-spice.command
#!/bin/bash
remote-viewer
^D
$ chmod a+x remote-spice.command

You can call the .command file what you want. Move it onto your Desktop then click it to start the app.

Nice little app. So far, the keyboard and mouse are responding well. If that's resolved the issue, I'll report back.

 

[sfatula]

Glad to hear it! Hopefully that allows you to not only use existing VMs but create new ones. I know it was a hassle but hey, if it works, better than waiting. I thought I had seen the instuctions somewhere but then couldn't find them.

 

[Scott Anderson]

I am having the exact same issue as you. After 30 seconds to a minute the keyboard and mouse just don't work on SPICE. I can remote in, but as soon as I turn my VPN on I lose all access. Even tried using Tailscale to connect but again once the VPN is active I cannot remote into it. I have to use SPICE.

I'm guessing...but the SPICE connection is going to the TrueNAS host and then a specific port number i.e. (TrueNas-Host-IP>:5900). Depending on where you are setting up you VPN (Host or Guest) then the results are going to be very different.

I would have thought that a VPN configuration within the guest (VM) which has been configured to use say RDP or VNC as a server (i.e. independent of the SPICE console), should be ok. You may not be able to use SPICE to the console as the SPICE console may be addressing the VM via the Guests IP (which is now within a tunnel). I'm just not sure how SPICE works.

What I have noticed is that most of the standard VNC/RDP servers installed on Linux machines don't work (by default) without someone having first logged in on the console.

Warps my mind...I don't have an answer....sorry.

 

[huizingajm]

I'm guessing...but the SPICE connection is going to the TrueNAS host and then a specific port number i.e. (TrueNas-Host-IP>:5900). Depending on where you are setting up you VPN (Host or Guest) then the results are going to be very different.

I would have thought that a VPN configuration within the guest (VM) which has been configured to use say RDP or VNC as a server (i.e. independent of the SPICE console), should be ok. You may not be able to use SPICE to the console as the SPICE console may be addressing the VM via the Guests IP (which is now within a tunnel). I'm just not sure how SPICE works.

What I have noticed is that most of the standard VNC/RDP servers installed on Linux machines don't work (by default) without someone having first logged in on the console.

Warps my mind...I don't have an answer....sorry.

Setting up the VPN on Guest Machine. Still new to TrueNAS so not 100% sure on everything yet with setting things up inside of TN itself. SPICE works fine with VPN active on Guest. RDP fails as soon as I connect. I have a display out assigned to the machine, So I might see about getting a second KBM and just using that when needed.

 

[Scott Anderson]

Setting up the VPN on Guest Machine. Still new to TrueNAS so not 100% sure on everything yet with setting things up inside of TN itself. SPICE works fine with VPN active on Guest. RDP fails as soon as I connect. I have a display out assigned to the machine, So I might see about getting a second KBM and just using that when needed.

I wouldn't have thought it would make any difference if it was a VM or physical in this case. Can you ping the VM with the VPN tunnel up and running i.e. is it a VPN issue or RDP/VPN.

 

[rustigsmed]

Yes same issue for me - since updating to cobia using a VM in the browser - the keystroke lag is unbearable - I'm lucky I don't have to type much in my vms as they would not be fit for purpose.

 

[Scott Anderson]

Short update...I gave up in the end and moved my VM's back over to Proxmox. I'm afraid the learning curve required to get something basic working just doesn't warrant the investment. Having to play around just trying to connect to the VM's console, manually setting up network bridges so your VM's can connect to the NAS etc..I'll just relegate TrueNAS to it's namesake, NAS. It does a good job at that.

 

[florihupf]

Just leaving a note that this very issue will prevent me to upgrade from Bluefin.

 

[indivision]

I never used noVNC to compare. But, Spice doesn't seem to work well for me either.

For example, when installing Ubuntu, if I click away to read another browser window, when I click back on the Spice window for next steps my input doesn't interact with anything (ie. it appears "frozen"). I have to close the window and re-open with the display button to (sometimes) bring interaction back.

Trying the non-browser client now...

[virt-viewer works well and as expected (using serverIP:displayPort address). Available here: https://virt-manager.org/download

I would be interested in learning more about alternative VNC clients that work. I tried "RealVNC" and couldn't seem to connect.]

 

[chmod777]

I am trying to follow this thread for Windows but am not having much luck. My Virtual Machine says it is on display port: 5902. I have tried the following. I have two nic interfaces and have tried every IP (both NIC ip's and the VM ip) without luck.

virt-viewer.exe 192.168.1.201:5902

and also

virt-viewer.exe spice://192.168.1.201:5902

Both give me an error "Unable to connect to libvirt with URI" I installed from the link right above. None of my other windows VNC clients can connect. It works fine from a browser using truenas. Am I missing something obvious? I searched for other threads on this but they all kept referring to qemu.

 

[michael-stefanski]

This is a serious regression when upgrading to TrueNAS Scale cobia 23.10. Upgraders with VMs beware! The old VNC was able to maintain logged in GUI sessions for months, which was crucial in jobs that required a working GUI (think browsers that scrape web pages). The new spice driver does lock up (mostly disconnect mouse and keyboard). After 2-5 mins the spice driver just kills the GUI session, even cron! The workaround that I found so far (worked for 3 weeks so far) is to keep a terminal open with an app running like 'htop' The constant flashing of processes makes spice think that something is happening. Give that a try.

Any luck installing another vnc server/client combo? Maybe RustDesk? https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases

 

[chmod777]

This is a serious regression when upgrading to TrueNAS Scale cobia 23.10. Upgraders with VMs beware! The old VNC was able to maintain logged in GUI sessions for months, which was crucial in jobs that required a working GUI (think browsers that scrape web pages). The new spice driver does lock up (mostly disconnect mouse and keyboard). After 2-5 mins the spice driver just kills the GUI session, even cron! The workaround that I found so far (worked for 3 weeks so far) is to keep a terminal open with an app running like 'htop' The constant flashing of processes makes spice think that something is happening. Give that a try.

Any luck installing another vnc server/client combo? Maybe RustDesk? https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases

I decided to use the built in Windows Remote desktop to connect to the VM. It works very smoothly that way. I only have to deal with the SPICE stuff until I get an OS installed. Still though I would prefer a VNC client that works outside the browser for when I need to setup another VM. I am good for now.

 

[borisK]

I managed to connect through virt-viewer on Windows, but due to a 5 years old bug this leads to sessions not being saved (and recents being empty). I wish there was a way to open the TrueNAS console link with an app and point it to virt-viewer.
Currently the UX is simply atrocious. There is no other way to put it. And I regret that this has to be my first post in the forum.

1481957 – Recent connections is empty

bugzilla.redhat.com

Recent Connections of Virt-Viewer Win64 always empty (#52) · Issues · Virt Viewer / virt-viewer · GitLab

Opening Remote Viewer Typing in connection address and successful establishing a connection to a host Opening Remote Viewer again; Recent Connections is always empty...

gitlab.com