Your website is now active on your network, and protected with the same ultra-reliable ZFS file system as file shares on your FreeNAS. Using the ZFS features of FreeNAS, you can regularly snapshot, clone, or replicate the webserver jail or any other service you choose to run.

In the FreeNAS WebGUI, go to Services > SSH > Settings.

1. Set the FreeNAS SSH port.
2. Make sure “Login as Root with password” is unchecked.
3. Also uncheck “Allow Password Authentication”.
4. Check “Allow TCP Port Forwarding”.
5. You may need to stop and start the SSH service for settings to take effect.

A nextcloud plugin can be installed from the FreeNAS web interface itself, in a couple of clicks. Just login to your server as root, go to plugins (from the top menu, if you are using the older UI) and from there to the list of available plugins: There you can find Nextcloud available for to download and install.

To change the system’s hostname, click its Edit button, type in the new hostname, and click OK. The hostname must include the domain name. If the network does not use a domain name add . local to the end of the hostname.

Initial FreeNAS setup

1. Enter a pool name (can be unique or simply “storage”).
2. Click Next.
3. Choose RAID setup (can be left on “automatic”).
4. Click Next.
5. Select desired Directory Service (can be left on Active).
6. Click Next.
7. Enter share name.
8. Select Windows (SMB).

Jails are a lightweight, operating-system-level virtualization. One or multiple services can run in a jail, isolating those services from the host TrueNAS® system. TrueNAS® uses iocage for jail and plugin management.

FreeNAS is awesome for any kind of storage, including VMs or database because it is really reliable and fast. If you can have a robust backup strategy, and maybe a second box for replication, it would be a no-brainer.

DO NOT type in the actual internal IP address of the NAS4Free server! The port number shall remain at 22 unless you have changed it. The user name should be “root” and the password is whatever password you’ve set. On a default NAS4Free server, the default password is “nas4free”.

NAS4Free is a project that provides a great web front end for a FreeBSD ZFS based storage server. As a derivative of the original FreeNAS codebase, it has significant functionality that is easily accessible even to a novice user. For many contemplating ZFS, the prospect of installing solutions can be a significant barrier to entry.

After a few more seconds, the console will display the default IP address. From here, one can go to the web interface and begin configuring NAS4free. And the web interface is fairly mature so most tasks can be completed easily using a browser post-installation. Overall the process should take you about 5 minutes.

I did notice that NAS4Free needed at least 512MB of RAM. It kept rebooting when it only had 256MB. NAS4Free – The FreeNAS operating system is technically the operating system of choice for NAS builders.