The Definitive Guide to Linux Network Programming

236 Pages·2008·12.63 MB·English

by  Keir Davis

Learning FreeNAS
Copyright © 2008 Packt Publishing
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However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: August 2008
Production Reference: 1130808
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
32 Lincoln Road
Olton
Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.
ISBN 978-1-847194-68-8
www.packtpub.com
Cover Image by Michelle O'Kane ([email protected])
About the Author
Gary Sims is a freelance Linux/FreeBSD consultant and writer from the UK and
has been working with open-source software since the mid 1990s. He first saw
Linux while completing his degree in Business Information Systems at Portsmouth
University. Then while working for Digital Equipment Corp he came in to contact
with DEC's Ultrix and later Digital UNIX (formerly OSF/1). While developing
enterprise software for DEC on its UNIX platforms he became more and convinced
of the benefits of open source and open-source Unix-like operating systems like
Linux and FreeBSD. After leaving DEC he became a software contractor and after
moving to Romania in 2003 he became a freelance Linux/FreeBSD consultant
and writer and started publishing articles for the Open Source Technology Group
(owners of Linux.com and SourceForge.net). This then led to him writing his first
book with Packt
I would like to thank my Mum and Dad for their support and
enthusiasm while I was writing this book. I would also like to thank
my wife for her patience and encouragement and my children for
their frequent, but yet, welcome interruptions. I would also like to
thank the FreeNAS community, specifically, Olivier Cochard-Labbé,
Volker Theile, and Dan Merschi, without them FreeNAS wouldn't
exist. I also owe a debt of gratitude to David Barnes (and all the
people at Packt) for making this book possible.
About the Reviewer
Nathan Yocom is an accomplished software engineer with a focus on network
security, identity, access control, and data integrity applications. With years of
experience working at the system level, his involvement in the industry has ranged
from creation of software like the open source Windows authentication project pGina
(http://www.pgina.org), to Bynari Inc's Linux/Outlook integration suite
(http://www.bynari.net), to working on Centrify Corporation's ground breaking
Active Directory integration and auditing products (http://www.centrify.com).
Nathan's own publications have included several articles in trade journals such as
SysAdmin Magazine, and co-authoring the Apress book "The Definitive Guide to
Linux Network Programming" (ISBN: 1590593227).
When not hacking at code, Nathan enjoys spending time at home in the Seattle, WA
area with his wife Katie, daughter Sydney, and son Ethan. Nathan can be contacted
via email at: [email protected].
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1: All About NAS and FreeNAS 5
Network Attached Storage 5
What is FreeNAS? 9
Features 10
What Does FreeNAS Do for Me and My Business? 12
How FreeNAS Meet These Needs 14

Practical Uses for the FreeNAS Server 15
Consolidation 16

Summary 16

Chapter 2: Preparing to Add FreeNAS to Your Network 17
Planning Your NAS 17
Capacity Planning 18
Choosing Your Hardware 20
CPU 20
Disks 21
Planning for Backup 27
What is RAID? And, Do I Need It? 28
Hardware or Software RAID 30
Network Considerations 31
Switch or Hub? 31
What About Wireless? 32
Summary 33
Chapter 3: Exploring FreeNAS 35
Downloading FreeNAS 35
What Hardware Do I Need? 35
Warning 36
Table of Contents
Quick Start Guide For the Impatient 36
Burning and Booting 37
Configuring 39
Sharing with Windows Machines 42
Testing the Share 43
Detailed Overview of Installation 44
Making the FreeNAS CD 45
Booting from CD 45
Phoenix BIOS 46
Phoenix-Award BIOS 47
AMI BIOS 47
First Look at FreeNAS 47
Configuring the Network 47
What is a LAN IP Address? 49
Basic Configuration 51
FreeNAS Web Interface 52
System 53
Interfaces 53
Disks 53
Services 53
Access 53
Status 54
Diagnostics 54
Advanced 54
Adding a Disk 54
Accessing the Disk via CIFS 58
Testing the Share 60
Accessing via FTP 61
Testing FTP Access 62
Installing to Hard Disk 63
Embedded versus Full 66
Upgrading FreeNAS from a Previous Version 66
Summary 67
Chapter 4: Connecting to the FreeNAS 69
Introduction 69
Connecting via CIFS 70
Configure CIFS on the FreeNAS Server 71
CIFS Settings Explained 73
CIFS Advanced Settings 74
Options when Adding Shares 75
What does It Mean to Map a Network Drive? 75
Connecting with CIFS via Windows Millennium 76
Using CIFS with Windows XP 77
FreeNAS, CIFS, and Windows Vista 78
[ ii ]
Table of Contents
Accessing the FreeNAS via CIFS from Linux 79
A CIFS Connection from OS X 80
FTP 80
Using the Command Line FTP Client 82
Using a Web Browser for FTP 84
NFS 85
Using NFS from OS X 86
Mount FreeNAS via NFS on Linux 87
RSYNCD, Unison, AFP, and UPnP 87
Using RSYNC for Backups 88
Using Unison for Backups and Synchronization 89
Connecting to FreeNAS via AFP 89
Streaming Media with UPnP 90
iSCSI Target 92
Testing the iSCSI Target with Another FreeNAS Server 94
Testing the iSCSI Target with Windows Vista 96
Accessing Your Files Using HTTP and the Built-In Web Server 98
Summary 99
Chapter 5: User and System Administration 101
Introduction 101
Local User Management 101
Using CIFS with Local Users 103
FTP and User Login 104
Authenticating AFP Users 105
Connect to the FreeNAS Server via SSH 106
Services that Don't Use Local User Accounts 108
Using FreeNAS with the Microsoft Active Directory 108
System Admin 110
How to Change the Web GUI User Name and Password 110
Rebooting and Shutting Down 111
How to Set the Hostname of the Server 112
Configuring the Web Interface to use HTTPS 112
Changing the Web Interface Port 113
How to Set a DNS Server 113
How to Set the Language for the Web Interface 115
Date and Time Configuration 115
How to Disable Console Menu 117
How to Stop the Startup and Shutdown Beeps 117
Adding Predefined Network Hosts 117
Reset the Server to the Factory Defaults 118
[ iii ]
Table of Contents
Simple Network Administration 118
Disabling Bonjour/ZeroConf 119
Getting Status Information About the Server 119
Sending Status Report by Email 121
Summary 122
Chapter 6: Configuring Storage 123
Introduction 123
How FreeNAS Handles Data Disks 123
UNIX Device Names 124
Adding the Disk 125
Formatting a Newly Added Disk 126
Mounting Your Newly Formatted Disks 128
Making the New Disk Available on the Network 129
Configuring Software RAID on FreeNAS 130
RAID All Starts with Adding the Disks 130
Configuring RAID 1 132
Configuring RAID 5 134
Configuring JBOD or RAID 0 135
Nested RAID Configurations 136
Configuring RAID 1+0 137
Configuring RAID 0+1 138
Configuring RAID 5+0 139
Configuring RAID 5+1 140
RAID 10+0 and Beyond 142
iSCSI Initiator 142
Summary 143
Chapter 7: Backup Strategies 145
Backup Your FreeNAS Using Windows XP's Built-In Backup Utility 145
Setting Scheduled Backups with XP's Built-In Backup Utility 148
Restoring a FreeNAS Backup Made with XP's Built-In Backup Utility 151
Backing Up the FreeNAS Configuration Files 152
Backup Configuration 152
What is XML? 152
Restore Configuration 153
Using Another FreeNAS Server as a Backup Server 153
Debugging Your RSYNC Setup 157
RSYNC Internal Backup 158
Debugging Your Internal RSYNC Setup 159
[ iv ]
Table of Contents
Mirroring vs Conventional Backups 160
Summary 160
Chapter 8: Advanced System Configuration 161
Disk Encryption 161
Encrypting a Disk in FreeNAS 162
Entering the Password When You Reboot 163
Encryption Tools 164
How to Unlock an Encrypted Disk—Attach and Detach 165
How to Change the Password on an Encrypted Disk—setkey 165
Checking the Status of an Encrypted Disk—list and status 165
Advanced Hard Drive Parameters (S.M.A.R.T) 166
Enabling and using S.M.A.R.T of the FreeNAS 167
File System Consistency Check—FSCK 169
Advanced OS Tweaking 170
Tweaking the Network Settings 172
MTU, Device Polling, Speed, and Duplex 172
Adding a Static Route 173
Using Wireless 174
Adding a Swap File 175
Enabling Secure Shell Connections (SSH) 176
Allow Root Login 176
Types of SSH Authentication 177
Summary 179
Chapter 9: General Troubleshooting 181
Where to Look for Log Information 181
Diagnostics: Logs 182
Understanding Diagnostics—Logs: System 183
Converting between Device Names and the Real World 185
Networking Problems 186
General Connection Problems 186
Using Ping 188
Using Ping from within the Web Interfaces 189
Using ARP Tables to Solve Network Problems 190
Gigabit Transfers are Slow 191
Problems Connecting to Shares (via CIFS) 191
Windows Vista Asks for My Username and Password for
Anonymous Shares 192
There are Two FreeNAS Servers on the Network, but Windows Can
only See One 192
Turning On Logging to Help Solve Windows Networking Problems 192
Diagnostics: Information 193
[ v ]
Table of Contents
Replacing a Failed Hard Drive in a RAID Set 194
Rebuilding a RAID 1 Array After Disk Failure 195
Rebuilding a RAID 5 Array After Disk Failure 196
Where to Go for More Help 197
Summary 197
Chapter 10: FreeBSD and Command Line Tools 199
Introduction to FreeBSD 199
Your First FreeBSD Commands 200
Print the Working Directory with pwd 200
Directory Listings (ls) 200
Change Directory with cd 201
Copy a File and Change Its Permissions (cp and chmod) 202
Connecting to FreeBSD Using Putty 204
Monitoring your FreeNAS Server from the Command Line 206
See Which Disks are Mounted with mount 206
Check Disk Space Usage with df 206
Discover the Size of Directories Using du 206
Process Monitoring Using ps and top 207
Advanced FreeBSD Commands for FreeNAS 209
Starting and Stopping Services 209
Getting Drastic with kill and killall 210
RAID Command Line Tools 211
Warning 211
List and Status Commands 212
JBOD and gconcat 214
RAID 0 and gstripe 214
RAID 1 and gmirror 214
RAID 5 and graid5 215
Where the FreeNAS Stores Things 216
Miscellaneous & Sundries 217
Using ping and arp from the Command Line 217
Creating Directories and Deleting Things 218
Editing Files Using nano 218
Shutting Down Using the Command Line 219
Summary 219
Index 221
[ vi ]