wiki:ReleaseNotes8r5648
Last modified 13 months ago

FreeNAS 8.0 Beta (r5648) Release Notes

For the latest version of this page, please go to http://support.freenas.org/wiki/ReleaseNotes8r5648

This release replaces the r5606 release. It fixes the following issues:

  • Upgrades from prior FreeNAS 8 beta releases are now supported.
  • zfs creation failures have been fixed. The gui would indicate it succeeded, but you couldn't share it.
  • ufs creation failures have been fixed.
  • booting off USB or SCSI cdrom is now supported.
  • lagg has been introduced.
  • Errors in the network screen have been corrected.
  • The storage wizard no longer says 'of X' when creating the storage unit. This eliminates the confusing 1 of 3 -> 2 of 2 dialog heading.
  • Improved compatibility with IE and Safari.
  • The installer has been streamlined.

Background

FreeNAS 8.0 has undergone a complete rewrite. We've redesigned the GUI to be easier to use and extend. We've upgraded many technologies in the system for improved hardware support, faster I/O, better modularity, and easier upgrades. We trust that you'll find the system easier to use and, in time, much more feature rich than the current FreeNAS offering.

The base system has migrated from FreeBSD 7.x and the m0n0wall build system to FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE and NanoBSD. The system startup has migrated from the older php scripts to the standard FreeBSD rc.d boot system. We've pushed many of the bug fixes and system improvements back into FreeBSD.

We've rewritten the GUI using Python and Django. We've completely removed the old php system. In addition to Django, we're using Dojango and Dojo to implement AJAX features. The new system is much more modular than the old system. We will use this modularity in a future version for easy integration of custom features into your FreeNAS box.

The installer has been rewritten using pc-sysinstall, the future FreeBSD installation technology. The scripts have a similar feel to the old PHP scripts for users of the current system. The ISO now is only an installer. You can no longer run in live mode from a CDROM.

The installation types have changed; there's no longer an embedded or full install, nor can the image be installed on a data disk. You must now install FreeNAS onto a dedicated device. FreeNAS supports USB flash, CompactFlash?, hard drives, ssd or any other mass storage device supported by FreeBSD.

FreeNAS 8.0 features ZFS version 14.

FreeNAS 8.0 beta has retained the core functionality of a storage appliance. The media center features of the box have not been reimplemented in the core FreeNAS package. A media center add-on package will provide this functionality in the future. We've focused on creating a robust, easy-to-use, and extensible system. We're creating the base to allow other types of packages to be added, such as printer support, scanner support, or home automation.

To help prioritize what current features are turned into packages in future FreeNAS releases, please visit http://support.freenas.org to provide feedback. Please add feature requests tickets. If a feature you would like to see in FreeNAS already has a ticket please just subscribe to it add a small comment, even if it's a "++." It will help us better judge and meet community needs.

Installing and Running the beta image

FreeNAS is distributed as an ISO image. Boot this image to install FreeNAS. Instructions for burning a CD from this image can be found elsewhere.

The ISO also contains an image that can be installed by using dd to copy it to a raw device. For example, if you wish to install it to a USB stick that the system detects as /dev/da0, you can install it by running: 

# xz --decompress --stdout FreeNAS-embedded-amd64.img.xz | dd of=/dev/da0

If you are running the 32-bit version of FreeNAS, please replace "amd64" with "i386" above.

The installer will walk you through the process of placing FreeNAS into your system. Once you've installed FreeNAS, you'll may need to configure your network parameters. By default, it will automatically obtain an IPv4 address, gateway, etc. If your network does not have DHCP servers to provide this information, you will need to manually configure this information.

To see which IP address is assigned, please log into the console with the username root, password freenas. Run the following command to find your IP address. Ignore the lo0 device, as it is used by the software to communicate with itself. 

# ifconfig
em0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=219b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,WOL_MAGIC>
        ether 00:30:48:c6:91:46
        inet 192.168.1.100 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        inet6 fe80::230:48ff:fec6:9146%em0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1 
        nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
        media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
        status: active

In this case the GUI can be accessed by using  http://192.168.1.100

If there was no valid IP, one can be assigned via ifconfig: 

# ifconfig em0 10.0.0.1/24

Once the initial IP configuration is complete, please use the GUI to reconfigure networking, so the changes persist across reboots.

This beta release contains no provision for importing existing volumes. Please do not attach storage devices with data on them that you wish to preserve to the system. There is no safe way to access these volumes with this beta release.

*REPEAT* If you attach devices with data on them to this system the GUI will not recognize the data on them. It makes it easy for you to use those devices to create volumes which will destroy the current data on the device. We are working on an upgrade/import path, but please note that ZFS does not feature a downgrade path. Once zpools are upgraded to v14 there is no going back to an older version that systems based on FreeBSD 7 can use.

Upgrading existing installs

This release only supports upgrades from previous 0.8 betas or snapshots. This is very important, so it needs to be repeated:

Attempting to upgrade a 0.7 or earlier FreeNAS box will hurt your teddy bear, eat your cookie, and in general make you VERY unhappy. It will also likely cause all of your data to either vanish, or become inaccessible to earlier versions of FreeNAS.

This release does support upgrading from earlier 0.8 based versions. The installer will offer to perform an upgrade instead of a full install. Once the upgrade is done the system can be rebooted off of it's normal boot device. During this boot the system will recognize that an upgrade has been done and the database schema and data update process will run. Once this process is complete the box will automatically reboot and be ready for service.

Error Reporting

We're moving the defect reporting to http://support.freenas.org/. Just create an account to log new defects. Please try to avoid reporting a problem that has already been reported.

Known Errors

Known errors, as they come to light, will be logged here. Check back if you are encountering problems.

  • Lagg changes need a reboot to take effect.
  • Once a lagg has been created it can't be edited. The edit button causes a django traceback. As a workaround delete and recreate the device.
  • The system attempts to DHCP on boot, but that doesn't make it into the GUI or database. Saving certain screens in the GUI without manually creating interfaces can cause network configuration to be changed in non-intuitive ways. For example, clicking save in Network -> Global Configuration with no values (the default) will delete your default route if the system is automagically using DHCP As a workaround, don't depend on the automagic network configuration. Create all of your interfaces even if they are Just Working (TM)

There may be some issues that are cleared up by reboot. If you encounter a problem, please try rebooting the FreeNAS. If that fixes things, please file a support ticket.