Ok, hello everyone. I have been searching all over for a nice setup and came upon the NethServer. looks very nice but I have certain needs that just need to be met. so here I am.
First let me give you some info about my rig and what I need/want to end up with. as well as what I had tried so far.
I have an old(er) SuperMicro Server 2x6 Core AMD Opteron @ 2.6gHz 49GB RAM server. 4 1000 NIC (2 onboard nVidia MC55 and 2 PCIe Intel Pro dual card)
I also have an existing BTRFS pools of data drives that I want to keep.
for system drives I have a single 240GB SSD that I can swap for 2 120GB SSD for setting up with RAID1 setup.
I also have a pair of 1TB spin disks that can be used for system drive if needed.
I want to setup a Virtualization server that will run all my VMs (nothing exists yet as I have been trying out different setups) but also will be a file server and server all my existing BTRFS pools to all clients on network, Real and VM alike.
it should/MUST have a nice and easy web GUI to manage the server and VMs (I am kind of noob with Linux. I am learning but still feel a bit intimidated even though I have switched all my home machines to Linux full time and keep them going for the last year+)
I have tried all sort of setups and web panels but so far did not found a reasonably easy and well behaved setup. it seams that Nethserver with webvitmgr can be what I am looking for but my questions are
does the NS6.7 supports BTRFS?
if yes how. I tried it in VM and no luck.
are my needs/wants reasonable ? please suggest alternatives.
do anyone have a good how-to on proper setting all this up.
to recap, I want a single physical host to be a VM server and a DAS.
Ideally the local disks/pools should be shared via NFS to a VM like openmediavault or owncloud (or both) that I could manage the access to them via this interfaces. most of my data is Media for my HTPC, but I would like to be able to provide a remote access to the storage via internet for some users (my in-laws, my sister, couple of my friends )
I also want to setup a VM with media management software and a download client like deluge/transmission so I can set the download link and let it be managed automagically into place.
I have an extensive media collection so when all this is up and running I can just drop the media into download folder and let it be processed and cataloged properly. I do use coachpotato adn subnzb to update my collection with better versions of existing movies and shows (my collection is on VCD and old DVDs so sometimes I want to bump up the resolution if I can)
and the last question is, how soon the netserver will move to CentOs7 base? I know it has support for most of my needs.
To be honest I don’t know if NS can handle BTRFS, but maybe a workaround is possible:
If you create a VM for, for example FreeNAS or another NAS-like appliance and VT-d your BTRFS cluster to that NAS. Then you can give back any sized volume to your other VM’s, including NethServer.
well I am sure at this moment that NS 6.7 can not handle BTRFS (Played with it in VM) but if it moves to CentOS 7 base it should be able to, BTRFS is usable from the get-go in CentOS 7.
so my hopes are still up
I am in the process of building out a CentOS7 VM so I can try installing the NS on it. will see. it looks like NS is what I have been looking for for the most part. nice, simple. very easy to install and supports many thing I need including a nice VM manger WebGUI that on its own is not easy to setup. I tried to do a setup of WebLibMgr on clean centos install and it never works. I am getting lost in nginx setup and than all my access is screwed up so bad I have to scrap the whole VM. can not recover.
on NS the weblibmgr is installed in like 3 minutes and it actually works
also your suggestion of VM NAS is workable. I had similar try with OpenMedia vault on proxmox. not ideal but workable if I can figure out how to pass through the disks on NS that is.
You can try NS7 alpha (on CentOS7) from here: NethServer v7-alpha2
It is currently worked on very hard by our devs. It should see the light (i think) some where first half of next year.
I will try it out some what, but is it safe to use on real system.
I have been trying to build this server for the last year. I really want it up and running already so I can forget about it.
NS7 is not ready yet, so I don’t think it is ok now for production. But feel free to try and report your findings. Every report will make NS7 come available sooner!
Ehi Vlad, welcome on NethServer Community.
thanks for your feedback and for your nice words about WebVirtManager integration, I bet @edoardo_spadoni is definitely happy to hear them.
I also would encourage you to check features section for request and check other suggestions. Feature - NethServer Community
oh, I will definitely read up on this distro. it looks like a very nice and easy way to get the system going using GUI (and a very nice WebGUI to boot).
which makes it easier for an entry level users. I am in IT and been messing around with all thing tech, for a while. but most of the time I just want a set it and forget it kind of setup. I had run an unRaid server for 3+ years before.
I set it up, configure all in about a week, fill it up with my media and simply forgot about it. it was just working. now though I want a bit more than unRaid can give me, hence I am hunting for a better distro and a better UI.
I think if you guys would consider to expand your UI in the future so we could manage the hardware fully (similar to webmin) without the need for CLI it would be fantastic. and maybe the webVirtManager devs will hear me and make the project easier to install as well.
I am telling you I had been butting my head on the desk for the last 3 days and could not figure out how to install it on fresh CentOS7 without braking the install.
Welcome here.
NethServer actually don’t support BTRFS, but as you want Virtuals Machines, it`s not a bit deal:
Mount one VM with Rockstor Linux, you will have a nice NAS with BTRFS.
Mount a secont VM with NethServer, to manage your network and do the Firewall/Gateway tasl.
With the couple NethServer/ Rockstor, you will have an ultimate solution.
hi Jim, it is not as simple as it seams
I do not want VM with BTRFS.
I already have a host machine I want to use as VM server.
this machine is a 24 disk super micro server. so I want to use it as a VM server and as DAS. all drives would be in the host and provided to the clients, VM and real, as shared space. I want to use BTRFS on this drives as it provides safeguards for data, rot protection, a built in raid etc.
I want to load the NS on the Host and manage all with it.
will see. so far the NS 7 is not stable for me. I load it up in VM , looks nice but gives me errors when I try to change settings or install apps. something like this “Task completed with errors Applying changes #2 (exit status 1)” . so back to the drawing board. but will keep an eye on this and see if RC is more stable when it comes.
I read and re-read the intial post and your last answer, and it seem that Rockstor Linux can do the job, as NAS, not as “VM server”.
You also said that you are new to Linux, so don’t make a too complicate solution, stay with a pre-existing solution like Rockstor Linux or OpenMediaVault.
I really think it can sweet better for your need.
If all I wanted/neede a nas solution you would be right, but I want/need a vm and nas solution and I only have one server and can not get more at the moment. Also it does not seam impossible ti get both out of it. If it comes to it I will drop the want( having a nice web gui to manage it all) and will simply run a server with light gui that is not manageable remotely except with ssh/cli
But at the moment I am not ready to do this.
From everything I see so far, it is totally possible.
Ns looks very good. Granted it does not support btrfs, which I really want , but I can deal with it.
Well I am not talking making a default fs, even though several distros already accepted it as a viable fs. And btrfs have been officially out of experimental stage for almost a year now.
Since I am not building a business server I ok with it being in review stage at red hat.
I have been using it for over a year and a half nicely. Also I am not using it for system disks even if I want to. I prefer to use what the distro recommends as default. I want to use it for my data drives since I already have pools bult and filled with data. But thanks for warning.
Ps. Even though your plan is to use xfs aa default, you should not overlook the proliferation of btrfs and not supporting it. Centos7 already supports it out of the box. It should be available.
so I can forget about it.
