OpenMediaVault (OMV) is the primary OS that works with NAS-based servers. Outwardly, the process of installing and using the OMV web interface is quite simple and intuitive to the user. Written for Debian, the system guarantees stability and compatibility with various hardware, and documentation is available in many languages. The new version 4.1 contains many improvements, bug fixes and has the Linux 4.17 kernel, which makes it easy to configure OpenMediaVault for the NAS server on virtually any PC.
User Interface Features
OpenMediaVault is a popular NAS-oriented operating system, the creation of which was initiated by a FreeNAS project participant. OMV was written for Debian, and unlike other similar projects, it supports a variety of hardware. She qualifies as a “NAS distribution” compatible with ARM microplates such as the Raspberry Pi, Odroid, or Banana Pi.
System requirements:
- The current version is 4.1 "Arrakis", which was developed using the Debian 9 OS. A new version 5.0 for Debian 10 is under development.
- The available Linux kernel is version 4.17, so it is compatible with the Apollo Lake architecture.
- For proper operation, you need: a 64-bit x86 processor, 1 GB of RAM, a disk or a USB drive with a capacity of at least 4 GB.
- Installation is carried out by downloading the ISO-image from SourceForge, then continue to "burn" the system image on a USB-drive.
The installation and configuration process of OpenMediaVault is familiar to those who work with the Debian operating system. The user interface is well organized and not at all difficult to understand, its feature is monochrome icons. In addition to the visual aspect, the system is well organized, it is easy to find in it what the user is looking for. When a program is first set up, the environment acts as a list of topics that need to be checked or completed.
Text Installer
The installer is executed in text mode and is similar to FreeNas. The program is very quickly and smoothly unpacked to the selected disk. If the PC is connected to the Internet, the program will automatically configure system repositories. Then they enter it through a browser with the name "admin" and the password "openmediavault".
This data changes and should not be confused with the administrator password. To do this, go to the "General Settings" and then to the "Web Administrator Password" tab, enter a new one, confirm and save. Installation and configuration of OpenMediaVault is done in a “regular” Debian with the addition of the OMV repository.
System setup principles
After changing the input of administration, the date and time are set up, the operating modes associated with the network, the scheduled tasks and the OS are updated. Actions are performed through the web management system. After the initial configuration of the basic configuration, prepare the disks, RAID, and select the file system for the user volume group.
In the "Disks" section, there are storages used or available in the system. Set the power mode, which is disabled by default. In the "Disk Management" create the desired type. For example, two disks configured in RAID 1 or “in the mirror”. If RAID is not needed, skip this step and directly create the file system. In the "Permissions" section, user roles are added.
Access rights management
When creating a folder with a name in the "Public Folders" section, she is assigned read and write permissions, for this they go to the "ACL" button. This step is very important and allows you to configure settings for unhindered access to files by users and applications that will be installed later.
Sharing folders is one of the main steps when setting up OpenMediaVault. Previously created folders can be shared by different protocols, for example, through SMB, CIFS, NFS or AFS. It is useful to use FTP or SFTP services to access files and folders, and SSH for remote and deeper NAS management than through web-based management. NFS is an abbreviation for the name of a network file system and a protocol that allows different devices connected to the same network to access remote documents as if they were local.
An overview of mounted file systems is performed using the showmount -e 192.168.1.38 command; the process itself is launched using the mount 192.168.1.38:/ / media / nas request. It is recommended that you enable the SSH server for remote management and other services for SSH functions. The “diagnostics” section contains a lot of information about the system, such as the status of client services connected via various protocols, logs, brief information about NAS and running services with very detailed statistics.
Creating a virtual machine
To do this, you need to download VirtualBox and install it on your PC. You can choose between a 32-bit and 64-bit VM. If a 32-bit operating system is used, then only 32-bit client applications can be used.
In the upper right corner of the interface, click "Create a virtual machine." On the tab "General" indicate her identification number is more than 100 and the name without a space.
Enter the amount of memory required by the VM, and click the "Next" button. Enough memory should be left for the OS to work properly. If the user works with several virtual machines, then there is no need to allocate memory, otherwise there may be malfunctions or a violation of the correct mode of operation of the system.
In the CD section of the OS tab, select the storage area containing the OMV 4 ISO image and run the installation file. In the "Guest" section, the OS selects the Linux kernel version 4.X.
On the “Hard Disk” tab, create a “VirtIO Block” disk with identifier 0. Select Local-lvm storage space and enter a disk size of 5 GB, OMV takes about 1.5 GB after installation.
On the CPU tab, enter 1 socket and 1 core of type KVM64. For a typical OpenMediaVault NFS setup, it makes no sense to allocate more processing power to the virtual machine. On the “Memory” tab, select 512 MB of fixed size or 384-768 MB of variable range. In the first case, all memory will be reserved for the VM.
On the Network tab, they assign an VirtIO-style Ethernet card to the virtual machine and exit the default access mode. The last tab summarizes all the options for creating a VM:
- Upon completion, a new virtual machine will appear on the PC.
- In the “Hardware” section, the configured components will be present.
- You can change these elements at any time during the existence of the VM.
- In the “Settings” section, there are additional settings, such as the ability to change the name, startup applications at server startup or change the order of device activation.
Installing the OMV System
OMV 4 is not yet hosted and the virtual machine is stopped. To get started, right-click on its name or click on the button in the upper right corner of the interface, launch the newly created VM, and enter the installer main menu. OpenMediaVault Network Tuning Algorithm:
- Press Enter, then select a language.
- The first installation progress bar appears.
- Assign a name to the project, it will be displayed on the network.
- Then the installer will request a domain name.
- Enter the account password.
- Confirm root privileges.
- A second progress bar will appear.
- Then they select the country where the servers with the Linux Debian 9 installation files are located, the virtualbox base when setting up OpenMediaVault.
- Mark the server on the list. If the user is at a loss with the choice - leave the first in the list.
- Go to the next screen asking for the HTTP proxy name.
- At the final stage, the assistant will ask the user which disk the Grub boot program will be installed on.
After checking this last window, the virtual machine will restart, and the user will be taken to OMV 4 with the ability to control using the command line. An IP address is entered to access the graphical interface. By default, it is automatically assigned by the DHCP server of the network. If this data is not known, you can scan the network to determine the address using Advanced IP Scanner.
Advanced IP Scanner
The Advanced IP Scanner utility works in a portable mode, that is, it does not require unpacking and installing program files on a user PC. To start, just right-click on the application icon and select "Run" in the context menu. In the process of downloading the application, you must confirm the acceptance of the terms of the license agreement and select the language.
A range of network IP addresses is entered in the interface, and scanning starts. The user must see the VM-OMV 4 machine. It is possible that the name is not displayed directly. In this case, by clicking on the small arrow at the beginning of the line, you can get more detailed information about all the PCs available for connection.
Next, enter the IP address of the OMV 4 virtual machine in an Internet browser. Settings will appear for assigning a physical disk to be able to share files.
Remote Access with OpenVPN
An NAS user with OpenMediaVault can remotely access files. To do this, make sure that you have a static internal IP address for the NAS and a forwarded port, for example, 1194. If it is not installed, you can lose access to the NAS and you may have to repeat the steps. The process of assigning a static internal IP address varies depending on the router. You can get help in getting and setting it up by contacting the support service of your Internet provider.
Another alternative is to use a dynamic DNS service such as DuckDNS. This allows you to use a domain that is automatically updated along with the public IP address. To get started, go to the OMV Extras system. In the search bar at the top find OpenVPN, select it. A reboot may be required to complete the installation.
For further operation of the application, you must configure OpenVPN by performing manipulations in the "Services" section. This window checks for PAM authentication within the general settings, the mode of operation of the gateway, the use of data compression, and port forwarding settings for the NAS IP address.
Next, install the VPN access client software. After they find the folder, usually located in C: \ Program Files, and put the items from the downloaded * .rar archive into the "Config" folder. Once the certificate files are in the folder, launch the OpenVPN GUI.
Network Attachment Plugin
OpenMediaVault - runs on x64 and x86 systems. Installation of plugins is performed through its interface:
- Open the browser and go over IP to the device with OMV.
- Enter the text of the transfer as a search query.
- Check the box next to "openmediavault-transmissionbt 1.4" and confirm the action.
- Install the Transmission plugin. Then perform its inclusion.
- In the interface, go to the “Services”, “BitTorrent” section, the “Files and Locations” tab and select a shared folder.
- Create a directory for downloads and click "Save"
- Go to the "Settings" tab, select "Enable", click "Save".
- Now it's time to give the group access to the shared folder. Go to "Manage access rights", "Shared folders" select the one to which it should have access.
- Confirm ACL.
- They find a custom group and provide the necessary permissions, confirm the actions by clicking on the "Apply" button.
- Transmission plugin added to OMV.
SSH Service Configuration
OMV is used to store backups of a remote server. The first step is to create a new user whose account will be used to authenticate to the remote server and save the backups in the home folder.
User OpenMediaVault account settings are performed as follows:
- Open “Access Rights Management” - “User” and select “Add”.
- Choose a new user name and set a strong password.
- Then, on the settings tab, include the user's home folders and select a shared resource.
- Click “OK” to save the changes.
- Enable the SSH service to allow access to the OMV server in the Services section.
- Check “Enable compression” to speed up the transfer and “OK” to save the changes.
- At this point, the configuration of OpenMediaVault is complete.
In the interface, BackupAssist configures a new job, “rsync,” and on the destination screen, enter the internal IP address of the OMV server. If the user connects to the remote server via the Internet, you can use public IP, if necessary, translate the NAT port to the SSH port. Next, indicate the internal IP address of the server. Place the copies in the Backups folder in the root home folder. Click "Register on the server" to check the connection with SSH. They configure OpenMediaVault rsync, after which you can run the BackupAssist task to back up data using Rsync via SSH.
Purpose of a physical disk of VM
After entering the IP address of the OMV 4 virtual machine in an Internet browser, the user gains access to the interface and a small authentication window appears. At the first login, the username “admin” is entered, and the password is “openmediavault”.
Then the user enters the OpenMediaVault 4 settings control panel, which displays the status of the main services and some information about the system. The virtual processor is now known as the Common KVM processor. Assign a static IP address to the OMV virtual machine. Go to the "System" menu, then to the "Network" and "Interfaces" tab.
The IPv4 address is assigned by the DHCP server on the local network. Click Edit and select the Static method. Without specifying IPv6, one or more DNS server addresses are entered, separated by a comma or semicolon. Save changes and apply them. Then they reconnect with the new address. Now they change the password for the administrator account by going to the "System" menu, and then "General Settings" and the "Administrator Security" tab.
OMV plugins
OMV has plugin support that extends OS features to a whole new level. Some plugins are available through the built-in installer. In addition, the built-in update system keeps the Linux and Openmediavault versions up to date. You can upgrade the entire system directly from the graphical interface.
Depending on the version of OpenMediaVault ups used, customization is provided for installed plugins. For example, after installation, you can enable:
- BitTorrent Transfer.
- Antivirus.
- Protocols Apple DLNA Server.
- OpenVPN, DNS and DHCP server.
- You can expand OMV with Docker, Emby, Grayhole, HPRaid, Media Browser, PLEX media server, VDR plug-in, VirtualBOX, ZFS and others, which can be downloaded from third-party sites by configuring OpenMediaVault ftp, then go to the plugins menu and click the Download button ". Installation starts by clicking on “Install”. A menu will appear under the list of plugins and allow you to configure the system repositories.
- To access the new connected plug-ins, just return to the corresponding menu. You can make settings for the OpenMediaVault ups plugin and add multimedia functions using minidlna and Plexmediaserver, a database with mysql, backup tools and do some virtualization with OMV with Virtualbox and Docker.
Obviously, OMV, although it is a young project, has several stable versions and has great prospects.