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Here are some of my gripes/concerns so far with the state of HexOS. Paid beta has been around since Let's say December, we're working on the 6th month? It just seems a bit long. I get don't rush it be ready to release 1.0 as solid as they can. But for those of us who have been using hexOS I think it's pretty lack Luster which is ABSOLUTELY ideal. It means it is doing the job it was meant to do. And with Synology being shady I imagine HexOS might see an influx of members from that group. So stability is the upmost importance. As we wait for 1.0 we have had plenty of time to want to do more with our HexOS, but since we're still in beta I see it as we could lose our data when we update to 1.0 and I don't want that to happen. I decided to try out a password manager and mealie, I've put quite a few recipes in, and I don't want to lose my password manager even if it some parts of it are not setup because documentation on it is bad. It still works well for the most part. That brings me to a question, When HexOS does get official support with these apps, how will it behave? Will it just take what you have and say "looks good" if there are settings and such that were missed or could be optimized will it help fix them? Or how will it handle any failed app setups? I don't even know how this works on trueNas even now. I'm still all in w/ hexOS since TrueNas to me was a nightmare and I like the few things I have running on HexOS and I can't wait for 1.0, when I will feel safe about my data not being wiped.

Hmm. How many folks here have ever been through a large scale beta test before? This seems normal or perhaps even a little fast if you read the errors in the forums. Over the last three days have had to completely rebuild my HexOS server when it stopped connecting or allowing other things to connect. Was it a HexOS issue? I don't know as I was looking through pictures in the Immich web UI when I lost all connections. Did I need to rebuild the whole server? Well, I did because I don't know the first thing about TrueNas and some of the longest running forum threads are connections issues. This isn't a phone game that we will play for a few months then move on to the new hotness. I'm approaching 60 years old and I hope this product is built to outlast me! I won't begrudge anyone a frustration rant but to me that's all they are because I think FangerZero hit the nail square on the head with their last line above. And multi million dollar projects become zero dollar projects when you don't have a rock solid base. Now all that being said, would you folks hurry up! The natives are getting restless.

Right now the front runner plan is to use 1 of the T630s to replace my VM server (Precision T7810). Upgrade that T630 with 2x 20 core CPUs and make that my VM server. Then possibly "donate" the other T630 to a friend that has been wanting to upgrade/replace his older Synology NAS with the stipulation that I can use it as well as my offsite backup server vs paying Dropbox about $30.00 a month. Finally take the Precision T7810 (current VM server) and use that as my TrueNAS replication server. I knew I should have bought multiple HexOS licenses when they were $99 lol

UPDATE: As of 11/8, we have updated the ISO installer to run on version 25.04.2.6 of TrueNAS SCALE. Existing users should NOT reinstall to get this version. You can update from within the Activity card on the Dashboard (or the Notification). Hello and thank you for joining the HexOS beta program! You are an elite and vital part of this project and your participation is greatly appreciated. This post contains all the information you will need to get started with HexOS and how to communicate with our team during your beta experience. Disclaimer Beta Products, Software, and any related Services are still in development, and therefore, you are advised to safeguard important data, to use caution, and not to rely in any way on the correct functioning or performance of the products, software, or any related services. Beta Products and Services are provided to you “AS IS”, without any warranty whatsoever. Expectations During your participation in the beta, we expect you to do the obvious: use and test the software. But we also expect you to communicate with us when things don’t go right or if you’re having trouble. Please post feedback and let us know about your experiences, good and bad. That being said, please remember that this is beta software and early access. HexOS has a long and healthy roadmap ahead. Quickstart Guide For those that just want to get started, here’s the TLDR: Download the ISO here: https://downloads.hexos.com/TrueNAS-SCALE-25.04.2.6-HexOS.iso or https://hexos-downloads.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/TrueNAS-SCALE-25.04.2.6-HexOS.iso (SHA256 Checksum: e8ed99a322affe0969b82b866161a9f6acbc1561e3cc7b2efb2bf120ffe2e856) Use a tool such as Balena Etcher to image a USB flash device with the ISO. Boot your server from the flash device and install the OS to preferably an SSD. When given the option, opt to create the admin password in the installer (do not select the option to "Configure using WebUI"). Remove the flash device and reboot your server when the install is complete. From another device (mobile, tablet, desktop) that is on the same LAN as your server, login to https://deck.hexos.com using your HexOS credentials. Follow the instructions to complete your server configuration. NOTE: As of the 24.10.2.2 build of this ISO, configuring the admin password via the webUI option has been removed from the installer. However, if you select to create an admin password, but then attempt to "cancel" that process, the ISO will proceed with an installation with no admin password set. This is a known bug and the TrueNAS team will be addressing this in a future update to the ISO. Just don't cancel out of creating the admin password in the installer ;-). Hardware Requirements Booting HexOS is designed to support a wide variety of x86 hardware (Intel or AMD). The minimum requirements are a 2-core 64-bit CPU, 8GB of memory, and a 16GB or larger SSD boot device. However, depending on your needs for performance and applications, more resources may be required. Storage Pools Pools are made up of storage devices based on size and type (HDDs vs. SSDs). Storage devices in each pool need to be roughly the same size*. The OS boot device cannot be a part of a pool. Expandable pools require a minimum of 3 devices and can be grown one device at a time. Non-expandable pools can be created with 2 devices. Initial pool width should not exceed 8 devices. Maximum expanded pool width should not exceed 12 devices. At least one storage pool must be created to use HexOS. *In the event of slight variations (e.g. 240GB and 256GB), devices can be grouped, but total capacity for the pool will sacrifice the larger device’s excess storage. Build Recommendations HexOS has been designed so that a relatively modern PC can be easily transformed into a very viable home server. This means using standard HDDs/SSDs and using onboard controllers for storage/networking. However, since we’re based on TrueNAS, our hardware support is actually rather vast. For more detailed hardware recommendations for advanced builds, please refer to the TrueNAS SCALE Hardware Guide. Installing in a VM As HexOS is based on TrueNAS SCALE, it can be installed as a virtual machine as well. While the process should be fairly self-explanatory, please see the TrueNAS SCALE documentation for additional instructions on VM installation. Setup and Configuration Once the OS has been installed and rebooted, you will use a web browser on the same network as your server to register your system and complete the setup process. This can be a PC, tablet, or mobile device. Using a capable browser, login to https://deck.hexos.com. Beta 1 Features Our first release is focused on providing a streamlined user experience for setup and configuration and laying the framework for what’s to come. The main features of Beta 1 include: Setup and configuration wizard Configure your home server in minutes with ease. Analyze system health, with warnings for SMR HDDs. Auto-configure storage pools to safeguard against device failures. Securely manage your server remotely via Command Deck. Storage device management Detect error states and conditions and report through the dashboard Highlight individual storage devices and their respective faults Replace devices from storage pools due to failure or preventative maintenance Expand pools as little as one device at a time Folders and users Create and share folders over your local network. Easily manage permissions for secure access. Apps One-click deploy Immich as a personal photo library app. One-click deploy Plex as a home media server. Automatic folder creation for app storage. Dashboard / UI Access key statistics like CPU, memory, network, and storage usage at a glance. Monitor storage health and see alerts for errors or degraded pools. Manage multiple servers from a single, unified interface. Enjoy mobile-responsive design for effortless navigation on any device.