jonp

GREAT QUESTIONS! Answers below: When future versions of TrueNAS are released, we will test them internally before we make them available via an update mechanism within our UI. Most updates should be able to be applied immediately, but in the event we find a reason to delay the update, notice will be provided to the community. As a more direct question, we think most OS updates will be doable within 1-2 weeks of their TrueNAS SCALE release. You can disconnect us from your server at any time and just use the TrueNAS UI if you want. However, the "install" is still a HexOS install at that point, pointing to our app repo. If you want, you can reinstall TrueNAS SCALE native on your boot device, reboot, import the storage pools we created under HexOS, and continue using TrueNAS natively from there. Yes. If you do things that are destructive, they will have destructive impact ;-). To be clear, there is no safety net when you're navigating in the TrueNAS UI. No bumper lanes there to stop you from shooting yourself in the foot, so the TrueNAS UI is "Swim at your own risk!". We are a replacement management interface for TrueNAS SCALE. The primary focus in the early beta is ease-of-use. Longer term, we will build a docker container that will side-load with the OS to add additional functionality not natively available or part of the out-of-the-box TrueNAS SCALE experience. Buddy backups is a great example of a feature that we are building that will leverage technology in TrueNAS (e.g. replication), but will wrap it in simplicity and marry it with a service that makes connecting to other users far more automated. The app repo that HexOS points to is a clone/fork of the app repo provided by TrueNAS themselves. This allows us to continue to build out our app library independent from them, but also allows us to incorporate anything they do with relative ease. There is no method to adding additional app repos within TrueNAS (nor HexOS), but we do intend to support loading something like Portainer (or another equivalent) for advanced users that want to add 3rd party containers. The command deck will be required for certain functionality. It will ALWAYS be required for initial system provisioning. The main reason is that the HexOS installer does not include our UI and it never will. Instead, the local UI will be loaded via a Docker container that we will install after initial system provisioning. Think of it similar to setting up an iPhone or Android device. You need the Internet + a Google/Apple account to get going, but then you can turn on airplane mode and do whatever you want. Same idea here. The latter (when you receive the early access invite). I updated the terms policy to reflect this as well as it wasn't clear.

As far as receiving access, the first wave of invites is going out today. We are taking this approach to test our infrastructure scalability and stability. All the features of HexOS itself will be available with the lifetime license. You are not buying a license solely to the beta. And any features we add to HexOS in the future (that do not have a metered cost like cloud backups) you will get as well.

The selection process for invites is primarily based on order of those who have purchased. And yes, if you were customer #5, you will get access first. Can't get into details right now of how the waves are being structured.

While we slate the fix to the dark mode toggle, I've made dark mode the new default. What do you guys think? Keep this default or do you want the light theme as default?

Good find! Thank you! We will disable/fix.

This issue has been resolved and all mail that was queued has been sent. Thank you!

As you may have seen on the announcement bar, our mail provider hit a limit and we are working to get it expanded ASAP. Really sorry about this everyone!! Team is already pressing to get this resolved.

ZFS all the way

Correct. Lifetime licenses mean lifetime. There are certain features that come at an increased cost to deliver on a recurring basis such as premium support services, cloud backup, or other similar services. Those would be sold a la carte. In the future, we will offer a subscription for HexOS itself which will be at a lower price point. Lifetime licenses will always be available.

Raidz expansion is the feature to search about. It's really amazing!!

Due to an issue with our send mail provider, we blew way past our hourly sendmail limit and so messages are being queued. We have requested a limit increase and will report back once this issue is fully resolved. Your purchases and registrations are going through, and you will receive your confirmations eventually. Our apologies for this and we will get it resolved as quickly as possible.

Actually.... You can add one drive at a time to expand! They have to be the same size as the drives you already have in a pool, but you can expand like that.

Hah! Hopefully a 50-series GPU from NVIDIA!

Yes, this is confirmed. Its why we went through such pains to make a responsive design for the UI/UX 😉

Lifetime licenses are issued per server. You can "disconnect" a server from HexOS and free up that license for use on another. If you want two systems for remote backup, you would need two licenses.

Thanks. Invision was chosen simply because its a platform we were already familiar with from our previous endeavors. I do like discourse a lot and given some of the other changes Invision has been making, we may consider switching at some point.

Someone copy and pasted from an AI ;-). UPS support is definitely something we want to do, but will likely come after the 1.0 release.

You should receive both a receipt and an early access program details email. Let us know if you don't receive them within the next hour. The servers are getting hit hard right now, so some message sending may be delayed.

Licenses are NOT tied to your physical hardware. Just migrate your storage devices to new electronics and get going. Great question though and will probably add it to the FAQ.

Some users are reporting that attempting to toggle dark mode isn't working for them. If you're using the controls in the top right of the forums, try using the theme switcher in the bottom left. We will address this in an update in the future.

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.