I’m an intermediate TrueNAS user. Is HexOS for me?

[SuperWhisk]

I’m running TrueNAS on two separate servers. One is just a replication target for local backup, and one is an app server. The app server currently only running Nextcloud-aio (via docker, not apps), home assistant OS (in a VM), and Unifi Controller (also in a container, not an app). I want to install Immich in the near future.

I didn’t use apps because I wanted to write my own docker compose files so that I could have a bit more control (I run some of my apps in different vlans, so I used macvlan networks in docker). I also run my own OPNSense router and Unifi access points.

From what I know of HexOS, the above probably generally says HexOS wasn’t made for me. If not that, the fact that my day job is as a DevOps engineer probably does.

BUT, I’m not just looking for drop-in replacement of my current setup, and I may be willing to simplify a bit. I’m struggling to find the time to maintain my current setup. Nextcloud-aio, HomeAssistantOS, and OPNSense update themselves (at the click of a button), but beyond that, I’m still running TrueNAS 24.10 because I haven’t had the time to deal with all the changes to VMs and apps since that version, and it’s not exposed to the internet at all (not even Nextcloud), so it’s not been a high priority. I’ve come to realize that while I love to tinker, there’s a lot of value in “it just works without having to think about it”.

I’m also concerned about the bus factor with my current setup. If something were to happen to me, my wife and my entire family would be hopelessly out of their depth trying to deal with this system in it’s current form. The only viable path forward would be for them to abandon everything and go running back to Apple or Google or Microsoft (probably the first one). Basically all the files of any value are in Nextcloud, so my wife could at least figure out how to download them, but I’d rather she be able to keep using it if it was easy enough to maintain.

 

So with all of that said, is HexOS for me, or am I going to find myself limited and frustrated (or constantly dropping into the TrueNAS UI), without being all that better off in terms of bus factor anyway?