I just set up my new Unraid system (10 drives, 2.5T space). I copied all the data from my old system (4 drives 900gigs). That copy took close to 3 days (1 gig network but I did it in small chuncks so I wasnt not efficient with the time-no biggie). At the end of those days I realized I wanted to setup my files in a totally different manner with completely different share settings (I finally read the manual and wanted to take advantage of some features), so I created a new share in the new manner and started moving my files around. I quickly found that the move would copy the files up to my client PC then back to the server.

 

It would be REALLY helpful if there was some simple method of moving files around (either via the web interface or via cmd line) on the server itself, without having to copy via the network. I understand I can use Linux commands and do it via command line, but when you are looking at 600 different folders some you want in place X others you want in place y or z and you are thinking you have all that typing to do it really is not pleasant. It wouldn't need to do all that much, just move, copy, delete, make directory and give you the ability to select multiple files and folders.

even some oldie "Norton Commander"-type shell program would be nice - can someone point to the right direction?

 

 

There are several ways to get a GUI into your Linux box.  Install KDE and use the remote desktop; use VNC; etc.

 

IIRC, there are also some text mode file management utils for Linux, like the old Xtree for DOS.

Bubba the problem with most of us is that while not computer illiterate, unraid is a "black box" for us.

 

Most of us are not comfortable with messing with unraid structure and maybe unknowingly destroy it.

 

pat_smith1969 (!) probably requested it as an included feature and since this doesn't seem too... feasible currently (ahem, see my other posts), a more detailed walkthrough from expert users would be helpful. I guess some extra executables and some add-on script or something to give this kind of functionality through telnet or rsh or whatever (web would be ultimate).

 

 

Midnight Commander (for shell)

http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/

 

and

 

MFM (for web)

http://kfm.verens.com/

 

seem like probable candidates

 

 

Midnight Commander (for shell)

http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/

 

This would be my choice....simple, straightforward, and I expect, lightweight.  MFM was, imho, trying to pack too much into the screen.

yes but is web based - meaning it could eventually be embedded in the whole interface

 

in the meantime, it could just be served in a different HTTP port, or a subfolder of the main "site"

 

 

It is not that the users of Unraid are computer illiterate, if they were they would have purchased some 4 disk "NAS Server" black box type of deal. For a customer to put together a computer (a used one or a new one) and know about Sata drives, IDE Drives, Sata Controllers, power requirements for 16 drives, case dimensions, and any other thing needed to build a 16 drive PC they can't be too uneducated. They gotta know quite a bit to build an unraid server.

 

The deal is, I don't necessarily think it is my place to "tinker" with the software. I paid $140 for unraid and think it shouldn't be messed with once setup. If I have an issue I can go to Tech support and say "It don't work, fix it". Tinkering with it will add complexity I dont want on somehting as important as my NAS.

 

Also from a business side, sure Unraid has some GREAT featuers hard to find elsewhere and well worth the money. These VERY SMALL addon requests are simply "Value Add". They are simple to do form the code side of things and give yet one more reason to select Unraid over other otpions.

Oh I do agree. Good luck with asking support what you need.

 

 

OK. Let the mods organize it.

 

 

I have a similar issue.  I exclusively access my server via shares.  I like to treat the whole array like it was a single hard drive and treat the shares as folders.

 

Let's suppose that my server has three shares -- apples, pears, and peaches.  If I open apples and create a new folder I can drag files from apples into the new folder and this change happens immediately.  However if I try to move files from apples to pears or peaches then a protracted network move operation ensues.  Could the unraid server could simply make the appropriate directory adjustments locally rather than tie up the network?

 

I'd prefer to use the existing Windows GUI to move files rather than messing directly with the server.  I really don't want to mess with individual drives or UNIX filenames

 

paul

Let's suppose that my server has three shares -- apples, pears, and peaches.  If I open apples and create a new folder I can drag files from apples into the new folder and this change happens immediately.  However if I try to move files from apples to pears or peaches then a protracted network move operation ensues.  Could the unraid server could simply make the appropriate directory adjustments locally rather than tie up the network?

I don't know what is going on in the USER SHARE file system Tom created for unRaid, but I can say that no matter what it is doing it cannot always anticipate the end-result when you move things using Windows-Explorer.

 

As an example, lets assume that windows explorer does not issue a "move" command, but instead issues a "copy" command of a file to its new location followed by a "delete" of the file from the old location.  It might do that when it is working over a network connection to a remote share to be safe.  If the copy fails (runs out of space, etc) it has protected the original from being lost. 

 

In that scenario, the Linux server can only do what it is being asked.  It has no way of knowing you are going to delete the original file from its location when the copy command issued. In fact, windows explorer might even open up the new file for writing in the new location and then read each block of data from the old file and write it to the new.  Until windows explorer deletes the original file, as far a Linux is concerned, it might as easily been doing a file copy to a new folder, with the desired result being two identical copies.

 

A simple "move" of a file or files might not be as simple as it seems from your windows explorer point of view.

paulvincit, the behaviour your describing is no different that what is seen accessing and moving shares from a windows machine on a windows server. I have Apples, Peaches, Pears on a windows server as shares adn move files between those shares, I'll see the exact same thing. This is not a limitation of unraid but common to moving files between any different shares. Windows treat each share as a separate drive, no matter if they are physically on one drive or not, so it can't just make directory entries. widnows has no knowledge of the underlying disk structure, just what is being presented to it in the share.

Guys thanks for the comments. You are absolutely right. Microsoft strikes again!

 

paul

 

You can experiment with Midnight Commander as follows:

 

1. Download libslang.so.2 and mc-4.6.1_20070309-i486-2.tgz and copy them to the root of your unRAID Flash.

 

2. From the console or telnet session, type these lines:

 

cp /boot/libslang.so.2 /usr/lib
installpkg /boot/mc-4.6.1_20070309-i486-2.tgz

 

Now you can type the command 'mc' from the console or telnet to start Midnight Commander.

 

If you want to have this installed automatically each time you boot, add the two lines from step 2 to your 'go' script.

 

Disclaimer: I have only briefly experimented with this - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.  Let me know if an operation complains about a missing library and I'll post it.

 

Please post with your experiences using this - if it proves useful, we'll include in the next release.

You can experiment with Midnight_Commander...

 

Wow...reminds me of the old Xtree file manager for Windows...a real blast from the past.

I was able to download the first file but on the second one it won't download, just a bunch of data that makes no sense. Any help??

 

Thanks

I created a new topic for Midnight_Commander here in User Customizations for more people watch it.

 

 

 

I was able to download the first file but on the second one it won't download, just a bunch of data that makes no sense. Any help??

 

Thanks

 

Right click, save-as.

There is no "save as" for me.

 

 

Bill

 

Note: doesn't seem to work in Firefox but IE is fine.

It is not unRAID, it is Samba that does this.  Samba understands "moving" files on the same physical device and will simply move the directory entry, not the file, so it happens very quickly.

There is no "save as" for me.

 

 

Bill

 

Note: doesn't seem to work in Firefox but IE is fine.

 

Save Link As then. I use FireFox too. This is simply an issue with the browser recognizing the target as a file vs a page, if it thinks it's a page it downloads and displays as text. Save Link As gets you around it unless the page uses a redirection page. <shrug>