I'm going to start over....

[allroy1975]

Been Running Unraid 4.7 for several months with very few problems.  I do run an 2003 AD server at home though and I built the Unraid box without the full license key, and from reading the (seemingly authoritive) guide at http://www.eyespytechnologies.net/?p=175 it seems like to get AD working properly, you have to have it set up from the beginning. 

 

A friend recently told me to check out Plex media server, so it looks like in order to do that, I need to be on at LEAST UnRaid 5.6beta.  So I upgraded fairly successfully to 5.13b, however my permissions on some things seem a little jacked up, like my sabnzbd last night started acting weird and throwing strange errors in the middle of downloading some stuff. 

 

I was down to just a few hundred gb free, and I have 4 1TB drives I was planning on putting in the array, but now instead, I'm backing everything on the UnRaid to those disks and will rebuild the UnRaid box from scratch, hoping to get AD set up right.  This should give me more control on who has access to what drives, right?  LDAP integration seems like it should be here, but it's not.  I don't see a whole lot of info anywhere on how much granularity AD integration gives you in UnRaid.

 

My question is, Is there a "most stable" or "most supported" or "Best documented" version of 5.x stuff I should use?  or should I just skip Plex and go back and do 4.7 the right way?

 

any suggestions?

[allroy1975]

based on the fact that the only good instructions on joining AD were on that site in my previous post, I decided to go with 4.7.  I've been messing with it for 2 days now....data is all sitting on hard drives off the NAS, because I can't get it working.

 

I can get it to join the domain, but after a reboot it's gone again, so I have to rejoin it.  My Shares that I'm creating aren't showing up in Unraid.

 

Like I've seen some other people say...one of the main reasons I bought the Pro license was because I thought I could enable Active Directory security.  Seems weird that it'd even say that it works in the documentation.  it seems like you'd need a miracle to get it to work. 

 

I hate unraid.  or I could just be exhausted.  another night of going to bed without what I worked on all night working.....pisses me off. 

[speeding_ant]

SMB integration with AD can be patchy at best. The latest version of Samba is around the corner (last time I checked was 6 months ago), that should provide full AD integration, not an NT domain hackfest.

 

If you're working with Server 2003, you should be able to make it work. Things I've learnt (using SMB/AD integration with linux) is to check the date/time is sync'd, DNS is working properly, and that you're typing the domain correctly.

 

To be honest, the 5 series is still in beta, and from what I've seen very little attention has been made to AD integration as of yet. If you rely on AD integration, best to stick with 4.7 until some proper documentation is out, and that there's community support behind it.

 

 

[allroy1975]

am I missing something then?  cuz I can't get it to work properly in 4.7 either.

 

in any event I just want my NAS back.  I was really tired/cranky/whiny last night when I wrote that....well...actually 3 AM my time.

 

I can't figure out what I need to do to the disks to wipe them clean and just start all over.  For a long time it saw all my shares still, I finally formatted the drives from within Unraid via telnet, and then Unraid saw them as unformatted. 

 

As far as the AD integration, I'd just like to set up some stuff so my kids can't find my porn resume and mess with it.  Is there a way to set up security like that between the Unraid/Linux world and Active Directory?

[speeding_ant]

You could just as easily setup user shares and user permissions. You have the pro license, the users can be standalone without the need for AD integration.

[allroy1975]

okay, I figured, I have a fresh new mind and a fresh beer, I'll start over again.  Re-formatted my flash stick, put the pro key on it, rebooted.  Before doing anything with the disks through the array I telneted to the server and formatted all my disks using:

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdc

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdd

 

then when those were all done, picked the disks for array, enabled user shares, and then started the array.

 

now the array is started and I can't create user shares.  - at least through the web interface. 

 

I can't for the life of me figure out what I did wrong.

 

[Joe L.]

okay, I figured, I have a fresh new mind and a fresh beer, I'll start over again.  Re-formatted my flash stick, put the pro key on it, rebooted.  Before doing anything with the disks through the array I telneted to the server and formatted all my disks using:

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdc

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdd

 

then when those were all done, picked the disks for array, enabled user shares, and then started the array.

 

now the array is started and I can't create user shares.  - at least through the web interface. 

 

I can't for the life of me figure out what I did wrong.

 

The mistake is that unRAID does not use ext3 file systems.  (IT can read them, but not use them in its protected array)

Next, The file systems would be on the first partition /dev/sdX1, not the entire drive (/dev/sdX), so that was done incorrectly even if you had used the correct reiser file system type when initially creating them.  You did not need to create the file systems, unRAID will do that for you when you add the drives to the array.

 

Time to forget your advanced knowledge of linux and start once more with the disks.

 

So.

 

Stop the array

un-assign all the drives

type

initconfig

on the command line, answer "Yes" to its prompt (Capital "Y", lower case "es")

Then, assign the drives

then start the array.  When unRAID starts it will present to you a format button.  PRess it.  It will format your drives.

 

Once the disks are formatted, they will be mounted as disk1, disk2, etc. on /mnt.

 

Enable user-shares and use the "User-shares" page to create the top level directories for your files.  I have "Movies", "Pictures", "Music", "data" on my server as the 4 top directories.

 

Then those directories will appear on your lan as shared drives.

[allroy1975]

 

Time to forget your advanced knowledge of linux and start once more with the disks.

 

can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not...lol

 

I have almost no linux experience.  I have a lot of google experience.  "how to format a hard drive in linux" returned those results...I did it.

 

and it was wrong.  Every time I'd search for "format hard drive unraid" it'd come back with instructions on how to format your flash drive and put unraid on it. 

 

thanks a lot man!  disks are formatting as we speak!

[Joe L.]

 

Time to forget your advanced knowledge of linux and start once more with the disks.

 

can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not...lol

 

I have almost no linux experience.  I have a lot of google experience.  "how to format a hard drive in linux" returned those results...I did it.

 

and it was wrong.  Every time I'd search for "format hard drive unraid" it'd come back with instructions on how to format your flash drive and put unraid on it. 

 

thanks a lot man!  disks are formatting as we speak!

I suspected you had a lot of experience...  It was not being sarcastic, but trying to say unRAID is made for people who have no linux background.  You knew too much... and it got you into trouble.  (and apparently, you are very good using google as a search tool)  The reason there is little about formatting disks in unRAID is because there is a single "Format" button.  you just press it after assigning disks to the array.  It formats all those disks showing as "unformatted"

 

unRAID will slow as "unformatted" any disk it cannot mount as a reiser file-system.  If you ever see disks showing as unformatted, when you know they have data, do NOT press the format button.  Instead, they probably need to have their file system checked so they will successfully mount.  Seek help in these forums.  Many like myself will help.... and trust me, we've have some interesting cases of disks being trashed by one mistake or another.  (typically, somebody who mis-typed a command, or formatted the wrong disk... or like you, knew almost the right commands)

 

You will almost never work directly on the /dev/sdX devices in unRAID.  The only times are when pre-clearing disks before they are added to an array, or when diagnosing errors in the system log.

 

Most of the time you assign a disk (by its model/serial number) to a slot in the array as "disk1", "disk2", etc.    from then on, it is referenced through the /dev/md1, /dev/md2, etc devices.  Those are the parity protected devices.    The actual /dev/sdX device names can change from one boot to the next, as they are assigned as the disks initialize and present themselves to the OS.  With many identical drives, it is easy for one to be faster one time, and another then next, resulting in different /dev/sdX device names.  Use the model/serial numbers instead.

 

You will never need to partition or create the file systems yourself.  (not unless you are very advanced, or repairing a file-system under direction from a more advanced user)

Even when running a file system check you will use /dev/md1 (for disk1) or /dev/md2 (for disk2), etc...

 

The unRAID wiki is the best place to start learning.  There is a ton of user-contributed stuff there.  Try here for a start:

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Configuration_Tutorial

 

Then look here:

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Unofficial_Documentation

 

and here:

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ

 

Joe L.

 

[allroy1975]

Thanks again Joe. 

 

I hate posting threads like this one because I was very vague initially, just looking for a suggestion or 2, then I started doing all kinds of craziness.  I see people post in tech/support forms far too often, and they're just lazy, they don't look for anything themselves.....and I don't want to be that guy.

 

I knew unraid SHOULD have been showing me that option to format the disks, but it wasn't. Until I ran initconfig. 

 

maybe I know more linux than I though.  I've done lots of hacking through the years and now do a lot of android rooting and such.  and good news:  I understood all of what you said.  Including the part about the wiki.

 

those wiki pages are HUGE and My ADD kicks in hard and I just start skimming and missing important stuff and getting frustrated and tired. 

 

anyway, thanks again, you totally helped me with what I needed.  I decided to go with beta 14 as someone in a different post said it's pretty close to final.  and I guess for now, I'll just say F AD integration. disappointing, but...whatever. 

[kizer]

The biggest problem I had coming to unRAID was learning how to forget what I knew simply because unRAID more or less does it all for you. Unless your tinkering with some scripts or trying to get it to do something it does exactly what it should do.

 

Most of the Moderators like Joel L know this stuff very well and even thou you said you don't want to ask a lot because people are lazy and need to learn keep in mind its your data and once its gone its gone. Its better to ask for help and teach somebody else that might be reading than to loose something that is not recoverable.

[allroy1975]

The biggest problem I had coming to unRAID was learning how to forget what I knew simply because unRAID more or less does it all for you. Unless your tinkering with some scripts or trying to get it to do something it does exactly what it should do.

 

Most of the Moderators like Joel L know this stuff very well and even thou you said you don't want to ask a lot because people are lazy and need to learn keep in mind its your data and once its gone its gone. Its better to ask for help and teach somebody else that might be reading than to loose something that is not recoverable.

 

great point kizer. 

 

So...as long as I'm here..... 

 

I've got 6 onboard SATA ports.  4 are full.  I have 4 more SATA hard drives I'd like to add sooner than later.  Obviously I don't have enough ports on the motherboard.  I do however have an old 3ware 9500s card with 4 sata ports on it.  what is the best way to use that card? 

 

if the best way is "don't use that card" can you please suggest a card that I should use? 

This is my motherboard: ASUS M4A88T-M LE AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

 

Thanks a bunch guys!

[dgaschk]

The old 3ware 9500s card can only be used for a single drive or performance will suffer.

 

See here for more cards:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12404.0

[WeeboTech]

The old 3ware 9500s card can only be used for a single drive or performance will suffer.

 

See here for more cards:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12404.0

 

These are good cards if you can use them in your machine.

I.E. if you have PCI-X or a 66mhz pci slot.

 

Most PCI slots are 33Mhz, but some are 66Mhz without being advertised.

 

It's true that drives on a 33Mhz PCI bus hold back the other drives from operating at full speed during a full parity sync/create operation or in the event of a drive rebuild.

 

Example:

The PCI bus is not slower - it just has a low max bandwidth. For single drive accesses it will not saturate, but when accessing several at the same time (like during a parity chech) the PCI bus will slow things down.

 

 

In any case, you can possibly use that card for the time being since allot of drives do not reach over 120MB/s anyway.

 

Where it slows you down is in heavy usage for multiple drive access on the PCI bus.

But if you rotate the drives so that each successive drive is on a different card and bus, you may do OK.

 

I would not put my largest drives on the PCI bus. I would also consider a PCIe card in the future. Even the 4 port rosewill marvel is cheap and will give you good speed.

 

The issue with the 3ware and areca's is that emhttp does not show the drives like the regular SATA drives. In addition, the spin down timers do not work.

 

But to squeeze some life out of old drives, it could be used.

 

In my build I use the Areca ARC-1200 for partiy/cache and just have them spinning as much as possible. (but that's my usage pattern).

 

I looked at your motherboard manual and could not find anything that stated it was a 66mhz pci bus. but try it out and do an lspc -v and see if the card shows up at 66mhz.

 

 

Here's an example on one of my mITX servers.

 

01:01.0 Mass storage controller: Promise Technology, Inc. PDC40718 (SATA 300 TX4) (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Promise Technology, Inc. PDC40718 (SATA 300 TX4)
        Flags: [b]bus master, 66MHz, [/b]medium devsel, latency 72, IRQ 201
        I/O ports at df00 [size=128]
        I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
        Memory at fdcff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Memory at fdcc0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at fdd20000 [disabled] [size=32K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2

[allroy1975]

thanks so much dgaschk and WeeboTech!

 

just to keep things easy (right?) I might just get a new card.  Looking at the 8 ports for potential future growth.  Any idea why the SuperMicro is 2x as much as the IBM?  SuperMicro seems like it might be more compatible and maybe it'll take 3tb drives?  the IBM seems like you have to be running a beta version of Unraid (which I am now) and some possible compatibility issues, but nothing that can't be worked through.....

 

Thanks again guys!