How do you guys learn unraid so well. I want to be able to read and troubleshoot like you guys. What is yall's secrets. 

 

Chase B

My secret: lots of reading these forums.  Chances are someone has already described any issue or feature. I have on unraid like 7 years and I learn new stuff daily. You need to acquire a passion to teak and always trying to find new stuff for your server to do.

 

enjoy.

Many of us build a server, buy the software, use it and learn all about it that way, it's really one of the best ways to learn.

Honestly.....

 

Time & effort like anything else.

 

But what really is key is trying to understand not just what you're doing, but why.  There's still massive gaps in my knowledge tbh.  Different people excel at different aspects.  @johnnie.black is the man to ask about drives for instance, an area I'm not particulary good with. 

Yup. Understanding comes with practice (and enough time spent to remember the lessons you learn as you go).  If you "get" the big picture items about unRAID, you're 90% of the way to having a happy, long affair with it.  The other tidbits are the little issues that crop up, which can tend toward specialized areas of knowledge, but chances are someone has been there before and can help with a bit of insight.

Setup a test server.  There's no better way to get familiar with the software than having a "play" server that you can do anything you want to.

Since Unraid is based off Linux it helps a lot if you're already a Linux pro or at least have some Linux experience. You have logs to read, that's the key to rapid troubleshooting.

 

As for learning Unraid, master using the forums so you can get the relevant info rapidly instead of hunting and pecking for solutions via trial and error.

 

For new users I would recommend coming up with a goal you want to accomplish with Unraid. Maybe just a simple backup server or maybe a full blown Plex/VM monster. Present your goals to community and let them provide you with a list of apps and perhaps hardware that will fast track you to that goal. You can trial and error your way through it, but you are likely to take 3 times longe , spend more money in the long run, have an inferior setup and wind up asking questions on workarounds for a setup that you didn't plan out well first. That's not the new users fault though, that's Limetechs fault for not having better guides for new users. They probably just like all the attention  I HAS FRANDS

 

I think Limetech should just make common roles and the initial dockers/file system setup could be entirely automated. The Plex Downloader role, for instance, could install know working combinations of apps like Plex/Nzbget/DelugeVPN and so on and the new users would all wind up with the same file structures which would make support down the road far easier for everyone. 

 

The uses of Unraid aren't that diverse I suspect and really the app store is a lot of copies of the same dockers done slightly differently. That only helps support the idea that most users are using the same apps and pre-configured roles would work perfectly to turn Unraid into a true appliance like solution. As it stands the setup complexity and the fact some dockers don't really work as well as others, it's hard for new user to just know which direction to go. The best you can do on your own is just download the apps with the most stars and hope for the best, but if you ask and get advice first your life will be a lot easier and you setup will probably be more flexible and perform better for what you want it to do, as well as potentially cost less or at least be the right hardware for the job.

 

 

 

 

 

The real secret is that unRaid is very good software, but a lot of the value actually comes from the community and their contributions - the plugins, this forum, documentation. You have to spend a lot of time reading these forums.

 

Most people here are also relative experts, unRaid does require a level of expertise. The documentation is actually quite intimidating for a newbie and is also spread all over the place with a lot of sections no longer relevant for v6. But the community here is great.

Also, one other thing I just thought of, and it sounds really simple, but break things down into simple tasks and concentrate on getting one working before moving onto the next.  Too many new users are like kids in a candy shop, especially with plugins and docker containers and just install everything and then try and configure it all.  That's a mammoth task.  Do one, get it working then move onto the next, otherwise you'll just get overwhelmed.  

 

The key is not to just ask "How?" the real key is understanding "Why?" if you never understand the latter, you'll never understand how to troubleshoot anything and be completely reliant on others for maintenance and troubleshooting.