So after finally getting my ducks in a row, to some extent (not by means of a full hardware rebuild, but an incremental hardware upgrade), I got to the point of enabling VM's, creating the necessary shares (and this is where my problems might lie), placing the Windows 10 and Win drivers ISOs in the isos folder, pointing the Windows 10 template at the necessary iso, but when I click the "Create" button with "Start VM after creation" enabled, I get the Windows 10 icon with a green play button, but the install never happens.

When I select the "VNC Remote" option I get the attached screen, but nothing more.

I'm about to hit the sack over here in Berlin, and I know that this is nowhere near enough information to troubleshoot what I have done, but I thought I'd get the thread going before I have to get up at the crack of dawn, take an 8hr train down to Bavaria and then hopefully be back online again late on Sunday to see what I might be able to do, from afar.

What info will I needed to supply to allow more seasoned unRAID'ers to help me troubleshoot this?

follow an install guide, then tell us where your problems occur:

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=unraid+windows+10+install

 

Also when VNC does that, I'd recommend a browser cache clear and/or use a different browser.  Saw that very phenomenon myself today.

Will heed both your advice when I make it to the south of Germany later tomorrow...hope to get this working sometime soon.

Thanks and have a good weekend!

A couple of questions before I can find the time to dedicate to this again:

> is the VNC connection necessary for the actual installation of Windows (so that one can see the individual installation steps), or the VNC connection possible only *after* the installation of Windows has taken place? (the latter would seem unlikely, as there would have to be some sort of a visual feedback for the installation itself, which VNC is for, right?)

> since my unRAID server is hosted at a friend's web-agency which has high security standards (as it should), I can only reach it by establishing an OpenVPN connection...since VNC by default works over port 5700 (or is it 5900?) is it likely that that port is being blocked, and that I would have to contact his IT guy first to open that port for access through the VPN connection?

Edited December 18, 20178 yr by tillkrueger
correction of syntax error

Yes installation of Windows requires a VNC connection or a directly connected monitor if you selected a video card instead.

 

I have never done a "remote" installation, but if there is any firewall in between it must allow VNC ports.

 

thanks for confirming, bonienl...that is what makes the most sense...I'll contact my friend's IT guy to ask hi whether that port is already open or whether can be opened it for me...it looks/behaves like it is not.

Rather than getting VNC ports opened another solution is to get the OpenVPN-as docker installed on the unRAID server and then get the port that you have configured for openVPN opened up.   Running a VPN session should be a more secure (and more flexible) way of providing the required remote access to the unRAID server.

interesting...I mean, what you just suggested sounds very reasonable, but do I fully understand how to even begin, going that route? nope.
so using an OpenVPN docker would not necessitate opening up additional ports to VNC in?
would I still be using Tunnelblick to execute the VPN connection?
is there a Wiki or YouTube video that explains the steps necessary to go that route?

phew, I tell ya...a year ago I didn't even know what a docker is, and now I begin to see that my ole' unRAID system is just beginning to blossom into so much more than I ever bargained for....when I watched the YouTube video about running a MacOS High Sierra VM on unRAID I thought I didn't see right...it looks very iffy to get it working, but to see that it is even *possible* is pretty incredible.

So your server is located at a friend's web-agency and you do not use a VPN to connect to it, just straight to the box? That is leaving the box open for all the world, unless that port is configured to only let your IP through in the firewall at the web-agency. 

no, saarg...like I said above "...since my unRAID server is hosted at a friend's web-agency which has high security standards (as it should), I can only reach it by establishing an OpenVNC connection..."

I use Tunnelblick to establish the OpenVPN connection.

2 minutes ago, tillkrueger said:

no, saarg...like I said above "...since my unRAID server is hosted at a friend's web-agency which has high security standards (as it should), I can only reach it by establishing an OpenVNC connection..."

I use Tunnelblick to establish the OpenVPN connection.

 

I thought that was in connection with the VM since you said openVNC.  

So you are using openVPN and not openVNC to connect? It seems you have mixed the two in your posts. 

whoa, my bad, saarg...yes, I am using OpenVPN! thanks for pointing that out, and I just edited the post to state that I am using "OpenVPN" (and not OpenVNC).

well, now that we corrected that misunderstanding...what would be the difference between accessing my system via a Tunnelblick OpenVPN connection and installing OpenVPN as a docker?

and would I have to install the Server or the AS version of the OpenVPN docker?

 

and then how would that influence how I run VNC to install Windows 10 (or any other VM)?

When you use already a VPN type of connection to the router/firewall in front of unRAID, there is no need to set up an additional VPN connection to unRAID itself. The important thing is to not expose unRAID directly to the Internet.

 

oh, I see...so itimpi's suggestion was based on me sounding like I was not already using a VPN connection.

then that leads me back to having to ask my friend's IT guy to open up port 5900 to allow me to use a VNC client to start and monitor the installation...I already sent out an email to him, so I hope he can open up that port for me before the holidays.

my guess is that my current inability to connect is due to the port being blocked...or at least I hope that it's something as simple as that.

Note that a VPN is an intelligent tunnel.

 

If you have this magic tunnel between your home and your unRAID, then you can normally adjust your VPN tunnel settings so that your VPN can tunnel access to other port on the unRAID server. Which means your friends IT guy would not have to open up any firewall rules. The only firewall hole is where you connect to the VPN service. All other traffic terminates on the inside of the firewall.

thanks, pwm.

so that means that in theory I can configure the VPN connection to allow access to the port necessary for VNC? if that is so, is that something I would configure in Tunnelblick or (more likely) in the certificate or associated config file of the VPN connection?

If u have problems installing windows, try disable all CPUs except 1. I dont know why, but it may help.

Edited December 18, 20178 yr by nuhll

tried that just now, but still no go...I get a "Server disconnected (code 1006)" error at the top of the noVNC window, for all its worth.

is the "Token:" field in the noVNC connect pop-up something I'll need to worry about? I am leaving it empty, since I don't even know what it is. I just set up a password for that VM's VNC, since the other one didn't have one, but the behaviour is the same: no go.

I remember there was some issues connecting sometimes to vnc, but not sure what was the issue. Might have been http vs https if you are running 6.4 RC. 

You can try to use a vnc client also, instead of the webui one. Just look at the VNC Port that is assigned in the VM Tab of unraid and use that one.

I have used TightVNC here without issues.

 

Edited December 18, 20178 yr by saarg
added VNC Port info

amazingly (to me) I just got the Win 7 install screen via the macOS resident "Connect to Server..." menu item in the Finder's "Go" menu, but when it gets to "Which type of installation do you want?" and I select "Custom (advanced)" to attempt to do a fresh install, the next screen it goes to is "Where do you want to install Windows?" with a warning that "No drives were found. Click Load Driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation."

I thought that that is what the virtio ISO file I pointed at during the setup of the VM was for, or did I miss something?

yes, what I missed is looking at the right setup video...got past that step...moving on...

jonathanm, I see what you meant by highly recommending an SSD to run the VM's from...I've been looking at the "Expaning Windows files (0%)" screen for about 20mins, but it just now moved to 1% and went to 8% from there in only 2mins...still that does mean that I'll have to move the VM's to an SSD as soon as I can...is there a documented procedure for that? can the disk path be changed in the VM's settings screen when it is stopped?

at 16% now...hope I can stay awake long enough, but probably will have to continue with the virt driver installation in the morning...it's 10pm here in Berlin, Germany, and I am very tired from a brutally exhausting 3 weeks that lie behind me...but this is exciting stuff and I can't wait to get my first VM up and running!

thanks for helping to get me to this point, everyone!

29% ...

 

1 hour ago, tillkrueger said:

can the disk path be changed in the VM's settings screen when it is stopped?

Sure. Move the vdisk.img file to wherever you want,  and tell unraid where you moved it on the settings screen.