Unassigned Devices - Managing Disk Drives and Remote Shares Outside of The Unraid Array

[MyKroFt]

will it take it "in quotes" - i have not tried as I dont use spaces

 

Myk

 

[bnevets27]

I wanted to try quotes but the way UD is setup is you can't enter the full path. You enter the IP and then it loads available shares via the drop down. Unless I'm missing something.

 

It's entirely possible that this is a unraid NFS export issue but from what I've been able to find it looks as unraid does support spaces......

[dlandon]

@dlandon, a question about using UD for formatting external devices.

 

I used this feature yesterday to format an old laptop drive in NTFS.  I then backed up a load of data from the server on to it.  Plugging the hard drive in to windows 10 laptop however, the drive did not show up in My Computer. Looking in Drive Management just showed the drive as being there but not assigned any drive letter or having a defined file system.  I then re-formatted in NTFS and then re-copied everything over from the server. 

 

Just wondering how UD is formatting drives in NTFS and if this is some different form of the file system which isn't 100% windows compatible or something?!?

Thanks.

 

I'm not sure what UD is doing to format the drive in ntfs.  I'll do some research and see if I can understand it.

[dlandon]

@dlandon, a question about using UD for formatting external devices.

 

I used this feature yesterday to format an old laptop drive in NTFS.  I then backed up a load of data from the server on to it.  Plugging the hard drive in to windows 10 laptop however, the drive did not show up in My Computer. Looking in Drive Management just showed the drive as being there but not assigned any drive letter or having a defined file system.  I then re-formatted in NTFS and then re-copied everything over from the server. 

 

Just wondering how UD is formatting drives in NTFS and if this is some different form of the file system which isn't 100% windows compatible or something?!?

Thanks.

 

The code to generate the nfs shares list is truncating the share name at the first space in the name.  I've fixed it in the next release.

[dlandon]

@dlandon, a question about using UD for formatting external devices.

 

I used this feature yesterday to format an old laptop drive in NTFS.  I then backed up a load of data from the server on to it.  Plugging the hard drive in to windows 10 laptop however, the drive did not show up in My Computer. Looking in Drive Management just showed the drive as being there but not assigned any drive letter or having a defined file system.  I then re-formatted in NTFS and then re-copied everything over from the server. 

 

Just wondering how UD is formatting drives in NTFS and if this is some different form of the file system which isn't 100% windows compatible or something?!?

Thanks.

 

It appears that Windows adds a signature to a drive it formats and Linux does not create that same signature.  Windows knows that a disk has been formatted by another OS.  If you want to use a ntfs disk in Windows and unraid, you will have to partition and format it in Windows.  It can then be mounted by UD and Windows.

[johnieutah]

@dlandon, a question about using UD for formatting external devices.

 

I used this feature yesterday to format an old laptop drive in NTFS.  I then backed up a load of data from the server on to it.  Plugging the hard drive in to windows 10 laptop however, the drive did not show up in My Computer. Looking in Drive Management just showed the drive as being there but not assigned any drive letter or having a defined file system.  I then re-formatted in NTFS and then re-copied everything over from the server. 

 

Just wondering how UD is formatting drives in NTFS and if this is some different form of the file system which isn't 100% windows compatible or something?!?

Thanks.

 

It appears that Windows adds a signature to a drive it formats and Linux does not create that same signature.  Windows knows that a disk has been formatted by another OS.  If you want to use a ntfs disk in Windows and unraid, you will have to partition and format it in Windows.  It can then be mounted by UD and Windows.

 

Thanks for the confirmation and info!

[bnevets27]

The code to generate the nfs shares list is truncating the share name at the first space in the name.  I've fixed it in the next release.

 

Incredibly fast fix. Thank you! 

[dlandon]

New release with iso file mount.

[danioj]

New release with iso file mount.

 

Oooo nice feature, thank you. Quick question, can you write to it or is it read only?

[dlandon]

New release with iso file mount.

 

Oooo nice feature, thank you. Quick question, can you write to it or is it read only?

 

Read only.

[danioj]

New release with iso file mount.

 

Oooo nice feature, thank you. Quick question, can you write to it or is it read only?

 

Read only.

 

Roger. Thanks.

[ljm42]

New release with iso file mount.

 

OK, so this is really cool. For a while now I have been backing up my installation cd's as ISOs so I don't have to keep track of the physical media.  All I had to do was add the path to the ISO file and *boom* it was shared on the network

 

I did notice a few potential issues though:

 

1. Nothing is logged until you actually mount the ISO, so if you have a typo somewhere it can be hard to troubleshoot.

2. The interface lets you add an ISO file with a space in it, but when you actually try to mount the ISO, it fails.  Maybe wrap the filename in quotes when passing it to the mount command?

3. New ISOs are setup to auto mount, even if you have set "Auto Mount USB Devices" to No.  Seems like this should default to No all the time, or maybe the setting should be renamed to "Auto Mount Devices"?  Or if you feel strongly that it is correct as-is, that is fine too.

4. After something has successfully mounted, I get this error in the log:

  Command not available. Cannot execute script

Is it trying to load a custom script that hasn't been created?

[kizer]

What is the method of mounting the ISO file. I see the add, but do you type in the path or how its it mounted?

[ljm42]

What is the method of mounting the ISO file. I see the add, but do you type in the path or how its it mounted?

 

Yeah, just click "Add Iso", type in the path, and then click Mount.

[dlandon]

New release with iso file mount.

 

OK, so this is really cool. For a while now I have been backing up my installation cd's as ISOs so I don't have to keep track of the physical media.  All I had to do was add the path to the ISO file and *boom* it was shared on the network

 

I did notice a few potential issues though:

 

1. Nothing is logged until you actually mount the ISO, so if you have a typo somewhere it can be hard to troubleshoot.

2. The interface lets you add an ISO file with a space in it, but when you actually try to mount the ISO, it fails.  Maybe wrap the filename in quotes when passing it to the mount command?

3. New ISOs are setup to auto mount, even if you have set "Auto Mount USB Devices" to No.  Seems like this should default to No all the time, or maybe the setting should be renamed to "Auto Mount Devices"?  Or if you feel strongly that it is correct as-is, that is fine too.

4. After something has successfully mounted, I get this error in the log:

  Command not available. Cannot execute script

Is it trying to load a custom script that hasn't been created?

 

1. What is it you feel needs to be logged?

2. Fixed in next release.

3. The "Auto Mount USB Devices" is correct and applies to plugin USB devices, not SMB or iso mounts.  The auto mount operation is working as desired.

4. The script is the one you define for the iso mount just like for a physical device.  The log entry is telling you that there was no script found to run.  It's informational and not an error.  I've changed the log entry to be more helpful

[dlandon]

What is the method of mounting the ISO file. I see the add, but do you type in the path or how its it mounted?

 

Entering the file path and name is a bit cumbersome and I will eventually work on an alternative.  If you enter a file that does not exist, it will not be added to the iso shares so that should prevent an issue trying to mount an iso that does not exist.

 

I was just anxious to get this feature implemented to see how it works for everyone.  I am running into a busy time at work and will have less time now.

 

I rather like this feature myself as I find it useful for driver installation to a VM so the iso doesn't have to be mounted in the VM.  This is a great way to update the virtio drivers in a Windows VM.  Because the iso is shared in the \\Tower path, you can use it for updating other computers without having to burn a cd.

[archedraft]

 

 

I rather like this feature myself as I find it useful for driver installation to a VM so the iso doesn't have to be mounted in the VM.  This is a great way to update the virtio drivers in a Windows VM.  Because the iso is shared in the \\Tower path, you can use it for updating other computers without having to burn a cd.

 

Very nice! I will definitely be using this feature in the future.

[PeterB]

2. The interface lets you add an ISO file with a space in it, but when you actually try to mount the ISO, it fails.  Maybe wrap the filename in quotes when passing it to the mount command?

 

2. Fixed in next release.

 

Ah, that's made it work!  My ISOs are in a directory called "ISO Libraries", and I couldn't get anything to mount!

 

One point, though - since disk shares are disabled by default, and there is some potential danger in having them enabled, could/should the default mount point be changed?  Perhaps it needs to be made a configuration option?

 

Ah, I see that it gets shared anyway, but only by SMB, (not nfs?)!

 

Edit:  I've just tried to change the mount point, and the change doesn't stick.

[ljm42]

1. What is it you feel needs to be logged?

 

Well, currently if you type a path that doesn't exist, it is a little confusing because there is no feedback.

 

Entering the file path and name is a bit cumbersome and I will eventually work on an alternative.

 

Cool, no worries on the logging then.

 

Thanks for today's update!

[RobJ]

A minor request, and I know you're busy, and I'll be fine with whatever you do or don't do ...

 

You've added features that are very cool but do take up extra vertical space on the Main screen, requiring more scrolling now than in the past, between the array listing at top and the array operation buttons at the bottom.  I was wondering if a little vertical compression was possible.  At the moment, I don't have a single object of any of the 3 types, and probably won't use the ISO or SMB sections for awhile.  Each section has 4 fat lines, and a slimmer white space line for separation between the sections.  If a section does not have objects, could the header line be skipped, saving one vertical line?  And the "Add [object]" button, taking up a whole line, could it be moved to the right side of the section title line, or the right or left of the "No [objects]" message (saving another vertical line)?  And maybe the "No [objects]" message could be moved to the middle of the section title line?  Or add options to turn off whole sections.  Just minor ideas, you can do whatever you want.  It's not that important.

[dlandon]

2. The interface lets you add an ISO file with a space in it, but when you actually try to mount the ISO, it fails.  Maybe wrap the filename in quotes when passing it to the mount command?

 

2. Fixed in next release.

 

Ah, that's made it work!  My ISOs are in a directory called "ISO Libraries", and I couldn't get anything to mount!

 

One point, though - since disk shares are disabled by default, and there is some potential danger in having them enabled, could/should the default mount point be changed?  Perhaps it needs to be made a configuration option?

 

Ah, I see that it gets shared anyway, but only by SMB, (not nfs?)!

 

You have to turn on nfs sharing in the Unassigned Devices settings.

 

Edit:  I've just tried to change the mount point, and the change doesn't stick.

 

The mount point cannot be changed from /mnt/disks/.

[dlandon]

A minor request, and I know you're busy, and I'll be fine with whatever you do or don't do ...

 

You've added features that are very cool but do take up extra vertical space on the Main screen, requiring more scrolling now than in the past, between the array listing at top and the array operation buttons at the bottom.  I was wondering if a little vertical compression was possible.  At the moment, I don't have a single object of any of the 3 types, and probably won't use the ISO or SMB sections for awhile.  Each section has 4 fat lines, and a slimmer white space line for separation between the sections.  If a section does not have objects, could the header line be skipped, saving one vertical line?  And the "Add [object]" button, taking up a whole line, could it be moved to the right side of the section title line, or the right or left of the "No [objects]" message (saving another vertical line)?  And maybe the "No [objects]" message could be moved to the middle of the section title line?  Or add options to turn off whole sections.  Just minor ideas, you can do whatever you want.  It's not that important.

 

Try turning off the 'Complete' switch at the top.  It will turn off all but the physical devices table.

 

I've made some changes to consolidate the web page.  This will be in a release today.

[dlandon]

Well, currently if you type a path that doesn't exist, it is a little confusing because there is no feedback.

 

Entering an iso file that does not exist will now generate a log entry.

[PeterB]

2. The interface lets you add an ISO file with a space in it, but when you actually try to mount the ISO, it fails.  Maybe wrap the filename in quotes when passing it to the mount command?

 

2. Fixed in next release.

 

Ah, that's made it work!  My ISOs are in a directory called "ISO Libraries", and I couldn't get anything to mount!

 

One point, though - since disk shares are disabled by default, and there is some potential danger in having them enabled, could/should the default mount point be changed?  Perhaps it needs to be made a configuration option?

 

Ah, I see that it gets shared anyway, but only by SMB, (not nfs?)!

 

You have to turn on nfs sharing in the Unassigned Devices settings.

 

"Enable NFS export?"?  I already have that set to "Yes".

 

Edit:  I've just tried to change the mount point, and the change doesn't stick.

 

The mount point cannot be changed from /mnt/disks/.

 

So it is necessary to set "Enable disk shares:" to "yes" (ignoring all the advice not to do so) in order to access an ISO over nfs?

[RobJ]

You've added features that are very cool but do take up extra vertical space on the Main screen, requiring more scrolling now than in the past, between the array listing at top and the array operation buttons at the bottom.  I was wondering if a little vertical compression was possible.  At the moment, I don't have a single object of any of the 3 types, and probably won't use the ISO or SMB sections for awhile.  Each section has 4 fat lines, and a slimmer white space line for separation between the sections.  If a section does not have objects, could the header line be skipped, saving one vertical line?  And the "Add [object]" button, taking up a whole line, could it be moved to the right side of the section title line, or the right or left of the "No [objects]" message (saving another vertical line)?  And maybe the "No [objects]" message could be moved to the middle of the section title line?  Or add options to turn off whole sections.  Just minor ideas, you can do whatever you want.  It's not that important.

 

Try turning off the 'Complete' switch at the top.  It will turn off all but the physical devices table.

So that's what that 'Complete' switch is for!  I've always wondered.  Would you consider adding a note to the help?  It does do practically everything I asked for, so thank you!