Introduction
Do you want to install a NAS server with SSD or HDD hard drive for file sharing?
As a reminder, Open Media Vault (OMV) is a Linux distribution for NAS. Based on Debian, the distribution is a reference for anyone who wants to set up their own NAS. Find out how to install and configure OMV.
Prerequisites for NAS server with hard drive
As we have seen, Sparwan machines can be perfectly suited to the installation of OMV for NAS use; in business as well as at home.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we will use a virtual machine from our LAB. If you also want to virtualize a machine or are interested in a virtual LAB, you can refer to our previous article
1. Downloading OMV
The first step is to download the ISO image containing the OMV Linux distribution. To do this, go to the official website:
https://www.openmediavault.org/download.html
Make sure to download the latest "Stable" version.
This will redirect you to a SourceForge download, this is normal.
Once the ISO is downloaded, you can create a boot key, or use it directly in your virtualization software. Below, we detail the creation of a boot key (a.) and the use of the ISO image in a Proxmox LAB (b.); for those who do not need this procedure, you can skip directly to step 2.
a. Creating a startup key.
In order to create a startup key, you need suitable software. For Windows, we recommend RUFUS , for Linux: Unetbootin and finally for Mac, you have the excellent BalenaEtcher . Here we will focus exclusively on creating the key with Rufus on Windows.
Create a key with Rufus
To download Rufus, go to the Rufus official website then scroll down to the "Download" section.
Download the latest version (here it is 3.18).
Once the software is downloaded and installed, you can start it to arrive at the following interface:
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Select your device
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Select the ISO image
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Leave the default settings
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Press “Start” to create the key
If you get this message, click OK to write in ISO Image mode.
Click "Yes" to download the Syslinux installation files required for booting, then confirm; a final confirmation message will appear, accept it.
The file copying starts.
After a few minutes, the key is ready, you can plug it into your machine and boot from it.
Congratulations, you can now move on to step 2.
b. Mount the ISO image on your virtual machine
If you followed our article about Proxmox, you may have created a virtual machine LAB. Or, you already have a solution (Virtualbox or Vmware for example). In any case, if you want to deploy Open Media Vault on a VM, you just need to mount the ISO image in the virtual DVD drive of the machine.
For the tutorial, we install Open Media Vault on a virtual machine in Proxmox. So we mounted the installation ISO image on the virtual drive of the machine. It is the same principle for other virtualization software, refer to the documentation of the software you are using.
2. Installation
Once the machine is booted to the installation media, the following screen will appear:
Click on "Install"
Select your language, country and keyboard layout.
The installation starts, it takes a few seconds.
Once you reach the network configuration, you need to name the machine.
Then the domain, here we leave "localdomain".
You need to set the ROOT (Superuser) password and confirm it.
ATTENTION: Write down the password, you will be asked for it to connect to the console once the machine restarts.
Then accept the disk partitioning.
Installation continues
We arrive at the configuration of the package management tool, select "France".
You can choose the repository that suits you or leave the default choice.
Enter your proxy address if you have one.
The installation is complete, only the boot installation remains, you must select the hard drive concerned, here /dev/sda.
Installation complete, machine will reboot.
Remember to remove the installation media and press "Continue" .
Now we can move on to the configuration
3. Configuration
Once the machine is restarted, a Linux console will appear after a few seconds:
To connect to the console, you must enter the "root" login and the password that you defined during installation.
Open the web interface
If the configuration and administration of the NAS are possible in command lines, we will focus here on the configuration via the web interface. On the welcome message of the console above, we can also see the IP address that the machine has retrieved on the network and that will have to be entered in a browser to access the web interface.
Here it is 192.168.0.22.
Log in to the interface
Once on the login screen, simply enter the following credentials:
The default identifiers are:
Username: admin
Password : openmediavault
We are now connected, we will be able to move on to the configuration itself, but before that , it is imperative to change the default password for security reasons .
Change password
You have to go to settings at the top right > Change password
Here I use a strong password suggested by my system, you can of course enter a password yourself, respecting the recommended security criteria: a mix of lower and upper case and special characters like @$#, etc.
Disable SSH
Let's stay on security. By default, the SSH server is active, I advise you to deactivate it if you are not in charge of the security of your network or in the case where you do not have a firewall. Moreover, the machines that we offer are also compatible with PfSense.
To disable SSH, go to the left menu, "Services" > "SSH" .
Uncheck the “Enabled” box and then save the changes.
NB: You may be asked to confirm the changes, please do so.
Storage Settings
On the machine where you installed OMV, you must have a second storage system, either a 2.5-inch SSD or HDD connected internally or externally. You can also use a USB stick as external storage.
You need to go to "Storage" > "Disks" to check that the disks are detected correctly.
The storage drive you plan to use should appear in the list of drives, if not, make sure it is plugged in; hot-plugging works.
Here we can see the 32GB dev/sda which is the file system that contains the OS; the 128GB dev/sdb is the secondary disk on which we will store our files.
Once you have checked that the disks are recognized, you need to mount and create the file system.
In "Storage" → "File System" you can create a file system
Press the "+" key to create a new file system.
Select the disk concerned and the file system type. We recommend the "EXT4" format for performance reasons and in relation to the features offered;
The file system is created. Once this operation is completed, do not forget to mount the file system by clicking on save. We can now move on to the second part of the tutorial .