{"id":1316,"date":"2025-02-04T14:20:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marzocchi.net\/wp\/?p=1316"},"modified":"2025-08-29T15:01:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:01:28","slug":"omnios-installation-and-basic-setup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marzocchi.net\/wp\/2025\/02\/omnios-installation-and-basic-setup\/","title":{"rendered":"OmniOS: Installation and Basic Setup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the CD\/DVD to the working system, no extras<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This article is part of a series focused on the building and setup of a home-NAS based on ZFS and OmniOS. The index is located here: An OmniOS ZFS Fileserver<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, this article must be considered always “in progress” because I will update it in the future whenever I find a better configuration or better setup commands, especially for the file permissions. As result, you can check the history<\/a> of the article and the date of the latest revision down at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Installation and user setup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At this point I had two SSD disks installed together, but I not yet set as hardware mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I installed OmniOS on the first SSD using the CD\/DVD and an external USB2 DVD-RW drive. Once installed I logged in using the virtual KVM provided by iLO3 (a terrible experience: without license it stops working every 30-60 seconds).
Once logged in I added the network interfaces, since they are not set automatically during installation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$<\/span> <\/span>dladm<\/span> <\/span>show-phys<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>ipadm<\/span> <\/span>create-if<\/span> <\/span>e1000g0<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>ipadm<\/span> <\/span>show-if<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>ipadm<\/span> <\/span>create-addr\u00a0-T\u00a0static\u00a0-a\u00a010.0.0.5\/8\u00a0e1000g0\/v4<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>route\u00a0-p\u00a0add<\/span> <\/span>default<\/span> <\/span>10.0<\/span>.0.1<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0echo\u00a0<\/span>'nameserver 8.8.8.8'<\/span>\u00a0>>\u00a0\/etc\/resolv.conf<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0echo\u00a0<\/span>'nameserver 8.8.4.4'<\/span>\u00a0>>\u00a0\/etc\/resolv.conf<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0cp\u00a0\/etc\/nsswitch.dns\u00a0\/etc\/nsswitch.conf<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
As DNS I provided the one offered by Google, since they are very fast. A second and equivalent alternative are the ones provided by OpenDNS, also very fast. I didn’t bother setting up IPv6, it’s not needed on my local network (for the time being).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since I had already set up my ZFS data disks using OpenIndiana I simply imported them using:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$\u00a0zfs<\/span> <\/span>import<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
and then I recreated users and groups as I had in the old system as explained further below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In case I had no disks, I would have created the ZFS datasets this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$<\/span> <\/span>format\u00a0-e\u00a0<\/span><<\/span>\u00a0\/dev\/null<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0man\u00a0zpool<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zpool<\/span> <\/span>create\u00a0-O\u00a0casesensitivity=mixed\u00a0-O\u00a0utf8only=on\u00a0-O\u00a0normalization=formD\u00a0-O\u00a0nbmand=off<\/span> <\/span>tank<\/span> <\/span>mirror<\/span> <\/span>vdev0a<\/span> <\/span>vdev0b<\/span> <\/span>mirror<\/span> <\/span>vdev1a<\/span> <\/span>vdev1b<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zfs\u00a0set\u00a0compression=lz4<\/span> <\/span>tank<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
where “format -e” provides a list of disk device names available on the system (stop immediately with Control-C after seeing the list), “man zpool” is useful to check whether my commands are correct (I cannot verify them right now), then the next command “zpool create …” creates the pool named “tank” out of 4 hard disks: vdev0a and vdev0b are mirrored, vdev1a and vdev1b are mirrored and the two mirrors are striped. As result, a RAID10 is created.
Concerning the options for zpool, check by yourself. Some of them won’t be editable later and have to be set now, some others can be edited later, but they will be inherited and the firther commands are simplified.
I decided to use “nbmand=off” because, from what I understood, it is useful when both AFP and SMB are being used. In my case I’m using only SMB at the time being.
I activated “compression=lz4” because it offers some compression and better performances than uncompressed data and it simply has no real disadvantages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$<\/span> <\/span>cfgadm\u00a0-s\u00a0<\/span>"<\/span>select=type(disk)<\/span>"<\/span><\/span>\nAp_Id<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0Type<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>Receptacle<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>Occupant<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>Condition<\/span><\/span>\nsata0\/0::dsk\/c14t0d0p0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>disk<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>connected<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0configured<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>ok<\/span><\/span>\nsata0\/1::dsk\/c14t1d0p0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>disk<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>connected<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0configured<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>ok<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zpool<\/span> <\/span>status<\/span> <\/span>rpool<\/span><\/span>\n\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>pool:<\/span> <\/span>rpool<\/span><\/span>\n\u00a0state:<\/span> <\/span>ONLINE<\/span><\/span>\n\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>scan:<\/span> <\/span>none<\/span> <\/span>requested<\/span><\/span>\nconfig:<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>NAME<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0STATE<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>READ<\/span> <\/span>WRITE<\/span> <\/span>CKSUM<\/span><\/span>\n\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>rpool<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>ONLINE<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0\u00a00\u00a0\u00a00\u00a0\u00a00<\/span><\/span>\n\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>c14t0d0p0<\/span> <\/span>ONLINE<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0\u00a00\u00a0\u00a00\u00a0\u00a00<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n$\u00a0fdisk\u00a0-W\u00a0-<\/span> <\/span>c14t0d0p0<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0fdisk\u00a0-W\u00a0-<\/span> <\/span>c14t1d0p0<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0fdisk\u00a0-A\u00a0191:128:199:8:0:254:63:1023:12544:104855296\u00a0c14t1d0p0<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>prtvtoc\u00a0\/dev\/rdsk\/c14t0d0s0\u00a0<\/span>|<\/span>\u00a0fmthard\u00a0-s\u00a0-\u00a0\/dev\/rdsk\/c14t1d0s0<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zpool<\/span> <\/span>attach\u00a0-f\u00a0rpool<\/span> <\/span>c14t0d0s0<\/span> <\/span>c14t1d0s0<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zpool<\/span> <\/span>status<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>installgrub\u00a0\/boot\/grub\/stage1\u00a0\/boot\/grub\/stage2\u00a0\/dev\/rdsk\/c14t1d0s0<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Define a strategy for the folder permissions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I used again the structure suggested by http:\/\/breden.org.uk\/2009\/05\/10\/home-fileserver-zfs-file-systems\/<\/a>, that means common folders are placed in the root of the pool and are represented by a separate dataset, and all the users’ homes are located in “\/tank\/home”. Each shared folder belongs to root and to a different group, so that I can define read\/write permissions by adding and removing the users to the different groups. The media folders have a more complex setup, described later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commands used to create the datasets are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$<\/span> <\/span>zfs<\/span> <\/span>create\u00a0-o\u00a0aclinherit=passthrough-x\u00a0-o\u00a0aclmode=passthrough<\/span> <\/span>tank\/home<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zfs<\/span> <\/span>create\u00a0-o\u00a0aclinherit=passthrough-x\u00a0-o\u00a0aclmode=passthrough<\/span> <\/span>tank\/home\/olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zfs<\/span> <\/span>create\u00a0-o\u00a0aclinherit=passthrough-x\u00a0-o\u00a0aclmode=discard<\/span> <\/span>tank\/media<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zfs<\/span> <\/span>create\u00a0-o\u00a0aclinherit=passthrough-x\u00a0-o\u00a0aclmode=passthrough<\/span> <\/span>tank\/media\/Music<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zfs<\/span> <\/span>create\u00a0-o\u00a0aclinherit=passthrough-x\u00a0-o\u00a0aclmode=passthrough<\/span> <\/span>tank\/Temporary<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
I then proceeded with the creation of the groups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$<\/span> <\/span>groupadd\u00a0-g\u00a0501\u00a0olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>groupadd\u00a0-g\u00a0509\u00a0music<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>groupadd\u00a0-g\u00a0505\u00a0temps<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>groupadd\u00a0-g\u00a0512\u00a0musicr<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n$\u00a0chgrp\u00a0olaf\u00a0\/tank\/home\/olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0chgrp\u00a0music\u00a0\/tank\/media\/Music<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0chgrp\u00a0temps\u00a0\/tank\/Temporary<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n$\u00a0chmod\u00a0g+rwx\u00a0\/tank\/home\/olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0chmod\u00a0g+rwx\u00a0\/tank\/Temporary<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0chmod\u00a0g+rwx\u00a0\/tank\/media\/Music<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0chmod\u00a0g+s\u00a0\/tank\/media\/Music<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
and I finally added a real user:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$\u00a0mkdir\u00a0\/export\/home\/olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>zfs<\/span> <\/span>create<\/span> <\/span>rpool\/export\/home\/olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>useradd\u00a0-u\u00a0501\u00a0-g\u00a0olaf\u00a0-s\u00a0\/bin\/bash\u00a0-d\u00a0\/export\/home\/olaf\u00a0-c\u00a0<\/span>"<\/span>Olaf Marzocchi<\/span>"<\/span>\u00a0-m\u00a0olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>usermod\u00a0-G\u00a0music,temps<\/span> <\/span>olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0chown\u00a0olaf:olaf\u00a0\/export\/home\/olaf<\/span><\/span>\n$\u00a0chown\u00a0olaf\u00a0\/tank\/home\/olaf<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
And then, in order to be able to use the “pfexec” command that gives specific permissions (administrator or root, in my case) without the need of issuing “su” or “sudo”, I issued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$\u00a0usermod\u00a0-P\u00a0<\/span>'Primary Administrator'<\/span>\u00a0olaf<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
At this point I only needed SMB shares, so I pasted “other password required pam_smb_passwd.so.1 nowarn” at the end of pam.conf and I executed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$\u00a0passwd\u00a0olaf<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
to be able to use SMB to share data: SMB uses a different password so I had to reset the user password. What is left is the settings for the specific shares. On each dataset I executed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$\u00a0zfs\u00a0<strong>set<\/strong>\u00a0sharesmb<\/span>=on <\/span>dataset<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
to effectively enable sharing. In case a different share name is desired, the line becomes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$\u00a0zfs\u00a0<strong>set<\/strong>\u00a0sharesmb<\/span>=name=desired_share_name <\/span>dataset<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
At this point I updated the system and rebooted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
$<\/span> <\/span>pkg<\/span> <\/span>update\u00a0-nv<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>pkg<\/span> <\/span>update<\/span><\/span>\n$<\/span> <\/span>reboot<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Concerning the media folders (Music) I wanted a more exotic configuration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first step is to check device names to be used later; the second step checks which one is already in use; the third step applies the Solaris partition configuration to the second disk; the fourth step copies SMI labels (I got some warnings here); the fifth step adds the second disk to the pool as mirror; the last step installs the bootloader on the second disk too.
A similar procedure can be found on OpenSolaris ZFS rpool mirror<\/a> and OpenIndiana – How to mirror the root disk<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my case I had the two SSD, but the pool was already there thanks to the installation and I had to add the second disk. I followed the instructions from How to Set Up a ZFS Root Pool Mirror in Oracle Solaris 11 Express<\/a>. These the steps but check them accurately before executing them, in case I have typos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n