TrueNAS - truenas - Incus documentation
Description: The truenas storage driver in Incus: The truenas storage driver enables an Incus node to use a remote TrueNAS storage server to host one or more Incus storage pools. When the node is part of a clus...

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# TrueNAS - `truenas`

## The `truenas` storage driver in Incus

The `truenas` storage driver enables an Incus node to use a remote TrueNAS storage server to host one or more Incus storage pools. When the node is part of a cluster, all cluster members can access the storage pool simultaneously, making it ideal for use cases such as live migrating virtual machines (VMs) between nodes.

The driver operates in a block-based manner, meaning that all Incus volumes are created as ZFS Volume block devices on the remote TrueNAS server. These ZFS Volume block devices are accessed on the local Incus node via iSCSI.

Modeled after the existing ZFS driver, the `truenas` driver supports most standard ZFS functionality, but operates on remote TrueNAS servers. For instance, a local VM can be snapshotted and cloned, with the snapshot and clone operations performed on the remote server after synchronizing the local file system. The clone is then activated through iSCSI as necessary.

Each storage pool corresponds to a ZFS dataset on a remote TrueNAS host. The dataset is created automatically if it does not exist. The driver uses ZFS features available on the remote host to support efficient image handling, copy operations, and snapshot management without requiring nested ZFS (ZFS-on-ZFS).

To reference a remote dataset, the `source` property can be specified in the form: `[<remote host>:]<remote pool>[[/<remote dataset>]...][/]`

If the path ends with a trailing `/`, the dataset name will be derived from the Incus storage pool name (e.g., `tank/pool1`).

## Requirements

The driver relies on the `truenas_incus_ctl` tool to interact with the TrueNAS API and perform actions on the remote server. This tool also manages the activation and deactivation of remote ZFS Volumes via `open-iscsi`. If `truenas_incus_ctl` is not installed or available in the system’s PATH, the driver will be disabled.

To install the required tool, download the latest version (v0.7.2+ is required) from the `truenas\_incus\_ctl` GitHub page. Additionally, ensure that `open-iscsi` is installed on the system, which can be done using:

    sudo apt install open-iscsi

## Logging in to the TrueNAS host

As an alternative to manually creating an API Key and supplying using the `truenas.api_key` property, you can instead `login` to the remote server using the `truenas_incus_ctl` tool.

    sudo truenas_incus_ctl config login

This will prompt you to provide connection details for the TrueNAS server, including authentication details, and will save the configuration to a local file. After logging in, you can verify the iSCSI setup with:

    sudo truenas_incus_ctl share iscsi setup --test

Once the tool is configured, you can use it to interact with remote datasets and create storage pools:

    incus storage create <poolname> truenas source=[host:]<pool>[/<dataset>]/[remote-poolname]

In this command:

- `source` refers to the location on the remote TrueNAS host where the storage pool will be created.

- `host` is optional, and can be specified using the `truenas.host` property, or by specifying a configuration with `truenas.config`

- If `remote-poolname` is not supplied, it will default to the name of the local pool.

## Configuration options

The following configuration options are available for storage pools that use the `truenas` driver and for storage volumes in these pools.

### Storage pool configuration

`source`

ZFS dataset to use on the remote TrueNAS host. Format: `[<host>:]<pool>[/<dataset>][/]`. If `host` is omitted here, it must be set via `truenas.host`.

Key: | `source`
Type: | string
Default: |
Scope: | local

`truenas.allow_insecure`

If set to `true`, allows insecure (non-TLS) connections to the TrueNAS API.

Key: | `truenas.allow_insecure`
Type: | bool
Default: | `false`
Scope: | global

`truenas.api_key`

API key used to authenticate with the TrueNAS host.

Key: | `truenas.api_key`
Type: | string
Default: |
Scope: | global

`truenas.clone_copy`

Whether to use lightweight clones rather than full dataset copies.

Key: | `truenas.clone_copy`
Type: | bool
Default: | `true`
Scope: | global

`truenas.config`

Path to a configuration file for the TrueNAS client tool.

Key: | `truenas.config`
Type: | string
Default: |
Scope: | global

`truenas.dataset`

Remote dataset name. Typically inferred from `source`, but can be overridden.

Key: | `truenas.dataset`
Type: | string
Default: |
Scope: | global

`truenas.force_reuse`

Allow to use an existing non-empty pool.

Key: | `truenas.force_reuse`
Type: | bool
Default: | `false`
Scope: | global

`truenas.host`

Hostname or IP address of the remote TrueNAS system. Optional if included in the `source`, or a configuration is used.

Key: | `truenas.host`
Type: | string
Default: |
Scope: | global

`truenas.initiator`

iSCSI initiator name used during block volume attachment.

Key: | `truenas.initiator`
Type: | string
Default: |
Scope: | global

`truenas.portal`

iSCSI portal address to use for block volume connections.

Key: | `truenas.portal`
Type: | string
Default: |
Scope: | global

Tip

In addition to these configurations, you can also set default values for the storage volume configurations. See Configure default values for storage volumes.

### Storage volume configuration

`block.create_options`

Additional options to pass to the file system creation tool when formatting the volume

Key: | `block.create_options`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.block.create_options`
Condition: |

`block.filesystem`

File system of the storage volume: `btrfs`, `ext4` or `xfs` (`ext4` if not set)

Key: | `block.filesystem`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.block.filesystem`
Condition: |

`block.mount_options`

Mount options for block-backed file system volumes

Key: | `block.mount_options`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.block.mount_options`
Condition: |

`initial.gid`

GID of the volume owner in the instance

Key: | `initial.gid`
Type: | int
Default: | same as `volume.initial.gid` or `0`
Condition: | custom volume with content type `filesystem`

`initial.mode`

Mode of the volume in the instance

Key: | `initial.mode`
Type: | int
Default: | same as `volume.initial.mode` or `711`
Condition: | custom volume with content type `filesystem`

`initial.uid`

UID of the volume owner in the instance

Key: | `initial.uid`
Type: | int
Default: | same as `volume.initial.uid` or `0`
Condition: | custom volume with content type `filesystem`

`security.shared`

Enable sharing the volume across multiple instances

Key: | `security.shared`
Type: | bool
Default: | same as `volume.security.shared` or `false`
Condition: | custom block volume

`security.shifted`

Enable ID shifting overlay (allows attach by multiple isolated instances)

Key: | `security.shifted`
Type: | bool
Default: | same as `volume.security.shifted` or `false`
Condition: | custom volume

`security.unmapped`

Disable ID mapping for the volume

Key: | `security.unmapped`
Type: | bool
Default: | same as `volume.security.unmapped` or `false`
Condition: | custom volume

`size`

Size/quota of the storage volume

Key: | `size`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.size`
Condition: | appropriate driver

`snapshots.expiry`

Controls when newly created snapshots are to be deleted (expects an expression like `1M 2H 3d 4w 5m 6y`)

Key: | `snapshots.expiry`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.snapshot.expiry`
Condition: | custom volume

This value is used to compute the expiry date of newly created snapshots. It is added to the current time when a snapshot is taken, and the resulting timestamp is stored as that snapshot’s individual expiry date. Changing this value only affects snapshots created after the change; the expiry date of existing snapshots is not modified.

The supported units are `S` (seconds), `M` (minutes), `H` (hours), `d` (days), `w` (weeks), `m` (months) and `y` (years). Note that `M` stands for minutes and `m` for months. Each unit may only be specified once, and months and years are computed as calendar months and years rather than fixed numbers of days.

`snapshots.expiry.manual`

Controls when newly created snapshots are to be deleted (expects an expression like `1M 2H 3d 4w 5m 6y`)

Key: | `snapshots.expiry.manual`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.snapshot.expiry.manual`
Condition: | custom volume

This value is used to compute the expiry date of newly created snapshots. It is added to the current time when a snapshot is taken, and the resulting timestamp is stored as that snapshot’s individual expiry date. Changing this value only affects snapshots created after the change; the expiry date of existing snapshots is not modified.

The supported units are `S` (seconds), `M` (minutes), `H` (hours), `d` (days), `w` (weeks), `m` (months) and `y` (years). Note that `M` stands for minutes and `m` for months. Each unit may only be specified once, and months and years are computed as calendar months and years rather than fixed numbers of days.

`snapshots.pattern`

Pongo2 template string that represents the snapshot name (used for scheduled snapshots and unnamed snapshots)

Key: | `snapshots.pattern`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.snapshot.pattern` or `snap%d`
Condition: | custom volume

`snapshots.schedule`

Cron expression (`<minute> <hour> <dom> <month> <dow>`), a comma-separated list of schedule aliases (`@hourly`, `@daily`, `@midnight`, `@weekly`, `@monthly`, `@annually`, `@yearly`), or empty to disable automatic snapshots (the default)

Key: | `snapshots.schedule`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.snapshot.schedule`
Condition: | custom volume

`truenas.blocksize`

Size of the ZFS block in range from 512 bytes to 16 MiB (must be power of 2) - for block volume, a maximum value of 128 KiB will be used even if a higher value is set

Key: | `truenas.blocksize`
Type: | string
Default: | same as `volume.truenas.blocksize`
Condition: |

`truenas.remove_snapshots`

Remove snapshots as needed

Key: | `truenas.remove_snapshots`
Type: | bool
Default: | same as `volume.truenas.remove_snapshots` or `false`
Condition: |

`truenas.use_refquota`

Use `refquota` instead of `quota` for space

Key: | `truenas.use_refquota`
Type: | bool
Default: | same as `volume.truenas.use_refquota` or `false`
Condition: |