Electric Eel Apps and IP Addressing
Since its initial release just over a month ago, TrueNAS 24.10 has already become the fastest-growing release of TrueNAS in history - with nearly 60,000 installations and hundreds of thousands of installed Apps on the new Docker-powered framework. Thanks to lower overhead when compared to the previous Kubernetes architecture, TrueNAS 24.10 systems are running additional workloads faster and more efficiently than ever.
Today, we’ll dig deeper into the configuration, upgrade process, and networking options for those looking to expand their TrueNAS Apps deployment, help decide if it’s the right time to migrate a system to 24.10, and talk a bit about further upcoming improvements and how you can help contribute new Apps to the Community Catalog.
Upgrading Your Apps from 24.04 to 24.10
When preparing to switch from Kubernetes to Docker, ease of migration was top of mind for the TrueNAS Engineering team. Solutions that required extensive manual interaction were moved aside in favor of creating customized, per-App migration scripts, and thanks to the efforts of both TrueNAS engineers and the community testers of the BETA and RC versions, the complete list of in-catalog Apps is able to be migrated from Dragonfish (24.04) to Electric Eel.
Custom Apps have offered additional twists and turns as we work to map all of the functionality previously offered in the Kubernetes Helm charts into the Docker Compose YAML format. In particular, custom networking options were not planned for 24.10 and will take further development efforts to resolve.
Apps, IP Addressing, and Custom Networks
The majority of Apps deployments on TrueNAS systems are using the default networking configuration - the App simply listens on an unused port on the same IP address with the rest of the TrueNAS services. For users with relatively straightforward needs, such as a personal media server, photo repository, or game server, this configuration provides the simplest and fastest deployment, with no additional configuration needed.
Many of our more advanced users are looking for more customization and control over the network communication available to their apps - whether that’s to route certain traffic over a VPN solution to facilitate a secure site-to-site solution, or to allow their IoT devices to communicate with a TrueNAS-hosted smart-home or NVR solution but prevent them having a direct path to the larger Internet.
At present, TrueNAS 24.10 does not have a way to specify the desired network interface through the web UI for the Apps Catalog. Custom Apps can be configured to bind to a specific network address using the ports: - “IP:port” mapping functionality in the YAML configuration.
Network segmentation can be achieved by creating custom Docker networks, and deploying the Apps through custom YAML. Grouping Docker applications together offers advantages for organizing, securing, and optimizing communication between containers that interact on a network level. An example of this configuration is available at the TrueNAS Documentation site on the Custom Apps page.
Users looking for even more control over their Apps deployment solution have the option of deploying a separate Docker management stack, such as Dockge or Portainer - both of which are available for deployment themselves as a TrueNAS App. By providing these apps with access to a storage host path and host level network access, experienced Docker users can retain the same toolset they are already familiar with - including the ability to control their TrueNAS-hosted Docker engine and manage multiple nodes through a solution such as Docker Swarm.
Fangtooth Improvements
Fangtooth will include additional enhancements and improvements to the TrueNAS web UI, allowing for the per-App selection of any IP address from the available aliases assigned to interfaces on the regular network page. This is planned to be a simple drop-down selection, allowing for easy selection and further “separation of duties” for network interfaces, for users who are making use of the multiple different protocols supported by TrueNAS.
This functionality will be available with the upcoming TrueNAS 25.04 “Fangtooth” release. Developers seeking to provide feedback or improvements can prepare a non-production system to run the nightly releases of this advanced build, and test their intended workflows as these features are integrated. Fangtooth BETA is planned for February.
Contributing to the TrueNAS Apps Catalog
Configuring Custom Apps works for individual users who are comfortable with YAML formatting and editing, but many users are more familiar with the click-through wizard style of installation. While the TrueNAS team has been hard at work migrating and updating the current catalog, one of the many strengths of open source development is the enthusiastic community support - which is why we’ve also built a framework to make it easy to bring your favorite Docker-powered applications to TrueNAS.
The new v2.0 of our TrueNAS Apps Library is ready to be used as the basis for getting Docker apps into the Catalog. If you’ve got some Docker experience and want to contribute, check out the Apps Contribution Guide on GitHub to see how easy it is to help other TrueNAS users benefit from easy-to-run applications.
Your Feedback Is Valuable
If you’re considering the upgrade to TrueNAS 24.10 - or if you’ve already upgraded - don’t hesitate to let us know. Register at the TrueNAS Community Forums to share your experience with the TrueNAS team and the user community.
And if you haven’t tried out the #1 open storage platform in the world yet, there’s no time like the present! Jump in with TrueNAS Community Edition today, and experience the power, reliability, and flexibility of TrueNAS for yourself.