How to access Files and folders on True Nass

TrueNAS General
1

Hello everyone I have a question maybe someone can answer it for me, so I have file sharing all setup on my True Nas system and I can access those files and folders, for any device in my home but!

lets say I wanted to access file and folders from my mobile or a laptop out side my home, how would I do that? maybe I’m missing something. Almost frgot I do have Tail scale running on my Nas system

I can access my True Nas dash board using Tail scale on my mobile and laptop out dise my home but not sure how to link my shared folders

Thank you

2

Then connect to Tailscale from your laptop or phone.

3

Hi Dan I did that but not sure were or how to access my shared folder

Do I need a paid VPN for this? if so what would you recommend of cost a inexpensive one but reliable

Thank you

4

Ok, let’s address the laptop first. If you have a working VPN connection to your home and you can access the TN UI, then you can map a drive to a network share just like at home. Only thing: you might need to address your NAS by IP address, because “network neighbourhood” does not work over a VPN.

Assuming you are using Windows - have you tried opening e.g. \\1.2.3.4 ?
Substitue the IP address of your TN of course.

If using a Mac you can type Cmd-K in the Finder and then connect to a server via IP address.

5

No, you already have a VPN–Tailscale.

The same way you would when on your LAN, but using its Tailscale IP address.

6

Yes I am using a Windows machine but have a few Macs and Linux machines. But I will focus on the Windows machine because it’s the one I use most of the times to set things up

When you say working VPN are you referring to Tale Scale? that’s what I started using to connect my devices.

Yes and I can connect and access my Nas dash board also this way from my mobile on my 5G connection not sure if that’s what you mean

7

Aw thank you Dan for that

And this will allow me to access my shared folder as well

Thank you Dan

8

That’s what I mean. The generic way to access a shared folder in Windows is to type this into the search box inside the start menu:

\\<ip of server>\<name of share>

You can omit the share name and the explorer window that opens will present you all of the shares on that server.

That’s not TrueNAS specific - has been in Windows at least since 95 if not 3.11.

9

Thank you brother for that I will give it a go

Would you say a paid VPN would be more secured? if so what would you recommend

10

No, not in the least. Why are you focusing on paid VPNs?

1 Like
11

Not focusing on a paid VPN just wanted to know if it’s more secure then a free one. Free is not always a good thing

12

Unless there’s a still to be discovered vulnerability in Tailscale’s implementation, I would say it’s actually the opposite. Tailscale is more secure than most paid VPNs aimed at ordinary customers. In paid VPNs defence, their primary use case is different.

I say that because with Tailscale network traffic is typically routed directly between your two devices. With a paid VPN service you usually see all your transferred data going through their server(s) acting as middlemen.

Sometimes a user wants their data to go through another point (like the paid VPN), for example if a user wants some form of pseudo anonymity or they want to watch geo-locked content. That doesn’t appear to be what you are after and thus would be a bad fit.

13

Thank you that’s good to now. I was not sure because Tail scale is free! well at least they have a free version. I just wanted to make sure it’s a good choice

Thank you my friend