I have been using TrueNAS Scale for a few years but I am in the process of upgrading my hardware so I have more power to play with. I am a disabled guy and have lots of medical records to manage. I would like to use a self-hosted app called Fasten that can be installed using Docker or Docker Compose.
I’ve been trying to read and learn for the past week. If I understand correctly, the next version of TrueNAS Scale will be out in Beta in a few days and it will include Docker Compose functionality. I have also seen people setting up a VM and running Docker on that VM to host their apps.
I plan to migrate to the beta version anyway. Should I go the VM method for hosting my apps or should I try it in Apps on the new beta version and just report any bugs?
That’s an interesting app I hadn’t heard of before; thanks for mentioning it:
But to your actual question, the most stable and portable way to run it would be in a VM–install your desired OS, install Docker in it, optionally a manager like Dockge or Portainer, and off you go.
The next-most-stable way would be in a sandbox–I expect @Stux will be along shortly to share the link to his video.
Apps in the beta will be considerably less stable, I’d expect. Your trying it and reporting bugs will likely be helpful to iX, but if you want a stable way to use the software it might not be the best choice.
How long will it take you to migrate your health data into Fasten?
My personal opinion (for what it is worth i.e. nothing because this is YOUR health data not mine)…
If you don’t mind the occasional crash, and so long as you only copy your data onto TN rather than move it i.e. keep a separate copy elsewhere, and so long as access to this health data doesn’t become life critical, then personally I would think that you are OK running the beta as a way of getting started.
So long as you keep the existing copy of data and so long as you avoid using new features like adding a drive to a RAIDZ vDev, at least until EE is recommended as default version for production (perhaps 6-8 months away), I would think that base functionality (most of which is dependent on Debian / ZFS features which are pretty stable or on TN features that are also stable) should be OK.
However, you need to evaluate and accept such risks for yourself, and still mitigate them just in case by keeping a copy elsewhere of your health data until you have a stable version of TN EE.
TMI - I am a disabled veteran who is getting worse. I haven’t been able to work for over two years now, I have lost enough use of my legs now that I am soon to be in a wheelchair full time, I’m also losing the use of one arm, and I am actively seeing and working with five different specialists on top of my primary care physician to try to stop the progression of my disease.
I have three different attorneys - one for handling my appeals with the VA, one for representing me to the disability insurance company for the policy I purchased through my last employer, and one attorney provided by that disability insurance company who is representing me for Social Security Disability. (Every dollar SSDI pays, they no longer have to pay.)
So every visit to any of those doctors results in me having to get a copy of the physician’s notes for the visit and any imaging or test results and sending it to each of those three attorneys. Now that the neuropathy is impacting my breathing on top of the losing the use of the limbs, I am hiring an assistant who will be handling all the paperwork and managing all my medical records for me.
Giving this need, I am looking at On-Premise/Self-Host Medical Record Management apps to automate and streamline the effort. So far, Fasten appears to be the app that meets all my needs so I want to get it installed and try it. As long as it meets my needs, I will import all the records into the app as part of the turnover process to the assistant.
I may not be American but I can absolutely respect your service to your country. And I am sorry to hear that your health is so bad and that you are having to fight for healthcare that should be a universal right for all but especially for veterans.
Given your degenerating health, if I were you I would want to avoid installing Fasten in a way that would need later migration, which perhaps tips the balance for using TrueNAS EE Beta.
I may be half a world away, but if there is anything I can do to help with advice, remote support etc. you only have to ask.
I can’t understand why wait for EE?
You can easily launch docker right now via Install Custom App. No need to wait Docker Compose, using VM-install or sandbox.
According to the documentation:
Above, I created a dataset for fasten on my software pool, so it can store its data outside of the container. I then created directories inside that dataset for db and cache, and the paths to those are the "Host Path"s above. The "Mount Path"s should stay as they are above.
If you like, you can have a button for the app on your apps portal by filling in these fields:
