I understand this might not be the correct forum to ask this question, but I’m a bit at a loss as to what’s happening, and it seems specific to my TrueNAS device only.
I’ve just installed TrueNAS SCALE 25.04.0 on a Dell R730 server. My network topology looks like:
<Main Router with DHCP server> --- <Switch> -- <Secondary Router>
When connecting the TrueNAS device to the Secondary router, everything works fine, and the device gets an IP from the Main router’s DHCP.
However, connecting the TrueNAS device directly to the Switch doesn’t work at all. No IP is received from DHCP, and even manually setting an IP doesn’t work (and again, both things work when connected to the Secondary router which makes no sense.
I have other devices connected directly to the Switch and they work both via DHCP as well as with manually assigned IPs, as it should. I connected other devices to the same physical port on the Switch just in case, I’ve tried the same exact cable just to eliminate variables, but to no avail.
So my question is: is there any specific TrueNAS configuration that might be causing this issue? I’ve tried a few things on the “Configure network interfaces” menu that comes up on the CLI, like disabling ipv6_auto just in case, but obviously that did nothing. I’ve also tried flipping the ipv4_dhcp switch multiple times, but again, no change (other than all my other ethernet devices disappearing after doing this, but I doubt this is related. Again, connecting to the secondary switch makes stuff work, which doesn’t make sense).
Anyway, thanks for any help you can provide, and sorry for the length.
Are you able to assign a static IP when connected to the switch and connect to the system? Is it just DHCP you are hitting and issue with or more general connectivity?
No, as mentioned, assigning an IP manually doesn’t work either (using ifconfig, not sure if there is some TrueNAS way), unless I connect it again to the secondary router, in which case both manually assigned & DHCP work.
Hi!
Please provide some more info about your network, because this: <Main Router with DHCP server> --- <Switch> -- <Secondary Router>
is not enough for troubleshooting. I mean how you do the network segmentation, subnets, also the dhcp range for example.
Also I think the 720 has four physical network interfaces by default. Which one you are using, maybe all four of them? If so, how you bond them?
I have a dell r730 and I am using only one of the interfaces on the device (for right now). I have a similar setup as yours except the last router. I configured a static ip in truenas outside my dhcp range for the one interface only which I am using. Also I configured a bridge interface in truenas (with this static ip on that and not on the physical interface).
I never had any networking problems.
I think your problem lays somewhere in subnetting your network or similar, but it is not enough info from you to troubleshoot this. Pleae be more specific.
What kind of switch do you have? Managed or unmanaged? Have you tried pluging you nas into the port where router 2 is plugged into? if it is a managed switch, it could have vlans or other protocols assigned to specfic ports.
Is your patch cables factory made or handmade? You could have a cross over cable or your missing a wire on pairs 1/2 or 3/6. Routers are more forgiving then switches. You might have a case where your only running on half pair 10/100.
Is your secondary router just acting as a switch or wifi access point? I am assuming your DHCP server is turned off on swithc 2? if it is still on, you could be getting a DHCP conflict. Which would be an issue showing up at the switch. If you are plugged directly into a router, this issue might not present itself, and once it gets a IP address, it will work on the network, even through the switch.
I’ll add some more specifics tomorrow after I get back to the office, but from memory: I’ve tried with some of the 4 available interfaces but also with a separate card too, which doesn’t change anything.
It might be something there, but that’s why I was asking if there is anything TrueNAS specific about the network, because I have other devices connected and they all work fine, never had this issue before.
IIRC it’s an unmanaged switch but not too sure about that, it’s been untouched for many years and worked great up to this point.
Cable is not the issue, as mentioned I’ve checked other devices and also used the exact same cable. But it’s factory made, not a crossover, and no pairs are missing. Like I said, other devices connected to the switch and using the same cable work just fine…
The secondary router is acting as an access point, yeah. And DHCP is disabled, was the first thing I checked. Also, that should not affect when using a manual IP, which also fails…
I’m going to try as soon as I can (during downtime so might take a while) to remove Router 2 from the equation just in case, but again, other devices work just fine connected to the switch directly, so I’m trying to think of other stuff that could be affecting and that I could test without touching existing infra too much…
Looking at your previous response, it is more and more seemingly an issue with the OS. When you boot up, using a screen connected directly to the server, does it give you any ip for the web interface? What have you done in any of those options?
Have you set any of the interfaces to static? if so have you made sure your subnet and default gateway are set right? Sub: is generaly 255.255.255.0 on ipv4 and default gateway is usally the ip of the router. Dns should not matter unless you are trying to do updates or something that requires access to the internet.
Oh, and since you ahev mutiple NIC’s, are you sure you are plugged into the one set as default? I do not know if you have any sticker near them or on the back plate that has the MAC address to verify you are plugged into the correct NIC.
On that screen I’ve tried the options I mentioned in my first message (option 1 on your screen), and also just opening a Linux shell (option 7) and setting a static ip via ifconfig. The ip, subnet and the rest are correct, because as soon as I unplug from the switch and connect to the router, it works. Move the cable back to the switch, and it doesn’t.
That’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out, if it’s an OS thing or not, and what exactly it is…
On the switch, when you plug the nas into it, does the port light go solid, or does it pulse, i.e. solid for a sec or two, and then goes out, then solid for a sec or two, etc? Now dont confuse this with the activity light IF you have seperate ones.
So if you plug the nas into either your primary router or the router which is doubling as an AP, it works no issue, on the static or dhcp you set?
Hmm, at this point I think your NAS’s NIC does not play well with your switch. There are all kinds of negotiation happening, and for some reason they dont like each other. I would just grab a cheap switch and try it and see what happens, which will at least give you some kind of confirmation of the device with the issue.
If by the light stuff you mean if packets are being received, then yeah, you can also see the stats on ifconfig. Packets are being sent and received, it’s just unknown what’s there. Worst case scenario I guess I could somehow run Wireshark there to check what’s going on, although I’m not sure it will be easy to do inside TrueNAS.
I guess I could procure some other hardware to rule out issues, yeah, but again, this is the only device failing out of about half a dozen, which is really annoying.
I’ll try removing Router 2 first tomorrow (if possible), that should be easier as well.
Some switches just have a connected/activity light which is the same on, others have a light that just shows the connection of the port and a different led for activity. What I was asking about is if there is a solid or activity flash “fast” for like one or two seconds, then the lights go dark, then they repeat solid or flash again in a rythmic pattern. Packets can still pass for the 1 or 2 seconds that it makes a connection, those are usally it trying to establish a connection, get address, figure out routes, etc. But if there is solid/fast blink, then nothing, then solid/fast blink, etc, its usally a negotiation issue.
My best advise is grac a different el cheapo switch 5 port or bigger and try it with the nas and see what happens.
I’m back at the office, and first thing I did was actually using a live CD to test outside TrueNAS, but the issue persists, so it seems to be a hardware-only issue in the end.
Switch is also managed and has multiple VLANs, so now I need to figure out why on earth all of this is happening, and why other devices are not affected.
Thanks again, and sorry for the noise, this can be closed as it’s not a TrueNAS issue after all, it was just a coincidence.
