Sorry all, but i am new to NAS and ST. i have done the obligatory youtube, google and this forum search and i can not find the or similar answer.
my aim -
to have my family members, friends and myself, to sync image etc folders on our mobile devices, to our representative password protected folders within truenas, using tailscale to connect to truenas. the tailscal set up i can do, it’s just ST im struggling with.
after syncing to truenas, they can then SMB into their folders, to move/delete unwanted files and choose to copy files to a universal share folder, so all members can view the pics/vids via kodi/plex etc
is this possible and if so, could someone please point me to or tell me in an idiots guide form, on how to set it up.
There’s more than one solution depending on the particular variables in play. Based on your description of the goal, Syncthing is really just a small piece of the puzzle. The bulk of the work will be sorting out access permissions and network connectivity on the NAS.
There are currently many unknowns, including, but not limited to:
TrueNAS or TrueNAS Scale?
Skill level with FreeBSD or Linux?
Skill level with Samba?
Will family and friends have remote access to the the NAS other than via Syncthing and Samba? (e.g. SSH)
i realise, that my description, was a bit vague, but i didnt want to overwhelm people with info.
i’ve basically built an pc/nas that is way over specked for a nas. but i’ve done this on purpose. to make sure that the pc has enough resources to last at least 10+ years. i have been using truenas scale for a month or so and im still in the trial and set-up stage of different apps and setups. i have successfully set up SMB permissions, to the folders and restricting access to users in certain folders etc. i have also been successful in setting up an android app (CX File Explorer) to access the SMB folders on the NAS via Tailscale for different users.
i have experimented with Nextcloud and FileBrowser. after getting set up and working, i couldnt set up the folder structure as i have in SMB, so these apps do not really suite my needs.
to the unknowns
TrueNAS or TrueNAS Scale? - TrueNAS Scale
Skill level with FreeBSD or Linux? - Not much experience with either, but im good at copy and pasting commands.
Skill level with Samba? very little.
Will family and friends have remote access to the the NAS other than via Syncthing and Samba? (e.g. SSH) - Other than accessing their folder and a shared folder, no they will not. they will only have access to what i have set them. they dont know what SSH is, nor long use it…lol
TrueNAS Scale is based on Debian (Linux) and uses Docker for 3rd-party apps not bundled with the OS.
Note that there are some extra steps and choices to make when running a network service inside a container.
I don’t recall seeing any tutorials that are similar to what you’re looking to do with the combination of software you’re using, so you’ll need to cobble together a mix of guides.
There are plenty of online how-to, tutorials, etc. for Linux. Everyone has their own way of learning something new so here’s a decent starting point: https://linuxsimply.com/
Although there’s a web-based interface in TrueNAS Scale, behind the scenes it’s Samba if you’re provide network file shares via SMB/CIFS.
That’s great in terms of security, plus it makes your setup a whole lot easier…
I highly recommend avoiding the path of creating multiple OS-level user accounts.
Instead, create a single regular user account (e.g. “syncthing”) that will own all of the files and folders being synced by Syncthing (you’ll have to work out the permissions between your Docker container running Syncthing and the TrueNAS side holding the files). In Syncthing, create sync folders for each family member and friend.
For the SMB network shares, the same regular user account for Syncthing (e.g. “syncthing”) will technically own all of the files, but your family members and friends will login in via what are effectively “virtual” users (use the “force user” parameter in Samba). From their perspective it looks like they have individual password-protected accounts (which they do), but behind the scenes it’s all one user.
Based on what you’ve described so far, I think it’d be far simpler to not use a turnkey NAS distribution such as TrueNAS, Nextcloud, etc. because you’ll have to mainly work within the confines of their graphical user interfaces – i.e. you’re trading flexibility for ease-of-installation. Copying and pasting commands into a terminal risks breaking something in the UI.
If you use a stock Debian or Ubuntu distro, you only have three layers in your software stack (Tailscale, Samba, Syncthing) compared to the alternative (TrueNAS UI, Tailscale, Samba, Syncthing, Docker, etc.).