OpenMediaVault is a pretty amazing piece of free software that lets you install other applications like Plex Media Server to create a robust network attached storage device for much cheaper than you would be able to buy one for as you can install this on just about any old pc you have laying around.
Materials
First things first, here’s what you’ll need:
- An x86 or x64 pc. Basically anything Intel or AMD
- A network connection, preferably Ethernet
- A USB drive to install OpenMediaVault (2GB or more)
- Additional hard drive (internal or external is fine) for your file storage
Next, download OMV 5.0.5 from here: openmediavault_5.0.5-amd64.iso
Use a program like Etcher to copy the iso file you just downloaded to your USB drive.
Plug the USB drive into your old computer and power on the computer. Make sure that you boot from the USB drive to start the installation. You might have to go into the computer’s BIOS to change the setting to boot from the USB.
OMV Installation
The installation process is pretty straight forward as it will just ask you to select your location and language on each of the screens.
After that you’ll be asked to setup the network interface. Just select the network card in your computer and click next.
Next, you’ll give your server a name. I named mine “stark” but you can name yours whatever you’d like. Next, you’ll be asked to assign a domain name. Since you most likely won’t be attaching this to a .com address, you can use something like “stark.local” (without the quotes, of course).
Then you’ll select your country and will then select the server closest to you in order to download updates for the system.
Once the install is done, you’ll click the button to acknowledge that the process is done and then you’ll remove the USB and the system will reboot.
Now you can plugin your external hard drive if you have one.
When the reboot is complete, you’ll just see a black terminal on your screen. Now it’s time to go to your main pc (probably the one you’re reading this on) and open a browser and type in the domain name you gave your server. Like this: “http://hulk.local” (again, without the quotes).
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OMV Login
The login credentials are:
- Username: admin
- Password: openmediavault
You’ll want to change the logout time from 5 minutes to 30 minutes or more in the main settings as well as change the password.
Now, go to Update Management and install any available updates.
Then reboot.
Installing OMV Extras
Next, go here:
Click the following on the resulting page:
- pool
- main
- o
- openmediavault-omvextrasorg
Then download the file titled “openmediavault-omvextrasorg_5.1.11_all.deb”
Now go back to your OMV dashboard and click “Plugins”. Then click “Upload” and upload the “openmediavault-omvextrasorg_5.1.11_all.deb” file.
Now, search for the word “extra” in the search bar and you should see: “openmediavault-omvextrasorg 5.1.11” in the results. Check the box next to it and then click “Install”.
Docker and Portainer
Now that you have OMV Extras installed, the next step is to setup Docker and Portainer. Click on the “OMV-Extras” link in the left column.
Now click on the blue “Install Docker” button near the middle of the page. Give it a chance to finish installing and then reboot the system.
Once the reboot has completed, login again and go back to the “OMV-Extras” link. This time, click “Install Portainer” and give it a chance to install. Once it’s done installing, reboot.
Now you have Docker and Portainer setup and ready to use for our next tutorial.
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Setup Shares
Login again and go to Disks under Storage and make sure all your drives are showing up. If they aren’t, then fix that. It’s probably not plugged in.
If all your drives are there, then go to File Systems. You’ll need to click “Create”. Select your hard drive from the dropdown and then give it a name. You can leave EXT4 as the file system.
This will format the drive using the proper file system, but keep in mind that you’ll lose everything on that drive.
You can skip the formatting if your drive is already formated as a supported file system.
Next, go to Shared Folders and click “Add”.
You’ll be prompted to give the share a name and then select which drive you want that share to be on. It will auto-fill the Path. Next, change the permissions to “Everyone: read/write”. Then click “Save”.
Repeat that process for all the folders you’ll need.
I created a folder called “Files”. You can create any number of folders with whatever names you want.
Next, click on “SMB/SIFS” and then toggle the “Enable” to the “On” position.
Then Click “Shares” in the tab at the top.
Click “Add” and then select the first of the Shared Folders you created before. Change the “Public” option to Only Guests. Then click “Save”.
Repeat this process for each of the shared folders you created.
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