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ReadyNAS OS 6.0.6 | VirtualBox Image #notsupported
Are you a developer that wants to create and test new add-ons, but don't have systems available to develop on/break?
Are you pondering upgrading your first generation x86 system to the new OS, but want to test it out first?
Are you just jealous that Synology DSM can be run in a VM, and ReadyNAS can't?
Well here is how you can create a VirtualBox HDD to run ReadyNASOS virtually!
For the lazy, a pre-made appliance to download and import, all ready to go! ReadyNASOS-6.0.6-x86_64.ova (68 MB)
(First boot does install, will take ~1 minute. First time setup wizard will show. Has 2x8GB data disks in RAID1.)
This VM is no longer updated by the #notsupported team, as NTGR now provides an official VirtualBox image themselves:
Installing ReadyNAS OS on VirtualBox
These steps were run on a RAIDiator-x86 4.2.22 system, any Debian system should work, other platforms may need tweaking;
your mileage may vary! And of course, it has to be said, don't expect any support from NETGEAR with this.
Now you have the raw disk image. Next you need to create a .VMDK file, to properly reference the RAW file, example:
Now load up VirtualBox, create a VM, give it this disk to boot from, and a few more 'data' disks to install to. Put the E1000 NIC in Bridge mode.
You can discover the NAS via RAIDar, and possibly readycloud.netgear.com. Default admin/root password is 'password'. You can login via the console in the VM as root. Open https://IP/admin, and access Dashboard. The system model shows as 'VirtualBox Simulation'.
Are you pondering upgrading your first generation x86 system to the new OS, but want to test it out first?
Are you just jealous that Synology DSM can be run in a VM, and ReadyNAS can't?
Well here is how you can create a VirtualBox HDD to run ReadyNASOS virtually!
For the lazy, a pre-made appliance to download and import, all ready to go! ReadyNASOS-6.0.6-x86_64.ova (68 MB)
(First boot does install, will take ~1 minute. First time setup wizard will show. Has 2x8GB data disks in RAID1.)
This VM is no longer updated by the #notsupported team, as NTGR now provides an official VirtualBox image themselves:
Installing ReadyNAS OS on VirtualBox
These steps were run on a RAIDiator-x86 4.2.22 system, any Debian system should work, other platforms may need tweaking;
your mileage may vary! And of course, it has to be said, don't expect any support from NETGEAR with this.
$ wget -q ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/ReadyNASOS-6.0.4-x86_64.zip; unzip -q ReadyNASOS-6.0.4-x86_64.zip(losetup creates loopback device at first partition offset. installing syslinux-common (for mkdiskimage) first, because it will conflict with syslinux if installed at the same time. mtools provides mkdosfs.)
$ apt-get -y install syslinux-common; apt-get -y install syslinux mtools
$ mkdiskimage RNOS6.raw 512 8 32; losetup --offset 16384 /dev/loop0 RNOS6.raw
$ mkdosfs /dev/loop0; syslinux /dev/loop0; mount /dev/loop0 /mnt
$ dd if=ReadyNASOS-6.0.4-x86_64.img bs=16k skip=1|tar -C /mnt -x
$ echo -e 'default Normal\nlabel Normal\nkernel kernel\nappend initrd=initrd.gz reason=normal' > /mnt/syslinux.cfg; umount /mnt; losetup -d /dev/loop0
Now you have the raw disk image. Next you need to create a .VMDK file, to properly reference the RAW file, example:
# Disk DescriptorFileAnother option is to install the qemu-utils package, and run this command, to convert the raw image into a single VMDK file:
version=1
encoding="windows-1252"
CID=fffffffe
parentCID=ffffffff
isNativeSnapshot="no"
createType="monolithicFlat"
# Extent description
RW 327680 FLAT "RNOS6.raw" 0
# The Disk Data Base
#DDB
ddb.virtualHWVersion = "8"
ddb.longContentID = "deadbeefcafedeadbeefcafeffffffff"
ddb.uuid = "60 00 C2 9c c1 a4 a8 2b-9f d1 65 f2 1e b1 9d 09"
ddb.geometry.cylinders = "325"
ddb.geometry.heads = "16"
ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"ddb.uuid.image="71222d44-9672-4482-941c-149c2ee0dfc4"
ddb.uuid.image="71222d44-9672-4482-941c-149c2ee0dfc4"
ddb.uuid.modification="de4161f9-152e-442e-ad6e-aa559179bd3e"
ddb.uuid.parent="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
ddb.uuid.parentmodification="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
ddb.geometry.biosCylinders="325"
ddb.geometry.biosHeads="16"
ddb.geometry.biosSectors="63"
qemu-img convert -f raw RNOS6.raw -O vmdk RNOS6.vmdk
Now load up VirtualBox, create a VM, give it this disk to boot from, and a few more 'data' disks to install to. Put the E1000 NIC in Bridge mode.
You can discover the NAS via RAIDar, and possibly readycloud.netgear.com. Default admin/root password is 'password'. You can login via the console in the VM as root. Open https://IP/admin, and access Dashboard. The system model shows as 'VirtualBox Simulation'.
50 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- The D405 does not have VT-x virtualization support, so it can't run a 64-bit OS inside itself.
- ok thanks for the clarification. So the only option is to install it following your guide and I also suppose that the processor is soldered to the motherboard. (nice avatar :D )
- Yup, soldered on, no upgrades.
The VM image was more targeted to run on a PC/Mac for dev testing. For running it on a NAS, I'd change the core OS over to OS6, not run it as a VM inside OS4. - Looks nice. Unfortunately, it disconnects and drops me back into the summary screen every minute or so. So I can't really change any settings before it drops. Is it technically possible to update from within the VM?
I do get the feeling that it's been 'dumbed down' a bit. Less complexity on the WebGUI, less tooling within the commandline. No SSHD (so what does SSH support do?) At least it's kernel 3.
So it still creates mdadm-RAID, but no more lvm. It uses BTRFS to create subvolumes that grow like lvm?
This will take some time to figure out. Unfortunately one can't grow a vdisk in Vbox. I could remove one, replace it with a bigger one. Try to kick off XRAID.
Also, as a sidenote, VMware can have SATA HDDs. I tried your method on ESXi 5 using a Debian LiveCD. Ended up with a kernel panic unfortunately.
Thanks for the work, I wanted to test before I upgraded my Ultra. If you could create one for 6.1.2 it would be cool. - You should be able to update the VM to 6.1.2 with no difficulty.
Have you checked to make sure the settings (network etc.) are correct? - Well, I can connect fine. Even browse through the interface. Just every minute or so, it states network connection was lost, then cycles back to the login screen, automatically logs me in using the already entered credentials, and drops into the status screen. Since I can't update within a minute, that obviously doesn't work. I wanted to update to see how it encrypts, which was added in a later version. Still, I wouldn't have been able to get it to work on my own.
During this time, my SSH connection is stable. So it seems to be Frontview that's messed up... - Well you can update using SSH:
# cd /var/readynasd
# wget URL
# unzip *.zip
# echo /var/readynasd/ReadyNASOS-6.1.2-x86_64.img > /etc/.flash_update
# rn_shutdown -r - Thanks, that worked. No more disconnects.
I didn't find the encryption option though. Probably only when using Flex-RAID, not with X-RAID. I'll have to test that. I'm thinking the switch from X-R to F-R is one direction only.
How do you guys know all this stuff? It's taking me ages to reverse engineer all the scripts. All those variables are making my head spin. - Yes you need to disable X-RAID, delete the volume and then when you go to create a new volume you will see the encryption option. It requires the use of a USB key so you will need to give the VM access to a USB key.
Actually I know how to do a fairly limited set of things via the command line. It is a similar procedure to update the firmware to what was used by the old OS.
It is possible to check where the NAS puts files when a firmware update is done without needing to reverse engineer. - This VM is no longer updated by the #notsupported team, as NTGR now provides an official VirtualBox image themselves:
Installing ReadyNAS OS on VirtualBox
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