Hi All,I am considering purchasing a ReadyNAS RN51600 diskless NAS drive, I shall be using it to primarily hold my video and photo collections and for running Plex to allow serving these vIdeos/photos to several Plex clients allowing the NAS to do HD/1080p video transcoding so that I dont have to convert the videos to a format suitable for all the Plex clients.My questions however are:1. I would like to have the ReadyNAS 516 serve as a VPN server allowing secure access over my ADSL/cable connection to both the NAS content but also to other computers on my local/private network. I have looked through the forums and seen that there are several posts about running OpenVPN etc. on ReadyNAS boxes (mostly DUO v2), but I cant find anything about a possible option on the new OS6 or even if there is the capability of doing this using a fully supported NetGear application?2. I would ideally like the ReadyNAS 516 to act as a media player itself using the built in HDMI port, therefore is there now or are there plans to have something like the Plex client or XBMC as an application that can run on the NAS and controlled via a remote control, web interface or iOS/Android app?. Or is the HDMI port accessible from user written applications such that someone could port a media streaming client to this NAS box?3. Is there an SDK or image that allows developers to easily simulate the ReadyNAS 516 for development purposes without having to develop and deploy on a real NAS with the risk of breaking it?Thanks in advance

I guess these questions would be equally applicable for any of the new OS 6 devices? I had a look on the genie app store but could only see a few apps, do you see more that are only applicable to your device if you log in and have a registered device?

1. There is not a VPN server app available from the Genie+ marketplace list of apps yet. There are hundreds of developers signed up though and the application list should grow quickly. You can install the app through the command line via SSH. Take some technical knowledge to do, but the ReadyNAS is not locked down in any way.2. Plex Server is available on the current ReadyNAS 300 and 500 series products. Plex Server is still in the works for the 100 series. HDMI is not supported yet.3. There is no development/virtual image of the ReadyNAS available for developers. There is an SDK that is made available to developers through the Genie+ infrastructure. Find out more information at developer.netgear.com

m1sterd wrote:3. Is there an SDK or image that allows developers to easily simulate the ReadyNAS 516 for development purposes without having to develop and deploy on a real NAS with the risk of breaking it?Sure, here you go: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=70699

JabbaTheHutt wrote:1. There is not a VPN server app available from the Genie+ marketplace list of apps yet. There are hundreds of developers signed up though and the application list should grow quickly. You can install the app through the command line via SSH. Take some technical knowledge to do, but the ReadyNAS is not locked down in any way.2. Plex Server is available on the current ReadyNAS 300 and 500 series products. Plex Server is still in the works for the 100 series. HDMI is not supported yet.3. There is no development/virtual image of the ReadyNAS available for developers. There is an SDK that is made available to developers through the Genie+ infrastructure. Find out more information at developer.netgear.comA VPN Server addon is ready and is under Netgear revue, I use it since 1 month without problem it works with iphone, ipad, macos X ....

Thank you all for your quick replies.super-poussin, does this support OpenVPN and PPTP and will it work with WIndows and Android devices as well? Do you know if the HDMI port is available for user code running on the NAS?chirpa, I have had a look at your thread for the VM, sounds perfect and exactly what I was after, its just a shame that NetGear doesnt provide this sort of thing for developers to promote development on their platforms.JabbaTheHut, how would I go about getting the SDK for application development? I assume that this would also come with a certain level of documentation about how to create interfaces etc.?

ReadyNAS 516 feature questions | NETGEAR Communities

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m1sterd
Tutor
May 15, 2013
That's kinda what I thought, they must do something for their 30% cut, other app stores I believe have compatibility or feature flags that tell the app store what features they require in the OS and hardware (this includes hardware interfaces, OS versions, library versions etc.) rather than expecting individual developers to test each possible platform.

Is there a way I can try and install your VPN server on my RN516 (I am currently at a stage where I am happy to do a factory install if it doesn't work) without going through the Genie app store (using apt-get etc.). If you would prefer, please PM me if there are options.
super_poussin
Virtuoso
May 15, 2013
deb package are in a Dropbox ( link in addons discussion section) or

apt-get update
apt-get install vpnserver
touch /apps/vpnserver/.localapp
m1sterd
Tutor
May 19, 2013
Hi super-poussin, I followed the above and can indeed see the VPN Server displayed int he installed apps, it even says it is running, however the Launch button is still greyed out, you mention go to the vpnserver Share to get the management console, but I am not sure what you mean by this?

Also I notice now in the Accounts -> Users that a new mysql user has appeared, was this configured and mysql installed as part of the vpnserver? If so if I want to remove it using the remove link on the application page, will it also remove all the dependancies that were installed? (I am not saying I will remove it, but it would be good to know). NOTE: I did also install piwigo, could this have added the mysql group and user accounts?.

Update: Ok I went to the site for the software provider, what you are saying is that it doesn't have a web interface, instead you use the GUI tools the company provides to administer the VPN server. I couldn't find a Mac version of the configuration utility though, is it Windows only?.
super_poussin
Virtuoso
May 20, 2013
MySQL is not installed by vpnserver but perhaps by genie itself.

Yes there's only windows manager, but you can configure it using command line on the nas
Neutral
Aspirant
Nov 26, 2013
Hello,
I'm a new RN102 user and wanted to get the VPN server running on my NAS.
I installed the VPN Server plugin from the application section, and followed the configuration steps indicated on the Softether VPN page, with the Windows manager tool. I could get the server working and establish a VPN session on my Android smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S4), but I can't "see" my local (NAS) shares with ES File Explorer.
I assume that there is something wrong with the IP of my phone (once the VPN tunnel established), but I can't find a way to check the IP (the VPN connection status doesn't indicate it). On the server side, after several hours of research, I didn't find how the server handles the remote clients for IP alloaction...
Although I know many basis of LAN and router configuration, I guess I'm not trained enough in networking to understand how to set up this VPN... :-/

Please can some one help me ?
Thanx forward !

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ReadyNAS 516 feature questions

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