How can I execute a command in TrueNAS such that it continues running in the background even when I close the browser shell?

[Koloss42]

I'm looking for a way to run a command in TrueNAS that remains active in the background even after I log out of the browser shell. It should be a method that doesn't necessarily rely on tools like screen or nohup. Is there an alternative solution to achieve this?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

nohup ... & is the standard Unix way. It's a shell builtin, not an external tool. And it's the default in bash, so you need not explicitly write it when using bash as your shell.

I don't get what you mean by "not rely on ... nohup"? Somehow you must tell the shell not to kill the child process when the shell exists, right?

 

[Redcoat]

Could TMUX be useful?

 

[HoneyBadger]

Many users leverage tmux but typically over an SSH session in order to be able to send the Ctrl-keys.

 

[Koloss42]

Many users leverage tmux but typically over an SSH session in order to be able to send the Ctrl-keys.

Yes but I figured it must be installed through the console book

 

[Koloss42]

nohup ... & is the standard Unix way. It's a shell builtin, not an external tool. And it's the default in bash, so you need not explicitly write it when using bash as your shell.

I don't get what you mean by "not rely on ... nohup"? Somehow you must tell the shell not to kill the child process when the shell exists, right?

nohup ... & and than the command or nohup command &

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

nohup <command> &

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Yes but I figured it must be installed through the console book

What's a console book?

tmux is included in every standard TrueNAS installation:

Code:

#TrueNAS CORE:

root@freenas[~]# which tmux
/usr/local/bin/tmux

Code:

# TrueNAS SCALE:

admin@truenas[~]$ which tmux
/usr/bin/tmux

 

[anodos]

In general, it's better to pretend like the webshell doesn't exist and just use proper SSH.

The webshell is ok-ish for doing some ad-hoc one-line command, but anything serious (especially things that might break webui or middleware) should be done through SSH.

Oh, and _never_ restart middlewared via a webshell.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

In general, it's better to pretend like the webshell doesn't exist and just use proper SSH.

That does not quite change the "nohup" requirement

 

[anodos]

That does not quite change the "nohup" requirement

Right. I just didn't see anyone explicitly making disparaging comments about the webshell :)

 

[danb35]

In general, it's better to pretend like the webshell doesn't exist and just use proper SSH.

Agreed. So why is it still there?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

@danb35 BÄM! Correctamundo!

If the feature generates more support effort than it saves people effort using it, just ditch it. Seriously. OPNsense and pfSense don't have a shell in the web UI, either. Nobody accuses them of missing that one.

While I am at that ... plugins on CORE? Please just stop advertising them. OK?

Back to the topic of the UI shell - a convenience feature that is not reliable and predictable and does not support copy and paste etc. is not convenient. Remove it for chrissake.

 

[danb35]

OPNsense and pfSense don't have a shell in the web UI, either. Nobody accuses them of missing that one.

Though to play the devil's advocate, I can't remember the last time I ssh'd into my OPNsense box--but I ssh into the NAS all the time (mainly to move stuff around with mc). So it might not be directly comparable.

But the thing is, it's entirely possible to do a web shell that doesn't suck; Proxmox has been doing it for years. Heck, even the one in SCALE isn't that bad. But for some reason, iX doesn't seem to be able to put a decent one into CORE.

a convenience feature that is not reliable and predictable and does not support copy and paste etc. is not convenient.

...and now that every major OS includes a ssh client (yes, even Windows), there really isn't any friction there. Just open a terminal (if you don't live with at least one open as I do) and ssh user@ip. Faster than logging into the web UI, and it actually works.