Increase memory?

[tony95]

So I installed TrueNAS with 4GB of ram and I wanted to increase the amount to 8GB but I can't find any setting to increase the ram allocated to TrueNAS. When I look at the dashboard it says 9GB ram but that is the total system ram, not what I allocated when I installed it. Does TrueNAS just use all system ram available or is there a setting somewhere that I can't find?

 

[tony95]

Maybe is was FreeNAS that asked how much memory when you allocate, but is there a place to set the amount of memory in the software or does TrueNAS just use what is available in system memory?

 

[Ericloewe]

Does TrueNAS just use all system ram available

Yes, like every operating system on the planet.

 

[tony95]

Yes, like every operating system on the planet.

Then why on install did FreeNAS ask how much memory to allocate?

 

[Heracles]

Yes, like every operating system on the planet.

Or should we say "like everything worthy of being called an Operating System should". Windows does not use its RAM correctly at all. It is bad to the point that you have better performance when creating a RAM disk and put your pagefile on it...

 

[HoneyBadger]

Then why on install did FreeNAS ask how much memory to allocate?

What version are you installing? It shouldn't be "allocating" anything as far as RAM.

 

[G8One2]

I was curious myself, as to how you allocated RAM?

 

[Ericloewe]

You don't, there's no such thing. The kernel controls all the RAM the system firmware can find.

 

[danb35]

Then why on install did FreeNAS ask how much memory to allocate?

I was going to say it didn't, but others have beaten me to it. But I'd be really interested to hear what you saw that you thought was FreeNAS asking you how much memory to allocate.

 

[Ericloewe]

I was going to say it didn't, but others have beaten me to it. But I'd be really interested to hear what you saw that you thought was FreeNAS asking you how much memory to allocate.

I suspect it was the swap partition on the boot device.

 

[tony95]

Sorry, I don't know what it was. I looked and I can't remember what I watched but something I watched or installed had a memory allocation. I guess it wasn't TrueNAS, so I guess I was just confused. Very strange that I can't find what it was.

 

[tony95]

Yes, like every operating system on the planet.

So, I thought FreeBSD was the OS that TrueNAS runs on, is this not correct?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

So, I thought FreeBSD was the OS that TrueNAS runs on, is this not correct?

It is. So?

 

[tony95]

It is. So?

Ericlowe said that TrueNAS was the OS, that was part of my confusion.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Ericlowe said that TrueNAS was the OS, that was part of my confusion.

Speaking in the vernacular, "TrueNAS is the OS" in that it's a specific set of pre-assembled software packages that you install as an appliance from media onto a clean drive. Generally speaking, you're not building it yourself, and you don't install the FreeBSD OS first and then "install TrueNAS on top of it."

But in any case, there's no option during setup for TrueNAS to only use or claim a limited amount of memory; nothing else would be competing with it. Once you've booted up, then certainly inside of TrueNAS there are adjustments that can be made to the memory behavior (eg: if memory is to be used for jails, plugins, or VMs, then you want to prevent ZFS ARC from thinking it can claim "all available memory") but that's a different subject.

"Allocating memory to TrueNAS" would suggest you've done something like booted a separate OS, and are running TrueNAS in a virtual machine, where you would assign a certain amount of your host memory to be accessible by that VM.

 

[Ericloewe]

Edit: ninja'd

FreeNAS/TrueNAS is derived from FreeBSD, but it is not a straightforward "grab this release and install this stuff on top" sort of thing.

In practical terms, since TrueNAS is installed as a single entity and not as "install FreeBSD then install TrueNAS on top", it's described as an OS in its own right, keeping in mind that the base system is customized FreeBSD.

 

[anika200]

Late to the scene here but I added memory to my server today and indeed when I booted it up it said something to the effect,

You have added system memory please allocate the memory (or something similar).
F1 to change system memory
F2 to boot normal

Then before I could finish reading and digest what was happening it just went into the normal boot routine.

Good news all is well and I guess it can safely be ignored.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Some systems show that message as part of the BIOS/EFI boot process. Worth paying attention to, as if it ever decreases that means you lost a stick of RAM.