Finding Out More About the HexOS NAS Software, Where it lives with TrueNAS Scale and Whether it Might Deserve Your Data
A little over a month ago, HexOS (the NAS software that has been in quiet development, first publicly addressed on LTT back in Dec 2022 and covered HERE on NC) popped it’s head up above the parapet to tell users a little more about what it is trying to be, trying to solve and how it plans to do it. Details were still pretty light on the ground and so I reached out to the guys at HexOS to ask if they would be open to a user Q&A about their product, to which they happily agreed. This article is the results of that Q&A and 3+ weeks of question collecting from numerous sources (more on that in a bit). This article represents the official responses to those questions, as well as the hour long youtube video that contains a brief setup demo of HexOS, as well as extended answers to all those questions (and a bunch of extra ones thrown in by me on the fly). Additionally, since the recent news on HexOS becoming public, other public posts have emerged by both HexOS and their partner ‘iXsystems’ (AKA TrueNAS), which you can read below:
Useful References and Links:
- TrueNAS / iXsystems Announcement About HexOS Partnership – HERE
- Recent Post on HexOS about their product – HERE
- Signup here for updates on HexOS Beta News – HERE
So, let’s get to the results of that Q&A / AMA.
HexOS User Q&A – The TL;DR:
Jonathan from HexOS provided a detailed look at the platform’s integration with TrueNAS SCALE, emphasizing its mission to simplify home server management for both casual users and content creators. HexOS aims to streamline the experience by curating applications, ensuring that users have an easy-to-navigate system that doesn’t require deep technical knowledge. However, for those who need more advanced features, the full TrueNAS SCALE web UI is just a click away, allowing users to dive deeper into customization if they choose. Remote access is handled through the HexOS Command Deck, which offers secure, straightforward management without directly interacting with user data. Backup features are robust, with options for server-to-server, OS-native agents, encrypted cloud backups, and a buddy backup feature, allowing users to store data on a friend’s HexOS server for added security. Although the HexOS UI is designed to be fully responsive and work well on mobile devices, features like a dedicated mobile app, in-system HexOS control UI, and additional client app tools are planned but will only be confirmed after the 1.0 release.
In terms of pricing, HexOS is set to offer a lifetime license option, making it a one-time purchase for users, though other pricing models are still being discussed and finalized. The platform is on track for a beta release in Q3 2024, during which a select group of users will be able to test out the system and provide feedback. One of the key strengths of HexOS is its flexibility; users can easily switch back to managing their systems directly through TrueNAS SCALE without any complicated conversions or additional steps, ensuring that they are never locked into the HexOS ecosystem if they decide they need something different. Initially, support will be offered through community-driven channels like forums and Discord, but there are longer-term plans to introduce premium support options, offering more personalized help for those who need it. These premium options, along with other post-launch developments, are part of a broader roadmap that HexOS plans to explore after the 1.0 release, ensuring that the platform continues to evolve based on user needs and feedback.
User Questions About HexOS – IMPORTANT
Below are the questions that were put to Jonathan Pannozzo, CEO of Estek and co-developer of HexOS. The Interview was conducted on Thursday 8th August 2024, and comprised questions that were provided by users on an earlier YouTube Short, recent news video, social posts, NASCompares Inner Circle and over email. Additionally, questions were submitted to HexOS 3 days before the interview, to ensure that responses could be sufficiently researched. The full interview was recorded and published on YouTube (video below, with much further detail on each question, more questions were added on-the-fly and is chapterized) and a short demonstration was also provided on how HexOS conducted an initial system setup. Thanks again to Jon for his time in answering the questions.
I really cannot stress enough HOW MUCH MORE detail the questions are answered in the video, as well as how many more questions are added by me, so I recommend you grab a coffee/beer and watch it.
The hour long recording of the call can watched here (or embedded below):
Video Chapters
00:00 – The Start 01:46 – HexOS Setup Demo 06:45 – Pool Config Recommendations? 07:21 – Compatibility and Verification? 08:44 – Why Online? 18:48 – Default Folder and Permissions? 20:13 – is HexOS REALLY an OS? 24:14 – How Much of TrueNAS Scale is Controllable? 26:06 – TrueNAS Clean Install? Scale to Hex Migration? 28:31 – How Much of TrueNAS Scale is Controllable or Fixed in HexOS? 30:04 – App Repositories? 31:08 – Remote Access and Transmission? 32:24 – Advanced Access when needed? 33:26 – How much control/freedom does HexOS have in TrueNAS Scale development? 34:47 – Containers 35:36 – Buddy Backups? 37:11 – Permission Controls and Maintenace 39:11 – Why should tech-savvy people care about HexOS? 42:21 – TrueNAS Security Updates 44:20 – Mobile client app? 45:01 – TrueNAS devs collaboration? 46:55 – Mixed Drive deployment 49:29 – Backup Agents? 51:32 – Boot drive wasted space? 55:35 – Price models and Licencing 57:37 – Support 58:18 – Leaving HexOS? 01:01:00 – Beta?
Below are each question and the official consolidated response from Jon/HexOS on each. Thanks again to users for supplying so many questions and I hope they represented the bulk of the queries that were sent. Selected user Qs (represented by their @ usernames) often represented numerous other similar questions and were chosen without prejudice…well..apart from @Eddiethewebguy’s one…
@Eddiethewebguy (consolidation of about 20 Qs)
HexOS’ name suggests that this is an Operating System, but everything upto this point suggests this is a layer on top of TrueNAS scale. Is HexOS really an OS or is it just a skin?
Unlike Microsoft, Linux makes defining an operating system more complicated. All Linux-based OSes make use of the Linux kernel. Without the kernel, it isn’t Linux. However, the kernel is used by many different platforms like Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, etc. These are typically referred to as “Distributions.” Further still, there are plenty of projects that build off of these distributions to create their own unique offerings. TrueNAS SCALE and SteamOS are both based on Debian Linux as an example. Yet while we refer to Debian as a distribution, many would also call it an OS. So when can you really call yourself an OS vs. a distribution vs. something else entirely? We think what you call it is dependent on what you’re ultimately shipping to the user to install. In our case, we’re shipping an entire OS.
And we are most definitely not a “skin”. Skins are more or less just alternative presentations of the UI/UX, but generally do not completely reimagine the product. They also don’t provide ancillary services or features separate from the original software.
We are a combination of simplified UI, automations, workflows, and managed services to make owning a home server easy. Skins don’t do that.
The main reason we call ourselves an OS is because it’s a lot easier to explain than, “well we’re actually a managed services platform for a Linux-based variant of the Debian distribution known as TrueNAS SCALE.” And to the user’s we’re targeting, these details don’t really matter.
@servern0mix
How Much of the TrueNAS SCALE Backend are we talking about? Does HexOS give me access to all the features of TrueNAS Scale, but in a most user friendly fashion?
While the entirety of TrueNAS SCALE is available to us, we are very focused on features valued by home users and content creators. It’s not in our mission to translate every feature from the SCALE webUI into HexOS. And remember, the SCALE webUI is just a click away for any missing TrueNAS features that you require.
@pent10s
How much is going to be silent-backend TrueNAS/ZFS Feature set and how much is going to be user-controlled? (eg ZFS Snapshots, Encryption)
We see snapshots being either time or event driven, but one of those events could be a manual snapshot taken by a user. Encryption in some cases will be automatic, such as when a user wants to backup data to a buddy.
@huncli88
Will applications that are available to simply download and install be curated, or will HexOS have access to the same repositories as TrueNAS Scale?
We are definitely curating applications, and non-curated apps could be loaded through the SCALE webUI, like any other advanced feature. The ability to install non-curated apps through the HexOS UI is TBD.
@Cr Vaughan Williams, Bendigo Councillor
Can HexOS be installed on an existing install of TrueNAS Scale.. Or will it need to be a clean install.
As of now, we will only apply to new installations, but a future roadmap consideration would be the ability to adopt an existing SCALE deployment
@Fanboy41
How to they plan to implement remote access?
Local DNS is an awful UX for the non-IT savvy. Depending on the device type, you may need to append “.local” to the hostname. Browsers get picky sometimes when you don’t type the “https://” first when entering a hostname, thinking you’re just entering a search term. And even if you get an SSL self-signed cert, you still have to go through that browser nag security warning when connecting via https. And let’s not forget about IP address changes and flushing of the local DNS cache. Us IT-savvy folk know how to deal with all of these challenges. We’ve been dealing with them since our first self-hosted solution when we were just wee lads. But we’re trying to bring this solution to a wider audience that doesn’t have that experience and that means solving for those problems. It’s the same reason why we use the HexOS connector. Sure we could tell users “Go open this port on your firewall and forward it to this LAN IP” but for the customers we’re going after, we’ll have lost their interest after hearing “port” and “firewall.”
Doing things this way allows us to provide updates to the underlying OS directly from TrueNAS (iX). We will provide a custom ISO that connects servers to our HexOS Command Deck and ensure that persists through OS updates from TrueNAS directly. We do intend to gatekeep the update process in our UI to give us a chance to test new releases from TrueNAS before allowing our community to update en masse, but if you wanted to be brave, you could drop to the SCALE webUI and update directly as it would pull from the same source. More than likely everything will continue to work in the HexOS UI, but “Ye be warned…”
The TrueNAS SCALE UI is always available locally.
We’re not stepping in the data path directly, just management, so your data and privacy stays local to you. In addition, if the Internet goes down, all your apps and data are still available to users on the LAN. And as a benefit to us, management traffic is incredibly lightweight compared to data, making this very scalable in our infrastructure. We’re also not ruling out providing some type of local UI in the future, though it would be severely gimped compared to anything we build on the Command Deck. Basic “replace failed drives, stop/start apps and vms, etc.” only. And it would only be available after the initial configuration was complete (likely as a Docker container). Further still, it is not an objective for us prior to 1.0.
And while I completely understand the skepticism of vendor lock-in, we have none. Users always can ditch HexOS for native TrueNAS SCALE. It is on-us to keep delivering enough value to keep our users on our platform, because there is nothing we’re doing to force them to stay, even with a hosted UI/UX for management.
@haydenlong3764
How granular will we be able to go within HexOS? I like simplicity, but if I cannot dig deep when I need to it will be more annoying than useful. From the images posted it seems like it might be “baby’s first NAS” oriented, will this be useful for people who are new to this space but still interested in tinkering?
While our priority is definitely on making things easy, the SCALE webUI and CLI are always there for most advanced user needs
@Robbieonthetube (Yes, it’s me, sue me. This was a common statement)
How much development freedom does HexOS Have? For example, a flexible RAID system comparable to Synology Hybrid RAID, or an easy migration tool for users who want to carry over from an existing 3rd party NAS environment – These are not in TrueNAS Scale, but are their plans for, or the freedom for HexOS, to develop features/functions like these?
We do not have any immediate plans to implement alternative storage solutions. We are also not limited by the SCALE API in terms of providing additional functionality. The partnership agreement between TrueNAS and HexOS doesn’t impede our development path, or limit us from building additional functionality outside of what is available in SCALE itself.
@captain_magnus
Which of these will be supported; Podman, Kubernetes, Incus?
Kubernetes is being deprecated in favor of Docker Compose, which has been public knowledge for some time now. Beyond that, all I can say is that we are working with TrueNAS and they are planning some big improvements which will be announced in the near future.
@Josef Tegnér
Is any mirror functionality planned? I.e me and my HexOS friend give eachother space on our eachothers server (for offsite backup.).
Yes! In fact this was one of Linus’ most important features that he has wanted from us. It is on our roadmap.
@snowwild3445
Application certification and maintenance, security etc – will users have functionally, yet user friendly controls of app permissions (akin to an app on a google phone, with it’s permission settings?).
Our vision for apps is to make the platform transparent to the user and the experience akin to that of a smartphone. We also want to personally curate a catalog of apps for users to be able to trust and rely upon for the long-haul. Curation to us means a lot more than just building and maintaining a container. It means integrating the actual storage/server/app workflows together. As an example, say you need an app to manage your media library like Plex. Plex needs a media library to exist. A place where you will put your media files. We don’t want to ask the user to first create that place if it doesn’t already exist. Instead, we can script the process of creating folders where necessary or mapping to existing folders if they exist. This concept also applies to upgrading your system. Say you add a dedicated GPU. Upon restarting, we can detect that new hardware and suggest possible uses (e.g. acceleration for your existing media server transcoding or attaching it to a virtual machine).
@praetorxyn
If I am capable of using TrueNAS Scale / Docker / etc. already, is there any reason for me to care about this? In other words, how would the developers pitch HexOS to tech savvy people?
One of the reasons Eric and I set out to build HexOS was so that we would have a solution we could comfortably recommend to our friends and family that aren’t IT-minded. We see a huge difference between being “tech savvy” and “IT savvy”. A tech savvy person may be able to build their own PC but not necessarily their own server. Concepts like RAID, parity, caching, etc. can be difficult to understand and most users just want something that works. While you may not be a user, if you value your own setup and want your less IT-centric friends and family to be able to gain similar values, recommend HexOS to them!
@DavidJones-pi8rl
I was originally a QNAP NAS device user then moved to unraid about 6 years ago. A key reason was the security issues seemed to keep appearing multiple times a year in the late 2010’s. How is HexOS going to balance continues feature updates versus without compromising security and ensuring user trust is kept.
We’re all too familiar with issues that multiple vendors have had and continue to have relating to timely security, bugfix, and general updates.Th is is one of the benefits of and reasons we partnered with TrueNAS. They have decades of experience and a great track record of consistently delivering timely security and maintenance updates for their platforms. And all HexOS stable releases will be based on stable TrueNAS releases, ensuring…well…stability!
@lucasmedeiros2471
Will it have its own mobile app?
The entire UI/UX has a responsive design and we do have plans for mobile apps for both iOS and Android. This is especially important to us for users that want to use their home server also as a PC.
@Spreadie
Is this a standalone overlay for Scale, or are they working with TrueNAS devs? If they are collaborating with devs, will they have any input on driver development direction?
We announced our partnership with TrueNAS at the end of July and we absolutely communicate and coordinate with them on a regular basis. While we have some influence on roadmap, we are incredibly happy with the direction of SCALE’s development and so far our requests have been few and far between. We haven’t had any need to push for any driver-specific development.
@andreas.grundler
One of the advantages of Unraid over TrueNas is that you can use hard disks of different sizes. Will there be something similar with HexOS?
We have no intention of supporting the mixing and matching of drive sizes. Doing so comes with significant sacrifices to performance and functionality. Unraid themselves seem to acknowledge this given the recent change to demote the array to optional functionality, disabled by default. We intend to publish a blog in the future to serve as a competitive analysis against other players in our space, Unraid being one. In it, we will dive much deeper into the shortcomings and flaws of the mix/match drives feature.
@DarrenReidAu
Will there be a simple backup solution with agents for all major OSes including Linux (eg, Ubuntu/Debian based distros)?
Users can expect to leverage backup functionality in three primary ways:
- Backing up data from one HexOS server to another.
- Backing up data from devices using native OS agents (Windows Backup / Time Machine)
- Backing up data to an encrypted cloud storage solution. Anything beyond those primary solutions is outside the scope of our roadmap to 1.0.
Anything beyond those primary solutions is outside the scope of our roadmap to 1.0. That said, we won’t rule out native apps for major OSes as a future roadmap item.
@fedrr
Will HexOS allow partitioning install drive not to waste whole ssd for boot pool? Or allow creation of datasets on boot pool? Or is it just using Truenas as basis that does not provide such functionality out of the box?
No plans to change how TrueNAS partitions boot devices at this time.
@jereyfmoses
How will HexOS fund itself going forward? Dontations? Licence fees? If so, any word on the pricing?
We’re not ready to confirm pricing today, but we can reveal a few details. HexOS will be sold as a lifetime subscription. This lifetime subscription would include features such as:
- The HexOS Command Deck (deck.hexos.com)
- Our setup and configuration wizard
- Anywhere management access
- Email notifications
- Folders, users, and storage management
- Apps and VMs
More detailed information on our licensing and pricing will be revealed soon.
@ma77evalet
Support Model? How will end users get support and will it arrive with free/tiered pricing? Community Support, Admins etc, free?
Free support for HexOS will be obtainable through community channels such as our forums and discord server which will be launching soon. Longer-term we do have plans to offer premium support options, but we’re not ready to reveal details at this time and these options would not launch until sometime after our 1.0 release.
@LordApophis100
Will there be an upgrade path to vanilla Scale if a user “outgrows” HexOS and wants more control/advanced features?
Users can disconnect from HexOS at any time they want and continue managing their system through TrueNAS SCALE directly, no upgrade or conversion required. That said, many TrueNAS SCALE features can be used in conjunction with HexOS, though there may be some limitations. If you disconnect from HexOS, you still have to cancel your subscription to Turbo should you have one.
@martyn334
ETA on any beta?
We’re still on target to get our first test users in Q3. More details on the beta are also coming soon.
Thank you once again for Jonathan’s time for the interview and we look forward to seeing the beta launch. You can sign up for news of the HexOS beta via the page below (takes you to Hexos.com):
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