so i am running FreeNAS in a Virtualbox virtual machine and am trying to set it up so me and one of my friends who is no where near where i live able to use it. the problem i am having is not setting up the server but figuring out how to set it up to where i can access it from my account and his account from anywhere. i am trying to use either FTP or SSH protocols and am not sure how i can connect from outside of my home network. i have groups already set up and configured just not really anything else. before you comment i know this is not the optimal way to run FreeNAS but at the moment it is as close as i can get and also yes i know there are other options. i am using this for a way to not only learn but to help keep things somewhat secure and secluded from the outside world. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated considering i am fairly new to the NAS community.
Well you will have to open up a path through your modem/router leading to your FreeNAS VM.
FTP is unencrypted, I would suggest you use sftp (that runs over SSH) and shares port 22 in default. Or even set up a VPN so your friend can connect through that.
i have already opened both ports 21 and 22. i have used the IP that i used to edit the FreeNAS server itself. I am not entirely sure that is the I am supposed to open the ports for
The IP that you use to access the FreeNAS web interface is also the one your services are bound to (ssh, ftp, cifs, ...) It usually is something like 192.168.x.x 10.x.x.x or alike.
So if you have the port forwarding set up correctly the SSH and FTP servers listening should be reachable over your public assigned IP.
the way i am doing this is through a virtual machine so i am using a bridged adapter for the virtual machine. could that be affecting it in any negative way and is there something other than just configuring SSH or FTP in the interface on the web browser for FreeNAS. right now i am trying to troubleshoot this by using my phone as a test while its not connected to my wifi. When i connect externally i believe i would need a public IP instead of the IPv4 but i do not know how to get that address.
Bridge is the right method, as this way your VM gets a IP adress that is valid on your local network.
Yes! You will have to use your networks public IP. As the IP adresses you use at your home are not public routed, they are so called private IPs.
Use a PC that is connected to your local network and google "whatismyip" and you will find tonns of services telling you your public facing IP.
Thanks that seemed to be the problem. I didn't know that the public IP would be the same as the one on my desktop. I have very little knowledge about these types of things but I somehow did everything correctly my first time except for the information you provided. Again thanks for your help.
Its not that hard. Your ISP only can give you ONE public IP for all the devices on your local network.
That is why you have that router there, its like a gatekeeper that sends the packets to the right machines (its routing) ^^
With the port forwarding you told your router that every connection that comes in on its port 22 and 21 on the internet facing side shall be directed to the FreeNAS
I never knew exactly how it all worked before but that is why I am learning.