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New Support Policy

Kjeld Schouten
Kjeld Schouten
Maintainer & Founder of TrueCharts

We’re thrilled to announce an all-new Support Policy led by our amazing support lead, @kqmaverick! You can ignore all previous announcements on scope and policies—no more “you need to be able to maintain your own cluster”! Check out the full policy here: Support Policy.

What’s New:

  • Comprehensive Support: Our support now covers both “technical support” for bug reports and code issues, as well as our free support service on Discord, thanks to our dedicated volunteer staff.

  • Docs Overhaul: We’ve streamlined our documentation, merging clustertool pages into general docs and reintroducing a project-wide system requirements page.

  • Content Cleanup: Outdated TrueNAS SCALE content has been removed to make our resources even more relevant for a Kubernetes future!

In addition, TrueCharts is now officially hosting community gameservers! Our first release is a Minecraft server, co-hosted in collaboration with Six-Shooter.

🚀 Upcoming Release: We’re excited to announce that ClusterTool v1.0.0 will be released in two weeks!

And don’t forget to vote in our Discord poll about your container plans! Join us on Discord to stay updated: Vote Here.

Thank you for being part of TrueCharts!

Exporting TrueCharts SCALE Apps and leaving TrueCharts

Kjeld Schouten
Kjeld Schouten
Maintainer & Founder of TrueCharts

With the recent announcement that TrueNAS SCALE 24.10 “Electric Eel” will no longer support Kubernetes-based applications, we at TrueCharts understand that some of our users may be considering a move away from TrueCharts entirely. As TrueCharts has also ended support for TrueNAS SCALE Apps, we recognize the importance of offering pathways for users who want to adjust to this new direction.

For those looking to transition away from TrueCharts, whether by migrating to alternative options such as Docker Compose or using iX-Systems-made Apps, our latest subproject, ClusterTool, provides a powerful solution. ClusterTool has been developed to simplify the migration process, giving users the flexibility to transition smoothly to the setup that best suits their needs.

Even for users who aren’t looking to establish their own Kubernetes cluster, ClusterTool offers robust functionality to export TrueNAS SCALE App configurations. Users can easily convert their GUI-based App configurations into clean, readable YAML files. This export feature preserves existing configurations, providing a record that can be adapted for future deployments or alternative environments without re-entering every setting from scratch.

To help users get started, we’ve created a detailed guide outlining how to use ClusterTool for this purpose. Access the guide and learn how to seamlessly migrate or export your SCALE configurations here: TrueCharts Guide on Exporting SCALE Configurations.

Here you can Download the RC-Release of ClusterTool here: Download Link.

We remain committed to supporting our community, whether users are transitioning to different solutions or adapting their setups within the evolving TrueNAS SCALE environment.

Effortless Hosting with ElfHosted

For users who prefer not to handle the maintenance and management of their self-hosted content, we highly recommend ElfHosted. Visit ElfHosted for a hassle-free, fully managed hosting solution tailored to your needs.

Clustertool Release Candidate

Alfi0812
Alfi0812
Docs Maintainer
 Kjeld Schouten
Kjeld Schouten
Maintainer & Founder of TrueCharts

ClusterTool Release Candidate Update

We are pleased to announce that ClusterTool has officially entered Release Candidate status. After extensive development and testing, the general configuration format is now considered stable, ensuring greater reliability and consistency moving forward.

In addition, we are excited to confirm that migration from TrueNAS Scale to your own Kubernetes cluster is now fully supported. This capability enables streamlined transitions, empowering users to harness the full potential of Kubernetes while maintaining their existing data and configurations.

At the bottom of this page (Talos Cluster Guide), you’ll find a helpful guide detailing how to create your talos cluster and migrate your SCALE Apps.

We appreciate your continued support as we move toward the final release and look forward to hearing your feedback during this phase.

Here you can Download the RC-Release: Download Link.

ClusterTool is Now Source-Available

We’re excited to announce that ClusterTool is now source-available! This means that the source code is open for review, collaboration, and contributions from the community. We believe this move will enhance transparency and drive innovation as we continue to improve the platform.

New Guides for CSI Installation and Longhorn Integration

We’re excited to announce that we now offer a selection of guides on how to install a Container Storage Interface (CSI) on Kubernetes. Additionally, Longhorn will be shipped by default with ClusterTool, simplifying your storage management and enhancing your Kubernetes experience. Check out the guides to get started!

Changes in Documentation Leadership

We’d like to announce that @bitpushr is stepping down from the role of Documentation Maintainer. We greatly appreciate his contributions and dedication to maintaining high-quality documentation during his tenure.

Moving forward, @alfi0812 will be taking over as the new Doc Maintainer. We’re excited to have him on board and look forward to the fresh insights and improvements he’ll bring to the role.

Future Prospect for Clustertool and our Helm Charts

At the release of Clustertool, we also hope to add code signing to the build process and a (signed) containerized version as well. So everyone can ensure themselves of it running trusted code!

We’re also working hard at adding all sorts of charts to support (Real-)debrid based streaming and downloading. such as: Comet, Riven, Zurg and much more

Guide to Creating a Talos Cluster with ClusterTool and Migrating Your SCALE Apps

Creating your Talos Cluster

Follow the linked Guides to find more details on how to create your own Talos Cluster using Clustertool.

Afterwards you are ready to migrate your SCALE Apps.

SCALE Apps Migration

To migrate all of your existing SCALE Apps to your Talos Cluster, be sure to read our TrueNAS SCALE Migration Guide

In short, you will need the following commands from ClusterTool:

To export all your SCALE Apps into a ClusterTool compatible format.

To turn the exported Apps into ClusterTool and Fluxcd compatible Helm-Release Files:

And last, but certianly not least, to install the converted Helm-Release Files onto your cluster:

Effortless Hosting with ElfHosted

For users who prefer not to handle the maintenance and management of their self-hosted content, we highly recommend ElfHosted. Visit ElfHosted for a hassle-free, fully managed hosting solution tailored to your needs.

TrueNAS Scale TrueCharts Frequently Asked Questions

Anthony Scaffidi
Anthony Scaffidi
Support Team

Hey everyone. We wanted to answer some of the frequently asked questions about TrueNAS Scale TrueCharts application support.

What happened to TrueCharts apps on TrueNAS Scale?

Unfortunately, IX Systems decided that with the upcoming Electric Eel TrueNAS Scale update (24.10) to switch the application backend to Docker and remove Kubernetes. TrueCharts is and always has been a Helm Charts project. Previous versions of TrueNAS Scale were able to install our Helm Charts due to its Kubernetes support. With the upcoming removal of Kubernetes from TrueNAS Scale, our Helm Charts can no longer be installed using the native app system. To clarify, app installations have been disabled entirely to prevent users from setting up an app environment that will soon be outdated, see “What happened to the TrueNAS Scale TrueCharts application catalog?” below.

Why don’t you just continue making TrueNAS Scale apps?

We never made “TrueNAS Scale Apps”; we have always made Helm Charts that TrueNAS Scale supported up to Electric Eel, thanks to the Kubernetes backend. Our charts ecosystem is not possible on a Docker-based OS. Additionally, as part of this IX Systems transition to Docker, they will no longer support third party app catalogues. Starting with 24.10/Electric Eel only the catalog from iX Systems will be available and options like custom app.

Why was there no warning about this change?

IX Systems announced their intention to move to Docker shortly after the release of Dragonfish (24.04) on 29 May 2024. As soon as the announcement was made the TrueCharts team started working on a solution for all of our TrueNAS Scale users.

Could you not have had a solution ready earlier?

TrueCharts is not affiliated with IX Systems. We found out about the removal of Kubernetes support on 29 May 2024 the same as everyone else.

So, does this mean that TrueCharts is dead?

No, TrueCharts is not dead. We have always made Helm Charts and our Charts can be installed on any Helm-compatible OS, not just TrueNAS Scale. We continue to provide these Helm Charts as always and they can already be installed on a compatible OS.

How do I install TrueCharts now?

You are able to install any compatible OS and add the TrueCharts repository.

I want to keep using TrueNAS Scale as my OS. What can I do?

We are currently developing ClusterTool. Once completed it will help create and configure a Kubernetes cluster on a Talos VM for use with TrueCharts. We already have created guides for setting up a Talos VM on TrueNAS Scale. Once ClusterTool is completed it will assist with the migration of your currently installed TrueCharts apps on TrueNAS Scale to a Talos VM. Please watch the News for more information as ClusterTool development continues ahead of the TrueNAS Scale 24.10 update.

Will ClusterTool migrate my application data to Talos?

No. Talos will only migrate the actual application/chart itself, not the data associated with it. Data for applications/charts that you would like to be migrated to Talos also, must be backed up to S3/B2 storage prior to migration using VolSync as described here.

Why Talos?

Talos is a lightweight OS specifically designed for running a Kubernetes cluster.

What about HexOS?

HexOS is an internet based WebUI for TrueNAS Scale. It utilizes API calls to TrueNAS Scale and as such has the same limitations as TrueNAS Scale.

What about insert your choice OS?

Our Helm Charts can be installed on any OS that supports installing Helm Charts. You are not required to use Talos. ClusterTool is a separate project that is being created to help create a Kubernetes cluster and migrate existing TrueNAS Scale users.

What happened to the TrueNAS Scale TrueCharts application catalog?

It was decided to remove the TrueNAS Scale TrueCharts application catalog to prevent any new user from starting use of TrueCharts on TrueNAS Scale during this transition period.

Why am I not seeing updates for apps?

Once IX Systems decided to announce the depreciation of Kubernetes on TrueNAS Scale we needed to divert our developer time from maintaining the TrueNAS Scale application catalog to work on ClusterTool.

Why couldn’t you keep the TrueNAS Scale TrueCharts application catalog running and up to date until ClusterTool is ready or Electric Eel is released?

TrueNAS Scale support for TrueCharts was always developer intensive. At any given point in time, Scale compatibility required more than a third of total dev time on the project to maintain. We are not able to do both maintain the catalog and work on ClusterTool. We decided to immediately focus on ClusterTool so that is ready for release before TrueNAS Scale 24.10.

My app has an updated and I want to install it.

Almost all apps will continue to run without updates.

I cannot wait I need to update my apps.

If you do not want to wait for ClusterTool you have the following options:

  1. Install a compatible OS and add the TrueCharts repository.
  2. Switch your applications to those provided by IX Systems. They have promised their applications will migrate to the new Docker system.

ClusterTool Public Beta Release

bitpushr
bitpushr
Docs Maintainer

Howdy everyone! I’m back to share some exciting progress updates with you all regarding ClusterTool development, a brief recap on some minor announcements from our part in recent weeks, updated docs and more.

This will be a packed news article from us, so let’s get into it!

ClusterTool Public Beta Update

Over the course of the last month and since our last update, ClusterTool has undergone much development effort. As we previously outlined in our TrueNAS SCALE migration path roadmap post, ClusterTool’s public Beta release will be mostly feature-complete, includes SCALE migration tooling (already implemented and awaiting testing) and will be suitable for users to migrate to semi-permanent Talos clusters from TrueNAS SCALE app environments, with Talos running in a Virtual Machine (atop SCALE itself).

ClusterTool has also seen the addition of FluxCD functionality, among others, and new builds are regularly being posted for testing here. We invite discussion and feedback in the #clustertool channel of our Discord, or you can simply follow the development of ClusterTool there.

Additionally, through collaborative efforts, we’re onboarding additional developers to work on ClusterTool directly throughout its Beta period. The more feedback we get from users, the better we can make the experience for all! We invite our users to test ClusterTool thoroughly throughout this phase and discuss or report any feedback/issues using threads in the above-mentioned Discord channel.

Docs Updates

In tandem with ClusterTool development, over the course of the last month we’ve been focused on docs for our users to read regarding Talos, ClusterTool, minimum and recommended system requirements, and more. Here are some links to these docs, though please note some of them are continuing to evolve as we gather feedback throughout this transitory phase.

  • Link to our new Helm-specific guides, including a quick-start guide for installing charts, guides for adding storage and backup/restore functionality to charts, example VPN setup instructions for your charts and more

  • Link to our all-new ClusterTool docs section which includes various sections on what ClusterTool is, what the various functions of it do and more

  • Link to our ClusterTool getting started guide

  • Link to our TrueNAS SCALE -> ClusterTool/Talos migration guide which includes instructions for prerequisite steps to be performed by users on TrueNAS SCALE prior to migrating to Talos via ClusterTool

  • Link to our Talos VM system requirements section, which leads into platform-specific, start-to-finish guides on how to setup a Talos VM for our users be it on SCALE, Proxmox, unRAID or other host platforms.

As always, we welcome feedback and additions to our docs which you can submit by opening a PR in this repo for review. Specifically, we welcome instructions for setting up a Talos VM on platforms other than the ones we’ve already written guides for.

Recent Project Recaps

In addition to the above, we’ve been posting announcements and project-related updates in the #announcements channel of our Discord. To recap and quickly get up to speed, you will want to read from this post onwards but to summarise:

  • iX-Systems has decided to move TrueNAS SCALE to a Docker-based apps backend, which is inherently incompatbile with our Helm-based project, beginning with Electric Eel later this year

  • We released VolSync Backup/Restore functionality for our charts to help facilitate cloud-based backup and restoration of data for TrueCharts users, if desired

  • We released a statement on our decision to deprecate our TrueNAS SCALE apps

  • Updates to chart-specific changelogs on our website now happen much faster

  • We clarified that TrueNAS SCALE users will not be required to be on DragonFish prior to migrating to our Talos VM solution for our charts going forward, as Cobia is suitable for migration

  • We have removed the TrueNAS SCALE apps catalogue from our project, and associated SCALE-specific code, tooling, etc. has been removed. While the TrueCharts SCALE apps catalogue can no longer be added to SCALE systems, an archived version of our TrueNAS SCALE apps catalogue is available here for historical purposes. Users with TrueCharts apps still installed in SCALE environments continue to have their apps function ahead of the upcoming migration to Talos, however these apps are strictly in an as-is state and no longer receive any updates or support

  • We clarified (after some recent confusion from a YouTube video) that the project is still alive, that users should continue to wait for ClusterTool to reach RC or final status before deciding whether to migrate to Talos using it, or switch to an alternative apps platform such as iX/TrueNAS “official” apps, Plain Docker or something else.

This serves as a summary of recent project-related news, and with the rest of this news post, should get you up to speed on the status of things in one go. As always, we very much appreciate you sticking with us through this transition period and we’re certain that our project will come out the other side continuing to lead and provide a first-class charts experience for our users.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we work to provide the best tools and services for our community. Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the months ahead!