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Title
Using a NAS4Free appliance with NVSD -
Description
A NAS4Free appliance is a network-attached storage (NAS) server software, based roughly on FreeBSD and the ZFS file system.
It is a continuation of the FreeNAS code originally developed between 2005 and 2011.
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Cause
If not setup correctly, when trying to backup to a NAS4Free appliance, NVSD will return errors such as "Failed to connect to percolator slave" after running 'smartdisk status'.
The error "Disk capacity denied by configuration" could also show in some cases.
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Resolution
During the installation of the NVSD software, you must specify a directory for the Staging Path and the Store Path. To use a NAS4Free appliance, you must manually create both the Stage and Store folders in the appliance before going over the installation process.
In the Staging Path Folder Configuration dialog, indicate you want to use a Remote directory, click Next. Specify the path for the Staging Store (use the \\server\share format), enter the user name and corresponding password required to access the remote path, and then click Next.
Follow the same procedure in the Store Path Folder Configuration dialog.
After installation completes, go to the path where the Stage and Store folders are located, and inside of each of them NVSD has created metadata files and folders.
Performing a test backup will ensure the software was installed properly, and running the 'smartdisk status' command accordingly should return "percolator slave is listening".
Additional reading: NVSD Installation And Upgrade Guide available here