FreeNAS 8.2.0 beta 2 enables plugins

With the release of FreeNAS 8.2.0 beta 2 with support for plugins, the FreeNAS developers have moved a step closer to releasing a multimedia-supporting version of the FreeBSD-based operating system for Network Attached Storage. "It's been a long road, and it's not anywhere close to being done but FreeNAS is a step closer to a release with plugins", the developers say in the announcement. The plugin architecture is needed to support multimedia plugins and other extensions.

When FreeNAS 8.0 was released, the developers removed the multimedia support for BitTorrent, iTunes and DNLA/uPNP playback, preferring to focus on making the FreeNAS platform as solid as possible for general NAS work. The plan has been to create a plugin architecture to support the return of the multimedia functionality and allow the FreeNAS user interface to be more extensible; now the new beta introduces that support, and experimental plugins for MiniDLNA, Transmission, and Firefly are available to test. Plugins can be packaged as a .pbi file and installed from the FreeNAS web interface.

Other enhancements in the beta of FreeNAS 8.2.0 include the ability to manipulate ZFS from the CLI without the GUI losing track, support for multipath-capable hardware in the GUI, the addition of a WebShell allowing root access via the web browser and better interoperability with virtual machines. FreeNAS 8.2.0 Beta 2 is not for production use and is aimed solely at testers and developers. It is available to download for 32-bit and 64-bit systems; the download page also carries details of all the changes made so far in the 8.2.0 development branch. The most recent stable release of FreeNAS is version 8.0.4, released at the start of March. FreeNAS is licensed under a BSD licence.

(djwm)