Installing Unraid on the TerraMaster F4-424 NAS

This guide will walk you through the entire process of installing Unraid on a TerraMaster F4-424 NAS.

This guide will walk you through the entire process of installing Unraid on a TerraMaster F4-424 NAS, including the necessary steps for preparing a USB thumb drive, replacing the existing storage, configuring the BIOS, and setting up an Unraid server. By the end of this guide, your NAS will evolve from a simple file server to a high-performance, multi-functional server running containers, VMs, and essential applications like Jellyfin and Git repositories.

Why Unraid is Better than TOS

While TOS provides basic NAS functionality and has support for virtual machines and Docker, it lacks the extensibility, performance optimizations, and the vast ecosystem of applications available with Unraid.

Key advantages of Unraid include:

1. Supports multiple file systems, storage pools, and parity protection without requiring RAID.
2. Supports drives of mixed capacity in the array.
3. Run thousands of preconfigured applications as lightweight, isolated containers.
4. Deploy full-fledged VMs, allowing you to run multiple operating systems on the NAS.
5. Expand functionality with community-developed and official plugins.
6. Unlocks the full potential of your NAS hardware, including CPU and GPU passthrough.

Preparing the USB Thumb Drive

Unraid requires a USB thumb drive to function as its boot medium. However, not all USB drives are compatible. The TerraMaster F4-424 NAS has very limited internal clearance for USB drives, meaning you must use a low-profile USB thumb drive. Unraid also requires a USB device with a unique GUID for licensing.

I successfully used the SanDisk 32GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive after performing manual setup steps. The official Unraid USB Creator Tool did not work for my thumb drive as it only recognised the id as 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000. Instead, I used Rufus to format the USB drive as FAT32 ensuring that the partition is set as MBR (Master Boot Record). I manually create the boot drive by downloading the latest Unraid installation from the Unraid's website and extracting the contents of the ZIP file to the USB thumb drive. Next, run the make_bootable.bat script (on Windows) or make_bootable_linux script (on Linux/macOS) from the root directory of the USB drive.

The drive should now be ready to boot.

Installing the USB Drive in the TerraMaster F4-424

Unfortunately, accessing the internal USB port in the TerraMaster F4-424 requires removing the motherboard. This is easy enough to do. Simply power down the NAS and disconnect all cables, remove the screws securing the casing and the screws holding in the motherboard and remove it, being careful with the fan cable. Locate the internal USB port and replace the existing drive with your prepared Unraid drive. Reassemble in the reverse order making sure that the SATA daughterboard is connected. Keep the original USB somewhere safe in case you wish to return to TOS.

Now enter the BIOS and Configure Boot Priority to ensure that the USB drive is set as the primary boot device. Save BIOS changes and restart the NAS. Unraid should now boot successfully.

Setting Up Your Unraid Server

Once Unraid boots for the first time, it will be accessible on the local network at http://tower.local. When you connect to this address in a browser it will prompt you create a root password, then to sign in or create an Unraid account.

You can then download your licence key or activate a trial, both of which are locked to the USB drive GUID. You can view your unique ID GUID prior to registration and view its status in your account. You can then proceed to creating your array.

Unraid operates using an array with optional storage pools. Unraid uses a parity drive to provide fault tolerance. While not a full RAID system, it allows for disk failure protection without the traditional RAID overhead. A single parity drive protects against one drive failure. Dual parity drive protects against two drive failures.

Array Pool: The primary storage system where data drives and parity drives reside.
Cache Pool: Separate from the array, NVMe drives are used for caching or high-speed storage.

To create an array, navigate to the Main tab in the Unraid web UI. Assign your data disks and, optionally, a parity disk using the provided drop down lists. The parity disk must be the largest disk in the array.

Pool devices are used to create storage pools that can be dedicated to specific functions, such as caching or storing Docker containers and virtual machines. By default they are created in RAID1 for redundancy and performance.

Once you are happy everything is assigned, click Start Array to initialize the storage.

Creating Shares

One key feature of Unraid is the management of shares. Shares represent folders or drives on your Unraid server that can be accessed over a network. Add as many as you like and share with Windows (SMB) or Linux/Mac (NFS) or both. For SMB shares you can set username and password security, while NFS supports IP based access rules.

To setup a share click in the Shares menu and "Add New". Give it a name and click done. There are options you can change if you need to but at a minimum all it needs is a name. Once you apply the name you get security options for that share.

Now from the list click the share and set any security and access you need to configure. You can set SMB permissions for Windows and NFS rules. Just set Export to Yes for each type (SMB and/or NFS) you want to share.

Installing Plugins

Plugins extend Unraid's functionality. Go to the Plugins tab and click Install Plugin. Search for desired plugins and install them.

Top 10 Essential Unraid Plugins

1. Community Applications - Access thousands of Docker containers and plugins.
2. Unassigned Devices - Mount external USB drives and network shares.
3. Fix Common Problems - Troubleshoot system issues.
4. Preclear Disks - Test new drives before adding them to the array.
5. Appdata Backup - Automate backups of Docker app data.
6. Nerd Tools - Install command-line utilities (not in v7).
7. User Scripts - Automate custom scripts on Unraid.
8. Dynamix System Temp - Monitor CPU and drive temperatures.
9. CA Auto Update Applications - Keep your selected plugins and docker applications up to date.
10. Unraid Patch - Keeps your server current with the latest patches.

Installing Docker Containers

One of Unraid's most powerful features is its Docker support. To install a container it is most helpful to install the Community Applications plugin which provides Docker containers in an App store like interface. Now you can search for applications (e.g., Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Home Assistant). Click Install and configure volume mappings and network settings. Be sure to set the mount point for the container data and cache (refer to container instructions) to be inside appdata share otherwise the container will use internal filesystem which will be overwritten on updates.

Creating a Linux Virtual Machine (VM)

Unraid supports running full VMs using the KMS engine. Navigate to VM Manager and enable virtualization.

Click Create VM and choose an OS (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian, Windows), configure CPU, memory, storage, network settings and
select a boot ISO. Start the VM with console and install the operating system. VNC is used as a system display driver so you can connect via a browser window. Once the OS is installed you can use Remote Desktop, TeamViewer or any other remote control software.

Conclusion

Installing Unraid on the TerraMaster F4-424 has completely transformed it from a basic NAS into a powerful, fully-featured server. Unraid unleashes the hardware's full potential, enabling seamless file storage, high-performance Docker applications, and virtual machines.

With Unraid, my TerraMaster NAS now runs multiple Docker containers, including Jellyfin for media streaming, Gitea for version control, and several other essential services. The flexibility and performance improvements are incredible, and I truly could not be happier with the results.

Should you ever decide to go back to TOS simply remove the Unraid USB and reconnect the original TOS thumb drive, although please note you need to ensure you have backups as the drives will need to be formatted again in TOS.