TrueNAS 25.04, codenamed "Fangtooth", has been officially released! The TrueNAS "Fangtooth" project was publicly introduced on January 7, 2025. Followed by the successful BETA and RC1, the final version is out a few days ago! It is really great news for anyone who cares about their data.
TrueNAS 25.04.0 brings several improvements and unifies the previous CORE and SCALE versions into a common Community Edition. It is the recommended and unified upgrade path for both SCALE 24.10 and CORE 13.x installations.
Table of Contents
What is TrueNAS?
TrueNAS is a free and open-source storage operating system. It allows you to build your own professional-grade storage system using standard hardware or virtual machines, all without any software costs.
At its heart, TrueNAS uses the OpenZFS file system, which is known for its reliability and ability to protect your data from corruption.
It’s more than just traditional Network Attached Storage (NAS); TrueNAS is a unified storage system that can handle file, block, and even object storage, and it can integrate seamlessly into various environments.
TrueNAS CORE and TrueNAS SCALE
TrueNAS CORE is the original successor to FreeNAS and is built upon the FreeBSD operating system. CORE is a rock-solid and reliable platform that has been in development for a long time. It excels at providing essential NAS functionalities like SMB, NFS, and iSCSI.
You can also expand its functionality using FreeBSD Jails and virtual machines. CORE is suitable for a variety of data-intensive uses, from home users to data centres.
TrueNAS SCALE was introduced later, in 2022, and it brought modern Linux capabilities to the TrueNAS ecosystem. SCALE is based on the Linux operating system and was created as a fork of CORE. It enables adoption by a much larger community and offers powerful scale-out storage capabilities.
A key difference is that SCALE natively supports Linux containers (like Docker) and KVM virtual machines, allowing you to run workloads closer to your data. This makes it "more than storage" by enabling integrated applications.
SCALE is designed to scale up by adding drives or scale out by adding multiple systems to a cluster, all of which can be managed with TrueCommand.
What is TrueNAS Fangtooth?
TrueNAS Fangtooth, also known as TrueNAS 25.04, aims to unify both CORE and SCALE into a common TrueNAS Community Edition.
The codename "Fangtooth" is inspired by a deep-sea fish with two prominent teeth, metaphorically representing CORE and SCALE combining.
So, who is this amazing Fangtooth for? Well, the great thing about TrueNAS is that it's incredibly versatile.
- If you're a home user, you can use it to keep all your precious digital memories safe and sound.
- For small businesses, it's a fantastic way to share files and make sure your important data is backed up.
- Even large companies can rely on TrueNAS for secure, high-performance storage.
- Loads of different industries, from audio and video production to healthcare and education, use TrueNAS because it's so reliable.
There are even different types of TrueNAS systems (called appliances) designed for different needs, like the super-fast F-Series, the flexible M-Series, and the cost-effective H-Series, right down to the smaller Mini Series for home and small office setups.
Key Features
It's not just about bringing two versions together; Fangtooth packs with a lots of new and improved features.
Here are some important key features of the TrueNAS Fangtooth release:
- Unification of CORE and SCALE: As stated earlier, Fangtooth builds on the combined capabilities of both TrueNAS CORE and SCALE, with the goal of unifying them into a common Community Edition and Enterprise version as Fangtooth matures.
- Based on Electric Eel: TrueNAS 25.04 builds upon the widely adopted TrueNAS 24.10 “Electric Eel”, which introduced integrated Docker support and improved performance over TrueNAS 13.0.
- Significant Improvements: This release includes over 1,000 improvements and approximately 160 bug fixes compared to previous versions.
- Linux Kernel 6.12: Features an upgraded Linux Kernel 6.12, providing improved and extended hardware support.
- Fast Deduplication: Offers significant data footprint reduction, particularly beneficial for all-NVMe TrueNAS H30 and F100 appliances.
- 5X Acceleration of RAID-Z Expansion: Allows for faster utilisation of added storage capacity.
- LXC Containers & QEMU/KVM Virtualization via Incus: Introduces lightweight LXC containers similar to Jails on CORE, and an updated VM layer with Secure Boot support. This feature is currently marked as "experimental".
- Configurable IP Addresses for Apps: Newly added applications in the catalogue can have configurable IP addresses.
- Improved Security (GPOS STIG): Includes additional logging and auditing to support Defense-grade government security.
- RDMA Extensions: Improves latency and IOPS for iSCSI (iSER) and NFS, benefiting virtualization and analytics.
- iSCSI Block Cloning: Accelerates VMware clusters and virtualization workloads like VM cloning.
- Fast File Copy: Speeds up SMB workloads that copy files.
- Fibre Channel Support: Adds Fibre Channel support for Enterprise SANs, including high-performance NVMe storage on TrueNAS F-Series.
- NFS Access to Snapshot Directories: Simplifies file restoration for end users.
When to Upgrade to TrueNAS 25.04?
For TrueCommand users, it is important to upgrade to TrueCommand 3.1 first before upgrading any systems to TrueNAS 25.04.
While TrueNAS 24.10.2.1 is still recommended for new deployments due to its maturity, TrueNAS 25.04.0 is recommended for early adopters. Conservative users are advised to wait for a recommendation to upgrade.
Download TrueNAS 25.04 Fangtooth
You can download TrueNAS 25.04.0 (Fangtooth) from the official download page.
Please note that TrueNAS 25.04.0 is recommended for Early adopters only. For new TrueNAS system deployments, TrueNAS 24.10.2.1 is recommended for its maturity, broad hardware support, expanded App catalog, better performance, and improved Web UI.
If you are a conservative user, please wait for a recommendation to upgrade to TrueNAS 25.04. You should always review the Software Status page for the latest recommendations based on your profile.
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Related Read: Storage Concepts And Technologies Explained In Detail
