OpenMediaVault
Free Debian-based NAS distribution with web-based administration.
OpenMediaVault (OMV) is a free, Linux-based operating system built specifically for network-attached storage (NAS). It runs on top of Debian and is released under the GNU General Public License v3. The project was founded in 2009 by Volker Theile, who remains its lead developer.
Theile had been the sole active developer of FreeNAS by late 2009. FreeNAS itself was a spin-off of m0n0wall, which is based on FreeBSD. Theile wanted to rewrite FreeNAS for Linux, and the FreeNAS team had known for months that a major rewrite was necessary to support key features. However, FreeNAS’s original creator, Olivier Cochard-Labbé, preferred to keep the system on FreeBSD. The two agreed that Theile would develop his Linux version under a new name. He first called it coreNAS, but within days changed it to OpenMediaVault.
Theile chose Debian because its vast package management system meant he would not have to repackage software himself. OMV modifies Debian by adding a web-based user interface for administration and customization, along with a plug-in API. Plug-ins can be installed directly through that web interface.
The system supports a wide range of features: a multi-language web GUI; protocols including CIFS (via Samba), FTP, NFS (versions 3 and 4), SSH, rsync, iSCSI, AFP, and TFTP; software RAID (levels 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD); monitoring via Syslog, Watchdog, S.M.A.R.T., and SNMP (v1, 2c, and 3, read-only); email-based statistic reports; graphs for CPU load, LAN transfer rates, disk usage, and RAM allocation; GPT/EFI partitioning for drives larger than 2 TB; support for file systems ext2, ext3, ext4, Btrfs, XFS, JFS, NTFS, and FAT32 (with ZFS available via a third-party plug-in); quotas; user and group management; ACL-based access controls; link aggregation bonding; and Wake-on-LAN.
OMV ships with a limited set of default plug-ins, including AirPlay, ClamAV, Diskstats, DAAP, FileBrowser, FTP, Logical Volume Manager, Network UPS Tools, OneDrive, PhotoPrism, Podman, S3 (MinIO-based), ShareRootFs, SNMP, TFTP, USB Backup, and WeTTY. Many more plug-ins are available through additional package repositories, mostly maintained by a group called OpenMediaVault Plugin Developers. In October 2014, roughly 30 plug-ins existed; by June 2015, that number had grown to over 70 stable ones.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Volker Theile
- Family
- Unix-like
- Working State
- Current
- Source Model
- Open source
- Released
- 2011-10-17
- Latest Release Version
- property · reference · edit · P348
- Marketing Target
- Home user / Small office / home office
- Programmed In
- Web interface: PHP, TypeScript (Angular)
- Language
- English, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian
- Update Model
- APT
- Package Manager
- dpkg
- Supported Platforms
- IA-32 / x86-64 / ARM
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
By the end of 2009, Volker Theile was the only active developer of FreeNAS, a NAS operating system started by Olivier Cochard-Labbé in 2005 from m0n0wall, a FreeBSD variant. Theile wanted to rewrite FreeNAS for Linux because the project needed a major rewrite to support crucial features. Cochard-Labbé preferred to stay with FreeBSD, so they agreed Theile would develop his Linux version under a different name. The name was initially coreNAS, but within days Theile discarded it in favor of OpenMediaVault.
Theile chose Debian because its large package management system meant he would not have to repackage software himself. OpenMediaVault provides a web-based user interface for administration and customization, and a plug-in API for implementing new features. Plug-ins can be installed through the web interface. The project uses code names from Frank Herbert's Dune novels for each release.
OpenMediaVault supports multiple protocols including CIFS, FTP, NFS, SSH, rsync, iSCSI, AFP, and TFTP. It offers software-RAID levels 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD, and supports file systems such as ext2, ext3, ext4, Btrfs, XFS, JFS, NTFS, and FAT32, with ZFS available via a third-party plug-in. Monitoring features include Syslog, Watchdog, S.M.A.R.T., and SNMP.
Reader's Guide
OpenMediaVault occupies a significant position in the NAS operating system landscape as a Linux-based alternative to FreeBSD-based systems like FreeNAS (now TrueNAS). Its origin as a fork of FreeNAS reflects a fundamental split in the NAS community between Linux and FreeBSD approaches. By building on Debian, OpenMediaVault leverages a vast repository of existing software packages, reducing development overhead and allowing users to extend functionality through a plug-in system.
The project's release history shows consistent updates tied to Debian versions, with each release named after elements from Frank Herbert's Dune series. The plug-in ecosystem has grown substantially, with around 30 plug-ins available in October 2014 and more than 70 stable plug-ins by June 2015. Third-party plug-ins extend the system to include Docker, KVM, VirtualBox, media servers, backup tools, and many other services.
OpenMediaVault's minimum system requirements are modest—1 GiB RAM and a 4 GiB drive for the OS—making it accessible for repurposed hardware. Its web-based interface and plug-in architecture have made it a popular choice for home and small business NAS deployments, though it remains a niche product compared to commercial NAS solutions.
Did You Know?
- OpenMediaVault was originally named coreNAS before being renamed within days.
- The project's lead developer, Volker Theile, was the only active developer of FreeNAS at the end of 2009.
- By June 2015, there were more than 70 stable third-party plug-ins available for OpenMediaVault.
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