The MediaVault is shipped with the disks (and front cover for R1200 and R3600 only) packaged separately to prevent damage. Upon receiving the MediaVault, begin by unpacking the boxes.
You can then mount the MediaVault in a rack (R1200 and R3600 only), install the disks, and configure network connections.
Information and instructions for all of these procedures are documented in this guide.
For further information and assistance please contact your rental house, reseller, or CODEX Support directly at support@codex.online.
The MediaVault D1200 requires a 2mm Hex Key for side panel removal in order to fit the disks. Disks can be fitted into the R1200 and R3600 without any additional tools.
| D1200 |
The following items are included:
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| R1200 and R3600 |
The following items are included in box 1
The following items are included in box 2:
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| D1200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
D1200 Front view D1200 Rear view showing connectivity The left side of the MediaVault should only be removed by qualified personnel for hardware service. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| R1200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MediaVault with Front Panel MediaVault with Front Panel Removed Front chassis features
Control Panel Overview Control panel features
Information LED states
MediaVault Rear View | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| R3600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MediaVault with Front Panel MediaVault with Front Panel Removed Front chassis features
Control Panel Overview Control panel features
Information LED states
MediaVault Rear View |
| D1200 |
The MediaVault is shipped with the disks packaged separately to prevent damage. The disks need to be installed following the procedure below.
Important: If you need to ship the MediaVault between locations the disks should be removed and boxed separately, in the same way as the system was originally received. This is critically important to prevent damage to the system during shipping. |
| R1200 |
Use the procedure below to load the disks.
Important: If you need to ship the MediaVault between locations the disks should be removed and boxed separately, in the same way as the system was originally received. This is critically important to prevent damage to the system during shipping. |
| R3600 |
Use the procedure below to load the disks.
Important: If you need to ship the MediaVault between locations the disks should be removed and boxed separately, in the same way as the system was originally received. This is critically important to prevent damage to the system during shipping. |
Read the following guidance notes prior to rack-mounting the system (R1200 and R3600 only):
Location
Physical stability
Electrical considerations
Caution: Electrostatic discharge can damage electronic components. To prevent damage to printed circuit boards, use a grounded wrist strap, handle all printed circuit boards by their edges, and keep them in anti-static bags when not in use.
Day-to-day use
| R1200 |
Follow the procedures below to mount the MediaVault in a rack. To rack-mount the MediaVault: The MediaVault is supplied with a set of two rack-mounting rails. Each comprises an inner rail (to be attached to the side of the chassis), and an outer rail (to be attached to the rack).
The front panel is magnetic and has finger-holds (shown in the diagram below) to the left and right. Using the finger-holds, gently ease the front panel forward to remove it from the chassis.
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| R3600 |
Follow the procedures below to mount the MediaVault in a rack. To rack-mount the MediaVault: The MediaVault is supplied with a set of two rack-mounting rails. Each comprises an inner rail (to be attached to the side of the chassis), and an outer rail (to be attached to the rack).
The front panel is magnetic and has finger-holds (shown in the diagram below) to the left and right. Using the finger-holds, gently ease the front panel forward to remove it from the chassis.
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| Flashing Blue | System is starting up. |
| Blue | System is running, Storage Pool is ONLINE. |
| Amber | System is running, Storage Pool is DEGRADED. |
| Red | System is running, Storage Pool has FAILED to load. |
| White | System is running an ’Integrity Check’ (periodic disk check) on the Storage Pool. |
The MediaVault can be connected either directly to client computers or via a network switch. Additionally, ports on the MediaVault can be bonded if required. Some examples of network cabling configurations are shown below:
| Direct Cabling |
| D1200 - Direct connection for up to 4 clients over 10GbE as standard. Direct Connection With an optional second standard Network Interface Card, direction connection is supported for up to 8 clients over 10 GbE. Direct Connection With an optional second standard Network Interface Card, direction connection is supported for up to 10 clients over 10GbE. |
| Connection via Switch |
| With the MediaVault connected to a switch, the number of clients is only limited by the number of ports on the switch. Clients will share the bandwidth available between the MediaVault and the switch. |
| Connection via Switch with Bonding |
By default the 10 GbE ports on the MediaVault are configured as DHCP. If the MediaVault is connected to a network with a DHCP server it will be assigned an IP address.
D1200
The 1GbE LAN connection port on the rear of the MediaVault D1200 (Port 1) provides a DHCP server and can be used to log into the system and determine the address(es) of the 10 GbE ports.
R1200 and R3600
Port 1 on the MediaVault R1200 and R3600 rovides a DHCP server and can be used to log into the system and determine the address(es) of the other 10 GbE ports.
Set your computer network port to be DHCP and connect a cable directly from your computer to the MediaVault Port 1 LAN connection. The MediaVault Port 1 LAN connection has a fixed network IP address of 192.168.2.2.
Start a web browser and enter the IP address of the MediaVault Port 1 LAN connection. Depending on the web browser it may be necessary to precede the IP address with “https://”, for example, https://192.168.2.2
If there is a security warning shown click the option to Proceed/Advance/Visit Website (etc. terminology varies depending on the browser being used). This refers to how public websites trust each other. This is not important as your device is on your local network, behind a firewall.
The MediaVault login screen will then be shown:
Enter the following information:
User name: storageadmin
Password: storageadmin
Click ‘Log In’ and the Overview screen will be shown:
From the Users area you can set a new password for the storageadmin and storageuser accounts. This is required to allow those accounts to access any Shares that are configured. Be sure to keep a secure record of any passwords that you set, in particular the password for storageadmin which will be used for subsequent logins to perform administration on the MediaVault.
*For security reasons, we would strongly advise to change the password of both of the default Users (storageadmin and storageuser).
Click the Networking option on the left of the screen:
This will show the different network ports and IP addresses:
CODEX Device Manager software will detect any MediaVaults on your network and provide options to access the Admin Web Interface and to mount the storage. See the Device Manager Integration section for more information.
| Mac OS |
Use the Finder application and press the Cmd-K shortcut or from the top menu select Go > Connect to Server. In the Server Address field enter smb://<MediaVaultIpAddress>/mediavault, for example:Click Connect and in the next window enter the username and password for your MediaVault user account, and click Connect again. The share should now be mounted. If you want your computer to automount the share after a restart then open System Preferences > Users & Groups and under the Login Items add the share to the list. |
| WIndows |
Use the Explorer application to Map a network drive as detailed on this support page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4026635/windows-map-a-network-drive. In the Folder field enter: \\<Media VaultIpAddress>\mediavault, for example:Map Network Drive Select the tickbox for ‘Connect using different credentials’ and click Finish and in the next window enter the username and password for your MediaVault user account and click Connect, and the share should be mounted. Select the tickbox for ‘Reconnect at sign-in’ if you want your computer to automount the share after a restart. |
The diagrams below demonstrate how Storage, Shares, Groups, and Users are related on the MediaVault:
The diagrams below demonstrate the difference between Share access in Managed mode (all software versions) and Open mode (available in software release 2.6.4 and above):
| Login | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Start a web browser and enter the IP address of the MediaVault. Depending on the web browser it may be necessary to precede the IP address with “https://”, for example, https://192.168.1.100. If there is a security warning shown click the option to Proceed/Advance/Visit Website (etc. terminology varies depending on the browser being used). The Media Vault login screen will be shown: Enter the following information: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Changing the Default Password | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IMPORTANT!
An alert will also be displayed next to the user in the Users section: Click on the user in the User section to change the password. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary of Admin Screens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The panel on the left side of the Admin Web Interface provides a main menu to access the following screens: System
Tools
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| Networking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Select the Networking option from the main menu. From the Networking screen you can view and edit the network configuration: In the table named Interfaces, the port named eno1 (at the top of the list) corresponds with Port 1 on the MediaVault. Port 1 (eno1) is set up by default as the admin port to connect into the MediaVault for administration (although any port can be used). By default it is configured with the IP address 192.168.2.2 and Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0. On the D1200, Port 1 (eno1) is a 1GbE port and so is typically used for administration access to the MediaVault only. On the R1200 and R3600, Port 1 (eno1) is a 10GbE port and so can be used for administration and data transfer. D1200 Network Ports R1200 and R3600 Network Ports R1200 Network Ports R3600 Network Ports Click on a port name to view and edit the setup: Typically the items that would be edited are the IPv4 network address and the MTU setting: Detailed configuration and optimisation of networking is beyond the scope of this guide, but in particular it is important to note that all machines on a network should have a unique IP Address, and they should all use the same MTU setting - typically on a 10GbE network the MTU of all machines is set to 9000 (sometimes called ‘Jumbo Frames’) for best performance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonding Network Ports | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The MediaVault supports bonding of network ports. To use the bonding features on the MediaVault a network switch must be used that also supports bonding and is correctly configured. Bonding can be used to provide higher performance through link aggregation between the MediaVault and the switch, or failover protection in the event of a problem with one of the ports or cables that is in use. On the Networking screen the Add Bond button can be used to configure a bond with two or more network ports on the system. After clicking Add Bond and selecting the ports to be bonded, the other available options are Bond Settings If required set a Mac address for the bond, either based upon one of the selected ports or newly defined.
The following Link Monitoring settings are available:
Use of network bonding, as well as the ‘Add Bridge’ and ‘Add VLAN’ features, should only be undertaken by administrators with experience and understanding of how to use these features correctly on a network. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Storage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Select the Storage option from the main menu. From the Storage screen you can view and edit the Pools on the system: The MediaVault ships by default with a single Pool called ‘cdxstore’ with 2-disk redundancy on a single storage block (D1200 / R1200) or across three storage blocks (R3600).* When deleting there is then a confirmation step: Click Delete Pool to proceed with deleting the Pool, or otherwise click Cancel. A Pool cannot be deleted if it contains any Shares. The State column for each disk may show:
The disk LEDs will be lit when the status is DEGRADED or FAILED so they can be identified for replacement. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Select the Shares option from the main menu. From the Shares screen you can view and edit the Shares on the system: The MediaVault ships by default with a single Share called ‘mediavault’. The space for this Share is not reserved, which means if additional Shares are created that also do not have reserved space (as shown in the example above), then each of these Shares will have access to all unreserved space on the MediaVault. It is also possible to create Shares with reserved space (see Reserve Quota below). Click the magnifying glass icon and start typing in the search box at the top of the screen to filter the list and find a specific Share. When a Share is selected the Share Details and Group Access details are shown. Creating a New Share Type the Share Name (which must be unique) and set the Permissions Mode*.
There are two further options you can use or leave disabled: When deleting there is then a confirmation step: Delete Share Click Delete Share to proceed with deleting the Share and all the data it contains, or otherwise click Cancel. To edit the Reserve Quota or Permissions Mode* click the dots in the Share Details card and then click Edit. To edit which Groups can access the Share click the dots in the Group Access card and then click Edit Access: Group Access On the Edit Group Access screen, click in the Permission column to cycle through the modes ‘Read/Write’, ‘Read Only’, and ‘None’: Edit Group Access After making changes click ‘Update Permissions’ to save the changes, or ‘Cancel’ to exit without saving. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groups | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Select the Groups option from the main menu. From the Groups screen you can view and edit the Groups on the system: Groups The Groups page lists the Groups alphabetically. Click the search icon in the top right of the screen and start typing in the search box to filter the list and find a specific Group. Click on a Group to view the Group Details, information about the Share Access and Membership. Creating a New Group Type the Group Name and the Group Id will be completed automatically. The Group Id must be unique for each Group, and can be modified manually if necessary. Click the ‘Create Group’ button to finish creating the Group. When deleting there is a confirmation step: Click ‘Delete Group’ to proceed with deleting the Group, or otherwise click Cancel. Deleting the Group does not delete the Users it contains, or Shares it has access to. Once a Group has been deleted there is no ‘undo’ function to recover the Group. On the Edit Share Access screen, click in the Permission column to cycle through the modes ‘Read/Write’, ‘Read Only’, and ‘None’: After making changes click ‘Update Permissions’ to save the changes, or ‘Cancel’ to exit without saving. On the Edit Group Membership screen the right panel shows which Users are members of the Group and the left panel shows Users that are not in the Group but could be added: Select one or more Users and click the < or > arrows to move them left or right. Click the << or >> arrows to move ALL Users left or right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Users | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Select the Users option from the main menu. From the Users screen you can view and edit the User accounts on the system: The Users page lists the User accounts alphabetically. Click the search icon in the top-right and start typing in the search box to filter the list and find a specific User. Click on a User to display their User Details and information about their Group Membership. Creating a New User Create User Account Type the User Name and the User Id will be completed automatically. The User Id must be unique for each user, and can be modified manually if necessary. Type the User Email and User Password, and the Confirm Password.
Edit, Delete or Change Password To edit, delete or change the password for a User click the dots in the User Details card: User Details When deleting there is a confirmation step: Delete User Click ‘Delete User’ to proceed with deleting the User, or otherwise click Cancel. Once a User has been deleted there is no ‘undo’ function to recover the User. Group Membership Groups and permissions are detailed further in the section on Groups.
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| Software Updates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updating MediaVault Software
When the download has completed the software will be automatically installed and the system will reboot, at which point the Admin Web Interface will disconnect. When the Media Vault reboots, the new software version will be running. Depending on the download speed available this process may take up to 1 hour. Click on the Edit (pencil) icon, and if the URL is shown as ‘http://mediavault.ndx.at:8000’ then click the Delete option to remove the current settings: Then click Add New Repository. For the new repository enter the name ‘mediavault-updates’ and the URL http://mediavault-updates.ndx.at and leave the Use trusted GPG key box unchecked, and click Add. Click on the new repository name in the pop up, and click Change Repository. These settings will now be used by default, and the correct location will be used when Check for Updates is selected. |
Please read this information carefully prior to updating your system to MediaVault software 2.6.4.
MediaVault 2.6.4 includes a new underlying permissions system and new permissions modes for Shares.
On earlier MediaVault software releases the permissions system for files on Shares had issues that affected customers in certain situations. In particular, removing Users from a Group could result in problems for other Users in the Group when attempting to interact with files on a Share.
To address this we have implemented a new permissions system with a simplified model that should avoid the issue described above.
When the MediaVault is updated from an earlier release to version 2.6.4 then:
If there are any Shares which have not been updated:
If a data disk has developed a fault, it may need replacing.
A problem with your Storage pool will be indicated by a red exclamation mark appearing next to the Storage menu item. In the example below, the Storage page indicates that the cdxstore pool is Degraded.
To replace a data disk click the ... next to your Storage pool and select Replace Disk to open the Disk Replacement wizard.
If a disk is Failed or Offline, it will be available to select for replacement. If for some reason you wish to replace a disk which is not in a Failed or Offline state, you can click Show all disks to allow selection of any disk.
Rules for Disk Replacement:
You cannot replace a disk with the same disk.
The replacement disk has to be of equal or greater capacity to the original disk.
Only 1 x disk in the Media Vault can be replaced with one of greater capacity. *
(*We recommend to use disks or the same model and capacity, but if you need to replace one in an emergency, it is possible to use 1 x disk of greater capacity as a replacement).
Once you have selected the disk to replace, please follow the on-screen instructions to Remove Disk, Load Disk and then Start Rebuild.
The Rebuild can take several hours to complete. The time taken for the Rebuild process will depend on the amount of data stored on the Share, and by how much usage the Share has during the Rebuild. The Media Vault performance may be reduced during this time. Progress will be shown in the Pool Details card. In the example below, it shows "Running 4% complete". A yellow warning triangle will show next to the Storage menu item whilst the pool is rebuilding.
Once the Rebuild is complete, the warning icons next to the Storage menu item will disappear, and performance will return to normal.
PLEASE NOTE: The Disk Replacement feature is only available in Media Vault software version 2.3.0 or above.
| When deleting files using Mac Finder I get a warning that folders are “in use”, and not all files get deleted. |
| Mac will cache the contents of directories by default, which can lead to this problem when deleting files on a Samba mount. To disable this feature on your Mac refer to the section ‘Disable directory caching’ on this support page: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208209: Your Mac caches file and folder metadata temporarily in local memory. This improves browsing speeds, especially on high-latency networks. Systems with more memory installed can cache more file information. If you’d like to disable directory caching so that macOS re-downloads the full contents of the folders and metadata every time you browse an SMB share, you can create or edit /etc/nsmb.conf. See the nsmb.conf man page for more information on how to edit this file. If your system doesn’t already have an /etc/nsmb.conf file, use the following Terminal commands. Note that you must be logged in as an administrator with sudoer privileges to set this file: echo "[default]" | sudo tee -a /etc/nsmb.confecho "dir_cache_off=yes" | sudo tee -a /etc/nsmb.confNote: The Finder ‘Preview’ functionality may also interfere with the process of deleting files. To disable this use the Finder top menu bar and select View > Show View Options and untick the box for Show Preview Column. |
| Mac Finder does not refresh the contents/properties of the storage until I unmount and remount. |
Again this can be caused by the default directory caching that Finder does, and can be improved by opening Terminal and running these commands with sudoer privileges:echo "[default]" | sudo tee -a /etc/nsmb.confecho "dir_cache_off=yes" | sudo tee -a /etc/nsmb.conf |
| How do I view/delete hidden files and folders in Finder? |
| To view hidden files and folder in Finder use the shortcut Cmd + Shift + . (dot). Use the same shortcut again if you want to hide them. |
| When playing back files over Samba using a Mac I am having performance issues. |
| On macOS 10.13.3 and earlier Samba packet signing is on by default, which can lead to reduced performance when reading files from the Media Vault. To disable this follow the instructions at https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT205926 |
| I am experiencing performance/reliability issues with the network connection to the MediaVault |
macOS Sierra and higher has a “disk speed throttle” that can be troublesome for connected devices or network backups. This can be disabled on a session basis by entering this line via Terminal:sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0This change will not persist after a reboot. To make the change permenant, use a plain text editor to add this new line to /private/etc/sysctl.conf : debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0 |
| I am experiencing slow writes/renders to the MediaVault |
| This can happen if the system has been running and under heavy use for several weeks. In this case it is recommend to reboot the system and check whether performance has returned to normal levels. |
| Saturday 23rd | 9am - 5pm GMT |
| Sunday 24th | 9am - 5pm GMT |
| Monday 25th | CLOSED - Merry Christmas! |
| Tuesday 26th | 8:30am - 5:30pm PST |
| Wednesday 27th | 9am - 5pm GMT | 8:30am - 5:30pm PST |
| Thursday 28th | 9am - 5pm GMT | 8:30am - 5:30pm PST |
| Friday 29th | 9am - 5pm GMT | 8:30am - 5:30pm PST |
| Saturday 30th | 9am - 5pm GMT |
| Sunday 31st | 9am - 5pm GMT |
| Monday 1st | CLOSED - Happy New Year! |
| Tuesday 2nd | Normal hours resume |
Effective date: May 25, 2018
Last updated: November 9, 2020
