Adding USB drive to Ubuntu Server for Docker Containers to use. Server running on a Mac Mini 2012 16Gb ram, 1Tb SSD Drive & 1Tb USB

Overview:

1. Connect and Mount the External USB Drive
2. Configure Permissions and Ownership
3. Modify Transmission Docker Configuration to Use the External Drive
4. Verify Transmission is Saving Downloads to the External Drive

Here we go 🙂

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Step 1: Connect and Mount the External USB Drive

1.1 Connect the USB Drive

• Physically connect your external USB hard drive to your Mac Mini running Ubuntu Server.

1.2 Identify the USB Drive

• Open a terminal on your Ubuntu Server.
• Run the following command to list all disk devices:

  sudo fdisk -l

• Look for your external USB drive in the output. It will typically be something like /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc. Be careful to identify the correct drive to avoid data loss.

Example Output:

Disk /dev/sdb: 500 GB, 500107862016 bytes

1.3 Create a Mount Point

• Choose a directory where you want to mount the external drive. For this guide, we’ll use /mnt/external.
• Create the directory:

  sudo mkdir -p /mnt/external

1.4 Mount the USB Drive

• Option A: If the Drive Has a Single Partition
• Assuming your drive’s partition is /dev/sdb1, mount it: sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/external
• Option B: If the Drive Has Multiple Partitions
• Identify the correct partition (e.g., /dev/sdb1, /dev/sdb2) that you want to use.
• Mount the desired partition: sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/external

1.5 Verify the Drive is Mounted

• Run:

  df -h

• You should see an entry for /mnt/external.

1.6 Automate Mounting at Boot (Optional but Recommended)

• To ensure the drive mounts automatically at boot, you can add an entry to /etc/fstab.
• Get the UUID of the Drive:

  sudo blkid /dev/sdb1

Example Output:

  /dev/sdb1: UUID="your-drive-uuid" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="some-partuuid"

• Edit the /etc/fstab File:

  sudo nano /etc/fstab

• Add the Following Line at the End:

  UUID=your-drive-uuid /mnt/external ext4 defaults 0 2

• Replace your-drive-uuid with the UUID from the blkid command.
• Replace ext4 with the filesystem type of your drive (e.g., ntfs, vfat, ext4).
• Save and Exit:
• Press Ctrl + O, then Enter to save.
• Press Ctrl + X to exit.
• Test the fstab Entry:

  sudo mount -a

• If no errors appear, the entry is likely correct.

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Step 2: Configure Permissions and Ownership

2.1 Determine the UID and GID of Your User

• Assuming you’re using the user albertoxie (replace with your username if different):

  id $(whoami)

Example Output:

  uid=1000(albertoxie) gid=1000(albertoxie) groups=1000(albertoxie),...

• Note the UID and GID (both 1000 in this example).

2.2 Change Ownership of the Mount Point

• Change the owner to your user:

  sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /mnt/external

• Replace 1000:1000 with your UID and GID if different.

2.3 Set Appropriate Permissions

• Set the permissions to allow read/write access:

  sudo chmod -R 775 /mnt/external

• Optional: If you want all users to have read/write access, you can set permissions to 777, but this is generally not recommended for security reasons.

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Step 3: Modify Transmission Docker Configuration

Now, we’ll configure the Transmission Docker container to use the external USB drive for downloads.

3.1 Stop the Existing Transmission Container

• If you have a Transmission container already running:

  docker stop transmission
  docker rm transmission

3.2 Run the Transmission Container with Updated Volume Mapping

• Run the container with the external drive mounted to /downloads:

  docker run -d \
    --name=transmission \
    -e PUID=1000 \
    -e PGID=1000 \
    -e TZ=Europe/Dublin \
    -p 9091:9091 \
    -p 51413:51413 \
    -p 51413:51413/udp \
    -v /home/albertoxie/.config/appdata/transmission:/config \
    -v /mnt/external:/downloads \
    --restart unless-stopped \
    lscr.io/linuxserver/transmission:latest

• Replace /home/albertoxie with your actual username if different.
• Ensure PUID and PGID match your UID and GID (usually 1000).
• Note: This command maps /mnt/external on the host to /downloads in the container.

3.3 Verify the Container is Running

• Check the status:

  docker ps

• You should see the transmission container running.

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Step 4: Configure Transmission to Use the Downloads Directory

4.1 Access the Transmission Web UI

• In your web browser, navigate to:

  http://your-server-ip:9091

• Replace your-server-ip with the IP address of your Ubuntu Server.

4.2 Update the Download Directory in Transmission Settings

• Click on the wrench icon (Settings) in the Transmission Web UI.
• Under Downloading, set the “Download to:” directory to /downloads.
• If you use subdirectories (e.g., incomplete and complete), you can set:
• Incomplete Downloads: /downloads/incomplete
• Completed Downloads: /downloads/complete
• Ensure that these directories exist on the external drive:

  mkdir -p /mnt/external/incomplete
  mkdir -p /mnt/external/complete

4.3 Save the Settings

• Apply the changes and save the settings.

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Step 5: Test the Configuration

5.1 Add a Test Torrent

• In the Transmission Web UI, add a new torrent or magnet link.
• Start the download.

5.2 Verify Files are Downloaded to the External Drive

• On your Ubuntu Server, check the external drive to confirm that the files are being saved there:

  ls -l /mnt/external

• You should see the downloaded files or the incomplete and complete directories with files inside.

5.3 Monitor Permissions and Ownership

• Ensure that the downloaded files have the correct ownership:

  ls -l /mnt/external

• Files should be owned by UID 1000 and GID 1000 (or your user’s UID and GID).

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Additional Considerations

File System Compatibility

• NTFS Drives:
• If the external drive is formatted with NTFS (common for drives used with Windows), you may need to install ntfs-3g to ensure proper read/write support: sudo apt update sudo apt install ntfs-3g
• Modify the /etc/fstab entry for NTFS drives: UUID=your-drive-uuid /mnt/external ntfs-3g defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,dmask=022,fmask=133 0 0
• exFAT Drives:
• For exFAT-formatted drives (common for compatibility between Windows and macOS): sudo apt install exfat-fuse exfat-utils
• Modify the /etc/fstab entry accordingly: UUID=your-drive-uuid /mnt/external exfat defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,dmask=022,fmask=133 0 0
• ext4 Drives:
• If you can format the drive, using ext4 is recommended for Linux systems.

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Safety and Data Integrity

• Backup Important Data:
• Always ensure important data is backed up before formatting drives or making significant changes.
• Unmount the Drive Safely:
• Before disconnecting the drive, unmount it properly to avoid data corruption: sudo umount /mnt/external

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Summary

• Mount the external USB drive to a directory on your Ubuntu Server.
• Configure permissions to allow the Docker container to read and write to the drive.
• Update the Transmission Docker container to map the external drive to the /downloads directory.
• Adjust Transmission settings to save downloads to /downloads (which now points to your external drive).
• Test the setup by downloading a file and verifying it saves to the external drive.

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