Setting up applications on TrueNAS Scale 25.10 “Goldeye” is powerful, but many users install apps with the default storage settings — which can lead to clutter, poor organisation, and difficulty managing or backing up data later.

In this guide, we walk through the correct way to install and configure apps on TrueNAS Scale by creating dedicated datasets, using proper permissions, and mapping application storage manually using Host Path. We demonstrate the process with Syncthing and then repeat the same clean approach with the popular photo-management application Immich.

Below is the full, step-by-step video tutorial:

📺 Full Video

Why You Should Avoid the Default App Storage Directory

By default, TrueNAS stores app data inside:

/ix-applications/…

 

This is convenient, but it can become messy. Using custom datasets instead gives you:

✔ Better organisation
✔ Per-app encryption
✔ Predictable backup and snapshot structures
✔ Easy migration to another pool or system
✔ Full visibility of where your app data lives

This applies to any TrueNAS App — whether it’s Syncthing, Immich, Jellyfin, or backup tools.

Step 1: Creating an Encrypted Dataset for Each App

In the video, we begin by creating:

• A dataset called syncthing

• A dataset called immich

For each one, we:

✔ Enable encryption

Ideal for app data and sensitive files, especially photos in Immich.

✔ Apply the “Apps” dataset preset

This preset applies permissions and ACLs that work correctly with containers.

✔ Keep advanced settings default

Unless you need something specific, the preset handles everything.

This keeps application data tidy, secure, and isolated.

Step 2: Installing Syncthing Using Proper Storage Mapping

When installing Syncthing from the TrueNAS Apps catalogue:

❗ Don’t use the default app storage directory.

Instead:

✔ Change the storage option to “Host Path”

Browse to the syncthing dataset you created.

✔ Map the container’s config directory

This ensures Syncthing stores:

• configuration files

• device IDs

• database files

• sync metadata

in your dataset, not the system’s internal app directory.

Once you apply the configuration, Syncthing installs cleanly with your custom storage path.

Step 3: Installing Immich the Right Way

Immich is a powerful self-hosted photo management and backup platform — but it uses multiple containers and multiple storage paths.

This makes proper dataset mapping even more important.

When installing Immich:

You must map two distinct areas:

1. Immich’s configuration directory
   (stored in your new immich dataset)

2. The library where photos and videos are actually stored
   Many users place this inside a dataset like photos or media/images.
   In the video, everything is stored neatly inside the main Immich dataset for simplicity.

To do this:

✔ Change each storage entry from “ixVolume” to “Host Path”

✔ Select your Immich dataset as the storage location

✔ Confirm the mount paths match Immich’s expected structure

Once deployed, Immich stores everything — metadata, thumbnails, uploads, models, and database data — in your dataset, not buried inside ix-applications.

Step 4: Why This Matters for Immich

Immich performs:

• model downloads

• thumbnail generation

• video transcoding

• facial recognition

All of this produces significant data.

Using a dedicated dataset makes it far easier to:

• snapshot your photo library

• replicate it to another TrueNAS system

• back it up to cloud storage

• move it to a larger pool later

This is the proper long-term approach to running Immich on TrueNAS Scale.

Step 5: Final Checks and App Launch

After both Syncthing and Immich are deployed with your custom datasets:

• You can access Syncthing through its Web UI

• You can complete the Immich onboarding process

• All data lives safely in your encrypted, well-organised structure

• You avoid the common mistake of letting TrueNAS dump everything into ix-applications

This approach scales cleanly as you deploy more apps in the future.

Conclusion

Managing TrueNAS Apps properly means thinking about storage first. By creating dedicated, encrypted datasets for each application and using Host Path bindings, you guarantee:

✔ Proper organisation
✔ Clean backups
✔ Easier migrations
✔ Better long-term maintainability
✔ Full visibility of your system layout

This method works for every TrueNAS App — not just Syncthing and Immich.

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