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**rfakhrai** · May 08, 2011, 10:04 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

NFS is the best way to go. This guide has helped me set mine up. One thing that helped in the stability of my server was to have one of my computers on a static IP. Assuming your router will allow this, this guide can help you do that.

Once you follow the guides, post back here and let us know how it's going. it takes a little tweaking but once it's working, NFS is solid!

**Nathanael** · May 09, 2011, 01:12 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Following the guide, portmap failed to start on the laptop, apparently because the nfs server wasn't running. Starting that manually (sudo /etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server start) allowed me to start portmap. However, sudo exportfs -ar results in "Warning: /home/nathanael does not support NFS export". My home directory on the laptop is encrypted; is that the issue?

Next, attempting to restart nfs-common resulted in "sudo: /etc/init.d/nfs-common: command not found" on both computers. nfs-common is installed on both.

Restarting the nfs kernel daemon repeats the "/home/nathanael does not support NFS export" warning on the laptop.

Attempting to mount the shares manually results in a "mount.nfs: No route to host" error on both machines. Is this related to the fact that neither machine can ping the other?

--Nathanael

**rfakhrai** · May 09, 2011, 10:32 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Sorry, I should have issued a disclaimer with that guide. It is a bit outdated as far as the service restart commands go. The best and cleanest way I've found to restart the NFS services is to reboot the machine.

The encryption on your laptop HDD is going to cause problems and I'm not knowledgeable enough about encryption to instruct you how to register the key with the other machine. From research, this appears to be the reason why you're getting the "...does not support NFS export" error. An easy way to troubleshoot this is to create the share outside of your encrypted home folder. And if this solves the problem (as I suspect it will), is this an option for setup of the NFS server or is it too much of a headache?

Your mount.nfs error is indicative of a connection problem through your modem. Most routers have an administrative option that allows you to "pass through" without prejudice the IP address of a certain computer. Maybe if you try this with your two machines, we can eliminate the possibility of a router firewall issue? The two machines need to be able to ping each other.

And maybe (possibly) once you sort out the /etc/exports issue, mount might work. Keep me posted.

**josefko** · May 10, 2011, 12:34 AM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

I use another possibility to share files between Kubuntu computers - SSH. After setting in CLI it is possible to use for example Krusader to work with shared files. Computers should have fixed ip addresses to keep sharing simple.

**rfakhrai** · May 10, 2011, 06:36 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Yes but SSH will be problematic as well without the ping and encryption issue solved.

**josefko** · May 11, 2011, 01:40 AM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Yes but SSH will be problematic

I see a problem in setting connection, not during operation. For example for preparing backup to a remote computer one needs to:
- free ssh and ping on firewalls
- install ssh packages on both computers
- generate keys on local computer

Code:

$ ssh-keygen -t dsa

- delete file ~/.ssh/known_hosts
- save file ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub as file authorized_keys in ~/.ssh folder on remote computer
- run connection check on local computer

Code:

$ ssh -2 -v ko@192.168.2.104

, type yes on

Code:

The authenticity of host '192.168.2.104 (192.168.2.104)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is b2:75:eb:3a:2f:fc:6e:ee:58:b5:6c:3a:7e:49:f3:cd.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

- then one can for example list files on remote computer or run backup command.
These steps can be done in five minutes.
For setting new ssh network connection with Krusader one needs to set protocol fish, ip of remote computer, port 22, name of user on remote computer. It is possible to set sharing in Dolphin too.

**Nathanael** · May 11, 2011, 03:33 AM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Well, the encrypted home directory issue I'll leave for now; it's more important to get the laptop seeing the desktop than vice versa. However, until I'll have to push this issue to the back burner until I can resolve the ping issue. I'll be back in a day or two (hopefully).

--Nathanael

**rfakhrai** · May 11, 2011, 11:26 AM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Originally posted by josefko

These steps can be done in five minutes.

Yes, SSH is very easy to setup. But, if his laptop can't ping his desktop then SSH is not going to work any better than NFS.

Also, it depends on what the Nathanael wants. SSH is good for transferring files but not so good for streaming music, etc.

**wizard10000** · May 11, 2011, 01:45 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

I use NFS and think it's fairly easy to set up - and I don't have portmap installed on either machine but as stated earlier the encryption thing is gonna hang you up a little bit

sudo apt-get install nfs-common nfs-kernel-server

Then after that you just add or edit /etc/exports - I export my home directory and /etc to my local subnet like this -

# /etc/exports: the access control list for filesystems which may be exported
# to NFS clients. See exports(5).
#
# Example for NFSv2 and NFSv3:
# /srv/homes hostname1(rw,sync) hostname2(ro,sync)
#
# Example for NFSv4:
# /srv/nfs4 gss/krb5i(rw,sync,fsid=0,crossmnt)
# /srv/nfs4/homes gss/krb5i(rw,sync)

/home/wizard 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)
/etc 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)

Then you create mount points on the client machine - I use /mnt/wizard and /mnt/etc

and I mount the shares with a simple shell script that looks like this -

#!/bin/sh

sudo mount 192.168.1.101:/home/wizard /mnt/wizard

sudo mount 192.168.1.101:/etc /mnt/etc

That's pretty much all there is to it

**sithlord48** · May 11, 2011, 04:12 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

i use nfs for sharing w/ my *nix boxes, its very easy to set up . in addition to wizards advice above you can also mount your nfs stuff using your /etc/fstab file inplace of needing to run a script to do it for you.

on my desktop(connected via wire) the shares auto mount , below you can see the line i add for that.

Originally posted by /etc/fstab (auto mount)

192.168.0.100:/media/archive/archive /media/archive nfs rw,hard,intr 0 0
<server's ip : path to share> <path to mount point> <type> <options>0 0

this will mount the share to the mount point when you boot your machine.

on ms.sith's laptop (shes connects thru wifi) we don't automount but still use the /etc/fstab to control the nfs share, that line looks like this

Originally posted by /etc/fstab (manual mount)

192.168.0.100:/media/archive/archive /media/backup nfs rw,noauto 0 0

if you want to mount the volume you simply open dolphin and you click on it from the places section , to unmount right click and "eject" you might even see it in your device manager depending on how you have set that up.

for each share you just add a line to your /etc/fstab and for each client want you can do this. for us it works great (and a noticeable speed boost over using samba to share)

**Nathanael** · May 11, 2011, 09:17 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Originally posted by rfakhrai

[it depends on what the Nathanael wants. SSH is good for transferring files but not so good for streaming music, etc.

Well, ultimately I'd had visions of being able access the desktop from work or while out roaming with my cellphone. Part of that vision included streaming music to the phone, where downloading the MP3s would be impractical.

But for starters, I'd just like to get the home network working; so far no go :-(

--Nathanael

**andre_orwell** · May 14, 2011, 06:42 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Thanks for posting your vision... it makes a difference. This is a very non-geek suggestion but it might make more sense just to buy a small NAS. The seagate NAS I just bought provides some service for accessing your files from "anywhere". This gives your computers just a little more "protection" IMHO. FWIW the seagate seems to run linux.

For simple file sharing between linux boxes I'm sure there is a right-click option in dolphin? I'd expect it to work out of the box (so to speak).

If on the other hand you are doing this as a kind of challenge... well I'll leave that to others but I don't think NFS is going to be your best option. Not many phones support NFS. And my experience with NFS is that is copes very badly with shares going off-line. This thread may be useful for media sharing http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=459691

**rfakhrai** · May 14, 2011, 09:32 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Yes, andre_orwell has a very good point in this case. I suppose it would have been more helpful if I had first asked what your vision was before throwing out a solution

I had forgotten about NAS and now I see that it's gotten a lot more affordable over the years. NAS and remote phone access are not my specialty. So if NAS is an idea worth considering to you, I'd recommend pursuing it. It wouldn't matter, then, that your computers can't "talk"

**oshunluvr** · May 15, 2011, 08:34 PM

Re: Kubuntu-to-Kubuntu file-sharing migraine - anyone willing to hand-hold?

Hey, no offense or rudeness intended, but I can't see how adding a third component to the equation solves the OP's problem, and Nathanael, if you're really seeking help, you need to respond with real information rather than what you envision.

Start by responding the Wizard's and Sithlord's posts. If you aren't willing to attempt what they suggest, fine - but at least acknowledge the posts.

Despite your attempts so far, NFS is far easier to setup and maintain and way more reliable than Samba, not to mention more functional. For example, you can't stream over a Samba share. A few correct settings on your fstab mounts and NFS will not cause any problems.

Let us know how you want to go forward so that we can offer you some help.

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