[Solved] Setting up a network

[ElWray]

Hi,

I'm about to install ubuntu on a 2nd PC at home and I'd like to share files on them.
So, how can I set up a network & file sharing?
I read something about NFS but I've been looking in synaptic and I have no idea about what I'm supposed to install.

ElWray

[wizard10000]

Re: Setting up a network

I use NFS to share files because I think using samba to share files between Linux machines is a crime against nature

Here's a pretty good readme -

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpNFSHowTo

I haven't had good luck with autofs as nmbd seems to die on its own on my netbook so I mount the shares with a real quick and dirty shell script but it's worked well.

[vinnywright]

Re: Setting up a network

install ssh on both boxes ............I find it easer than NFS but hay.

once it's installed you can click on the network tab in dolphin then add network folder then the ssh box add
first name can be whatever you'd like I used lan the user should be you the address the address of the box you want to connect to such as in my case 192.168.2.3 leave the port as is then the path to the folder your going to start at like /home/vinny click finish ......now open the folder lan (that's what I named it) and you will be asked for your pasword ....thats it
now you have a sftp conection.
|.............box1
this is assuming both boxes are on the same router ..........net........router......|
on mine box 1 is wired box 2 is wireless |............box2

VINNY

[Ole Juul]

Re: Setting up a network

I just use good old FTP. All my machines (except the ones running DOS) have a server as well as a client. This way there's nothing to configure. It just doesn't get any easier than that.

sudo apt-get install proftpd

and you're done.

If you are wondering about the network itself, all you need is to have each computer "connected" just like you normally do. That is each one has an address. A router takes care of that and you don't need to figure it out yourself unless you want to. Anyway, the key to easy, is to use a router. Then you can also have more computers connected without hassle. Without a router is possible too, but then you're into configuring stuff again.

[ElWray]

Re: Setting up a network

I just use good old FTP. All my machines (except the ones running DOS) have a server as well as a client. This way there's nothing to configure. It just doesn't get any easier than that.

sudo apt-get install proftpd

and you're done.

If you are wondering about the network itself, all you need is to have each computer "connected" just like you normally do. That is each one has an address. A router takes care of that and you don't need to figure it out yourself unless you want to. Anyway, the key to easy, is to use a router. Then you can also have more computers connected without hassle. Without a router is possible too, but then you're into configuring stuff again.

I'm using a switch, not a router

[Ole Juul]

Re: Setting up a network

I'm using a switch, not a router

How are you using it?

The proper way to connect two computers to each other and to the internet is with a router. They are often $30 new and less when used. However, you could also install a second network card in one of the computers and use that as a gateway.

[ElWray]

Re: Setting up a network

The ISP gave me 2 IP addresses for my pcs. All 3 cables (internet, 1st and 2nd pc) are connected to the switch.

[wizard10000]

Re: Setting up a network

The ISP gave me 2 IP addresses for my pcs. All 3 cables (internet, 1st and 2nd pc) are connected to the switch.

Then you might consider putting a router on the network anyway. Even though Linux is currently more secure than Windows I still wouldn't consider putting a box directly on the internet unless I absolutely had to.

The advantage is that if your machines are on a private network they're not visible from an untrusted network. As Linux' market share grows it'll become more attractive to malware authors and script kiddies. There are ways to open certain ports to the internet instead of the entire machine.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Setting up a network

There's some confusion going on on this thread...

Back to the OP: NFS is very simple to set up and use, there just isn't a decent GUI to set it up.

Basically, both computers have to be both server and client. You install nfs-common, nfs-server, and portmap. Edit /etc/exports to add your shared directories, edit /etc/hosts.allow and hosts.deny, mount your NFS shares in fstab and you're good to go. The key to security is to lock down access to only your other machine's IP.

Since you're using fixed IP's, add each computer to your /etc/hosts file and you can mount your exports with the host name or the IP.

[Ole Juul]

Re: Setting up a network

So your network is already set up and you're good to go as is. There is nothing to do as far as your original post is concerned.

However, you're going to have to think about security, and wizard10000's recommendation of using a router anyway is probably the best. It is certainly the simplest, as well as the most flexible.

[ElWray]

Re: Setting up a network

Not really, cause I can't see the other computer on my network

[Ole Juul]

Re: Setting up a network

You mean you can't ping it?

[ElWray]

Re: Setting up a network

I can ping it w/o problems; I meant that in dolphin, when I click network, only the Windows network shows up (with that second pc if I choose to boot windows instead of ubuntu)

[Ole Juul]

Re: Setting up a network

Gotcha. So if you can ping you're connected. Great! That means the network part of your problem is done.

I'm not too savvy on the dolphin thing though, since I don't use it. However if you install an FTP server on either of the computers, then you can FTP from the other one. You can do that on the command line by typing "FTP otheraddress", or by using the Firefox FTP addon, or Konqueror, and probably also Dolphin. In the Gui programs you can drag and drop files. It's pretty intuitive that way. BTW: In a browser you type "ftp ://123.123.123.123" or whatever the other machine's address is.

Anyway, that's my simple and old-fashioned way of doing things. Others here can probably give you advice on more complicated methods like Samba, which is made specifically for interfacing with Windows. Since Windows doesn't do networking very well, that might actually be a good idea.

One more thing. There is the possibility that your ISP has closed certain ports. That could pose a problem for some protocols. However that's just a possibility. Let's think positively.

[ElWray]

Re: [Solved] Setting up a network

OK, FTP worked perfectly.

Thanks a lot
ElWray