I need to setup a centralised Linux server which will contain all the data of network users. All network users will be running Linux desktops.
The requirement is that all users should log on to central server and save or retrieve all data from the centralised server. The users should not be in a position to store any data locally.


Can some one guide how to create such a setup ?




Thanking In Advance
rajesh.bahl

See if this helps http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/w...FS_Automounter

One of the requirements is that ANY user existing on the central server may be able to login from anywhere in the network irrespective of the client PC being used. Also some users from one group may be allowed access to some files in the other group. The users from any same group may see/edit each other's data fully.



rajesh.bahl

Look at the centralized logins sections at the same site I pointed you to before - that will allow that one.

Have a good read up on unix permissions, and you should be able to devise a scheme to accommodate you sharing without too much fuss.

Hi,

There are so many things in linux. you can configure samba,nfs,ftp, or CVS. these are basically for the sharing and accessing data from server.

Just to avoid confusing the OP, for this application NFS is probably the way to go.

If the /home directory contains all of the users' home directories, and is an NFS share that every host mounts, you simply need to mount the server's home directory during boot up, and use the same regular users list in each /etc/passwd & /etc/shadow file. Then when a user logs in, they will be using their home directory which exists on the server. As long as each username gets the same UID & password hash when they log in, it will work the same as if the home directory were located at the machine.

You can also use LDAP or NIS or even Samba for maintaining username/uid/password hashes centrally or you can replicate changes to each host's /etc/passwd & /etc/shadow file. Some distro's have wizards that will configure the hosts properly (e.g. PAM, /etc/nsswitch, etc.) for different authentication methods.

Centralizing the users' home directories is a very easy thing to do. Maintaining credentials for the users, is the harder part. The best way to do it may depend on how many users you are dealing with.