How do i set up a fileserver with slacware?

randknu · 02-11-2006, 03:31 AM

I am new to linux and i need some basic help here, i want to learn linux and i want to use it as a fileserver for my home network. currently the server runs winxp, it has 11 harddrives of 250 & 320 GB sizes 3x IDE and 8x sata. it is physically located in the attic where its cool and noise is not an issue. It does not have a monitor nor a mouse.

Before i go ahead and change it, i want to simulate it on an older machine. an AMD K6-2 400 Mhz processor 256mb pc100 SDram and a 3DFX voodoo3 videocard.

now i have installed it but i need some help with the commands, i installed all defaults because i don't have a clue what half of the different program packages are...

so i need to know if there is a browser so i can find and download programs/updates.
i need to know how to connect to the shared folders on my windooze based systems.
i need a way to edit simple config files. (laugh away, must have missed it somwhere)
"cat" will type the files content but i need to edit it.

is there a gui installed by default? if so how do i start it?

uselpa · 02-11-2006, 03:37 AM

The GUI is started with `startx`. Beforehand, you can choose which GUI you'll use with the `xwmconfig`command. I'd suggest KDE.
Depending on the version you installed you'll find Firefox or at least Mozilla. Both are very good browsers.
Programs are found on www.linuxpackages.net, updates at the main Slackware site.
As a beginner, use one of the GUI editors to edit files, like Kate or KWrite.

phil.d.g · 02-11-2006, 05:18 AM

Samba is what you are looking for for filesharing, their wesbite has some
good documentation you can read.

Vim is a CLI text editor and can be easy to use if you ignore the advanced features, print out a vi cheat sheet for the basic commands and refer to that when trying to edit files

randknu · 02-11-2006, 07:02 AM

Thanks, that got me going again. I generally like the CLI because it requires less cpu and memory to perform tasks, though it does demand more of me

One more thing, how do i shut down the computer properly? every time i start it it says that hdd1 was not properly unmounted and checks the drive...

uselpa · 02-11-2006, 08:29 AM

To shutdown from CLI, use `halt`, `poweroff` or `shutdown -h`.

randknu · 02-11-2006, 08:59 AM

thanks.
Is there anywhere a list of default commands and a short description of what it does?

and how do i format an NTFS partition through linux?

uselpa · 02-11-2006, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randknu

and how do i format an NTFS partition through linux?

You can't. NTFS access is read-only.

dx0r515t · 02-11-2006, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randknu

thanks.
Is there anywhere a list of default commands and a short description of what it does?

and how do i format an NTFS partition through linux?

This site may be a good reference.
http://www.unixguide.net/linux/linuxshortcuts.shtml

gbonvehi · 02-11-2006, 09:23 AM

http://slackbook.org is a good reference. You can easily find tutorial on any web search engine.
Finally, you can use man pages to see the details of a command, run this examples from commandline:

Code:

man man
man cp
man mv
man rm

There are also good tutorials (in a full installation) at: /usr/doc/Linux-HOWTO/

PS: You can create a ntfs partition using ntfs-tools, find it. You can't, however, write files to it, write mode is still not safe from Linux unless you use some special drivers like Captiva.

onebuck · 02-11-2006, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randknu

thanks.
Is there anywhere a list of default commands and a short description of what it does?

and how do i format an NTFS partition through linux?

Hi,

A good shutdown would be;

shutdown -r now

since a broadcast will be made. If you want to halt then use the halt option.

Look at my sig for some good reference to get you started. If you have the full set of cds' for Slackware then the book is on cd3.

As for formatting the ntfs I use ranish or even win/xp or nt. I think you can use qtparted but I haven't used it for awhile.

BTW, welcome to Slackware!

onebuck · 02-11-2006, 09:54 AM

Hi,

Something else you might want to look into is putty. This will allow you to ssh via windows to your boxen. This way you can maintain the system remotely once you have your system setup.

You should look at Sticky's post at the top of this forum.

Even search the installation sub forum.

HTH!

lodragan · 02-12-2006, 03:41 PM

If you are going to move your windoze server over to Linux you might also look into setting up your drives as a RAID array - that way you can avoid data loss if you happen to lose a drive.

If you are going that route, I wouldn't worry about NTFS partitioning -- samba will take care of communicating between the client Windows machines and the linux server - so it is irrelevant.

Another thing --- I wouldn't bother loading X (or KDE/Gnome/etc) on the server (or any additional cruft you won't be using). The idea is for the server to be blazingly fast with little overhead.

Finally, if you want to go beyond simple filesharing, you might look into content management systems that allow you to link meta-information to your files - so you can then sort, search and more easily manage your repository. I use Zope/Plone for this purpose.