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NAS Server (FTP, NFS, Samba, SSHFS), Media Stream Server, Print Server, Wake On LAN

Introduction

This example shows how to setup a NAS Server (Network Attached Storage Server) and a few other Servers with the Plop Linux Live version. You can run it from CD/USB or from the Network.

For a NAS Server is the Plop Linux Desktop better than the Live Version, but this example should show you that everything is possible with the Live Version.

Add the NAS user

Run "adduser nas".

Mount the hard disk and test FTP access

Example: mounting a FAT partition with nas user rw access.

mount /dev/sda1 /home/nas -o uid=$(id -u nas)

Example: mounting an Ext2/3/4 partition.

mount /dev/sda2 /home/nas

You can test the write access when you run

ftp localhost

Login as user nas. Create a directory with "mkdir nastest". Do a "ls" to list the files.

To modify the FTP Server settings, edit the file /etc/proftpd.conf

NFS

Edit the file /etc/exports. Change /mnt to /home/nas. You can also set the some security here.

For quick localhost test allow access from 127.0.0.1:

/home/nas 192.168.0.* 10.0.0.* 127.0.0.1(rw)

Reload the changes with exportfs -ra. You will see some info's.

Stop NFS: killall -9 nfsd rpc.statd rpc.mountd portmap

Restart NFS: startnfs

Test mount (example your server has the IP 10.0.0.200): mount 10.0.0.200:/home/nas /mnt

Do a "ls /mnt" to see the files.

Do a "umount /mnt" to unmount.

For NFS details see the NFS homepage.

Samba

Add the Samba user with "smbpassword -a nas"

Test mount: mount //localhost/nas /mnt -o username=nas

Do a "ls /mnt" to see the files.

Do a "umount /mnt" to unmount.

Samba config file: /etc/samba/smb.conf

SSHFS

I suggest that you generate your own keys with "sshkeygen.sh". You have to do that only once. The keys will be restored (with "Restore all settings at bootup").

To enable the connection as root set a password with "passwd"

Test mount: sshfs localhost:/ /mnt

Do a "ls /mnt" to see the files.

Do a "umount /mnt" to unmount.

Allow other users to connect with SSH/SSHFS and other options see config file: /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Media Stream Server - ushare

To use ushare you need the opt.sqfs.

Start ushare (-x for Xbox support, -D for background start): ushare -x -c /home/nas -D

Printer Server - cupsd

To use cupsd you need the opt.sqfs.

To configure CUPS from the text mode use "lynx localhost:631".

When you start Xfce or Fluxbox, then you can configure CUPS with a graphical browser.

When you configured CUPS to allow access from your LAN, then you can login from the LAN with any browser and the URL http://SERVERIP:631

CUPS config files: /etc/opt/cups

Wake on LAN

To enable WOL (Wake on LAN) for eth0 run setwol.

The script is: /media/ploplinux/bin/setwol

To wake up the computer you need the MAC address. You get it with "ifconfig eth0". Its the HWaddr (ex. 00:2a:c9:d8:a3:a1). Wake up form another PC (I suggest to write that in a file to execute it easily): wol 00:2a:c9:d8:a3:a1

Restore all settings at bootup

This is not the smartest, but fastest way to store and restore the settings. When you want a cleaner solution then store only the related files.

Stop NFS: killall -9 nfsd rpc.statd rpc.mountd portmap

Unmount the hard disk: umount /home/nas

Store the settings: tar cfz /nas.tar.gz /etc /home/nas

Copy nas.tar.gz to the ploplinux/opt directory.

Create the script ploplinux/bin/startnas

#!/bin/sh

echo Setup NAS Server

tar xfz $PLOPLINUX_DIR/opt/nas.tar.gz -C /

# mount the hard disk like described above
mount /dev/sda1 /home/nas

# restart nfs
killall -9 nfsd rpc.statd rpc.mountd portmap
exportfs -ra >& /dev/null
startnfs

# reload other daemon configs
killall -HUP sshd
killall -HUP proftpd
killall -HUP smbd
killall -HUP cupsd

# start ushare
ushare -x -c /home/nas -D

# activate wol
setwol

Add at the end of ploplinux/bin/rc.local before "exit 0" the line "sh startnas".

When you boot the Live Plop Linux, then your NAS Server is ready.

Final words

You see, it's easy to setup a NAS Server with the Live version of Plop Linux. You can also add iptables rules to use it as router and firewall. Plop Linux is very powerful and you can do anything you want. When you want to remove the USB drive or CD, then use the copy2ram option as kernel parameter (the line with "append") in the syslinux/syslinux.cfg file.

You should also read Plop Linux Desktop.

© 2024 by Elmar Hanlhofer