I have been busting my brain modules for about a week (off and on) learning the ropes of setting up a Linux Ubuntu server running Samba, a windows (and UNIX) file server. I decided to do it the hard way and have been playing with Linux in the terminal mode. That means no graphic interface, just the command line. That keeps the dual processor 64 bit system dedicated to just file services. It is wicked fast.
This is the way I started using Linux many, many years ago so it was a nice challenge to learn all the old (bash) shell commands and to remember how to use vi, the text editor. No I didn’t pull it all from memory as I do have an extensive Linux library.
The problem with the on line documentation is they (the volunteer writers) often don’t quite tell you everything you need to know. Ubuntu server (10.10) and Samba are VERY complex programs. They contain a lot of interdependencies. They also contain a lot of things I don’t need to set up a home file server. The challenge was to sort out the basics and get it working. I hit the wall more than a few times when things wouldn’t run correctly and had to sleep on things, thinking about the next solution to try. It finally dawned on me I wasn’t getting all the permissions correct because I wasn’t made aware of them all in the documentation.
This is all computer nerd stuff so I won’t go into more detail. The result is I now have a perfectly functioning file server I named Pandora (All UNIX computers have names). I figured the name was appropriate once I considered the computer as a file storage box full of frustration (evils) to get working. Pandora is now a good place to lock up private files I will share with the new netbook and other computers I have on the network. I am not much worried about getting hacked, it IS Pandora’s Box, after all…. and all it contains now is Hope.
With a server which runs all the time and automatically updates itself (a nifty little feature), I don’t have to keep other computers running just to trade information between them. A server is also a good place to store backups.
I see Terabyte drives are under $50.00 so I’ll look for a green low power version to drop into Pandora. In all, a nice Christmas present for myself and the satisfaction of learning new skills.