[wplug] ftp server setup - okay, maybe not...

[Matthew Danish]

On Sat, Apr 26, 2003 at 08:18:47AM -0700, Elwin Green wrote:
> Okay, I didn't do a good job of asking - I have
> several issues to resolve and I wanted to take them
> one at a time. Now I've realized that they intersect,
> so I'd like to start over:
> 
> THE MACHINE:
> A 486DX4/100 w/36MB RAM, a 540MB HD, and CDROM.
> 
> THE INSTALLED DISTRO:
> Debian GNU/Linux 2.2. I did not do the installation,
> and I am new to Debian, so I don't know what's where.

See the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.

dpkg -L <package> is handy too.

> THE GOAL:
> To configure the machine as a webserver, for hosting a
> personal site or two for the whole world to enjoy.

apt-get install apache apache-doc

Read the docs in /usr/share/doc/apache/ and apache-doc/

> SUBGOAL:
> To configure the machine so that I and a chosen few
> others can upload to it from any other machine on the
> 'Net. That's where the ftp part came in; I didn't say
> ssh because I know nothing about it.

apt-get install ssh

This installs the openssh server/client, and asks if you want to enable the
server.

FTP I already pointed out a few options.

> The 486 already sits behind a firewall box (a 386
> running floppyfw) with several others that share a DSL
> connection.
> 
> 2) It seems unable to connect to the Internet. It
> pings itself and other machines Including the
> gateway)on my network fine. With an external address,
> it reports "network unreachable"; for an external name
> (e.g., www.yahoo.com), it reports "name unknown". 

Debian has a network configuration manager which stores its configuration
in the file /etc/network/interfaces.  It has a man page called `interfaces'
but the basic idea is simple:

# for DHCP:
iface eth0 inet dhcp

# for static:
iface eth0 inet static
	address _._._._
	gateway _._._._
	netmask _._._._

# to bring the interface up at boot:
auto eth0

Then you can manually enable/disable interfaces using:

ifup eth0
ifdown eth0

Substitute your appropriate eth_ device.

> The next behavior is really odd:
> 3)When I vi fstab, the output on my monitor includes
> previous monitor output - stuff that I know isn't part
> of fstab. For instance, just now when I checked it to
> copy the lines about the floppy and the cdrom, these
> lines were interspered with the actual fstab text:

Yummy, terminal problems.  Actually, the vi you have is probably crappy.  I
can't stand the older vi's.  apt-get install vim once you get the network
setup.

Either that or play with export TERM=ansi, TERM=vt100, or TERM=linux.


On a side note:
http://people.debian.org/~mrd/apt-dpkg-ref/ contains a nice 2 page cheat-sheet
which you can print out and refer to for common apt and dpkg usage.

-- 
; Matthew Danish <mdanish at andrew.cmu.edu>
; OpenPGP public key: C24B6010 on keyring.debian.org
; Signed or encrypted mail welcome.
; "There is no dark side of the moon really; matter of fact, it's all dark."