Hi
I would like to use my Compaq SFF [Small Form Factor] Pentium 2ghz, 1gb ram as a dedicated headless torrent box. It will be placed in another room, running 24/7. My questions is can I use antiX for this, or would something else be better, e.g. SME Server, Webmin, FreeNAS, etc. I've done a bit of research but don't fully understand what I've read. Commandline is out of the question as I cannot remember all the options, switches etc. If I can do this with antiX, how do I access the machine to administrate it.

Wow, that's amazing, as i'm just setting a machine up (with similar specs as well) for the very same purpose!! __{{emoticon}}__

I've never tried FreeNAS (Although all reports are good) but can't yet decide on whether i want a file server, a NAS, or a sort of cocktail combo of them both?? I'd be very interested in what you decide & what you choose to do & why. Computer here is Shuttle (FN21) with 2ghz CPU (Athlon) and 1gb ram. Only got an 80gb HD in it at the moment, but i'm hoping to add another one asap.

DJiNN

You might find some useful information from the MEPIS wiki of different ways to access the box.
Open ssh is supposed to be the best and safest way.


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antiX should be ok, probably best to install the base system and just add what you want.
For torrent I personally would use rtorrent (cli though) or transmission(gui and cli)

@ anti, thanks for the info. I already have the base system installed and use transmission. I was just reading about OpenSSH, hopefully all will become clear after a few more hours, days, weeks, months ......

@DJiNN, 80 gig drive here also. 50watt PSU runs almost silent, a great machine for headless server/NAS. I'll keep you posted how I get on.

hi
I'm trying to follow the SSH section here:

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When I get to this part -
"To test whether sshd is working you can run the command:
ssh localhost"

I'm asked for a password, but I have not setup any password. Any help appreciated.

I run a headless file/print server with antix on it. It's perfect for this old celeron 466/128mb ram. I used a monitor to install antix and then tucked it away.

To access it I use two things, ssh to log in via a terminal to maintain it and vncserver to remote desktop into it. I figured X was installed so I occasionally use it to access the desktop.

ssh has several tools to access, maintain and use a server. Straight ssh username@server via the terminal will work for most things but I also use sshfs user@server:/path/to/storage /home/me/server. This mounts a directory on the server on a folder in my /home called server. It acts just like a local folder to copy or save to but it ends up on the server.

Locally I use Gvncviewer to access the entire desktop but if I just want an app I use ssh -X user@server and then just enter the app name. My printer is also a scanner so this is real handy for using the scanner.

As for a torrent server, no idea, I don't use torrents because my limited bandwidth speed makes it impossible but I'm sure it can't be too difficult.

Another option would be to install an ftp server an then use a ftp client to send files back and forth. One thing you will need to watch is router settings so it can be pointed to the outside world but your other machines on the network are not exposed.

Good luck

ZenMystic wrote:hi
I'm trying to follow the SSH section here:

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When I get to this part -
"To test whether sshd is working you can run the command:
ssh localhost"

I'm asked for a password, but I have not setup any password. Any help appreciated.

The password will be the one you set up when you installed antix. If you run ssh as user then it would be the user's password, root's password for root. To log in remotely I would specify a user:

Hi eriefisher
Thanks for sharing your methods on running headless, if I ever get up and running I'll be sure to try them out. As to the password problem, I was in roxterm as root and tried both passwords but neither worked. I just tried in roxterm as user and it worked, I think, the guide does not say what is supposed to happen.

EDIT: just tried again as root in roxterm, it does not accept either password, after 3 attempts it says"root@localhost's password:"
then"permission denied, please try again"

If the login is successful then you will at the prompt of the user of which you logged in. In the case of logging into localhost you should be where you started. It may not be permitted to log in as root over ssh, don't know, but you can su to root once logged in.

Try logging in from another machine. remember to use the name and password of the user on the server.

@ eriefisher, Thanks again. It's time for sleep now, so I'll try to get up and running tomorrow.

@ DJiNN Looks like I'll be going with OpenSSH, I came across this link to a guide, may be of interest to you:

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OK I think I'm almost ready to go with this project, just a few final questions:

1) Do I have to disable the desktop login screen? I'm assuming that when I remove the keyboard, mouse, and monitor, and power on, the machine will pause at the login.

2) X has started, but flux has not, is that correct? When I ssh into it, I don't have access to flux?

3) In order to use Transmission GUI, I need to type startx? Or do I use something different for this like vnc .

Hi ZenMystic. __{{emoticon}}__

Thanks for the link, i'll check it out. It's got to be less hassle than the FreeNAS setup for sure. Just spent the afternoon setting up a box yesterday..... good fun, but not really what i need, and i have to say, almost pointless as it's easier to just set up an antiX box and use that instead! (Way to go antiX!!) __{{emoticon}}__

DJiNN

ZenMystic wrote:OK I think I'm almost ready to go with this project, just a few final questions:

1) Do I have to disable the desktop login screen? I'm assuming that when I remove the keyboard, mouse, and monitor, and power on, the machine will pause at the login.

2) X has started, but flux has not, is that correct? When I ssh into it, I don't have access to flux?

3) In order to use Transmission GUI, I need to type startx? Or do I use something different for this like vnc .

If you need X applications then you might want to edit /etc/slim.conf for auto login. Just remove the # in front of"#auto_login yes" and"#default_user demo". Also change"demo" to your username. Now X should start and you will automatically logged in. Gui applications will be available as well as a remote desktop(once set up).

eriefisher, thanks for all your help with this. All I need to do now is set up my XP machine as my main everyday antiX box, and do a quick trial run, then I should be good to go. Eventually, I shall get rid of desktop and use apps like rtorrent. I would also like to learn about this screen I keep reading about, sounds interesting, but I'll save those for another day.

I search the forum and found this thread is relevant for my intended project.
I had a old celeron 2G CPU with integrated graphic, 1G Ram and 40G Harddisj, as this old desktop is poor in graphic performance , i have been thinking about converting it to become a file / print server for my home network. Add one to two IDE drives to bring up hard disk capacity.
May be it can also do some other functions?
What i hope is the file transfer speed is reasonably high via 100M NIC.

Actually i am using a Win XP machine desktop and double as a file server for many media files.
If i could use that old celeron as a file/print server, i could then use this Win XP machine which has much higher specs for more linux learning experience. It has a AMD64 CPU and nVidia graphic card.

But i am too new to doing it and hope someone can help out and provide some guidance.

first question: how do i install multi-function copier/printer/scanner? mine is Brother MFC 7340, i found there is a Linux driver, but i have never install printer driver on Linux before, could anyone help me on what steps should i do installing driver on antiX?

second question: which antiX version is most suitable for my project?

thanks in advance for any help.
wayne