The linux noob strikes back

[AlphaTrinity]

Well after a year or more of idleness with my dreams of learning linux, I finally got a working machine and a working dvd of fedora core 6. I put the two together, and I am now the proud owner of a machine running linux (again I guess..old machine's hd died like two years ago and I have yet to troubleshoot).

I'd like to set this new machine up as a file sharing server, maybe mess with some domain server options, and I'd like to learn some ftp stuff too. But I can't really start if I can't even ping a WindowsXP SP2 machine can I? :eek:

So two quick questions to get me started on my adventure:

1. I'm using a brand new linksys workgroup switch to connect the two pcs, and I can't seem to get them to ping each other or see the others shared files (I have a shared folder and a shared file on each machine). If I plug an internet line into the switch, both pcs can get online no problem. I'd like to be able to ping between the machines so that I at least know that they are communicating when I am trying to solve problem number 2.

2. I did a few google searches, and I read that a thing (application I guess) called Samba is used to share files with a Windows machine. The site (samba.org) said that Samba come with almost every distro install, and I'm guessing that since Fedora is one of the more popular distros..then it most likely has Samba. I went to the add/remove programs feature on the linux machine, and I did a search for Samba. The search found many items, but when I clicked the bullet to only show installed files..they all went away :eek: So I guess I'm asking for which applications do I need to select and install in order to share files between the two machines.

Oof..sorry for such a long post, but I greatly appreciate anybody who can throw me a word or two of advice :)
Oh and I think you'll need to have patience with me..I think I'm going to have many, many questions in the near future (just wait until I get my other machine running and install either ubuntu or sabuyon on it :rolleyes: )
I plan on going through drasnor's "ultimate newbie guide" tomorrow, so maybe some of these things are addressed in there :confused:

Well thanks again guys

[drasnor]

The Ultimate Newbie Guide is for the command-line shell and is mainly geared towards getting people to not be afraid of the console. It's a good read for anyone that turns off their brain when they read the letters D, O, and S in sequence :rolleyes:.

I looked up the samba packages in the Fedora repository. You should see these:
samba - the Windows File and Printer Sharing server/client package.
samba-client - a client-only package for Windows File and Printer Sharing.
samba-common - common support libraries for Samba.
samba-swat - a xinetd-based web GUI configuration tool for the Samba server.
I'd recommend installing just samba. If synaptic (your package manager) is working properly it will automatically select and notify you that samba-common is required to make it work as well as any other unresolved dependencies. There should be some GUI configuration tools that get installed alongside into your System Administration menu. If not, Grayfox is the resident Samba expert and he might be willing to walk you through a basic configuration by hand.

As for me, I suck at Samba. All my Windows machines have Microsoft Services for Unix installed and my File and Printer Sharing is done with NFS and CUPS.

-drasnor :fold:

[Leonardo]

I really, really appreciate you desktop Linux pioneers doing all the hard work and building the foundation users group. Someday, when I get that Linux DVD (God only knows what distribution name by then) with everything on it that's as easy to install as Windows, drivers library for thousands of up-to-date devices, and with the same functionality as WinXP SP9, I'll salute you guys again as I'm doing now.


(nothing facetious in this post - I really mean it)

[drasnor]

I honestly believe that CUPS is lightyears ahead of Windows Printer Sharing for getting the job done. Printers are shared using IPP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Printing_Protocol) and the printer drivers need not be loaded on the Windows machine. CUPS is configured by default to accept PostScript-formatted spools but can also have a queue created for the same printer that takes raw binary input (like from a Windows driver). The PostScript input is extremely useful for printers that aren't supported by Microsoft's latest and greatest OSes. For instance, I have queues set up for my Apple ImageWriter ][, Canon MultiPASS C3000, and HP DeskJet 530c on serial, parallel, and USB respectively. The Windows machines see them as network PostScript queues since the drivers for the first two expired with Windows 98 and the third is only supported by the built-in driver in Windows XP.

-drasnor :fold:

[kryyst]

If both machines can be on the network and reach the internet at the same time then make sure both are in the same network (192.168.1.x for example) and subnet mask (usually 255.255.255.0). Then they have the right setting and should be able to ping themselves. However there may be things preventing that from happening. If you have windows built in firewall running that will prevent other machines from pinging it. If you have a firewall installed on Fedora - same deal.

Now I'm not familiar with your linksys switch. If it's a switch though that means both machines are connecting to it, then the switch is going to a router to get you to the internet. That router may have some weirdness going on that is preventing it - but that would be abnormal.

As far as samba goes you need all the packages drasnor suggested to get going. But as far as getting it running - I'm not sure what steps Fedora does to configure them during the install. If it setups a basic samba share you should be able to then go into your file manager and share a folder which should be accessible from your windows box.

However before any of that you need to get your networking fixed so each machine can see each other. If you can ping each other then from the windows machine open a cmd prompt and do

net use j: \\ip of linux machine\share name. So if your linux box is 192.168.1.3 and the share name of the folder is Music the command would look like: j: \\192.168.1.3\Music . Remember that in linux caps are important so a folder named Music is different from music is different from MUSIC etc...

Once you issue that command it'll probably ask for the username/password of the person authorized to use that share. If it's working you'll now have a j: drive on your windows box which is the shared folder on your linux machine. This is just a one sided connection though it doesn't automatically make your linux machine see a share on your windows box.