Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:09:51 +0300 From: Manolis Kiagias <sonicy@otenet.gr> To: James Phillips <anti_spam256@yahoo.ca> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, Neal Hogan <nealhogan@gmail.com> Subject: Re: FreeBSD for the common man(or woman) (was: > upgrade 7.2 Message-ID: <4A7B62BF.9050102@otenet.gr> In-Reply-To: <945518.43400.qm@web65507.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> References: <945518.43400.qm@web65507.mail.ac4.yahoo.com>
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James Phillips wrote: > Put another way: I want a reliable, backed-up file-server before playing around on my "workstation" that would be a separate computer. > > I want to build myself a "sand-box" so I don't have to worry about breaking stuff that is unrelated. > > Another way of asking the question: > > How much of a learning curve is configuring FreeBSD (for Samba, NFS, DVD burning (backups) expected to be? Am I reading too much because of a learning disability, or do I really need to read and understand that much detail? > > I have some experience with Dos/Windows, and Linux (mainly Debian based). > > > Windows experience won't help much - mainly due to the fact Windows forces the users (and admins) to a completely different way of thinking than FreeBSD. The various wizards abstract way too many parts of the system, to the point where you can configure services you don't really understand (i.e. a DNS server is a few clicks away and there are many 'recommended' defaults along the way). This is mostly not possible in FreeBSD. You do need some level of understanding before making a particular feature to work, though you are not expected to be an expert on the subject. The level of course varies with the feature (sendmail is orders of magnitude more difficult than NFS). Linux experience will definitely help. Watch out for Linux-specific docs and differences in commands. Getting on with your questions: NFS is part of the base system. It is easy to configure and works with Linux clients as well. Read section 29.3.2 here: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/network-nfs.html Samba is a port you can install from net/samba3. Some simple instructions are provided, section 29.9.2: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/network-samba.html The main settings file, smb.conf, can probably be used with little to no changes from a Linux machine (if you have one configured). Don't forget to use pdbedit to add samba users (this is documented in the handbook) For DVD burning (from the command line, I assume) use the sysutils/dvd+rw-tools port. If using an atapi burner, load the atapicam driver at startup by adding atapicam_load="YES" to /boot/loader.conf. This will create a /dev/cd0 from your /dev/acd0 device (it emulates a SCSI device). Then use the instructions in 18.7.3: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/creating-dvds.html You can definitely start testing these in a virtual machine or test system and come back with any questions. And take your time reading the docs and actually understanding the way the system works. This will make you a lot more confident.
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