linux box setup

[jacksplat]

hi, i'm thinking about running a linux box when i get back to school in the fall. this summer is my first time fooling around with linux so i don't know much about it. I got some info from a guy that ran 1 last year about how to hook up both a box and ur computer so they run on the same ip. he said he managed his box using ssh. my question about that is how would i set that up and how would i log onto my box using ssh? he did say that he ran openbsd and not linux...so if ssh is a openbsd thing and not a linux thing, whats the comparable thing for linux? Another uestion is where can i find/how would i set up NAT software on linux? also, i was planning on running apache web server on it too. i think i have it set up correctly cause i can run it and it says its running, my uestion here is do i just put the files i want to show up on the web in the apache folder? is screen the only way to run multiple programs at once on linux?

another line of questions is i am running win 98 and linux on this 1 machine right now. i have win98 on 1 hd and linux on a seperate, slave hd. I use lilo to boot between the 2. I am planning on buying some new stuff in the next month or so and taking out the win 98 hd and just leaving the linux hd in this machine as my linux box. am i going to have to make any modifications to either os to get them to run without each other? ie when i take out my win 98 hd and i boot it up in my new computer is lilo still going to load up even tho linux is no longer present? at teh same time will linux on the once slave hd boot up perfectly as is when i switch it to being the primary hd or am i going to have to reinstall linux? so many questions that i have been searching for the answers for all day.....thanks for any help

 

[jacksplat]

i found a webpage that discussed all teh different types of NAT's out there, and I think i've narrowed it down to 3 possibilites...Masquerading, port forwarding, or this IP Filter. i'm just looking for some advice on what might be the easiest, the most seccure, the best basically for my situation cause i can't decide since i really am new at this. the way i have this working in my head is i have my cat5 from the wall hooked in to 1 nic in my linux box, on my linux box i have this cs server and apache running. then i have another nic in the linux box that is connected to a switch then i have my other computer connected to the switch also. I've heard that i can take out the switch and just have the 2 computers directly connected by using a crossover wire. at school its a lan, and u can browse the lan, getting shares off of other computers, i'd like to still beable to do that and to beable to share stuff on my computer if i need to. also, my friend has a router because he has cable and it allows him to be on the computer and his dad to be on another computer at the same time. that router uses NAT and TCP/IP port inspection as a firewall. it sounds like the port forwarding option i talked about earlier because his router assigns each computer a different IP address and then u can forward ports to each computer. with his router, he has trouble doing direct connects on AIM and sending DCC's on IRC, and i don't want to have to deal with that trouble. so i guess pretty much i want this to act as if the linux box isn't there so i can use my regular computer as i would normally, but still have the linux box running a web server and a cs server. any ideas on how i would accomplish this or if this is even possible? thanks a bunch.

 

[MrTom]

well using the kernel netfilter masqeurading and iptables i enable basic NAT by adding one line to my firewall script.
it's very simple, but can take a while to understand. there are gaphical tools for X which help with this.
the reason why AIM DCC stuff may fail is that any incoming connections go to the linux box and you have to tell it what to do with such packets explicitly. this would just mean you have to find out what ports these connections are on. if you are using your switch for multiple computers then each of them wouldn't be able to run a different AIM without the DCC problems, but this is because of networking limitations, not OS. DCC will most likely be fine tho for DCC connections initiated by you.
i have basically an identical setup to what you describe. i also have a DHCP server running so i can plug any machine (even if someone brings round a laptop) in to the switch and it instantly has net access and isn't restricted to say ports 80 and 21.
as for the ssh stuff you needn't worry. OSs that are not MS based are designed to be able to communicate with eachother.
if you want to ssh to a unix machine from windoze look for a program called "putty".

if you want to see my firewall script i'll send it to you. it's really simple.

 

[jacksplat]

I'd be at school so i'd have a static ip on the lan that is assigned by mac address. a friend of mine told me to call up OIT at school and ask if i could have a 2nd IP, i guess it could make it easier to have 2 seperate ips but i don't know how i'd change that setup to allow the 2 IPs since I'd still ahve to run 2 computers off of 1 wall socket. since i haven't talked to oit yet i don't have to worry about that.

i would be trying to connect to my linux box from my windows computer, does it make it harder/easier since they would both be on 1 external IP? would I be assigning each computer their own IP behind the NAT?

yes, i think i would like to take a look at ur firewall software if nothing else to use as a guide.