Re: Linux Server, Please Help

• Previous message: Karsten M. Self: "Re: email signatures"
• In reply to: Bill Kalebaugh: "Linux Server, Please Help"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

To: Bill Kalebaugh <billk@lvnworth.com>
Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 16:19:51 -0700

Bill Kalebaugh <billk@lvnworth.com> writes:

> I want to change my Windows server to a Linux server but can not
> find out what programs to use or if it is possible.

There's no clean conversion tools, if that's what you're looking for.
You will need to get your hands dirty.

> I have goggled and looked at a lot of how-tos but I can not find out
> if I can set up a server to replace the proxy server I have now
> running windows-98, proxy+, and Sygate Personal Firewall.

You can do way better than that. Personal firewalls are mostly snake
oil, anyway.[1] I do, however, recommend ipmasq for your NAT firewall
and squid with adzapper set up to be a transparent proxy. Bonus
points if you can make yours peer with ircache.net, but I've never
succeeded in that.

> The proxy server is a Pentium 200Mhz with 32MB of ram with a 2GB
> hard drive hooked to a dial-up 56K modem. It feeds a LAN through a
> hub. On the LAN is a network printer, and other computers running,
> Windows 2000, Windows98, Linux-Debian and Linux-Suse8.2. All on the
> LAN have fixed IP addresses and the ISP is obtained automatically.

You'll have no problems, plenty of power. You might want more RAM, though.

> My ISP lets you have 6 different mail accounts, so I have two
> accounts and my wife has her one email address.

Fetchmail is good for that. You can run it as a system daemon and get
it with your system email, then.

> The proxy server will auto dial and get mail at a predetermined time
> frames form the ISP with out the other computers turned on. When I
> come up on a Linux computer I get my email and surf the web with
> Mozilla or my wife can come up on Windows2000 with Mozilla and will
> the do the same. We also surf at the at the same time.

ipmasq will let you do that. If you use pppd for your dialup, you can
set it up to do on-demand dialing, in which exim will spool your
outgoing mail and wait for a connection before sending to the
internet, and browsing to an outside network will cause PPP to dail
out. You might have to try again if you're offline when the
connection is down, and you really ought to try setting up a
transparent, adzapping squid proxy.

> Is there any free software out there for Linux-Debian that will let
> me do this.

Plenty. I suggest browsing the HOWTOs[2] when you're stumped,
particularly while you're new.

> Or do I have to stay with W-98 for a server.

Thank God, no!

> If any one can give me a list of software I need and briefly how to
> do it.

Well, everybody's needs vary. I've given you some ideas, feel free to
ask questions. Though ESR has written a good HOWTO[3] on what to do when
you're stumped.

Hope this all helps.

[1] http://www.samspade.org/d/firewalls.html
[2] http://ursine.ca/cgi-bin/dwww?type=file&location=/usr/share/doc/HOWTO/en-html/HOWTO-INDEX/howtos.html
[3] http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

-- 
Paul Johnson
<baloo@ursine.ca>

-- 
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org 
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org

• application/pgp-signature attachment: stored

• Previous message: Karsten M. Self: "Re: email signatures"
• In reply to: Bill Kalebaugh: "Linux Server, Please Help"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]