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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Using PUPPY LINUX as a NAS server....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
I post this thread, as a followup to the "Windows updates now bricking laptops" thread. This is how I go about setting up a PUPPY LINUX server, which has been EXCEPTIONALLY stable over YEARS AND YEARS of 24/7/365 use. Most Linux users will scoff at that, saying that ANY Linux server is way better then Windoze server - and I would have to agree with that.  However, this PUPPY server uses a LIVE USB install, and does NOT require you to install any full Linux distro, and Puppy is a VERY small and efficient Linux distro. What I really love about it, is that cos it is a LIVE USB type Linux, you can upgrade the OS at any time you like, and NOT worry about upsetting the storage volumes. Blah, blah, blah..... I NEED TO POINT OUT at this stage, that while I love and adore Linux, I am still a Windoze user, and so my Linux lingo is somewhat limited/novice level. However, let's proceed..... PUPPY LINUX SERVER SETUP STEPS: (ver 1E) Install Puppy Linux: (use FriendlyBionic32 v19.03 ISO rc3 with VNC support) • Boot from USB flash drive, Insert destination USB flash disk • MENU/Setup/Puppy Installer/BootFlash USB Installer • Create grub4dos USB, FAT partition + grub4dos • Choose the blank USB drive, and follow prompts • Puppy will format the destination drive, copy Puppy to it and make it bootable • Click OK when window tells you it is finished • MENU/Exit/Reboot – DO NOT CREATE A SAVEFILE JUST YET! • Remove boot flash drive, leave install flash drive in place • After reboot, set HOSTNAME and TIMEZONE using the startup windows Configure network IP address to static: • Use Dougal’s Network Wizard/eth0/Static IP, Set a static IP address. • IF YOU WANT THE BOX TO HAVE INTERNET ACCESS: ◦ Specify a gateway – normally the broadband router IP address. ◦ Specify at least one DNS server – normally the broadband router IP address. Format and mount volumes. (if required) • Use ext4 format for all HDD volumes. • MENU/Filesystem/Pmount mount_unmount drives, set all drives to mount at boot Change root and SAMBA passwords for security: • Open a terminal, passwd root and proceed; smbpasswd -a root and proceed. Enable the x11vnc server for remote-desktop access: • MENU/Network/VNC-Server, Select run on every boot • Enter a password for the VNC connection Disable periodic save of the savefile: (once everything is setup, you don’t need to autosave) • MENU/System/Puppy Event Manager • Save Session tab, set Save Interval to zero(never) • Ensure there is NO TICK in ‘Ask at shutdown whether to save session or not’ Enable the SAMBA server: • MENU/Network/Samba Simple Management • Path to the shares should just be /mnt – you can access all drives from here • Leave the default workgroup as ‘Workgroup’ • Click the ‘SAMBA OFF’ button, which should turn green and change to ‘SAMBA ON’ • See the following page for details on NETBIOS and PUPPYSHARE Disable screen-saver and monitor power-off: (optional) • MENU/Desktop/pupX Set Properties of X/Screensaver tab – Untick ‘Enable screen saver’ Create a savefile and save the current configuration to it: • MENU/Exit/Reboot • When asked about a savefile, proceed, give it a name, 128MB is usually plenty Allow time for the savefile creation, then the system will reboot, saving all the settings to the savefile for the next time. When you reboot, everything should be as you left it, and there will be a SAVE icon on the desktop, which you can click at will to save the RAM and settings to the savefile whenever you want to, or if you change anything.(but a shutdown or reboot will update the savefile automatically also) NOTES FOR INSTALLING PUPPY: • In Puppy’s Simple Samba Management, the NETBIOS name is the name of the box as it will be seen on the network. If you set this to “PUPPY1”, then Windoze SHOULD see this in Network Neighbourhood as a computer called PUPPY1. The SHARENAME is the main path to the shares, so for example, if “PUPPYSHARE” is set as the sharename, then that is the name of the FOLDER that will be visible in Windoze as a shared item on the PUPPY1 machine. When you open THAT, you are linked to the Linux /mnt point in the Linux filesystem tree, and can then select any of the HDD’s that Linux can normally see such as sda1, sda2 etc as a folder reference. This is then mapped to a drive letter under Windoze. Ensure that the default workgroup name matches the workgroup name of your Windoze machines – normally just “Workgroup” • BOTH the netbios name AND the sharename cannot contain spaces, dashes or decimal points. “ARCHIVE1” is a valid name, “ARCHIVE ONE” or “ARCHIVE 1” are not. Setting a non-compliant name for either of these, will effectively make the server invisible to Windoze. • When you attempt to connect to the server under Windoze, you will be prompted for the username and password to connect, and this is root for the username(as Puppy does not really have users – you are always root) and the Samba password(smbpasswd) that you changed above. Once you enter those, Windoze SHOULD see the shares and away you go. • Puppy uses SAMBA2, so Windoze Ten should be able to “See” the server box on the LAN, whereas earlier systems such as NASlite2 used SAMBA1 and so are generally invisible to Windoze UNLESS you enable SAMBA1 in Windoze’s optional settings, as SAMBA1 support is disabled by default in Windoze Ten due to security risks. WINDOZE TEN ADDITIONAL INFO: Windoze – especially Windoze Ten – can be a right c**t with it’s LAN settings, and more often then not, Ten will simply refuse to see the new Linux boxes on the LAN in Network Neighbourhood, no matter WHAT you try – even though everything is setup correctly. You will be able to ping the box from the command prompt in Windoze Ten, but no amount of clicking or refreshing the network in Ten will show you the f**kin’ box you have just setup. This does indeed seem to be a Windoze specific issue, and fighting to find the new server box on the network via Windoze could, quite-rightly, drive you to drink. There is, however, an easier way to force Ten to see and use the Linux box shares. Use the IP address of the box when searching for the shares. 1. Open Windows Explorer file manager. 2. Click on THIS PC. 3. Click the COMPUTER menu(FILE|COMPUTER|VIEW|DRIVE TOOLS) 4. On the top task-bar, you should see a “Map network drive” icon – click that. 5. Make sure there is a tick in “Reconnect at sign-in” 6. Click on the FOLDER text-box. 7. Enter the IP address AND sharename to link to the shares. For example, lets assume that you have a Puppy Linux box setup on 192.168.1.200, and you have setup a netbios name of PUPPY1 and a sharename of FILES. To try to force Ten to see this share, you would enter the following into the text-box for Map Network Share: \\192.168.1.200\PUPPY1\FILES Now click on BROWSE... If Ten is willing to co-operate, first you will be asked for the username and password for that box, so enter root for the username, and the password that you changed on the box when you set it up. Make sure you put a tick in “Remember my credentials”. Assuming you don’t mistype, then you should be presented with a filesystem tree, starting at the Linux /mnt/ point. Click on sda1, and then click OK. Finally, back at the Map Network Drive window, click the FINISH button. If all is well in the world, Ten should now know about this share, and will automatically logon to it when you boot Windoze, and as you ticked “Remember my credentials”, then it should also automatically use your username and password to connect to the Linux box from this point forward. Be prepared to try more then once. As I said – Windoze Ten can be c**t with networking sometimes....... That pretty much covers it, but.....if anyone else wants to comment..... I should point out that this Puppy Linux NAS server arrangement has been trouble-free for YEARS now, so I do encourage any Windoze user reading this, to consider this as an option, as it it RELATIVELY easy to setup, and just works. Edited 2023-07-18 18:59 by Grogster Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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mikeb Senior Member  Joined: 10/04/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 173 |
Thanks Grogs. Much appreciated.  There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those that don't. |
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| greybeard Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 161 |
Another option is use Open Media Vault (OMV) dead simple to setup. |
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| scruss Regular Member  Joined: 20/09/2021 Location: CanadaPosts: 86 |
I'd be careful with that. The version you're recommending is a few years old, no longer receives security updates, and if it's anything like Puppy used to be, runs everything as root. |
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stanleyella Guru  Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2129 |
Interesting post...but what if you're unfamiliar with linux? me, I don't have a clue but have to use it with rpi400. there's other start up usb for messed up win if it will boot from anything when it's not working. |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
@ graybeard - Yes, there is OMV which is another good one to use. I think Chris over at Explaining Computers on YouTube has done videos on how to set that up. @ scruss - Agreed. I NEVER let my Puppy boxes see the internet, I just set them up with the static IP address. These instructions were copied/pasted from a document I wrote a while back now. @ stanleyella - I was(and still am, to some extent!) unfamiliar with Linux. That was one of the reasons I did the Puppy NAS box server idea. The motivation behind it, was to help teach myself how to setup a simple Linux system to do something useful like a NAS - so I could learn some Linux as part of the process of building and configuring the thing. The instructions I posted seem perhaps a little complicated and not exactly crystal clear, but they were written by me at the time, to remind me how I got the thing working so I could refer to this later on, but assuming you know enough about Puppy Linux to be able to boot it and find your way around.Would I build a Puppy Server again today? Hard to say, as OMV has got very, very good, and has a simple web interface, so the entire Puppy with VNC for remote-desktop support is probably not really needed with the web-based OMV. I must try OMV again. Perhaps I will setup a "Dummy" NAS with a spare HDD and the latest OMV and see how I get on. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
Hi Grogs, All, Are these ‘real’ NAS? I mean can you have 5 or 6 drives in raid5 or other similar formats? Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
No. You would have to install some RAID software under Puppy to manage the drives if you wanted to run a RAID array. I just mounted the HDD volumes separately, and pointed SAMBA to the /mnt point, then in Windoze, you can browse everything under /mnt, and thus, map to sda1, sdb1 etc... OMV supports software RAID so I understand. I have downloaded the latest stable OMV, and plan to have a bit of a tinker with it on a spare computer in the next week or two. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| athlon1900 Regular Member Joined: 10/10/2019 Location: AustriaPosts: 48 |
Hi @ all My favorite is Xigmanas. xigmanas.com It is based on Freebsd , can RAID , Samba , NFS and much more. Virtualization isn't a problem either. I love it. An Intel Atom330 and 2Gb Ram are sufficient if no virtualization is required. Check it out, it's freeware. Best regards Edited 2023-07-21 17:36 by athlon1900 |
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