From andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz Mon Apr 7 19:42:59 2008 From: andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz (Andy Elvey) Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:42:59 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] How to block "Reverse DNS" Message-ID: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> Hi all - good to see that there's a New Zealand FreeBSD user group... :) I have a security-related question. I've got pf up and running, no problems at all. I went to grc.com to test my setup with "Shields Up", and it passed the test. It did say, however, that my IP address and internet provider were visible. I've done some searching on the net, and I believe that the way to stop those from being visible is to block "reverse DNS lookups". So, just a couple of questions - a) Is that correct? b) If so, how can I do this (and would it have any nasty side-effects that I should be careful of)? Very many thanks in advance - bye for now - - Andy From drwaring at orcon.co.nz Mon Apr 7 21:28:27 2008 From: drwaring at orcon.co.nz (David Waring) Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 13:28:27 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help Message-ID: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Hi, I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home server for me to run ver 6.3 I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything suitable. Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. -- Regards David Waring -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/pipermail/nzfug-general/attachments/20080408/82284934/attachment.html From thompsa at FreeBSD.org Tue Apr 8 02:00:27 2008 From: thompsa at FreeBSD.org (Andrew Thompson) Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 18:00:27 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] How to block "Reverse DNS" In-Reply-To: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> References: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> Message-ID: <20080408060027.GC25488@citylink.fud.org.nz> On Tue, Apr 08, 2008 at 11:42:59AM +1200, Andy Elvey wrote: > Hi all - good to see that there's a New Zealand FreeBSD user group... :) > > I have a security-related question. I've got pf up and running, no > problems at all. I went to > grc.com to test my setup with "Shields Up", and it passed the test. It > did say, however, that > my IP address and internet provider were visible. > > I've done some searching on the net, and I believe that the way to stop > those from being visible > is to block "reverse DNS lookups". So, just a couple of questions - > > a) Is that correct? > b) If so, how can I do this (and would it have any nasty side-effects > that I should be careful of)? The reverse dns is handled by the ISP, there is nothing you can block at your end. whois will also tell you who owns a netblock. Its really a bogus warning by grc.com and I would ignore it. cheers, Andrew From andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz Tue Apr 8 03:19:41 2008 From: andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz (Andy Elvey) Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:19:41 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] (FYI) Re: Set up help In-Reply-To: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Message-ID: <47FB1C8D.5010001@paradise.net.nz> Hi all - I've sent David a blow-by-blow list of my install instructions (complete with a nice pf ruleset, with a.b.c.d. instead of the actual address of course... ). I am so impressed with Free (and so confident - I did several "test installs" on my 2nd PC before I committed my main one) that I'm sure things will go well ( Touch wood.... I am now touching my head... ;) It is testimony to how good Free is that I ( as a *newbie*) was able to get the GHC port working (it is officially "not supported" at present). I looked up the porter's handbook (it is excellent), had a look at the relevant files in /usr/ports/lang/ghc (the makefile etc ). Tweaked a couple of things there, then make makesum, make install clean, and it worked! Now *that* is nice..... ;) - Andy David Waring wrote: > > Hi, > > I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and > some things work but others don?t and I am struggling to put it all > together. > > What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home > server for me to run ver 6.3 > > I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can?t really afford to > continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. > > I have looked for commercial support but haven?t really found anything > suitable. > > Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. > > -- > > Regards > > David Waring > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > nzfug-general mailing list > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general > From andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz Tue Apr 8 03:29:37 2008 From: andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz (Andy Elvey) Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:29:37 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] How to block "Reverse DNS" In-Reply-To: <20080408060027.GC25488@citylink.fud.org.nz> References: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> <20080408060027.GC25488@citylink.fud.org.nz> Message-ID: <47FB1EE1.3030405@paradise.net.nz> Andrew Thompson wrote: > On Tue, Apr 08, 2008 at 11:42:59AM +1200, Andy Elvey wrote: > >> Hi all - good to see that there's a New Zealand FreeBSD user group... :) >> >> I have a security-related question. I've got pf up and running, no >> problems at all. I went to >> grc.com to test my setup with "Shields Up", and it passed the test. It >> did say, however, that >> my IP address and internet provider were visible. >> >> I've done some searching on the net, and I believe that the way to stop >> those from being visible >> is to block "reverse DNS lookups". So, just a couple of questions - >> >> a) Is that correct? >> b) If so, how can I do this (and would it have any nasty side-effects >> that I should be careful of)? >> > > The reverse dns is handled by the ISP, there is nothing you can block at > your end. whois will also tell you who owns a netblock. Its really a > bogus warning by grc.com and I would ignore it. > > > cheers, > Andrew > _____________________ Hi Andrew - thanks for this - That's fine! I sent off replies to the previous couple of people who replied to me, but forgot to cc the list... Anyway, my Free setup is running like a Spitfire at the moment... very nice..... :) Bye for now - - Andy From rawiri.blundell at ihug.co.nz Tue Apr 8 03:01:10 2008 From: rawiri.blundell at ihug.co.nz (Rawiri Blundell) Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 20:01:10 +1300 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Message-ID: <200804081901.10154.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> Hi David, my apologies for the question flood :-/ what are you wanting the home server to do, i.e. what is your end goal? Any particular reason for 6.3 over 7? And have you considered one of the other FreeBSD's like DeskopBSD and PC-BSD? Out of what you want to have working - What is working for you and what isn't? And for what isn't, are you getting any error messages or anything else that we might find useful? Hopefully with a clearer overall picture of where things are at we can help you out :) Cheers Rawiri On Tuesday 08 April 2008 13:28:27 David Waring wrote: > Hi, > > I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some > things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. > > > > What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home > server for me to run ver 6.3 > > I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to > continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. > > I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything > suitable. > > > > Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. > > > > -- > > Regards > > David Waring From rawiri.blundell at ihug.co.nz Tue Apr 8 02:48:49 2008 From: rawiri.blundell at ihug.co.nz (Rawiri Blundell) Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 19:48:49 +1300 Subject: [nzfug-general] How to block "Reverse DNS" In-Reply-To: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> References: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> Message-ID: <200804081848.50169.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> Hi Andy, this is my personal opinion - grc.com and its shields up tool should only be taken as a guideline, not the gospel of security best practices. In fact, I think you should have a big grain of salt handy whenever you use any such tools. IP address visible, eh? Steve Gibson is wetting his undies as we speak! :D Which IP - your internal LAN one or your external WAN one? If it's your WAN IP, well, there are internet RFC's that state that any device on the internet *should* respond to ping, yet thanks to sites like grc.com spreading the nonsense idea that ICMP == evil, people now have it in their heads that responding to ping is a massive security flaw (which it isn't), then they take their systems out of spec. Which of course makes things just grand for sysadmins like me trying to do network diagnostics. ICMP isn't evil in and of itself, and there is no reason why you can't be ping-responsive and secure (read: having your cake and eating it.) With that in mind, your goal should not be to eliminate ICMP entirely, but instead lock it down using: icmp_types="echoreq" the corresponding ipv6 rule would be something like: ipv6-icmp-types="echoreq" (or, 'pass in inet proto icmp icmp-type 8 code 0 keep state' and 'pass in inet6 proto icmpv6 icmpv6-icmp-type 8 code 0 keep state' respectively, I think - this is all off the top of my head) All going well, that's it! If your internal IP is visible, however, you'll probably want to throw in NAT, depending on your setup. Also, you can grab the book 'Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF' quite cheaply if you look around (fishpond.co.nz has it at $107, a bit more than the $35 I paid on tardme), it's and immensely handy reference. You might also find it at your local library. *mumbles* Or you could throw the title straight into google and see if you get any pdf results *mumbles* Hope that helps, in some random way. Of course I'm guessing as to what specific results shields up gave you and basing advice on that guess, if you can get back to us with the exact text that grc gave you, then I/we can adjust to suit. Rawiri On Tuesday 08 April 2008 11:42:59 Andy Elvey wrote: > Hi all - good to see that there's a New Zealand FreeBSD user group... :) > > I have a security-related question. I've got pf up and running, no > problems at all. I went to > grc.com to test my setup with "Shields Up", and it passed the test. It > did say, however, that > my IP address and internet provider were visible. > > I've done some searching on the net, and I believe that the way to stop > those from being visible > is to block "reverse DNS lookups". So, just a couple of questions - > > a) Is that correct? > b) If so, how can I do this (and would it have any nasty side-effects > that I should be careful of)? > > Very many thanks in advance - bye for now - > - Andy > > > _______________________________________________ > nzfug-general mailing list > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general From matt at p00le.net Tue Apr 8 03:15:24 2008 From: matt at p00le.net (Matthew Poole) Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 19:15:24 +1200 (NZST) Subject: [nzfug-general] How to block "Reverse DNS" In-Reply-To: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> References: <47FAB183.5090701@paradise.net.nz> Message-ID: On Tue, 8 Apr 2008, Andy Elvey wrote: > did say, however, that my IP address and internet provider were > visible. > Yes, and? This isn't scary or anything. Every time you send an email people can find out who your ISP is and what your IP address is. > I've done some searching on the net, and I believe that the way to stop > those from being visible > is to block "reverse DNS lookups". So, just a couple of questions - > > a) Is that correct? No, not really. Even if there's no reverse DNS the IP address is still visible and there's absolutely no way to prevent that. You can mask the address, to come from somewhere else (by using a proxy), but there's no way to stop every host you connect to from seeing an IP address of some kind. > b) If so, how can I do this (and would it have any nasty side-effects > that I should be careful of)? > The only way to reliably mask your IP address is to use either an anonymous proxy, and there aren't too many of them around anymore, or to use The Onion Router. TOR is in ports, and is relatively easy to install. You can also get an AddOn for Firefox called Tor Button, which enables/disables using TOR with a mouse click. As Andrew said, grc.com is giving you a false positive. Also, if you read the full text of the message, it doesn't actually say it's something you can do anything about. -- Matthew Poole "Don't use force. Get a bigger hammer." From drwaring at orcon.co.nz Wed Apr 9 17:49:35 2008 From: drwaring at orcon.co.nz (David Waring) Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:49:35 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <200804081901.10154.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <200804081901.10154.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> Message-ID: <000801c89a8b$9a612ad0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Hi All, Here is some background for everyone. Sorry for the length of the diatribe. The home server is mainly a file and print server to centrally manage the individual work my wife and I both do. My wife's work involves a lot of text documents usually of the word variety. She does document transcription using digital dictation. We store the finished files as clients tend to lose them. My work involves a reasonable amount of text docs as well as a lot of diagramming. Mostly Business Process Mapping. Therefore central management and backups are important. We both use windows XP on our respective laptops. Both of us work in a windows world. I use some proprietary software that only runs on windows. Therefore I haven't seriously considered changing the OS on my laptop nor am I smart enough to get involved with virtual machines. Altough I won't rule anything out. I would like to include a proxy server and better firewall than currently used. (I think). I thought I would also like my own email server. The machine used to run Windows 2000 server and it sort of ran OK although I was never sure how much of the problems were OS related and how much was user related. As you can tell I am not from and IT background. I am a Foundryman by birth that has spent most of his working life fixing business processes. During this time I got involved with IT work as it related to what I needed to get done. This sparked the interest in non windows OSes. This explains the desire for FreeBSD. I have a copy of 6.3 and don't have 7 which explains that one. If someone says 7 will suit better I a happy to get that. I have a copy of PCBSD and was playing with that for a while then needed the machine for something else. Also PCBSD is more for workstations I understood and at present that is really the laptop with XP I do have a PC with Ubuntu 7.1 on it which I have been playing with. That was fairly easy to set up as a workstation but I still have this problem with the process mapping software I use being only windows compatible. I also needed to change the Ubuntu PC back to Win 2000 as a temporary file server whilst converting the real one. What is working is 6.3 is running. KDE will load although it complains about the sound card which I never use so I ignore that. I get complaining messages when attempting some things using KDE as it won't let me log in as root other than at the terminal emulator using su. SAMBA is running but there is something wrong with my access permissions as I can see the SAMBA server from the XP machine but cannot connect. Sendmail is not running. I have a separate Dynalink router/modem/switch which is the DHCP server. It may be better to use FreeBSD for routing and DHCP server. I am open to suggestions. You can see from this there are probably more questions than answers. I do refer to the manual but often it gets lost in the translation. Thanks David. -----Original Message----- From: nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org [mailto:nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Rawiri Blundell Sent: Tuesday, 8 April 2008 7:01 p.m. To: nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org Subject: Re: [nzfug-general] Set up help Hi David, my apologies for the question flood :-/ what are you wanting the home server to do, i.e. what is your end goal? Any particular reason for 6.3 over 7? And have you considered one of the other FreeBSD's like DeskopBSD and PC-BSD? Out of what you want to have working - What is working for you and what isn't? And for what isn't, are you getting any error messages or anything else that we might find useful? Hopefully with a clearer overall picture of where things are at we can help you out :) Cheers Rawiri On Tuesday 08 April 2008 13:28:27 David Waring wrote: > Hi, > > I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some > things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. > > > > What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home > server for me to run ver 6.3 > > I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to > continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. > > I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything > suitable. > > > > Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. > > > > -- > > Regards > > David Waring _______________________________________________ nzfug-general mailing list nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general From andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz Wed Apr 9 18:50:56 2008 From: andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz (Andy Elvey) Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:50:56 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <000801c89a8b$9a612ad0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <200804081901.10154.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> <000801c89a8b$9a612ad0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Message-ID: <47FD4850.80207@paradise.net.nz> Hi David - I thought I'd mention a company that I've just come across while doing some searching on FreeBSD support. They are called "Catalyst I.T." - here's the page that I found them on - http://www.opensourcexperts.com/Index/Companies/FreeBSD/A113481037189.html Email - info (at) catalyst (dot) net (dot) nz Ph. 04-499-2267 Level 2, 150 Willis St, Wellington. Their blurb says "Management or hosting of FreeBSD systems, or development of software to operate on FreeBSD." Anyway, just thought I'd mention them... I've heard of them before, but I didn't know they worked with FreeBSD! - Andy David Waring wrote: > Hi All, > > Here is some background for everyone. Sorry for the length of the diatribe. > > The home server is mainly a file and print server to centrally manage the > individual work my wife and I both do. > My wife's work involves a lot of text documents usually of the word variety. > She does document transcription using digital dictation. We store the > finished files as clients tend to lose them. > My work involves a reasonable amount of text docs as well as a lot of > diagramming. Mostly Business Process Mapping. > Therefore central management and backups are important. > > We both use windows XP on our respective laptops. Both of us work in a > windows world. I use some proprietary software that only runs on windows. > Therefore I haven't seriously considered changing the OS on my laptop nor am > I smart enough to get involved with virtual machines. Altough I won't rule > anything out. > > I would like to include a proxy server and better firewall than currently > used. (I think). > > I thought I would also like my own email server. > > The machine used to run Windows 2000 server and it sort of ran OK although I > was never sure how much of the problems were OS related and how much was > user related. > As you can tell I am not from and IT background. I am a Foundryman by birth > that has spent most of his working life fixing business processes. During > this time I got involved with IT work as it related to what I needed to get > done. This sparked the interest in non windows OSes. This explains the > desire for FreeBSD. > > I have a copy of 6.3 and don't have 7 which explains that one. If someone > says 7 will suit better I a happy to get that. > > I have a copy of PCBSD and was playing with that for a while then needed the > machine for something else. Also PCBSD is more for workstations I > understood and at present that is really the laptop with XP > I do have a PC with Ubuntu 7.1 on it which I have been playing with. That > was fairly easy to set up as a workstation but I still have this problem > with the process mapping software I use being only windows compatible. > I also needed to change the Ubuntu PC back to Win 2000 as a temporary file > server whilst converting the real one. > > What is working is 6.3 is running. > KDE will load although it complains about the sound card which I never use > so I ignore that. > I get complaining messages when attempting some things using KDE as it won't > let me log in as root other than at the terminal emulator using su. > SAMBA is running but there is something wrong with my access permissions as > I can see the SAMBA server from the XP machine but cannot connect. > > Sendmail is not running. > > I have a separate Dynalink router/modem/switch which is the DHCP server. It > may be better to use FreeBSD for routing and DHCP server. I am open to > suggestions. > > You can see from this there are probably more questions than answers. > I do refer to the manual but often it gets lost in the translation. > > Thanks > > David. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org > [mailto:nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Rawiri > Blundell > Sent: Tuesday, 8 April 2008 7:01 p.m. > To: nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > Subject: Re: [nzfug-general] Set up help > > Hi David, > my apologies for the question flood :-/ > > what are you wanting the home server to do, i.e. what is your end goal? Any > > particular reason for 6.3 over 7? And have you considered one of the other > FreeBSD's like DeskopBSD and PC-BSD? > > Out of what you want to have working - What is working for you and what > isn't? > And for what isn't, are you getting any error messages or anything else that > > we might find useful? > > Hopefully with a clearer overall picture of where things are at we can help > you out :) > > Cheers > > Rawiri > > On Tuesday 08 April 2008 13:28:27 David Waring wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some >> things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. >> >> >> >> What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home >> server for me to run ver 6.3 >> >> I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to >> continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. >> >> I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything >> suitable. >> >> >> >> Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Regards >> >> David Waring >> > > > _______________________________________________ > nzfug-general mailing list > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general > > _______________________________________________ > nzfug-general mailing list > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general > > From rawiri.blundell at ihug.co.nz Thu Apr 10 02:54:38 2008 From: rawiri.blundell at ihug.co.nz (Rawiri Blundell) Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:54:38 +1300 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <47FD4850.80207@paradise.net.nz> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <000801c89a8b$9a612ad0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <47FD4850.80207@paradise.net.nz> Message-ID: <200804101854.38679.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> I will also recommend Catalyst. They are *the* premier open source company in NZ, even though I lost a mentor/colleague to them recently :( I'd recommend you switch to either PC-BSD or DesktopBSD. Don't think of them in the linux "distribution" sense; they're not what ubuntu is to debian, they ARE FreeBSD, just pre-packaged with everything all setup and ready to go. It saves you a lot of hassle, and they can run fine as servers. I'm not the person to ask which to go for, PC-BSD rubs me the wrong way so I've got a DesktopBSD bias. You'll have to make your own choice there. One of the best strengths of FreeBSD is its documentation, so check out the handbook for any topics you deem necessarily relevant: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/index.html Check out the freebsd diary too http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=site%3Afreebsddiary.org&btnG=Search&meta= (hint: in the search bar, keep 'site:freebsddiary.org' and throw in your own keywords afterwards, e.g. 'site:freebsddiary.org email server') I'm just going to throw a few keywords out there now: Proxy server: Squid Firewall: pf For your Dynalink router, I'd leave routing and ISP auth there to keep things simple. You could seperate the above three out into a dedicated m0nowall/pfsense box to simplify things. Printing: CUPS (hint: http://localhost:631/ ) Email: Ignore Sendmail and install Postfix. Sendmail is the more correct way to do things, Postfix is a lot easier, hence it's more popular and has plenty at the better end of a google. You might also like to investigate Zimbra. Samba: have you got anything in /var/log/samba? Two "if you don't mind my asking" questions: 1) What's your current backup strategy? 2) What's the business process mapping software that you're using? Rawiri On Thursday 10 April 2008 10:50:56 Andy Elvey wrote: > Hi David - > > I thought I'd mention a company that I've just come across while doing > some searching on FreeBSD support. > > They are called "Catalyst I.T." - here's the page that I found them on - > http://www.opensourcexperts.com/Index/Companies/FreeBSD/A113481037189.html > > Email - info (at) catalyst (dot) net (dot) nz > Ph. 04-499-2267 > Level 2, 150 Willis St, Wellington. > > Their blurb says "Management or hosting of FreeBSD systems, or > development of software to operate on FreeBSD." > Anyway, just thought I'd mention them... I've heard of them before, but > I didn't know they worked with FreeBSD! > - Andy > > David Waring wrote: > > Hi All, > > > > Here is some background for everyone. Sorry for the length of the > > diatribe. > > > > The home server is mainly a file and print server to centrally manage the > > individual work my wife and I both do. > > My wife's work involves a lot of text documents usually of the word > > variety. She does document transcription using digital dictation. We > > store the finished files as clients tend to lose them. > > My work involves a reasonable amount of text docs as well as a lot of > > diagramming. Mostly Business Process Mapping. > > Therefore central management and backups are important. > > > > We both use windows XP on our respective laptops. Both of us work in a > > windows world. I use some proprietary software that only runs on > > windows. Therefore I haven't seriously considered changing the OS on my > > laptop nor am I smart enough to get involved with virtual machines. > > Altough I won't rule anything out. > > > > I would like to include a proxy server and better firewall than currently > > used. (I think). > > > > I thought I would also like my own email server. > > > > The machine used to run Windows 2000 server and it sort of ran OK > > although I was never sure how much of the problems were OS related and > > how much was user related. > > As you can tell I am not from and IT background. I am a Foundryman by > > birth that has spent most of his working life fixing business processes. > > During this time I got involved with IT work as it related to what I > > needed to get done. This sparked the interest in non windows OSes. This > > explains the desire for FreeBSD. > > > > I have a copy of 6.3 and don't have 7 which explains that one. If > > someone says 7 will suit better I a happy to get that. > > > > I have a copy of PCBSD and was playing with that for a while then needed > > the machine for something else. Also PCBSD is more for workstations I > > understood and at present that is really the laptop with XP > > I do have a PC with Ubuntu 7.1 on it which I have been playing with. > > That was fairly easy to set up as a workstation but I still have this > > problem with the process mapping software I use being only windows > > compatible. I also needed to change the Ubuntu PC back to Win 2000 as a > > temporary file server whilst converting the real one. > > > > What is working is 6.3 is running. > > KDE will load although it complains about the sound card which I never > > use so I ignore that. > > I get complaining messages when attempting some things using KDE as it > > won't let me log in as root other than at the terminal emulator using su. > > SAMBA is running but there is something wrong with my access permissions > > as I can see the SAMBA server from the XP machine but cannot connect. > > > > Sendmail is not running. > > > > I have a separate Dynalink router/modem/switch which is the DHCP server. > > It may be better to use FreeBSD for routing and DHCP server. I am open > > to suggestions. > > > > You can see from this there are probably more questions than answers. > > I do refer to the manual but often it gets lost in the translation. > > > > Thanks > > > > David. > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org > > [mailto:nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Rawiri > > Blundell > > Sent: Tuesday, 8 April 2008 7:01 p.m. > > To: nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > > Subject: Re: [nzfug-general] Set up help > > > > Hi David, > > my apologies for the question flood :-/ > > > > what are you wanting the home server to do, i.e. what is your end goal? > > Any > > > > particular reason for 6.3 over 7? And have you considered one of the > > other FreeBSD's like DeskopBSD and PC-BSD? > > > > Out of what you want to have working - What is working for you and what > > isn't? > > And for what isn't, are you getting any error messages or anything else > > that > > > > we might find useful? > > > > Hopefully with a clearer overall picture of where things are at we can > > help you out :) > > > > Cheers > > > > Rawiri > > > > On Tuesday 08 April 2008 13:28:27 David Waring wrote: > >> Hi, > >> > >> I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some > >> things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. > >> > >> > >> > >> What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home > >> server for me to run ver 6.3 > >> > >> I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to > >> continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. > >> > >> I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything > >> suitable. > >> > >> > >> > >> Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> > >> Regards > >> > >> David Waring > > > > _______________________________________________ > > nzfug-general mailing list > > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general > > > > _______________________________________________ > > nzfug-general mailing list > > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general > > _______________________________________________ > nzfug-general mailing list > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general From fkw at paradise.net.nz Thu Apr 10 04:33:16 2008 From: fkw at paradise.net.nz (Graeme Kiyoto-Ward) Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:33:16 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <200804101854.38679.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <000801c89a8b$9a612ad0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <47FD4850.80207@paradise.net.nz> <200804101854.38679.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> Message-ID: <47FDD0CC.5040401@paradise.net.nz> Hi I have used PCBSD for a while - current version (1.5) seems to have problems detecting NVIDIA hardware (seem to have NVIDIA network hardware on my PC) otherwise would recommend it. Very easy install. 1.4 is quite recent and usable though. Once it's installed treat it just like FreeBSD (the FreeBSD handbook and any other book you may have are relevant) except the X window system is set up for you. Have tried DesktopBSD in the past and from what I remember it's the same. Only reason I use PCBSD is some of the install packages (called pbi) are quite nice - I must admit, for some reason I like the IE 6.0 under wine package (not for the performance of the browser mind). There aren't any PBI for servers that I can see however. Regards Graeme Kiyoto-Ward Rawiri Blundell wrote: > I will also recommend Catalyst. They are *the* premier open source company in > NZ, even though I lost a mentor/colleague to them recently :( > > I'd recommend you switch to either PC-BSD or DesktopBSD. Don't think of them > in the linux "distribution" sense; they're not what ubuntu is to debian, they > ARE FreeBSD, just pre-packaged with everything all setup and ready to go. It > saves you a lot of hassle, and they can run fine as servers. > > I'm not the person to ask which to go for, PC-BSD rubs me the wrong way so > I've got a DesktopBSD bias. You'll have to make your own choice there. > > One of the best strengths of FreeBSD is its documentation, so check out the > handbook for any topics you deem necessarily relevant: > http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/index.html > > Check out the freebsd diary too > http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=site%3Afreebsddiary.org&btnG=Search&meta= > > (hint: in the search bar, keep 'site:freebsddiary.org' and throw in your own > keywords afterwards, e.g. 'site:freebsddiary.org email server') > > I'm just going to throw a few keywords out there now: > > Proxy server: Squid > > Firewall: pf > > For your Dynalink router, I'd leave routing and ISP auth there to keep things > simple. > > You could seperate the above three out into a dedicated m0nowall/pfsense box > to simplify things. > > Printing: CUPS (hint: http://localhost:631/ ) > > Email: Ignore Sendmail and install Postfix. Sendmail is the more correct way > to do things, Postfix is a lot easier, hence it's more popular and has plenty > at the better end of a google. You might also like to investigate Zimbra. > > Samba: have you got anything in /var/log/samba? > > Two "if you don't mind my asking" questions: > 1) What's your current backup strategy? > 2) What's the business process mapping software that you're using? > > Rawiri > > On Thursday 10 April 2008 10:50:56 Andy Elvey wrote: > >> Hi David - >> >> I thought I'd mention a company that I've just come across while doing >> some searching on FreeBSD support. >> >> They are called "Catalyst I.T." - here's the page that I found them on - >> http://www.opensourcexperts.com/Index/Companies/FreeBSD/A113481037189.html >> >> Email - info (at) catalyst (dot) net (dot) nz >> Ph. 04-499-2267 >> Level 2, 150 Willis St, Wellington. >> >> Their blurb says "Management or hosting of FreeBSD systems, or >> development of software to operate on FreeBSD." >> Anyway, just thought I'd mention them... I've heard of them before, but >> I didn't know they worked with FreeBSD! >> - Andy >> >> David Waring wrote: >> >>> Hi All, >>> >>> Here is some background for everyone. Sorry for the length of the >>> diatribe. >>> >>> The home server is mainly a file and print server to centrally manage the >>> individual work my wife and I both do. >>> My wife's work involves a lot of text documents usually of the word >>> variety. She does document transcription using digital dictation. We >>> store the finished files as clients tend to lose them. >>> My work involves a reasonable amount of text docs as well as a lot of >>> diagramming. Mostly Business Process Mapping. >>> Therefore central management and backups are important. >>> >>> We both use windows XP on our respective laptops. Both of us work in a >>> windows world. I use some proprietary software that only runs on >>> windows. Therefore I haven't seriously considered changing the OS on my >>> laptop nor am I smart enough to get involved with virtual machines. >>> Altough I won't rule anything out. >>> >>> I would like to include a proxy server and better firewall than currently >>> used. (I think). >>> >>> I thought I would also like my own email server. >>> >>> The machine used to run Windows 2000 server and it sort of ran OK >>> although I was never sure how much of the problems were OS related and >>> how much was user related. >>> As you can tell I am not from and IT background. I am a Foundryman by >>> birth that has spent most of his working life fixing business processes. >>> During this time I got involved with IT work as it related to what I >>> needed to get done. This sparked the interest in non windows OSes. This >>> explains the desire for FreeBSD. >>> >>> I have a copy of 6.3 and don't have 7 which explains that one. If >>> someone says 7 will suit better I a happy to get that. >>> >>> I have a copy of PCBSD and was playing with that for a while then needed >>> the machine for something else. Also PCBSD is more for workstations I >>> understood and at present that is really the laptop with XP >>> I do have a PC with Ubuntu 7.1 on it which I have been playing with. >>> That was fairly easy to set up as a workstation but I still have this >>> problem with the process mapping software I use being only windows >>> compatible. I also needed to change the Ubuntu PC back to Win 2000 as a >>> temporary file server whilst converting the real one. >>> >>> What is working is 6.3 is running. >>> KDE will load although it complains about the sound card which I never >>> use so I ignore that. >>> I get complaining messages when attempting some things using KDE as it >>> won't let me log in as root other than at the terminal emulator using su. >>> SAMBA is running but there is something wrong with my access permissions >>> as I can see the SAMBA server from the XP machine but cannot connect. >>> >>> Sendmail is not running. >>> >>> I have a separate Dynalink router/modem/switch which is the DHCP server. >>> It may be better to use FreeBSD for routing and DHCP server. I am open >>> to suggestions. >>> >>> You can see from this there are probably more questions than answers. >>> I do refer to the manual but often it gets lost in the translation. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> David. >>> >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org >>> [mailto:nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Rawiri >>> Blundell >>> Sent: Tuesday, 8 April 2008 7:01 p.m. >>> To: nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org >>> Subject: Re: [nzfug-general] Set up help >>> >>> Hi David, >>> my apologies for the question flood :-/ >>> >>> what are you wanting the home server to do, i.e. what is your end goal? >>> Any >>> >>> particular reason for 6.3 over 7? And have you considered one of the >>> other FreeBSD's like DeskopBSD and PC-BSD? >>> >>> Out of what you want to have working - What is working for you and what >>> isn't? >>> And for what isn't, are you getting any error messages or anything else >>> that >>> >>> we might find useful? >>> >>> Hopefully with a clearer overall picture of where things are at we can >>> help you out :) >>> >>> Cheers >>> >>> Rawiri >>> >>> On Tuesday 08 April 2008 13:28:27 David Waring wrote: >>> >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some >>>> things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home >>>> server for me to run ver 6.3 >>>> >>>> I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to >>>> continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. >>>> >>>> I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything >>>> suitable. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> Regards >>>> >>>> David Waring >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> nzfug-general mailing list >>> nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org >>> http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> nzfug-general mailing list >>> nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org >>> http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> nzfug-general mailing list >> nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org >> http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general >> > > > _______________________________________________ > nzfug-general mailing list > nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org > http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general > > > From david at ingleycorp.com Tue Apr 8 22:22:29 2008 From: david at ingleycorp.com (David Waring) Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 14:22:29 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <200804081901.10154.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <200804081901.10154.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> Message-ID: <001c01c899e8$8f59f980$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Hi All, Here is some background for everyone. Sorry for the length of the diatribe. The home server is mainly a file and print server to centrally manage the individual work my wife and I both do. My wife's work involves a lot of text documents usually of the word variety. She does document transcription using digital dictation. We store the finished files as clients tend to lose them. My work involves a reasonable amount of text docs as well as a lot of diagramming. Mostly Business Process Mapping. Therefore central management and backups are important. We both use windows XP on our respective laptops. Both of us work in a windows world. I use some proprietary software that only runs on windows. Therefore I haven't seriously considered changing the OS on my laptop nor am I smart enough to get involved with virtual machines. Altough I won't rule anything out. I would like to include a proxy server and better firewall than currently used. (I think). I thought I would also like my own email server. The machine used to run Windows 2000 server and it sort of ran OK although I was never sure how much of the problems were OS related and how much was user related. As you can tell I am not from and IT background. I am a Foundryman by birth that has spent most of his working life fixing business processes. During this time I got involved with IT work as it related to what I needed to get done. This sparked the interest in non windows OSes. This explains the desire for FreeBSD. I have a copy of 6.3 and don't have 7 which explains that one. If someone says 7 will suit better I a happy to get that. I have a copy of PCBSD and was playing with that for a while then needed the machine for something else. Also PCBSD is more for workstations I understood and at present that is really the laptop with XP I do have a PC with Ubuntu 7.1 on it which I have been playing with. That was fairly easy to set up as a workstation but I still have this problem with the process mapping software I use being only windows compatible. I also needed to change the Ubuntu PC back to Win 2000 as a temporary file server whilst converting the real one. What is working is 6.3 is running. KDE will load although it complains about the sound card which I never use so I ignore that. I get complaining messages when attempting some things using KDE as it won't let me log in as root other than at the terminal emulator using su. SAMBA is running but there is something wrong with my access permissions as I can see the SAMBA server from the XP machine but cannot connect. Sendmail is not running. I have a separate Dynalink router/modem/switch which is the DHCP server. It may be better to use FreeBSD for routing and DHCP server. I am open to suggestions. You can see from this there are probably more questions than answers. I do refer to the manual but often it gets lost in the translation. Thanks David. -----Original Message----- From: nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org [mailto:nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Rawiri Blundell Sent: Tuesday, 8 April 2008 7:01 p.m. To: nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org Subject: Re: [nzfug-general] Set up help Hi David, my apologies for the question flood :-/ what are you wanting the home server to do, i.e. what is your end goal? Any particular reason for 6.3 over 7? And have you considered one of the other FreeBSD's like DeskopBSD and PC-BSD? Out of what you want to have working - What is working for you and what isn't? And for what isn't, are you getting any error messages or anything else that we might find useful? Hopefully with a clearer overall picture of where things are at we can help you out :) Cheers Rawiri On Tuesday 08 April 2008 13:28:27 David Waring wrote: > Hi, > > I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some > things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. > > > > What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home > server for me to run ver 6.3 > > I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to > continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. > > I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything > suitable. > > > > Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. > > > > -- > > Regards > > David Waring _______________________________________________ nzfug-general mailing list nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general From david at ingleycorp.com Wed Apr 9 17:51:33 2008 From: david at ingleycorp.com (David Waring) Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:51:33 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] FW: Set up help Message-ID: <000901c89a8b$e0c72ba0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Hi All, Here is some background for everyone. Sorry for the length of the diatribe. The home server is mainly a file and print server to centrally manage the individual work my wife and I both do. My wife's work involves a lot of text documents usually of the word variety. She does document transcription using digital dictation. We store the finished files as clients tend to lose them. My work involves a reasonable amount of text docs as well as a lot of diagramming. Mostly Business Process Mapping. Therefore central management and backups are important. We both use windows XP on our respective laptops. Both of us work in a windows world. I use some proprietary software that only runs on windows. Therefore I haven't seriously considered changing the OS on my laptop nor am I smart enough to get involved with virtual machines. Altough I won't rule anything out. I would like to include a proxy server and better firewall than currently used. (I think). I thought I would also like my own email server. The machine used to run Windows 2000 server and it sort of ran OK although I was never sure how much of the problems were OS related and how much was user related. As you can tell I am not from and IT background. I am a Foundryman by birth that has spent most of his working life fixing business processes. During this time I got involved with IT work as it related to what I needed to get done. This sparked the interest in non windows OSes. This explains the desire for FreeBSD. I have a copy of 6.3 and don't have 7 which explains that one. If someone says 7 will suit better I a happy to get that. I have a copy of PCBSD and was playing with that for a while then needed the machine for something else. Also PCBSD is more for workstations I understood and at present that is really the laptop with XP I do have a PC with Ubuntu 7.1 on it which I have been playing with. That was fairly easy to set up as a workstation but I still have this problem with the process mapping software I use being only windows compatible. I also needed to change the Ubuntu PC back to Win 2000 as a temporary file server whilst converting the real one. What is working is 6.3 is running. KDE will load although it complains about the sound card which I never use so I ignore that. I get complaining messages when attempting some things using KDE as it won't let me log in as root other than at the terminal emulator using su. SAMBA is running but there is something wrong with my access permissions as I can see the SAMBA server from the XP machine but cannot connect. Sendmail is not running. I have a separate Dynalink router/modem/switch which is the DHCP server. It may be better to use FreeBSD for routing and DHCP server. I am open to suggestions. You can see from this there are probably more questions than answers. I do refer to the manual but often it gets lost in the translation. Thanks David. -----Original Message----- From: nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org [mailto:nzfug-general-bounces at lists.nz.freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Rawiri Blundell Sent: Tuesday, 8 April 2008 7:01 p.m. To: nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org Subject: Re: [nzfug-general] Set up help Hi David, my apologies for the question flood :-/ what are you wanting the home server to do, i.e. what is your end goal? Any particular reason for 6.3 over 7? And have you considered one of the other FreeBSD's like DeskopBSD and PC-BSD? Out of what you want to have working - What is working for you and what isn't? And for what isn't, are you getting any error messages or anything else that we might find useful? Hopefully with a clearer overall picture of where things are at we can help you out :) Cheers Rawiri On Tuesday 08 April 2008 13:28:27 David Waring wrote: > Hi, > > I have got to the point where my brain hurts. The OS is loaded and some > things work but others don't and I am struggling to put it all together. > > > > What I really need is an experienced someone willing to set up a home > server for me to run ver 6.3 > > I am willing to pay for this persons time. I can't really afford to > continue playing on my own. I am supposed to be working. > > I have looked for commercial support but haven't really found anything > suitable. > > > > Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. > > > > -- > > Regards > > David Waring _______________________________________________ nzfug-general mailing list nzfug-general at lists.nz.freebsd.org http://lists.nz.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/nzfug-general From david at ingleycorp.com Sat Apr 12 02:13:11 2008 From: david at ingleycorp.com (David Waring) Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:13:11 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <200804101854.38679.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne><000801c89a8b$9a612ad0$0401a8c0@MobileOne><47FD4850.80207@paradise.net.nz> <200804101854.38679.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> Message-ID: <000001c89c64$494a06f0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Hi All, Decided to reinstall and clean out earlier messes. I changed the way KDE is started in line with Andy's suggestion so that it doesn't default on. Reinstalled Samba and the initial set up is working in that I can see my home directory on the FreeBSD box. Still need to set up printers and some specific directories for work related stuff. Printers, Mail, firewall, backup, move work data, other users to go. Sounds easy..... David -----Original Message----- Samba: have you got anything in /var/log/samba? From andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz Fri Apr 11 15:32:43 2008 From: andy.elvey at paradise.net.nz (Andy Elvey) Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:32:43 +1200 Subject: [nzfug-general] Set up help In-Reply-To: <000001c89c64$494a06f0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> References: <000301c89917$d8ceace0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <000801c89a8b$9a612ad0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> <47FD4850.80207@paradise.net.nz> <200804101854.38679.rawiri.blundell@ihug.co.nz> <000001c89c64$494a06f0$0401a8c0@MobileOne> Message-ID: <47FFBCDB.6080500@paradise.net.nz> Hi David - Ok - sounds good... Good luck! - Andy David Waring wrote: > Hi All, > > Decided to reinstall and clean out earlier messes. > > I changed the way KDE is started in line with Andy's suggestion so that it > doesn't default on. > > Reinstalled Samba and the initial set up is working in that I can see my > home directory on the FreeBSD box. > Still need to set up printers and some specific directories for work related > stuff. > > Printers, Mail, firewall, backup, move work data, other users to go. Sounds > easy..... > > David > >