kubuntu file sharing/NFS

[txhammer68]

Why is file sharing so hard in linux?

spent the better part of the day trying to share my download folders btw two kubuntu pc's...

my setup

2 pcs running kubuntu 14.04, wired network/netgear router/dhcp

first tried samba, why isn't this installed by default? I got it working, but does not maintain sharing between reboots, have to do sharing all over again

so since i have no windows pc's anymore, thought why not try native linux file sharing a try (ouch!!!)
i read many guides on setting up nfs, on the ubuntu site, digital oceans and a couple of others, one thing, they are all different....
after creating directories editing exports and fstabs i got one pc to see the other, but not both??

not looking for help, just that *** i wish **** kubuntu/debian/ubuntu would create a networking wizard much akin to what we had in windows 7. all in all pretty happy with linux switch over, but some things make you wonder, why is it so difficult?

peace

[Snowhog]

Follow Little Girl's Mostly Linux Blog NFS HowTo

It's what I used, and if you follow it (it is not difficult), you'll be fine.

[Rod J]

Yeah, I've been there ... done that myself.

Although the help page Snowhog points you to is helpful and straightforward, it is still fiddly to set up (IMHO). I gave up on it and went back to Samba, but I also then installed a Samba gui management console which works great. It is in the repository and is called system-config-samba.

It also does things differently than what happens when you share a directory via Dolphin. It fixed some problems I was having with Samba prior to trying NFS. It edits /etc/samba/smb.conf with your shares, etc which seems to me to be the key to getting Samba working properly. I don't know why the Dolphin sharing method doesn't do that but it seemed to be what was causing the problems I was having with Samba. Plus it's easy to use too.

[oshunluvr]

Samba isn't on by default because: #1 It's not safe to automatically expose your files to whomever might be on your network., #2 It's a windows sharing protocol, therefore why assume it would be the default for linux?

The main reason IMO the samba or any other file sharing service isn't "default" is because this is Linux - which means there are more than one or two ways to share files and most developers (good ones anyway) aren't going to presume you should do it their way. Thus, you are left to your own devices.

NFS - once you know how to do it - takes about 10 minutes to set up. While I agree we could and should have a nice functional file sharing wizard, Kubuntu does not. There might be some other distros out there that do. The answer to some your, slightly frustrated, question as to why you can share files one way and not the other is NFS is a two piece tool. Server and Client do not have to exist on a single machine. The server only delivers and the client can only "see" servers. Therefore, for a true full two-way share using NFS you must install both server and client portions on all computers on the network.

To me, this is usually unnecessary because the usual purpose doesn't usually require it. A typical home user would have a laptop and desktop (or two laptops) a single exported folder (Public would be a good start) in this scenario works well. If you have a desktop and it's always on - it works well to make it the server and have the laptop only as a client. I have a full family of PC users so I have a dedicated server. You could also use the cloud to file share if your needs are slight.

Mostly it's a function of need and preference. If you take the time to explain your needs and preferences I'm sure someone here can help.

My final thought: Linux is more difficult in most ways when compared to Windows. That doesn't make Windows better. In my view: half the "fun" of Linux is learning how to make Linux do what I want the way I want when I want. With Windows (and even more so Apple) you must do it their way, suffer through their ideas of what you need, because you're (in their opinion) too lazy or stupid to do it yourself. I never look at my Linux cursor, see a spinning hourglass, and say "what are you doing now?" I know what it's doing and if I don't like it, I fix it, period.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux!

[millusions]

my experience has been that once u set it up - save that .conf file - makes life a lot easier.

dont stress, be patient with it, it gets easier the more you do it.


plus all the points oshun makes, all valid.

my addition: i went to a holiday house with some friends, the guy who owned the house fancied himself somewhat an It guru of sorts.. anyway, we get there 9pm, he starts his server with raids and what not and the workstation, it was configured to do windows updates automatically, so that went on for 2 or 3 hours, cool, i actually had a peep at what it is updating file wise. one was Nvidia driver around 300mb for a nvidia 7300, i just smirked, like thats going to make any difference to anything this pc does.

anyway, next evening, we tried to watch movies from a networked pc connected to the tv, explorer would just lock up on network browsing, yup, the server was still doing updates.
i think by sunday morning he could actually use his Window$ computers, but until then my laptop came in handy with HDMI output. and yes, soon it was time to leave lol

and thats a true story mate

[txhammer68]

One of the reasons i made the move to linux!
everything works (mostly) virtual box is handy!

[txhammer68]

yep used that one, kept getting RPC authentication error on one pc, never got it working, will try again, probably messed up somewhere...still new to linux switched over 3 month ago, still learning but loving the flexability.

thanks all for the helpful replies, i still think there should be a sharing wizard built into the gui...

#2015=desktop_linux

[oshunluvr]

The RPC authentication error is often caused by a bad mount line in fstab. Post your info and we'll try to help

[millusions]

i remember the frustration of samba with less experience.
google is your friend here.
find yourself a good guide, dont follow it blindly but try to understand each step and what's it doing and how that applies to your situation..
if something doesnt work like it should, post the link and problem here, there's plenty of people with experience here to help out.

dont forget to add samba users with smbuser on server
do not use any gui's or shortcuts
smbtree is a very handy command
this time next month you'll be convinced Samba is not hard, he he

[geezer]

Please disregard this post - I found the problem and it had nothing to do with the files I spent 2 days staring at. I'm deleting the contents of this post.

[txhammer68]

i remember the RPC error too, it turned out i had the ip's backwards on the exports file...