Best method for networking with ubuntu linux

Question

Hi,
I'm setting up an ubuntu linux fileserver, and I was wondering what the best method for filesharing with my mac is. I'm currently running osx 10.4.11, though I may be upgrading to 10.5 soon. I'll be running SMB networking for a couple of other computers, but I'd prefer something a bit more robust that can handle file permissions etc.

Answer 1

Mac OS X supports NSF out of the box. Configuration isn't documented.
I recall Apple got rid of net info manager in Leopard, so the configuration will be different. Perhaps more unix like.
Mac OS X support the Unix Network File System (NFS). However, it leaves out
the GUI.
This page show you how to use NetInfo Manager:
http://mactechnotes.blogspot.com/2005/09/mac-os-x-as-nfs-server.html#c1168221713 40271068
NFS Manager can both setup NFS shares and connect to NFS shares.
http://www.bresink.com/osx/NFSManager.html
Once you figure out how NFS Manager configures the NFS shares, you can
use Applications > Utilities > NetInfo Manager to create more shares.
You will either have to coordinate Unix Userid number and Unix Group Id number or use the mapall option on the share.
To find out your Mac OS X userid and group id do:
applications > utilities > terminal
ls -ln
ls -l
# lists the NFS share on your mac
showmount -e localhost
#list NFS shares on a remote host
showmount -e remote-ip-address
Once you see what NFS Manager does, you will be able to use NetInfo Manager to manage a connection. In Mac OS 10.4 you can configure the /etc/exports control file. See man exports for the details. Before that you had to have the data in NetInfo manager. When Mac OS X came out, many common Unix control files were not present. Instead the data had to be in NetInfo manager. Over time Apple has added more and more standard Unix control files.
======
You do know about the need to match userids & groupids.
# display uid and gid
ls -ln
sudo find / -user short-user-name -exec ls '-l' {} \;
# on Mac OS X
you will need to go into NetInfo Manager and select user and find your short-user-name. Change uid and guid.
#on Linux look in
/etc/passwd
/etc/group
# with care...
# change 1000:20 to your values for uid:gid
sudo find / -user short-user-name -exec chown 1000:20 {} \;
The manual for Tenon MachTen UNIX (which Apple checked when doing Mac OS
X) says that one should crate the file /etc/exports, which will cause
portmap, mountd and nsfd to launch at startup via the /etc/rc file. The
file must not contain any blank lines or comments, and each line has the
syntax
directory -option[, option] hostlist
where 'directory is the pathname of the directory that can be exported,
and 'hostlist' is a space separated list of hostnames that can access the
directory. For example
/usr -ro foo bar
/etc
/Applications
/User/gladys gladys
The client the uses a command like
/sbin/mount -t type [-rw] -o [options] server:directory mount_point
where 'type' is 'nfs', 'server' the name of the server, 'directory' the
server directory mounted, and 'mount_point' the client mount point. See
'man mount' for details.
I haven't tried the above, but it would be nice to know if it works on Mac OS X.
Hans Aberg
This will give you some hints on NFS. Post back your questions.
Robert