FreeBSD as simple file, print, Upnp, ftp, torrent & usenet server?

[oxymoron]

Hi guys,

Well my first post here!

Basically I have been playing about with FreeNAS on a spare Dell optiplex I have. One word - amazing. Simply amazing software. Why am I not sticking with it I hear your cry! Well, I can't seem to get the latest sabnzbd installed, sabnzbd 0.4.3 works but I wanted to update ideally.

This talk of a server got me thinking, I could use a printer server and mail server as well. This obviously goes beyond what FreeNAS was intended so hence, here I am!

How feasible is it to run FreeBSD as a headless home server? My requirements are:

1) samba shares to Arch linux box, vista machine & apple laptop, HTPC.
2) Upnp streaming to Playstation 3 (FreeNAS uses fuppes I think, but I have more experience of mediatomb on linux)
3) printer server - manager my printer so that my laptop, windows and linux boxes can print from it at anytime. Is this even what a printer server does? :r
4) Mail server - I want to be able to backup e-mails from a pop3 account & have the ability to setup "out of office" notifications when I go on holiday. (I can't seem to do this on standard pop3 e-mail setup). Again is this what a mail server can do?
5) torrent downloads, with webGUI. FreeNAS uses Transmission, is this a safe bet?
6) SABnzbd latest version installed and accessable via other machines.


As you can tell I'm kinda new to the server side of unix. My main concerns are getting the printer and mail server setup correctly.

I have used Arch linux for a couple of years now and can use the command line fairly well. I'm not scared of it anymore I understand Arch linux uses the same file structure as FreeBSD i.e. rc.conf? So FreeBSD shouldn't be to hard to learn?

oh, I also would need some kind of easy to manage GUI for administration like freeNAS uses, from googling today alot of newbies like me use webmin, on linux anyway. Can I use that on FreeBSD, do people recommend anything else or is webmin what I need?

Hope people take the time to read and can provide any advise as to what links to read, any tips or comments are appreciated.

Regards

Oxy

 

[fronclynne]

I sometimes dream of using nfs to get my beer from the fridge

1) If I could get an nfs client for vista, I would use that over samba, but samba seems to do fine from freebsd as well.
2)

/ports> make search key=mediatomb
Port:   mediatomb-0.11.0_2
Path:   /usr/ports/net/mediatomb
Info:   UPnP AV MediaServer
Maint:  leo@mediatomb.cc
. . .

if that helps.
3) dunno, had a cracking novell print server that ran from a single floppy on a 16M ram 486sx. ps failed cos the thing had been running in a dusty room for 6 years . . .
err, sorry. here: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/printing.html
4) oh, be very careful with mail servers, especially if you've never set one up
5) http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=2411&highlight=transmission+daemon
6) looks like 0.4.7 is available from ports

Also, it looks like webmin 1.470 (sysutils/webmin) && virtualmin 3.62 (sysutils/virtualmin) are two options from ports.

The ports system alone makes freebsd worth using over most anything I've tried, and the handbook & mailing lists are second to none.

 

[oxymoron]

hhmmm thanks for that!

It's getting late for me here in England so i'll read them links tommorrow when I'm fresh.

I had a quick google earlier about winmin and freebsd. I came across these instructions:

http://fixerfrasse.blogspot.com/2008/03/installing-freebsd-70-webmin.html

Install webmin

    * Execute cd /usr/ports/sysutils/webmin
    * Execute make install clean
    * Execute cd /usr/local/lib/webmin
    * Execute ./setup.sh

It didnt work, but I think its because I haven't setup my user account permissions. I created a user but haven't given it any permissions, I'll consult the handbook tommorrow.

Thanks again for the links.

One quick question, aside from me being newbie to freeBSD, is it stable if I dint fiddle with it when its setup?

I am basically after an OS that I can pretty much leave months on end without it breaking or me breaking it.

 

[fronclynne]

One quick question, aside from me being newbie to freeBSD, is it stable if I dint fiddle with it when its setup?

I am basically after an OS that I can pretty much leave months on end without it breaking or me breaking it.

If your hardware is supported in GENERIC (which it should for most purposes) you can subscribe to freebsd-security-notifications@ and just keep your eyes peeled. There don't tend to be a lot of notices (the archives show 6 so far for 2009), and many of them require at most a recompile/restart of the affected binary (assuming you even use said binary: for instance I ignore bind related updates).

If you're running GENERIC you also have the option of using /usr/sbin/freebsd-update to keep up with bug fixes.

But, yes, to put it shortly: don't screw around with trying to wring the most performance out of your machine, and it will reward you with blissful stability.

> less /usr/ports/sysutils/webmin/pkg-message
After installing Webmin for the first time you should perform the following
steps as root:

* Configure Webmin by running ${LOCALBASE}/lib/webmin/setup.sh

* Add webmin_enable="YES" to your /etc/rc.conf

* Start Webmin for the first time by running ${LOCALBASE}/etc/rc.d/webmin

The parameters requested by setup.sh may then be changed from within Webmin
itself.

 

[oxymoron]

well I got webmin working on my virtualbox testing setup. I installed it in root though :s

I really gotta sort out my user account tommorrow

Webmin isn't what I was expecting. It's certainly feature rich, just might be overkill for what I need. Which in reality is simple; samba shares, 1 ftp account, mediatomb, torrent, usenet.

If i understand this correctly, I dont actually need webmin?

Am I over simplifying this - all I need is 3/4 programs from ports I presume, setup smb shares and ftp account settings. Bish bash bosh... all is done and hide the box in a cupboard?

or am I being stupid?

 

[Djn]

I've got a FreeBSD box with a samba setup I haven't touched for ages standing in a corner, yes. Works fine, and no real need for webmin - set up once and forget.
Mind you, I haven't got ftp on it.

It also shares out a printer.

 

[oxymoron]

Do any of you guys run RAID setups? I have never ran RAID on any system so I dunno if its worth the hassle.

My mate has alot of the same TV shows I watch so if a HDD dies I can get it off him again.

IS RAID worth it?

Another point, once a new version of FreeBSD comes out, is it easy to upgrade or is it time for a re-install?

 

[DrJ]

Another point, once a new version of FreeBSD comes out, is it easy to upgrade or is it time for a re-install?

You must be new here. I just moved FreeBSD off a (formerly) dual-boot system. It started as 5.2.1 and ended up as 6.4 without a single reinstallation. The new one is 7-STABLE. I didn't really need to redo it, but I was changing disks too. So there was no point to update the old one.

Yes, it is trivial to update FreeBSD between minor revisions (like 7.0 to 7.1). Updating between major releases (like 6.x to 7.x) is more work but it is straightforward. Updating the OS is easy, but usually you should update all your ports and that takes a bit of time.

 

[Djn]

I use a hardware mirror - I'd just lost a number of disks when I bought the hardware, so it felt like a good idea. Really simple to use, you just set up the mirror in the RAID controller bios, and FreeBSD sees it as a SCSI disk.

On a new install today, I'd probably set up a ZFS raid instead; it does some nifty checksumming and is generally pleasant to use.

 

[gordon@]

1) samba shares to Arch linux box, vista machine & apple laptop, HTPC.

I would setup your shares as both NFS (for your Linux and MacOS X systems) and Samba (for Windows). See the FreeBSD Handbook on how to do that.

3) printer server - manager my printer so that my laptop, windows and linux boxes can print from it at anytime. Is this even what a printer server does? :r

Print serving is actually very complicated. You'll likely want to use CUPS for the more sophisticated print serving. You can even integrate it with Samba to do easier client setup (at the cost of more complex server setup). Be aware that many many printers are very dumb and do not have the ability to print by themselves without complex OS drivers that are not available for FreeBSD or Linux.

4) Mail server - I want to be able to backup e-mails from a pop3 account & have the ability to setup "out of office" notifications when I go on holiday. (I can't seem to do this on standard pop3 e-mail setup). Again is this what a mail server can do?

If you just want to replicate your mailbox from your ISP. Look for a product called fetchmail (and yes, it's in the ports collection). Fetchmail basically allows you to replicate your mail from your ISP onto your local box. From there you can setup your vacation autoresponder like you would on any unix based system (man vacation).

Hope that helps.

 

[oxymoron]

All sounds reasonalby straightforward. I'll check out the handbook and see how it goes.

 

[DrJ]

You'll likely want to use CUPS for the more sophisticated print serving. You can even integrate it with Samba to do easier client setup (at the cost of more complex server setup).

That's how I do it, and it really is not that complicated.

Be aware that many many printers are very dumb and do not have the ability to print by themselves without complex OS drivers that are not available for FreeBSD or Linux.

I use a Postscript printer for that reason.

 

[phoenix]

How feasible is it to run FreeBSD as a headless home server?

Works quite nicely, with or without a monitor attached, with or without X running.

My requirements are:
1) samba shares to Arch linux box, vista machine & apple laptop, HTPC.

Install Samba from ports.

2) Upnp streaming to Playstation 3 (FreeNAS uses fuppes I think, but I have more experience of mediatomb on linux)

Install mediatomb from ports.

3) printer server - manager my printer so that my laptop, windows and linux boxes can print from it at anytime. Is this even what a printer server does? :r

Install CUPS from ports.

4) Mail server - I want to be able to backup e-mails from a pop3 account & have the ability to setup "out of office" notifications when I go on holiday. (I can't seem to do this on standard pop3 e-mail setup). Again is this what a mail server can do?

Install postfix, fetchmail, and dovecot from ports. Fetchmail handles the pop3 download side of things, and hands the messages over to dovecot. Dovecot makes them available via IMAP/POP3 so you can access them via whatever e-mail program you like. And postfix handles the SMTP side of things.

5) torrent downloads, with webGUI. FreeNAS uses Transmission, is this a safe bet?

Install transmission via ports.

6) SABnzbd latest version installed and accessable via other machines.

Install sabnzbd via ports.

FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD. So anything you could do with FreeNAS, you can also do with regular FreeBSD.

For a home system that has over 2 GB of RAM and multiple disks, you should give ZFS a try.

oh, I also would need some kind of easy to manage GUI for administration like freeNAS uses, from googling today alot of newbies like me use webmin, on linux anyway. Can I use that on FreeBSD, do people recommend anything else or is webmin what I need?

Webmin is available in the ports tree as well, and has good FreeBSD support.

 

[oxymoron]

ok how do I setup the ports collection for freenas? It doesn't seem to be enabled, things like "whereis" don't seem to be there.


Sorry for my newbie questions.

 

[oxymoron]

I should explain further, FreeNAS is ace, just a little short on functionality for what I need, thats to be a expected as its a NAS OS after all.

If I could just get ports enabled in freenas and install whereis I should be laughing. As with ports enabled I could install the latatest sabnzbd, cups etc etc.

 

[phoenix]

whereis is part of FreeBSD, installed as /usr/bin/whereis. If it's not installed on FreeNAS, then they've removed it from the base (custom release of FreeBSD). You can't install it via the ports tree.

 

[oxymoron]

Darn, is there anyway to install the FreeNAS GUI package in standard FreeBSD?

 

[Djn]

There is a way to install the ports collection on FreeNAS, I think - download a ports snapshot and extract it. It should be reasonably stand-alone , though I have never tested this.

 

[oxymoron]

Well I have built the server from old parts lying around.

I have built an AMD socket 754 3400+, 1 gb ram, 8600GT, and 20GB IDE O/S drive.

The network card seems to work great!

Now need to decide if RAID is worth the risk.

 

[VictorM]

old thread, yet you got me thinking. people like the RAID concept because when it works, they sleep well. On the other hand:

When you have a buggy firmware on your RAID card...
OR you have a poor driver....
OR you don't get a notification one of your drives failed (RAID1 or RAID5, pick your favorite)...
OR you have integrity problems due to lack of maintenance and rebuild fails...
OR the controller needs to be replaced and it is EOL

THEN you don't sleep well anymore.

Please think about this - RAID does not mean you don't need backups anymore.