0

I want my ubuntu install to behave like an internet server -

I want local computers around to have wireless connection to and run apps installed on this server.

How do I configure this ? Any other software or a hardware requirements I need to understand.

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

I am not really sure what you are after, but if it's more like you want a Main Ubuntu Server that has internet access and applications installed on it and you would like to have other clients to connect to it (locally) wired/wireless to access the internet and applications, I guess you are trying to build or you mean a THIN CLIENT Environment.

For that all you need is a Ubuntu Server with 2 NIC's (Network Interface Cards). One for the Internet (connected to the router) and One for the Thin/Fat Client computers. You can connect the NIC for the clients to a Wireless Access Point or Router (Disable the DHCP on router) and let the thin clients connect via the Wireless. The thin clients must use PXE boot which means it must be bootable via Network (Check if the BIOS has any such settings available on your client computers).

After you complete the build, what will happen is that each client computer that boots off the network will run Ubuntu on it from the Main server. They don't need hard drives, just the bare essentials to start the computer into BIOS.

To read more about this visit the Ubuntu Community Help on Ubuntu LTSP Thin/Fat Clients and What is a Thin Client

If I wasn't clear please comment and I'll try and rephrase this post.

Improve this answer
4
  • +1 for comprehensive answer, though please make a reference to ssh. He might just want to ssh to his server, and he may not know it yet.
    – NlightNFotis
    Aug 5, 2012 at 15:31
  • Thanks for the comment. Correct me if I'm wrong, am fairly new to Ubuntu (about 1 year) been with Unix for a while thought but won't SSH give him access to the files and folders on the server only. Didn't mention it as he mentioned that he wanted the client computers to connect to the internet and applications on the server. Come to think of it... you may be right. He may just be after accessing services on the Ubuntu Internet server such as Apache, Phpmyadmin etc... Please comment if that's the case user81468 and I'll rephrase
    – exIT Solutions
    Aug 5, 2012 at 15:36
  • I mentioned ssh because from what I know ssh is a way to get a cryptographically secure way to connect to a computer and do anything he wants from the shell terminal of that computer. I may be wrong here, but I think he can gain root access too while ssh'ed which we both know what it means. However ssh requires someone to be familiar with shell to begin with, so it is not that much newb friendly. I just mentioned it for reference reasons.
    – NlightNFotis
    Aug 5, 2012 at 18:32
  • No I don't want internet connection. I want a local server for local computers. But the access to the server will by wireless means . I guess a router will be needed. For example I have set up a LAMP environment on a server , and there installed some applications.I need for a local client machine to access these applications like they would a remote internet server - but by local wireless means.
    – user81468
    Aug 5, 2012 at 19:00
0

Here is what you need if you just need a Server-Client Environment:

1) Ubuntu Server

  • Recommended System Requirements
    • 1GHz Pentium 4 should be fine (no need of fancy hardware, Linux works best on old hardware)
    • 256MB RAM + 1 GB HDD (without GUI)
    • 512MB RAM + 5 GB HDD (with GUI)
    • *GUI - Graphic User Interface or Desktop
    • (More information available at Wikipedia and Ubuntu Documentation)

2) Wireless Router

You can connect the WiFi Router to the ADSL/Dial-up Modem for internet access (if required). Enable DHCP on the router and have all computers and the Server use the same network.

3) Build the Ubuntu Server using this guide

Install LAMP and other such services required and configure them to be accessable via the local network.

For example if your Main Server and Local computers are on the 192.168.0.0/24 network then you should be able to access these services via the browser on your local system by simply typing in the Server IP address into the browser.

It might be good to look up SSH Server, Apache Server, Samba/File Share Server, OpenSSL & Print Server in the Ubuntu Documentation for other services - available in the server guide. It would be wise to look up Setting up a Firewall or Security in Ubuntu if you are going to expose the server to the internet.

If you already have the Server Hardware check the HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) of Ubuntu to ensure that you meet the required specifications or you may land up spending hours looking up Drivers or trying to get your hardware perform to its max.

I hope this has addressed your question.

Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .