[nycbug-talk] Setting up a home network with FreeBSD (not connected to the Internet yet)

[pete wright]

On 8/29/05, Maude User <maudeuser at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello All -
> 
> I have a 1U rackmount server (running FreeBSD 5.4)
> and a laptop (dual-boot running WinXP-Pro and
> FreeBSD 5.3) and I'd like to connect the two in a
> home network (not connected to the Internet) so I
> can learn web development using Apache, PHP,
> Python, Plone, Ruby, MySQL, PostgreSQL etc.
> 
> Later I'll co-locate the server in a datacenter. I'd
> like the home network setup to be similar to the
> eventual co-lo setup so that it would provide a
> realistic environment for learning and testing,
> with minimal changes once I migrate the server
> from my home to co-lo.
> 
> The server has two 1000Base-T, 100Base-TX and
> 10Base-T Ethernet LAN RJ45 ports (Intel 82541GI
> and 82547GI controllers), supporting TCP, UPD, IPv4.
> 
> For the time being, the only client connecting to
> this server will be the laptop. I don't have
> broadband at home, so neither the server nor the
> laptop will be connected to the Internet. There's a
> cybercafe in the neighborhood with broadband where
> I can download files, lookup documentation and
> burn CDs.
> 
> I was able to borrow someone's keyboard and
> monitor to install FreeBSD onto the server - but
> after HTTP and FTP and NFS are set up I was hoping
> I could return the keyboard and monitor and be
> able to install and configure any additional
> packages using the laptop as the console. The
> laptop has an internal CD-RW. The server has a USB
> CD-RW - but no monitor or keyboard.
> 
> Is this just a simple "intranet" I'm setting up here?
> Can anyone point me to documentation that would
> answer the following types of questions:
> 
> - What sort of cables should I get?
> 
> - Since the server won't be connected to the
> Internet for now, can I pick any old IP address,
> host name and domain name?
> 
> - Once the network is set up, can I use something
> like SSH or Webmin from the laptop to install and
> configure packages on the server, without
> attaching a keyboard and monitor?
> 
> - What security should I be setting up NOW, so that
> the server will be secure once it goes co-lo?
> 
> Thanks for any help.
> 
> Scott in Brooklyn



First thing I would check out is this URL:

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html

This should also be installed on both of you FreeBSD systems (in 
/usr/share/doc/en/books/handbook). This will ans were %90 of your questions. 
Shortly, you do not need a keyboard and mouse to install or run any freebsd 
system. Provided it has a serial console. SSH should have been installed by 
default on your FreeBSD system, this is where you should do %99 of your 
administration on the system (IMO).

As far as networking goes this URL may be helpfull:
http://freebsd.rogness.net/


FreeBSD is a great OS, although the first place to start when using it is to 
read up on the available documentation. It will save alot of headaches in 
the future.

-- 
~~o0OO0o~~
Pete Wright
www.nycbug.org <http://www.nycbug.org>
NYC's *BSD User Group
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