Howto create a file server

The specs for a file server are minimal. Right now I am using a Raspberry Pi 4 and it works for me, but when you need to have lots of guys then you can use a dedicated server. This are the things you need to do to make it work.

This program uses Ubuntu Server. They support both the Intel and ARM platforms. First you need to install Ubuntu Server and after that you need to write down the ip address of the server. When you need to have access outside of the LAN you are gonna need port forwarding and also a certificate (certbot for instance). This is the ip address of my server: 10.0.0.11

Log into the server

ssh [email protected]

The password is ubuntu. The loginscreen asks you to modify the password.

example usernames and passwords:

login name 1: user1, passwd: passwd1

login name 2: user2, passwd: passwd2

(Use different names and passwords, these are only as an example.)

The following commands are all in root (use sudo su):

groupadd vault
adduser user1
adduser user2
adduser myadmin
usermod -aG vault user1
usermod -aG vault user2
usermod -aG vault myadmin

mkdir /vault
chown vault:vault /vault
chmod g+w vault

exit

While still in ssh you can type id user1, id user2 and id vault and write the number after uid= (but keep in mind to use different names). After you completed these tasks you can exit to exit the ssh. Next you can write down in the FreePDM.conf file that is stored (in Ubuntu) in the .config/FreePDM directory the following, at the bottom:

[user]
vault = 1001
user1 = 1002
user2 = 1003

Testing things out in Ubnutu Linux:

Install pip modules:

pip install PySide2
pip install appdirs
pip install defusedxml

1. System update: sudo apt update
2. Install sshfs: sudo apt install sshfs
3. Make a directory : sudo mkdir /mnt/test
4. Mount your drive: sudo sshfs -o allow_other [email protected]:/vault /mnt/test (Advise: Make a alias for that in your .bashrc)
5. Download FreePDM with this command: git pull https://github.com/grd/FreePDM

Creating a new Vault

In the FreePDM directory go to the directory tests and run python3 create_new_vault.py.

Testing a vault

In the FreePDM directory go to the directory tests and run python3 fileserver.py and if it runs then it is done.