New Network - Total Mess!

[pprz]

Hi,

I am a newbie to linux and have just installed RH7.2.

I am trying to set up a LAN for file share (Samba) and internet sharing of my ISDN connection. I have read the howto's but still remain lost :(

I have installed a Realtek NIC that uses the 8139too driver, ifconfig shows ...

[root@localhost root]# ifconfig eth0
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:10:A7:08:E0:CA
inet addr:192.168.0.1 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:239 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:32 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:28306 (27.6 Kb) TX bytes:2812 (2.7 Kb)
Interrupt:10 Base address:0xa000

I think this is OK.

What i want to do is set up Samba and share my network (ISDN) connection

I am uncertain how to procede.

I have 2 machines:
win98 192.168.0.10
Linux 192.168.0.1

I can ping both ways. What I am uncertain about is how to name the machines. Currently the win box is called 'merlin4' and the linux one is 'm2k'. I used the RH7.2 'Network configuration GUI' to map IP addresses to 'host names' and it seems to work. (can ping by name).

Do I need to change the 127.0.0.1 address to show something other than 'Localhost.localdomain' aliased to localhost?

I have bluffed my way this far but have no real understanding of what I have done, i woud appreciate an opinion to let me know if I am doing OK so far as my next task is to get Samba and IP Masquerading done.

Any help appreciated.

[MrMoray]

2 questions/things to think about....First, I've never had ISDN, how does it connect to the PC, ethernet? If so, and you plan to use the Linux box for masquerading, then you the machine will need a second NIC...one for connect to ISDN, one for internal network.
Second, if you can ping either machine from the other, your internal network seems to be set up just fine. With that, you are ready to set up Samba and start file sharing. I believe there is an NHF here that helps with Samba, plus there are countless threads of discussion on the topic.

[Lorithar]

for any sort of internet sharing you will need ipchains/iptables/ipfwadm of some sort to masquerade the inside box to the outside world.

Samba is separate from internet sharing.. and I'm not familiar with the tools your using...
/etc/smb.conf is your samba config file... this will have to be modified to indicate shares, who can use them and access methods. ... further, windows may require a registry mod to allow access to linux samba shares... (due to password encryption issues.)

Personally I strongly recommend iptables as a firewall/masquerading option.

[pprz]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies,

Well nothing works at all after a reboot! Eth0 is not even initialised.

To answer the questions..
ISDN, connects to a provider 'router' box via an ISDN card, it looks just like a eth card - this is working just fine. It is known to the system as 'ippp0'.

Yes I would like the Linux box to act as Firewall and router and have a NIC for that (rtl8139 chipset, made by Unex). I have worked out that I need the 8139too driver for this. I thought i had this all working (it was pinging happily) but after a reboot there is no evidence of my Eth card at all, slightly worrying :)

RE Samba, I am 'relatively' happy with setting this up and I do understand the difference between Samba and IP firewall/masquerading - to a limited degree that is!

Lorithar:
I've done the windows mod already (could handle that bit OK). I am very confussed about ipchains/iptables et al. The Howto's keep speaking aboout IPV4, RH7.2 seems to have IPV6 so I am completely lost on that subject. I seems to have ipchains installed but see no reference to iptables (I believe iptables is older?)

The Network.
As I said after a reboot all that was working is no longer working.

[root@localhost root]# ifconfig eth0
eth0: error fetching interface information: Device not found

and lsmod gives ...

[root@localhost root]# lsmod
Module Size Used by
soundcore 4464 0 (autoclean)
tdfx 34128 1
agpgart 27584 0 (unused)
binfmt_misc 6416 1
autofs 11520 0 (autoclean) (unused)
hisax 520304 4
isdn 122160 6 [hisax]
slhc 5280 1 [isdn]
ipchains 39200 0
ide-scsi 8224 0
scsi_mod 95696 1 [ide-scsi]
ide-cd 27072 0
cdrom 28512 0 [ide-cd]
usb-uhci 21536 0 (unused)
usbcore 51712 1 [usb-uhci]
ext3 64624 2
jbd 40992 2 [ext3]
[root@localhost root]#

So I did a

[root@localhost root]# insmod 8139too
Using /lib/modules/2.4.7-10/kernel/drivers/net/8139too.o

And it does not work :(

I know this is a hardware issue, but I am uncertain about how to fix it.

I'me going to reboot now and predict that the 8139too module will not be there when the system comes back!!

Any further help would be great :)

[pprz]

Well I do not know what I did but I managed to kill my system dead! :rolleyes:

When I tried to reboot things went fine and I saw 'Brining up Eth0' flash by - then it all stoppen when we reached Starting Sendmail - I left the machine for abut 20 mins but it refused to budge. Have tried rebooting several times with the same result, stoping when it 'starts' sendmail.

I've tried a boot disk but can not get past sendmail (I have not done anything to affect sendmail, it is as it was when installed.)

Something is really screwy here I really do not know what to blame (me, Hardware, RH7.2 - probably me!).

I've had RH7.0 and RH7.1 on this machine and never had these problems. Althought I installed these I really had NO idea what I was doing but the HOWTO's got me through. I am very tempted to give up, Maybe it is RH7.2 afterall?

Any suggestions?

I have no qualms about re-installing the system (nothing has been configured yet anyway) but should I go back to RH7.1 or try again with 7.2?

The Joys :)

[jumpedintothefire]

You can get past the start up problem by hitting "I" just before the services start to load. It will then prompt you if you want to start each of the services. Just answer no
to sendmail.

[pprz]

Hi Guys,

Well it has been a busy night :) I tried to enter interactive startup to get by send mail but many many other problems popped up.

So I just re-installed (No loss as it was a fresh install anyway).

I think the problem was me, I must of screwed something up during the initial install.

Anyway, I choose the RH7.2 custom install and eevrything went very smoothly. :) :)

I followed the Networking howto and my wee netwrok is no fully up and running.

Next stage is Samba but I am not too worried about that.

Thanks for all your help guys !!

Good ole linux!