Telnet server in 4MLinux

February 19, 2013, 9:50 am

4MLinux has the following set of its main servers: FTP, HTTP, SSH (with SFTP), and Telnet. This post aims to describe shortly how to use the Telnet server. 4MLinux includes a Busybox applet as its Telnet server daemon.

Note:
Telnet connections are not very secure because unencrypted data is transferred. Therefore telnet protocol should be applied inside trusted local networks only. Servers connected to the Internet should use Secure Shell (SSH) instead.

1) Open your terminal and execute the 'telnetd' command:

2) Let's start the server ('telnetd start') and check if it really runs ('telnetd test'). After you execute these two commands, you will see the following login screen:

3) By default, none of 4MLinux servers is started automatically during the boot, but you can change this by setting 'TELNET' to 'yes' in the /etc/server/autostart.conf file:

4) If you are a fun of TUI (like I am :-), then you can use the 'telnet' command as your Telnet client (just try it yourself in your terminal). If you prefer GUI, PuTTY will be the best choice for you:

Note:
4MLinux uses inetd to manage its main servers.

Further reading:
FTP-HTTP - SSH - TELNET - FIREWALL - PROXY - MONITORING

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HTTP server in 4MLinux

February 24, 2013, 1:17 am

≫ Next: 4MLinux Firewall

≪ Previous: Telnet server in 4MLinux

4MLinux has the following set of its main servers: FTP, HTTP, SSH, and Telnet. This post aims to describe shortly how to use the HTTP server. 4MLinux includes a Busybox applet as its HTTP server daemon.

Note: 4MLinux 9.1 Server Edition (and later) uses Apache (with PHP and MariaDB) as its default HTTP server. There is a self-explanatory online demo at http://server.4mlinux.com.

1) Open your terminal and execute the 'httpd' command:

2) Let's start the server ('httpd start') and check if it really runs ('httpd test'). After you execute these two commands, you will see the following menu screen:

3) Now you can run, for example, the "Private HTML" test:

4) By default, none of 4MLinux servers is started automatically during the boot, but you can change this by setting 'HTTP' to 'yes' in the /etc/server/autostart.conf file:

Additional notes:
1) The HTTP server is located in the /srv/http directory by default.
2) httpd configuration files are located the /etc/httpd directory by default.
3) 4MLinux uses inetd to manage its main servers.

Further reading:
FTP-HTTP - SSH - TELNET - FIREWALL - PROXY - MONITORING

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4MLinux Firewall

February 27, 2013, 10:28 am

≫ Next: Monitoring software

≪ Previous: HTTP server in 4MLinux

This is a short guide on how to use 4MLinux Firewall (based on iptables), which is available in 4MLinux Server Edition, 4MLinux Allinone Edition, and TheSSS.

1) Open your terminal and execute the 'firewall' command:

2) Let's start the firewall ('firewall start') and check if it really runs ('firewall test'). After you execute these two commands, iptables status will be displayed:

3) Firewall configuration files (/etc/firewall/config and /etc/firewall/black.list) may look as follows:

Note: IP addresses listed in the black.list file will not be able to access your server.

4) By default, none of 4MLinux servers is started automatically during the boot, but you can change this by setting 'firewall' to 'yes' in the /etc/server/autostart.conf file:

Further reading:
FTP-HTTP - SSH - TELNET - FIREWALL - PROXY - MONITORING

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Monitoring software

March 1, 2013, 4:34 am

≫ Next: Proxy server

≪ Previous: 4MLinux Firewall

4MLinux includes a wide set of small monitoring programs using the ncurses interface. These are powerful tools, which are especially useful as a part of your server software. This is why they are included in 4MLinux Server Edition and TheSSS.

1) Execute the 'nmonitor' command in your terminal. The following menu screen will be opened:

2) General system info via nmon:

3) Top running processes via htop:

4) Disk usage via ncdu:

5) Network activity via netwatch:

6) Traffic data via iptraf:

7) WiFi interface via wavemon:

8) Bandwidth usage via iftop:

Further reading:
FTP-HTTP - SSH - TELNET - FIREWALL - PROXY - MONITORING

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Proxy server

March 2, 2013, 8:20 am

≫ Next: TheSSS

≪ Previous: Monitoring software

This is a short guide on how to use a proxy server (Polipo with Tor), which is available in 4MLinux Server Edition, 4MLinux Allinone Edition, and TheSSS.

1) Open your terminal and execute the 'proxy' command:

2) Let's start the server ('proxy start') and check if it really runs ('proxy test'). After you execute these two commands, Links web browser will be opened:

3) Open /etc/polipo/readme.txt to get essential info about your proxy server:

4) The operating mode of Polipo ('memory', 'disk', or 'tor') can be set in its configuration file (i.e. /etc/polipo/polipo.conf):

5) By default, none of 4MLinux servers is started automatically during the boot, but you can change this by setting 'proxy' to 'yes' in the /etc/server/autostart.conf file:

Further reading:
FTP-HTTP - SSH - TELNET - FIREWALL - PROXY - MONITORING

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TheSSS

March 3, 2013, 12:38 am

≫ Next: Opera (web browser).

≪ Previous: Proxy server

TheSSS (The Smallest Server Suite) is a lightweight server suite distributed as a live CD. It is designed for system administrators who need a small (liveCD is about 30MB in size) set of server software for small local area networks. The supported servers are FTP, HTTP, SFTP, SSH, and Telnet. A proxy server (Polipo) with the Tor anonymizer is also included. The main security components are a 4MLinux Firewall (based on iptables) and Clam AntiVirus. TheSSS tries to follow the KISS principle as it was shown in this post.

Notes: TheSSS boots in the same way as 4MLinux does (this was described here).

1) Boot your copy of TheSSS:

2) After executing 'help', you will see the following screen:

3) Let's try the 'server' command now:

Notes:

- There are some links at the bottom of this page. Follow them to learn more about particular servers included in TheSSS.

- If you need to configure your Internet connection, you should run the 'netconfig' script (the procedure is very similar to the one described here).

4) Additionally, TheSSS provides an antivirus protection, which works in the exact same way as it was shown in this post.

5) The installation of TheSSS to a hard disk drive can be performed by running the 'install2hd' script (have a look at this guide).

6) TheSSS hasMidnight Commander (file manager) and Links (text-based web browser), which can be very helpful in some cases:

Notes:

- TheSSS is able to make a backup of your data (and to send it to a remote FTP server if desired). Just try it yourself by executing 'backup' and 'fsbackup' commands!

- TheSSS is also able to display a huge number of information about your system. You can view them by executing the 'nmonitor' command.

Further reading:
FTP-HTTP - SSH - TELNET - FIREWALL - PROXY - MONITORING

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Opera (web browser).

March 16, 2013, 9:52 am

≫ Next: SMPlayer with SMTube

≪ Previous: TheSSS

Opera is one of the five downloadable extensions, which are available in each version of 4MLinux (the other ones are: CalmAV, Partition Wizard, SMPlayer, and LibreOffice). Once installed, Opera becomes a default web browser.

1) Choose Opera from the Internet Menu:

2) You must confirm the installation:

3) Now 4MLinux will download and install the newest Opera for you:

4) You must agree to the License Agreement:

Done!

Note: read this post to learn how to install Firefox with Flash Player in your 4MLinux.

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SMPlayer with SMTube

April 1, 2013, 1:06 pm

≫ Next: BakAndImgCD

≪ Previous: Opera (web browser).

SMPlayer is one of the five downloadable extensions, which are available in 4MLinux 6.0 and later (the other ones are: CalmAV, Opera, Partition Wizard, and LibreOffice ).

1) Choose SMPlayer from the MPlayer Menu:

2) You must confirm the installation:

3) Now 4MLinux will download and install SMPlayer for you:

4) Press F11 to open SMTube:

Done!

↧

BakAndImgCD

April 13, 2013, 12:57 am

≫ Next: Mobile Broadband Modems

≪ Previous: SMPlayer with SMTube

BakAndImgCDis a very small (about 20 MB in size) Linux-based operating system, which has been designed to perform the following two tasks: data backup (the supported filesystems are: btrfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, FAT, HFS, HFS+, jfs, Minix, NTFS, ReiserFS, and XFS) and disk imaging (using Partimage, Partclone and GNU ddrescue). The output files (archives and images) can be optionally compressed and sent to a remote FTP/SFTP sever (via Ethernet, WiFi or Dial-up interface).

Note: BakAndImgCD boots in the same way as 4MLinux does (this was described here).

1) Boot your copy of BakAndImgCD:

2) After executing 'help', you will see the following screen:

3) Let's have a look at some main commands now.

'backup' (manual backup of selected files)

'fsbackup'(automatic backup of all files)

'image'(creation of disk images)

'netconfig'(the Internet connection setup)

4) Disk imaging utilities included in BakAndImgCD.

Partimage:

Partclone:

GNU ddrescue:

Note:

Partimage is (in my opinion) the best, but it does not support ext4 and btrfs filesystems. Partclone in BakAndImgCD is setup to create 'raw images', meaning that any kind of partition can be imaged. GNU ddrescue should be applied in case of read errors (to rescue data from partitions with bad blocks).

5) Additionally, BakAndImgCD hasMidnight Commander (file manager), Links (text-based web browser), and cfdisk/cgdisk (simple MBR/GPT partition managers), which can be very helpful in some cases:

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Mobile Broadband Modems

May 2, 2013, 9:19 am

≫ Next: Abuse, Doom, Quake...

≪ Previous: BakAndImgCD

Are you using your mobile phone or USB modem to connect to the Internet? Let's try to configure it now!

1) Attach your mobile phone or USB modem (these pictures were taken in my kitchen :-)

2) Select Configure from the Internet Menu:

3) A terminal window will be opened. You are configuring a dial-up connection, so you should choose '3' and press Enter:

4) Now you must insert the data required by your ISP (Internet Service Provider), for example:

Note:
'phone number' is obligatory, while 'username' and 'password' are not required by many network operators (if so, you can skip them by pressing Enter).

5) It's time to connect to the the Internet. Your modem will be configured and initialized automatically:

Done!
You can close the 'MODEM' window now.

Additional info:
1) If 4MLinux is unable to detect your modem, then re-attach this modem, wait a few seconds, execute the 'udev' command (in terminal), and try to connect again.
2) Location of configuration files in 4MLinux: the default network interface is defined in
the /etc/interface file. All other networking settings are stored in the /etc/net directory.

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Abuse, Doom, Quake...

May 5, 2013, 5:25 am

≫ Next: The FOX Toolkit

≪ Previous: Mobile Broadband Modems

4MLinux Game Edition includes ready-to-use pieces of software (game ports) needed to play Doom and other classic "shoot'em up" games, but so called wads (or their equivalents) must be downloaded separately.

Note: it is a good idea to enable 3D drivers when you are going to play video games (this was described here). 2D drivers can also be used, but they will give you lower graphics quality (e.g. smaller screen resolutions).

1) Select Doom from the Mystery Menu:

2) You must confirm your download by choosing 'y' and pressing Enter:

3) Now 4MLinux will download and install shareware data (the doom1.wad file):

Note: wad files (or their equivalents) for all the other games (listed below) can be installed in the exact same way as for Doom.

4) You will be able to play the following games:

Abuse:

Doom:

Freedoom:

Heretic:

Hexen:

Quake:

HINT:

Have I mentioned that 4MLinux loves TUI? All the games can be played both with and without X. Just close your X Window System, and execute the "doom" command (or: abuse, freedoom, heretic, hexen, quake).

Have fun :-)

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The FOX Toolkit

June 12, 2013, 2:03 pm

≫ Next: 4MLinux Releases

≪ Previous: Abuse, Doom, Quake...

The basic version of 4MLinux is less than 45 MB in size. This is possible because 4MLinux Desktop is based on a very light window manager (JWM) with a set of relatively small applications from The FOX Toolkit. These programs are tiny but powerful (e.g. they are able to handle JPG, PNG, and TIFF graphics; 3D support via Mesa drivers is also compiled-in).

Note:
This post describes The FOX Toolkit in 4MLinux 6.1. Other versions may differ a bit.

1) Applications:

File Manager

Text Editor

Calculator

Screen Shooter

2) The Fox Toolkit includes Control Panel, which makes it very easy to customize and apply your own settings:

3) The full version of 4MLinux has X File Explorer as its default file manager (which is also based on the the FOX library):

Note: you can change the default file manager by editing the /etc/fm/fm.conf file.

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4MLinux Releases

July 17, 2013, 5:33 am

≫ Next: Ripping of audio CDs

≪ Previous: The FOX Toolkit

4MLinux has its unique software development schema. I will try to explain this, taking 4MLinux 6.1 as an example.

1) 4MLinux 6.1 Core. It has only the Linux kernel image, sysinit script, BusyBox, and glibc libraries required by BusyBox. No additional packages. No additional drivers. Therefore 4MLinux Core has a very limited support for devices, so it is recommended to run it in VrtualBox.