The Linux Intranet Server HOWTO

Pramod Karnad, karnad@indiamail.com

1. Introduction

• 1.1 What is required
• 1.2 New versions of this document
• 1.3 Feedback

2. Install the HTTP server

• 2.1 Preparation before downloading
• 2.2 Compiling HTTPd

3. Testing HTTPd

4. Connecting to the Linux Server

• 4.1 Setup the Linux server
• 4.2 Setup the Netware server
• 4.3 Setup the Netware Client
• 4.4 Setup Microsoft Client
• 4.5 Setup TCP/IP on Macintosh

5. Setting up the Intranet

• 5.1 NCPFS
• 5.2 SMBFS
• 5.3 NFS

6. Accessing the Web

• 6.1 Accessing the mounted filesystems
• 6.2 Connecting to the Internet
• 6.3 Other uses

7. More things to do

8. Credits and Legalities

• 8.1 Thanks
• 8.2 Copyright information

1. Introduction

In simple terms, the Intranet is the descriptive term being used for the implementation of Internet technologies within a corporate organisation, rather than for external connection to the global Internet. This implementation is performed in such a way as to transparently deliver the immense informational resources of an organisation to each individuals desktop with minimal cost, time and effort. This document attempts to explain in simple terms how to setup an Intranet using tools which are readily available and are generally costing little or are free.

This document assumes that you already know how to install TCP/IP on your Linux server and connect it physically to your LAN using an Ethernet network card. This also assumes you have some basic knowledge of Netware, WinNT and Mac systems. The configuration of the Netware server has been shown using version 3.1x as the basis. You can also use INETCFG to achieve the same result. On the client side the discussion is with respect to Windows 3.1x, Windows for Workgroups and Win95, WinNT and the Apple PowerMac.

I am using the private network addresses (RFC-1918) of 172.16.0.0 and 172.17.0.0 only as examples. You may choose suitable addresses depending on your configuration.

       Linux       Netware      WFWG/WinNT
       Server      Server       Server
      172.16.0.1   172.16.0.2   172.16.0.3
         |           |           |    172.16.0.0
   ------+-----+-----+--------+--+--------------
               |              | 172.16.0.254
             W/S 1          Router
           172.16.0.5         | 172.17.0.254
                              |
                    ----------+-------+--------
               172.17.0.0             |
                                    W/S 2
                                  172.17.0.5

1.1 What is required

You will need the following software before attempting the installation.

• the HTTP server software which can be downloaded from OneStep NCSA HTTPd Downloader at http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/docs/setup/OneStep.html page.
• The Novell Netware Client available from HTTP://support.novell.com/ (The TCP/IP files are included with the client).
• The Microsoft TCP/IP client available from HTTP://www.microsoft.com/
• The Apple MacTCP client available from HTTP://www.apple.com/
• WWW Browsers like Netscape at HTTP://home.netscape.com/ or MS Internet Explorer at HTTP://www.microsoft.com/ or NCSA Mosaic from http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/NCSAMosaicHome.html

1.2 New versions of this document

New versions of the Linux Intranet Server HOWTO will be periodically posted to comp.os.linux.announce and comp.os.linux.help. They will also be uploaded to various Linux FTP sites, including sunsite.unc.edu.

The Latest version of this document is available in HTML format at http://www.inet.co.th/cyberclub/karnadp/http.html

1.3 Feedback

If you have questions or comments about this document, please feel free to mail Pramod Karnad, at karnad@indiamail.com. Suggestions, criticism and mail are always welcome. If you find a mistake with this document, please let me know so I can correct it in the next version. Thanx.

2. Install the HTTP server

When you download the server you have two options: To get the source and compile it yourself, or get the precompiled binaries. The precompiled binaries for Linux (ELF) version are available at NCSA but not the older versions.

2.1 Preparation before downloading

The server at NCSA will guide you through the steps for configuration options and prepare the various files for you. But before you attempt to download HTTPd be prepared with answers to the following questions

The Operating System

First, you must choose whether to download the source or a pre-compiled version of the software. If your particular system doesn't appear in the menu, then you will have to get the default source, and compile it yourself.

To check the version of your Linux go to the command prompt on your Linux machine and type

  linux:~$  uname -a

   linux:~$  uname -a
   Linux linux 2.0.29 #4 Tue Sep 13 04:05:51 CDT 1994 i586
   linux:~$

The version of Linux is 2.0.29.

The remaining parameters can be specified before downloading or configured later by modifying the file srm.conf in the /usr/local/etc/httpd/conf directory. The names of the actual directives that appear in the file httpd.conf are shown in brackets. The only exception is the directive DocumentRoot which appears in the file srm.conf

Process type (ServerType)

This specifies how your machine will run your HTTPd server. The preferred method is "standalone". This makes the HTTP daemon to be running constantly. If you choose to load HTTPd under "inetd", the server binary will be reloaded into memory for every request, which may slow your server down.

Binding Port (Port)

This specifies which port of your machine that the HTTPd daemon will bind to and listen for HTTP requests. If you can login as "root", use the default setting of 80. Otherwise choose a setting between 1025 and 65535.

Server user identity (User)

This is the user id the server will change to when answering requests and acting on files.This question needs to be answered only if you are running the server as "standalone". If you are someone without root permissions, just use your own login name. If you are system administrator, you might want to create a special user so you can control file permissions.

Server group identity (Group)

This is the group id the server will change to when answering requests and acting on files. This is similar to Server User identity and is applicable only if you are running the server as standalone.

If you do not have root permissions, just use the name of your primary group. You can find out your group by typing groups at the Linux command prompt.

Server administrator email address (ServerAdmin)

This is the email address that the user should send an email message to when reporting a problem with the server. You can put your personal e-mail address.

Location of server directory (ServerRoot)

This is where the server resides on your system. If you have root permissions leave it in its recommended location /usr/local/etc/httpd. If you cannot login as root, choose a subdirectory in your home path. You can find out the path of your home directory with the pwd command.

Location of HTML files (DocumentRoot)

This is where the HTML files to be served are located. The default location is /usr/local/etc/httpd/htdocs. You could however set it to be the home directory of the special user you chose in Server user identity, or a subdirectory in your home directory if you can't login as root.

When in doubt, use the default settings. Now that you have answers to the above questions you can Download NCSA HTTPd at http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/docs/setup/OneStep.html. You should read the HTTPd Documentation at http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/docs/ before you attempt installation. If you are planning to compile the code then you need to modify the makefiles in each of the th ree directories support, src, cgi-src. If your version of Linux is already supported then you just have to type make linux at the top level directory (i.e. /usr/local/etc/httpd)

2.2 Compiling HTTPd

Compiling is simple, just type make linux at the prompt in the server root directory. Note: Users of pre-ELF Linux have to uncomment #define NO_PASS in file portability.h and set DBM_LIBS= -ldbm in the Makefile before compiling HTTPd.

3. Testing HTTPd

After you have installed HTTPd, login as root and start it by typing httpd & . (assuming you have installed as standalone) You should now be able to see it in the list generated by ps. The simplest way to test HTTPd is by Telnet. At the Linux command prompt type

   linux:~$  telnet 172.16.0.1 80

   Trying 172.16.0.1...
   Connected to linux.mydomain.
   Escape character is '^]'.

   HTTP/1.0 400 Bad Request
   Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 10:24:37 GMT
   Server: NCSA/1.5
   Content-type: text/html

   <HEAD><TITLE>400 Bad Request < /TITLE> < /HEAD>
   <BODY><H1>400 Bad Request < /H1>
   Your client sent a query that this server could
   not understand.<P>
   Reason: Invalid or unsupported method.<P>
   < /BODY>

Now we are ready to connect to this server using another PC and a WWW Browser.

4. Connecting to the Linux Server

Please refer to the diagram shown in the chapter Introduction for the addressing scheme used. Workstation 1 (W/S1) is on network 172.16.0.0 and can access the Linux server directly whereas Workstation 2 (W/S2) is on network 172.17.0.0 and needs to use the gateway (router) 172.17.0.254 to access the Linux box. This gateway information needs to be provided while configuring the clients only on W/S2. Netware refers to the gateway as 'ip_router'.

I am using W/S2 to illustrate the client setup. To setup W/S1 just change the address 172.17.0.5 to 172.16.0.5 and ignore all references to the gateway/router.

If you do not have a router you can skip the next section and proceed to

• Setup Netware Server if you use a Netware server.
• Setup MS Windows Client if you use the Microsoft Client.

4.1 Setup the Linux server

You may skip this section if you do not have a router.

You have to configure the Linux server to recognise the router thus allowing Workstation 2 to connect to the Web server. In order to setup the Linux server you should login as root. At the server prompt type

   route add gw default 172.16.0.254

ALT: You can add routes to the networks on the other side of the router. This would be done as

   route add -net 172.17.0.0 gw 172.16.0.254

4.2 Setup the Netware server

In order to setup the Netware server you should have Supervisor permissions or atleast Console operator permissions. If these cannot be got, try asking your Network Administrator to help you with the setup. At the Server enable the Ethernet_II frame type on the LAN by typing these commands or include them in the AUTOEXEC.ncf file.

   load NE2000 frame=Ethernet_II name=IPNET
   load TCPIP
   bind IP to IPNET addr=172.16.0.2 mask=FF.FF.FF.0

You might have to specify the slot or board number while loading the NE2000 driver depending on your machine configuration. (eg: load NE2000 slot=3 frame=.....)

4.3 Setup the Netware Client

On the PC you have the choice of Win3.1,WFWG or Win95. The installation procedure differs between Win95 and the older windows if you are using the 32bit client from Microsoft or Novell. If you are going to use the 16bit client, the procedure is the same and you can refer to the Windows 3.x installation instructions. For installing the 32bit client for Win95 skip to Windows 95 installation.

Windows 3.x

If you are using Win3.1 or WFWG you can install the Netware Client (VLMs) and some additional files which are provided with the TCP/IP diskette, namely

TCPIP.exe, VTCPIP.386, WINSOCK.dll and WLIBSOCK.dll

Note that the WINSOCK.dll file is different from the ones provided with Win95 and Trumpet. Install the Netware Client with the support for windows. Copy VTCPIP.386, WINSOCK.dll and WLIBSOCK.dll to the SYSTEM directory and TCPIP.exe to the NWCLIENT directory. Now modify the STARTNET.bat in the NWCLIENT directory to

   lsl
   ne2000     ---> your network card driver
   c:\windows\odihlp.exe     ---->if you are using WFWG
   ipxodi
   tcpip        ---> add this line
   nwip         ---> if you use Netware/IP
   vlm

Create a subdirectory (say) \NET\TCP and copy the files HOSTS, NETWORKS, PROTOCOLS and SERVICES from /etc on your Linux server or the directory SYS:ETC on your Netware server. Edit the copied HOSTS file to add the line for your new Linux server. This will enable you to refer to the Linux server as http://linux.mydomain/ instead of http://172.16.0.1/in your WWW browser

   127.0.0.1      localhost
   172.16.0.1      linux.mydomain

Edit the NET.cfg file in NWCLIENT directory

   Link Driver NE2000
       port 300
       int 3
       MEM D0000
       FRAME Ethernet_802.2

; ---- add these lines ----

      FRAME Ethernet_II

   Protocol TCPIP
      PATH TCP_CFG C:\NET\TCP
      ip_address  172.17.0.5
      ip_netmask  255.255.255.0
      ip_router   172.17.0.254     ---> add the address of your gateway only
                                  ---> if you have to use this
                                  ---> gateway to reach your HTTP server

   Link Support
      MemPool 6192       ---> the minimum is 1024. Try with different values
      Buffers 10 1580    ---> this again can be fine tuned

;---------------------------------
; You may need to add lines like these if you are using Netware/IP
;
   NWIP
      NWIP_DOMAIN_NAME  mydomain
      NSQ_BROADCAST   ON
      NWIP1_1 COMPATIBILITY   OFF
      AUTORETRIES     1
      AUTORETRY SECS  10

   [386Enh]
   .....
   network=*vnetbios, vipx.386, vnetware.386, VTCPIP.386
   .....

Reboot your PC, run STARTNET.bat and you can now use your favorite WWW browser to access your Web pages. You need not login to Netware and you don't have to run TCPMAN (if you use Trumpet Winsock).

Windows 95

This section explains how to install the 32bit client on Win95. Firstly you must install the following

   Client for Netware Networks (from Microsoft or Novell)
   Microsoft TCP/IP Protocol
   Network Adapter

To install these items, click on My Computer, Control Panel, Networks. Click Add. You will now be in a window that displays Client, Adapter, Protocol and Service. To install the Client for Netware Networks:

  1. DoubleClick on Client
  2. Click on Microsoft or Novell
  3. DoubleClick on Client for Netware Networks

To install the TCP/IP Protocol:

  1. DoubleClick on Protocol
  2. Click on Microsoft
  3. DoubleClick on TCP/IP

Windows 95 by default installs several other protocols automatically. Remove them by clicking on them and clicking the Remove button. Typically Win95 installs the Microsoft NetBeui protocol, and IPX/SPX compatible protocol. You can delete the NetBEUI protocol, but you will need the IPX/SPX protocol if you wish to login to the Netware Server.

To setup TCP/IP click on TCP/IP, click on Properties, click on the tab IP address

  Enter your IP address in the "Specify an IP address "
                        box as 172.17.0.5
  In the Subnet Mask box enter 255.255.255.0

  Enter your gateway (router) address in the box New gateway
     as 172.17.0.254
  Click the Add button

You should get a message to reboot. Do so. You should now be able to use the Browser to connect to your HTTP Server.

4.4 Setup Microsoft Client

If you are using the Microsoft Client for accessing your network, then this section details how to install TCP/IP for

• Windows for Workgroups (WFWG)
• Windows 95
• Windows NT 4.0

   127.0.0.1      localhost
   172.16.0.1     linux.mydomain

   172.16.0.2     netware.mydomain
   172.16.0.3     winNT.mydomain
   172.16.0.5     ws_1

Windows for Workgroups

This section explains how to install the 32bit client on WFWG. Firstly you must download the TCP/IP drivers for Windows from Microsoft. The current version is 3.11b and is available at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com or other sites as tcp32b.exe. Make sure that you have load Win32s before trying to load the TCP/IP-32bit driver.

Having expanded the TCP/IP files into a temporary directory (say C:\TEMP), check your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory for copies of OEMSETUP.INF. If there are any, rename them. Now copy the OEMSETUP.INF file from the TEMP directory to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. If you have loaded any other TCP/IP stacks on your system, please remove them before you proceed.

Start Network Setup or Windows Setup/Change Network settings

    Click the Networks button
    Click Install Microsoft Windows Network.
      Choose support for additional networks (if required)
    Click OK

     Click the Adapter button
         select an adapter (say NE2000)
         Click OK
     Click the Protocol button
         select the MS TCP/IP-32 protocol
         click OK

   In the IP address box enter 172.17.0.5
   In the Subnet Mask box enter 255.255.255.0
   Enter your gateway (router) address in the box default gateway
     as 172.17.0.254

Windows 95

This section explains how to install the 32bit client for Microsoft on Win95. Firstly you must install the following

   Client for Microsoft Networks
   Microsoft TCP/IP Protocol
   Network Adapter

To install these items, click on My Computer, Control Panel, Networks. Click Add. You will now be in a window that displays Client, Adapter, Protocol and Service. To install the Client for Microsoft Networks:

  1. DoubleClick on Client
  2. Click on Microsoft
  3. DoubleClick on Client for Microsoft Networks

To install the TCP/IP Protocol:

  1. DoubleClick on Protocol
  2. Click on Microsoft
  3. DoubleClick on TCP/IP

Windows 95 by default installs several protocols automatically. Remove them by clicking on them and clicking the Remove button. Typically Win95 installs the Microsoft NetBeui protocol.

To setup TCP/IP click on TCP/IP, click on Properties, click on the tab IP address

  Enter your IP address in the "Specify an IP address "
                        box as 172.17.0.5
  In the Subnet Mask box enter 255.255.255.0

  Enter your gateway (router) address in the box New gateway
     as 172.17.0.254
  Click the Add button

You should get a message to reboot. Do so. You should now be able to use the Browser to connect to your HTTP Server.

Windows NT

This section details how to Install the TCP/IP client for WinNT 4.0. Start Control Panel/ Network

    Select the Adapter tab.
        Click Add to add a new adapter (if you don't have one)

    Select the Protocols tab
        Click Add
        Select the TCP/IP protocol
        Click OK

   Select the tab IP Address
      Mark the checkbox 'Specify an IP address'
      In the IP address box enter 172.17.0.5
      In the Subnet Mask box enter 255.255.255.0
      Enter your gateway (router) address in the box Default Gateway
          as 172.17.0.254

4.5 Setup TCP/IP on Macintosh

If you are using the Macintosh for accessing your network, then this section details how to install MacTCP for the PowerMacs.

Note: To enable you to refer to the Linux server as http://linux.mydomain/ instead of http://172.16.0.1/ in the WWW browser and all your intranet commands you need to edit the hosts file. The format of the hosts file is different from the one used in Unix. The Mac hosts file is based on RFC-1035. You can add more entries for each of your other hosts (Netware, Unix, WinNT) as well. The MacOS keeps its HOSTS file in the Preferences folder under the System folder. Edit this file and add a line for your Linux server as:

  linux.mydomain    A  172.16.0.1

  netware.mydomain  A  172.16.0.2
  winNT.mydomain    A  172.16.0.3
  ws_1              A  172.16.0.5

MacTCP

This section explains how to install MacTCP. Firstly you must download the MacTCP files from Apple or install it from the Internet Connection CD. To configure MacTCP, click the Apple Menu/ Control Panels/ TCP/IP. In the screen change the setting for 'Connect via:' to 'Ethernet'

Change the 'Configure' setting to 'Manually'

  In the IP address box enter 172.17.0.5
  In the Subnet Mask box enter 255.255.255.0
  Enter your gateway (router) address in the box
    Router address as 172.17.0.254

5. Setting up the Intranet

An Intranet cannot be complete without sharing the resources on the different platforms. You will need support for other filesystems, so that you can access the data available on them. This document provides instructions to connect Linux to the following popular filesystems.

• NCP filesystem for Netware
• SMB filesystem for Windows
• NFS filesystem for Unix

These filesystems can be compiled into the Linux kernel or added as modules, depending on the version of Linux. If you are not familiar with compiling the kernel you can refer to the Kernel HOWTO http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html and the Module HOWTO http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/Module-HOWTO.html for compiling the kernel with modules.

5.1 NCPFS

To share the files on the Netware server you will need support for NCP (ncpfs). NCPFS works with kernel version 1.2.x and 1.3.71 upwards. It does not work with any earlier 1.3.x kernel. It cannot access the NDS database in Netware 4.x, but can make use of the bindery. If you are using Netware 4.x you can enable bindery support for specific containers using the command Set Bindery Context at the console as:

  set Bindery Context = CORP.MYDOM;WEBUSER.MYDOM

You will need to download the NCP filesystem utilities using the URL ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/filesystems/ncpfs/ncpfs.tgz (currently ncpfs-2.0.10) from Sunsite.

Installation

To install the ncpfs utilities, type

   zcat ncpfs.tgz | tar xvf -

The installation of ncpfs depends on the kernel version you are using. For kernel 1.2, you should simply type 'make'. Subsequently typing 'make install' will install the executables and man pages.

If you use Kernel 1.3.71 or later, you might have to recompile your kernel. With these kernels, the kernel part of ncpfs is already included in the main source tree. To check if the kernel needs to be recompiled type

   cat /proc/filesystems

If ncpfs is not there, you can either recompile the kernel or add ncpfs as a module. For recompiling the kernel you should type 'make config' and when it asks you for

The IPX protocol (CONFIG_IPX) [N/y/?]

simply answer 'y'. Probably you do not need the full internal net that you are asked for next. Once the kernel is successfully installed, reboot, check /proc/filesystems and if everything is OK proceed with the installation of the ncpfs utilities. Change directory to the location holding your downloaded ncpfs files, and type 'make'. After the compilation is finished type 'make install' to install the various utilities and man pages.

Mounting NCPFS

To check the installation type

   ipx_configure --auto_interface=on --auto_primary=on

....wait for 10 seconds and type

   slist

Suppose we need to access HTML files from directory \home\htmldocs on volume VOL1: on the