|
|
 | Virtual Server Documentation |
Home | Getting Started | FreeBSD | Solaris | Handbook
Windows File Sharing
Windows File Sharing allows you to map a Windows network drive to your
Virtual Server home directory across the Internet.
Once you have mapped the Windows network drive to your Virtual Server
you can "drag-and-drop" files to and from your
Virtual Server as if it were a local drive.
Samba
The Windows File Sharing feature for Virtual Servers is made possible by
Samba, an SMB client and
server for the UNIX O/S. SMB is the protocol by which PCs running the Windows O/S
share files and other information such as lists of available files.
Configuring Your Windows PC
Here is a step-by-step setup process for configuring your Windows PC
to support the File Sharing feature.
Once you complete this setup,
you can have your PC automatically reconnect each time you log in.
Therefore, you only need to set up Windows File Sharing once.
- Install network protocol software on your Windows PC
"Client for Microsoft Networks" and the "TCP/IP" protocol stack
must be installed. This is done with the "Network" configuration
panel in the "Control Panel". TCP/IP is probably already installed
since it is necessary in order to connect to the Internet.
- Create or update your Windows "lmhosts" file
Locate and modify a file titled "lmhosts" in your "C:\Windows"
directory. If the file does not exist then you will need to create it.
In some revisions of Windows 95/98 a sample "lmhosts" file is included
with the software installation. You can search for the existence of this
sample file by using one of two methods. One way to find the file is
simply by using your Windows Explorer to review the contents of your
"C:\Windows" directory; looking specifically for a filename like
"Lmhosts.sam". You can also search for the file by using the file search
capability in your "Start -> Find -> Files or Folders..." menu.
If you find the file "lmhosts.sam", open the file using Notepad or some
other text file editor. If you did not find the file, then launch Notepad
to create a new file. Add a line to the bottom of the file you have just
opened. The line should contain the IP address of your Virtual Server and
a nickname that you would like to identify the IP address with. Please
consider the following examples:
1.2.3.4 nickname
192.41.255.255 "Virtual Server"
Note that if the nickname you choose includes a space or other special
characters, you will need to enclose the nickname with quotation marks.
If are administrating multiple Virtual Server accounts, then you will need
to specify a unique nickname for each IP address you include. Also,
please make sure that each host entry ends with a line feed. Press your
enter key a couple of times after the last entry in your lmhosts file just
to be safe.
After you have finished adding the lines to your lmhosts file, save the
file to your "C:\Windows" directory under the name "lmhosts". Most
windows editors will want you to specify a file extension like ".txt" or
".doc". You can prevent this from happening by enclosing the filename in
quotation marks.
- Enable plain text passwords
Depending upon the version of Windows you are running, you may need to
update your system registry in order to enable plain text passwords.
- Windows 2000
The system registry must be updated. Download and run the following program,
which will automatically update the registry for you.
- Windows 98/NT
The system registry must be updated.
In the "Start Menu" select "Run...". This will bring up a Run window
with a text entry field. Input "regedit" and hit "Ok". This will bring
up the Registry Editor. Select the following folders:
Windows 98
expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then expand System
then expand CurrentControlSet
then expand Services
then expand VxD
then select VNETSUP
Windows NT
expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then expand System
then expand CurrentControlSet
then expand Services
then expand Rdr
then select Parameters
On the right hand side you will see a collection of name:data pairs.
To add a new entry here for "EnablePlainTextPassword",
select the "Edit" menu, then select "New", then "DWORD Value".
This will create a new name:data pair. Change the name from the
default "New Value #1" to "EnablePlainTextPassword".
The name:data pair should now look like:
EnablePlainTextPassword 0x00000000 (0)
Highlight the "EnablePlainTextPassword" and then select the "Edit"
menu and the "Modify" menu item (it should be the first menu item).
In the "Edit DWORD Value" dialog box change the "Value data" value
form "0" to "1" and make sure the "Hexadecimal" Base radio button
is selected. Then select the "Ok" dialog. Exit the Registry
Editor.
|
NOTE:
One other thing in NT4 SP3, go to your NT control panel for networking,
Look at TCP/IP properties, look at the WINS Address tab, and check the
Enable DNS for Windows resolution box.
|
- Windows 95
Plain text passwords are enabled by default. No action is necessary.
- Restart your Windows PC
- Map a Windows network drive to your Virtual Server
Now that you have included IP address/nickname pairs in your lmhosts
file, you are reading to establish network connections using the
File Sharing capability. To do this, open your Windows Explorer and
select the "Map Network Drive..." menu item located in the "Tools" menu.
This will open up the "Map Network Drive" dialog box.
Using the Map Network Drive dialog,
you will map a specific drive letter to the File Sharing Connection.
Select an available drive letter using the "Drive:" selection box. The
value for the "Path:" definition should be of the form "\\NICKNAME\LOGIN"
where NICKNAME is one of the nicknames you defined for a specific IP
address in your lmhosts file and LOGIN is the login id for the Virtual
Server at that IP address.
For example, if you defined the nickname "Virtual Server" for the IP
address of your Virtual Server account and the login id for your account
was "biff", then you would enter "\\Virtual Server\biff" as the value in
the "Path:" text entry field. If you would like the drive mapped each
time you logon to your computer then select the "Reconnect at logon" check
box.
Select the "OK" button after you have selected a Drive letter and
specified a path. Your computer will then attempt to map the drive to the
home directory of your Virtual Server. This process can take several
minutes so please be patient. If a connection is established, you will be
prompted for your login password. After you enter your password and
successfully authenticate, your Windows Explorer will display the drive
letter on the left-hand side along with your local drives. You can now
double-click on directories to expand paths and double-click on files to
open them locally. If you need to upload files to a specific directory,
you need only drag the file from your local folder to your Virtual Server
folder. Likewise, if you want to download a file to your local machine,
you would select the file in your Virtual Server folder and drag it to
your desktop or a local file folder. It's that easy!
|
NOTE:
Because UNIX uses a different EOL (End Of
Line) scheme than DOS/Windows you will need to translate any text
(html, perl script, etc.) files before copying them up to your Virtual
Server. UNIX text files have lines delimited by a single line-feed
character (0A hex), whereas DOS text-mode files are delimited with a
carriage-return/line-feed pair (0D/OA hex). We have placed a very
useful utility,
fixcrlf,
that you can install on your Windows PC to do help convert DOS
files to UNIX and UNIX files to DOS. Using fixcrlf you simply
drag-and-drop your file on to the fixcrlf dialog. It automatically
detects which the ASCII file type and makes the proper conversion.
Please note that binary files do not need to be converted.
Tip: Use an editor that is "UNIX aware" like
HotDog Pro from Sausage
Software. This way you don't have to
worry about converting the file before uploading your content.
You can then edit your content right on your Virtual Server volume
directly over the Internet.
|
|
Click Here for Web Hosting Information & Pricing