Remote Access

Until now I have been working on the server like a desktop. So the server has a screen and a keyboard connected to it. This is not an ideal situation. I rather connect to it from my desktop machine, so that I don`t need an extra screen and keyboard to work on the server. Another benefit is that the machine is pretty noisy and now I can just put it up the ceiling in the hallway where it doesn`t bother me or any of my flat-mates.

So to remotely connect to the machine I`ll use the software openSSH. Simply install this with:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

Test it with:

ssh localhost

Stop the ssh server with:

sudo /etc/init.d/ssh stop

Start ssh server with:

sudo /etc/init.d/ssh start

Restart the ssh server with:

sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart

To connect to my server from my windows desktop I use the program "putty" you can download this software here It is a small program that works very easy. Just fill in the IP-Address of your server and select SSH. Now press "open" and a screen should pop up where you can login to your server. With command "exit" you`ll close the connection to the server. If you are in a Local Area Network and you want to remotely access your server from outside the network you should make sure that port 22 is forwarded to the server. You should be able to change this somewhere on your router.

The last thing to do before moving the machine to the hallway is making sure that it will boot without a keyboard connected. You can change this in your BIOS. On my machine I first had to enable "the power on password" Option. After that I was able to enable the "Server Boot" option, which makes it boot without the keyboard connected.

check this site for a detailed totorial on installing openssh.

Next time I will post about installing an openDaap itunes server..