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Having configured your system according to the previous chapter you should be able to connect to the internet via a router. In order to perform some tests (to see if the network is working properly) there is a set of small utilities, f.ex. ping, route or traceroute. I will not discuss them right here, as I already have given a more detailed description in MiNT-Net for lamers.
All I will do is to explain what to do to make your Atari a server machine. For setting up a linux server you should have a look at the web, there is lots of information. Most of the things for Atari can be applied on linux machines as MiNT has become fairly compatible to linux.
A small note: If you have (re)configured a certain service, you do not necessarily have to restart your computer. You can, for example, restart the nfs server by entering this command (in bash):

            bash # /etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs restart
                        

You can find out about which services there are by having a look at /etc/rc.d/init.d folder. What do these services do? Try the example above without 'restart' and you will see.

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First of all you should install the inetd rpm. Thus open a bash and go to the folder where the inetd-0.17-5.m68kmint.rpm is stored, like this e.g.:

            bash # cd /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/m68kmint
                        

Then enter the following in bash:

            bash # rpm -ivh inetd-0.17-5.m68kmint.rpm
                        

Depending on which services your Atari shall provide you will have to install a selection of the packages listed in chapter Basics in the manner described above.
Annotation: If you wish to use nfs, then you have to install portmap-4.0-4.m68kmint.rpm package as well.

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First step after having installed inetd is to have a look at /etc/inetd.conf. At the first glance you will likely close the file immediatley.:) But don't be scared, it is not that bad. In case of the telnet server you simply search the line starting with '#telnet', remove the leading comment mark ('#') and save the file. You can activate the other services in the same manner.
All you have to do to have these services offered is to ensure that 'inetd' is started during boot up. Therefore you open the file /etc/sysconfig/net.services and add a line with inetd.

            #
            # [ this file must follow the unix convention - save with no CR !!! ]
            #
            # the default network services that are started on every system boot
            # after the network is setted up
            # it's interpreted as /etc/rc.d/init.d/<name> start
            #
            inetd
                        

If you want to use the telnet server the corresponding rpm has to be installed of course.
After reboot the inetd inclusive telnet server should be available. To test this type

            bash # telnet Atari.netzwerk.de
                        

in the client (linux pc) bash (I refer to the examples from the previous charpter). Now you should be hailed by the Atari prompt.
CAUTION!
You should be aware of the fact that at this point the configuration of your Atari is open to access from the internet. 'inetd' opens floodgates to your computer! If you plan to connect your home network to the internet you should learn more about 'inetd' before!!!

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Installing an FTP server is rather simple as well. First of all you have to install the ftp server rpm, then remove the comment mark from the '#ftp' line the way you did for the telnet server (in the file '/etc/inetd.conf'). Then restart 'inetd' (see Preface)
But remember my warning from above: It needs more than this to set up a secure FTP server, so learn more about this before connecting to the internet!

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Nice to have is NFS. It makes it possible to "attach" arbitrary folders from other computers in the network to your own computer. Linux people say "mount".
Here again you have to consider which machine is client and which server. If the linux machine is the nfs server then all you have to do on sides of the Atari ist to copy the nfs driver nfs.xfs into the MINT folder. Then you can mount the folders enabled on the linux machine. It is a speciality for Atari that you cannot mount external folders into arbitrary folders in your local file system. After having installed the nfs.xfs there is the folder nfs on virtual drive u:. This is the only place to which you can mount external folders.
Assumed that the folder /home/user1 has been enabled on the linux server. Then you enter in bash on your Atari:

            bash # mount_nfs -o rw 192.168.1.2:/home/user1 /nfs/test
                        

There should be a folder test in /u/nfs that holds the content of the folder /home/user1 of your linux server. Now you can copy, move or kill files as if they were on your local hard disc - if you have enabled the folder with the corresponding rights on your linux server.
The parameter '-o rw' (rw = read/write) of the command mount_nfs allows for read and write accesses to the folder. You could have typed '-o ro' (ro = read only), then only read access had been allowed.
If you want to "detach" the folder again, type:

            bash # mount_nfs -u /nfs/test
                        

You can automatise this stuff in EasyMiNT, i.e. let it be done with system boot up. Premise is that the nfs server (on the linux machine) is running during Atari boot up. Have a look at /etc/fstab. There are some entries already, which do not matter right now. Add the following line (with the parts separated with tabs only!) to the end of the file:

            192.168.1.2:/home/user1 /nfs/test nfs 1024 10
                        

The first part consists of the IP address of the linux server, followed by a colon and the folder to be mounted. The second part denotes the target folder on your Atari, part three says that nfs is to be used. Part four is the number of bytes to be reserved for read and write buffering and the last part is the maximum number of retries for nfs requests.
By reading boot messages you can know if the nfs mount has been successful. After boot up you can type the command 'showmount' in a bash.

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Of course you can configure your Atari as nfs server. First you have to install the 'nfs-server-2.2beta47-1.m68kmint.rpm'. Then edit the file /etc/exports. Here you can list the folders that the nfs client may access and define the access rights. Alternativlely you can enable folders in the running system by the command 'exportfs'. This is the recommended way for testing:

            bash # exportfs Linux.netzwerk.de:/home/user1
                        

The command above enables the folder /home/user1 for the linux machine. To "disable" the folder again, type:

            bash # exportfs -u Linux.netzwerk.de:/home/user1
                        

But now let's have a look at /etc/exports. It could look like this for example:

            /home          Linux.netzwerk.de(rw)
            /usr/share     *.netzwerk.de(ro)
                        

The first line enables read and write access to the folder /home for the linux machine. The second line enables read only access to the folder /usr/share for all machines in the domain 'netzwerk.de'. As you can see, wildcards are possible.
To have these two directories enabled automatically with boot up, you have to add a line with

            nfs
                        

to the file '/etc/sysconfig/net.services'.
CAUTION!
Configuring an nfs server is not as trivial as it may seem to be (from the lines above). Again I recommend further reading before connecting your local network to the internet. All I do here is to give an impression about what to do basically. A good german documentation [sorry] for nfs is available here!

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Well, I hope this helped a bit in enlighting aspects of EasyMiNT and MiNT-Net and its configuration. If you have ideas, improvements or questions, feel free to contact me.
Once again: Setting up servers means that you have to invest a lot in configuration to protect it, so be cautious!

Have fun!

Marc-Antón Kehr

February 2003

translation: Alexander Beuscher, June 2003

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