Which is the best way to randomly connect several Linux PCs?

[B.K. Johnson]

Mike

Mmm: nope. Definitely all four present & correct, mate.....

Look again.

Not in my field of vision.
See screenshot

[rufwoof]

Jeez, Mike and rufwoof, thank you for the effort, but I said:
...to find the simplest way that always work!
As I understand from skimming through the detailed manuals you guys made, those methods works by connecting the different PCs to one main PC that is acting as a server. I need to connect the individual PCs randomly, with none acting as a server.

I earlier used sshfs to log into my accounts at the uni, but then the uni was the server. That worked very well, and in theory it should be dead simple to accomplish, but when I try the same setup between my own computers, I fail. Besides, I guess that is a one-way connect, PC1 can reach PC2, but PC2 cannot reach PC1.

ssh would seem to be the best choice. If each box runs a ssh server you could set things up to use sshfs (requires fuse) and any one box could sshfs mount any of the other boxes and use rox to browse/edit the files. I use ssh and sshfs under Fatdog and there shouldn't be any reason to not do the same under Puppy, so you're question would seem more to do with how to get ssh/sshfs up and working for you on whatever Puppy you're using.

[rcrsn51]

@tallboy: All of the above discussion is irrelevant until you establish a crucial fact. Your machines can only talk to each other if their IP addresses are on the same subnet, like 192.168.2.10 and 192.168.2.11.

If your computers are on a LAN with a router, it's the job of the router to automatically hand out valid IP addresses.

But if you want to use some other method, like directly connecting two machines together by their Ethernet ports, then you need another way to set up their IP addresses.

Is that what you are asking for?

[Mike Walsh]

@ BKJ:-

Yah; that's curious. While I'm signed-in, all 4 files show. But if I log-out, and then view it from the link, as you say, only 3 are showing.....

I signed-in again, and had a closer look. For some weird reason, Google are 'flagging' that particular file up 'for abuse'..! It's exactly as it was the day Bill uploaded it, 'cos I've done nothing to it myself.

I tried removing & re-uploading it; no cigar. It still comes up the same. The Drive doesn't appear to like it, for some unknown reason... Anyway; if you re-visit that post, and try the link again, it will now take you to my MediaFire a/c.....where everything is showing, 'cos I tested to make sure it would.

Sorry about that, mate. Thanks for pointing it out.


Mike.

[tallboy]

rcrsn51, thank you, I see your point. They are mostly on the same subnet, but not always. I'll se if I can get sshfs working.

[B.K. Johnson]

Mike
Got the last of the trio at MediaFire.
Thanks

[rcrsn51]

Mike
Got the last of the trio at MediaFire.
Thanks

There is no need to download old versions of these apps. They are all included in Puppy OOTB.

[Mike Walsh]

Mike
Got the last of the trio at MediaFire.
Thanks

There is no need to download old versions of these apps. They are all included in Puppy OOTB.

@ Bill:-

I agree that newer versions probably work better, and, as you say, are included with new Pups by default. The only reason I've bundled that particular set all-in is because I know, from experience, that they work together.

Of course, not everybody is running newer Puppies.....so for them, these tend to be add-ons anyway.


Mike.

[rcrsn51]

@tallboy: I still don't understand what you are looking for.

Do you need a way to put two machines on the same subnet if they are NOT controlled by a router?

Are you looking for some kind of peer-to-peer file transfer software?

[s243a]

rcrsn51, thank you, I see your point. They are mostly on the same subnet, but not always. I'll se if I can get sshfs working.

Let us know how well it worksfor you .

BTW sshfs use sftp. An alternative approach (probably less secure) is to use dynamic ssh port forwarding to tunnel a ftp server through ssh. The ssh server does this by setting up a socks 5 proxy. One can then connect to the ftp server over the socks5 proxy using filezilla or alternative they can use badvpn to map the socks5 proxy to a tunnel device. Then one can map the tunnel device to a folder using a ftpfs (e.g. curlftpfs).

Yes the "BTW" approach is more complicated and less secure but it ties together a bunch of interesting concepts

[tallboy]

Do you need a way to put two machines on the same subnet if they are NOT controlled by a router?
Are you looking for some kind of peer-to-peer file transfer software?

I hope I don't confuse you even more; yes, I sometimes need a direct P2P connection! As far as I know, that means, that each PC act as both a server and a client, and that it requieres a P2P program. I have to read up on these different approaches to solve my problems.

s243, thanks again for your input.

[rcrsn51]

Read here and see Example #1.

[tallboy]

Thank you, rcrsn51.

[rcrsn51]

Thank you, rcrsn51.

Does that mean that you tried it and it worked?

[jafadmin]

These days when we talk about "routers", we are really talking about a device that that is actually a "combo" device.

They are often a gateway, a router, a wireless access point, and a network switch, all rolled into one physical device. It's easy to understand how terms and advice can become confusing.

To make a simple P2P network that doesn't need the internet, you simply need to connect them to a switch and manually configure their IP addresses to be on the same subnet (192.168.1.100, 101, 102, etc, with a 255.255.255.0 netmask). At this point, all the computers connected to that same switch will talk to each other, but not the outside world.

If you want the above network to talk to the outside world, you need a "gateway". This "gateway" provides the option of automatically configuring clients with DHCP, and providing network address translation (NAT) to communicate with the outside world, and assumes the routable (real) IP address assigned by your ISP.

If you look on the back of the typical home "router" you will find several RJ45 plugs. One of them is the router/gateway uplink port to the WAN (internet) modem. The others are all part of the "switch" that is built into the device and is internally wired to the gateway/router. You can actually just use the device as a switch if you want, just by not plugging in the WAN port and manually setting IP addresses on the devices plugged in.



... And Robert is you mother's brother, as they say ..
.

[rcrsn51]

To make a simple P2P network that doesn't need the internet, you simply need to connect them to a switch and manually configure their IP addresses to be on the same subnet (192.168.1.100, 101, 102, etc, with a 255.255.255.0 netmask).

It would be helpful to newcomers if you provided the steps for doing this.

Or you could run RouterMaker, which automates the process. See Example #3.

[tallboy]

Does that mean that you tried it and it worked?

No, haven't had the time to do it yet, my daily routines are a bit unorganized at the moment. I only follow the forum when I have a minute or two between other more trivial tasks.
I am grateful for all help and suggestions, and I'll report back after testing.

[jafadmin]

To make a simple P2P network that doesn't need the internet, you simply need to connect them to a switch and manually configure their IP addresses to be on the same subnet (192.168.1.100, 101, 102, etc, with a 255.255.255.0 netmask).

It would be helpful to newcomers if you provided the steps for doing this.

Or you could run RouterMaker, which automates the process. See Example #3.

So true, man. So true.

Code: Select all

ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.10 netmask 255.255.255.0

And so on for each machine, changing the '10' to '11', then '12', etc ..

If you want to get fancy, you can put entries for each machine in the /etc/hosts file, like so:

192.168.1.10 gamer
192.168.1.11 laptop
192.168.1.12 telemetry

Just add those to the hosts files of each machine and you can access them by name: "ping gamer", etc .. instead of using their IP address.

I hope this helps ..

[tallboy]

Question: How do I have to relate to a VPN mixed into this soup?

[jafadmin]

Question: How do I have to relate to a VPN mixed into this soup?

Ok, what am I missing, here? You've been a puppy user for nine years and you have twice as many posts as I do.

These are all Dick & Jane questions. This does not compute.