headless linux possible via NFS

I have the idea to put an old computer to use as a headless system; so
no keyboard and no monitor. The goal of the computer is to host a
webserver with some pages that show 'real-time' data like temperature
and humidity that is measured outside. The computer must also keep a
record (logging) of the temperature and humidity over time. These files
must be accesible via the net.

I browsed on the internet and the gross of the people option for a
serial link (via software minicom) to be able to 'talk' to the headless
computer. However, I had the idea to do this via ethernet by setting up
an NFS server. I did not find any info on this, which is a bit odd
because for me it looks like an idea that a lot of other people already
must have had !

Anyway, does anybody have experience with setting up a headless system,
and have some good tips on how to do this or maybe some other ideas?

Thanks in advance, Edward Hage

edward hage wrote:

> I browsed on the internet and the gross of the people option for a
> serial link (via software minicom) to be able to 'talk' to the headless
> computer. However, I had the idea to do this via ethernet by setting up
> an NFS server.

NFS is a file transfer protocol and not what you want. Use ssh and X to run
apps on the remote system. You can also use scp for file copying.
Both ssh and scp are secure.

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In message <40819e0c$0$564$(E-Mail Removed)>, edward hage wrote:

> I have the idea to put an old computer to use as a headless system; so
> no keyboard and no monitor. The goal of the computer is to host a
> webserver with some pages that show 'real-time' data like temperature
> and humidity that is measured outside. The computer must also keep a
> record (logging) of the temperature and humidity over time. These files
> must be accesible via the net.
>
> I browsed on the internet and the gross of the people option for a
> serial link (via software minicom) to be able to 'talk' to the headless
> computer. However, I had the idea to do this via ethernet by setting up
> an NFS server. I did not find any info on this, which is a bit odd
> because for me it looks like an idea that a lot of other people already
> must have had !
>
> Anyway, does anybody have experience with setting up a headless system,
> and have some good tips on how to do this or maybe some other ideas?
>
It's easy enough to do, I have a couple of machines here that exist without
keyboard, mouse or monitor. One is the firewall machine that runs almost no
services except sshd bound to the internal ethernet card and the
iptables/iproute stuff, the other is my server machine that runs the web
server, dhcp, dns, imap etc. It's also got NFS configured and the other
machines all mount /home from it. Provided you remember to set up the BIOS
to allow it to boot with no keyboard it'll be quite happy.

Dave
--
mail: da (E-Mail Removed) (without the space)
http://www.llondel.org/
So many gadgets, so little time...

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:11:50 +0200, edward hage <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have the idea to put an old computer to use as a headless system; so
> no keyboard and no monitor. The goal of the computer is to host a
> webserver with some pages that show 'real-time' data like temperature
> and humidity that is measured outside. The computer must also keep a
> record (logging) of the temperature and humidity over time. These files
> must be accesible via the net.
>
> I browsed on the internet and the gross of the people option for a
> serial link (via software minicom) to be able to 'talk' to the headless
> computer. However, I had the idea to do this via ethernet by setting up
> an NFS server. I did not find any info on this, which is a bit odd
> because for me it looks like an idea that a lot of other people already
> must have had !
>
> Anyway, does anybody have experience with setting up a headless system,
> and have some good tips on how to do this or maybe some other ideas?

If it is not server hardware, you may need keyboard, mouse and monitor to
install Linux. You should set it up to boot to runlevel 3 (console), not
runlevel 5 (X). Once that is done and you can access it via ssh from
network, you can pull the plug on the monitor. Whether you need a
keyboard depends whether you can disable that in BIOS (otherwise it may
fail to boot with a keyboard error).

The reason you do not see much about controlling Linux from a network is
because it was built for networking. Disabling the monitor is simply
pulling the plug, and disabling the keyboard is hardware specific.

I have 2 old headless PCs in the basement, controlled by my wireless
laptop. Although, I leave keyboard and mouse plugged in and have a
monitor handy that I can plug into either one if I need it.

--
David Efflandt - All spam ignored http://www.de-srv.com/