Author: Answertopia

Although Linux has made some inroads into the desktop market, its origins and future are very much server based. It is unsurprising, therefore, that Ubuntu can act as a file server. It is also common for Ubuntu and Windows systems to be used side by side in networked environments. Therefore, it is a common requirement…

Ubuntu provides two mechanisms for sharing files and folders with other systems on a network. One approach is to use technology called Samba. Samba is based on Microsoft Windows Folder Sharing and allows Linux systems to make folders accessible to Windows systems, and also to access Windows based folder shares from Linux. This approach can…

In the previous chapter, we looked at how to display the entire Ubuntu desktop on a remote computer. While this works well if you need to display the entire desktop remotely, it could be considered overkill if you only want to display a single application. Therefore, this chapter will look at displaying individual applications on…

Ubuntu can be configured to provide remote access to the graphical desktop environment over a network or internet connection. Although not enabled by default, it is relatively straightforward to display and access an Ubuntu desktop from a system anywhere else on a network or the internet. This can be achieved regardless of whether that system…

When an Ubuntu system is first installed, it is not configured by default to allow remote command-line access via Secure Shell (SSH) connections. When installed, SSH provides password-protected and encrypted access to the system for the root account and any other users added during the installation phase. This level of security is far from adequate…

All Linux distributions are provided with a firewall solution of some form. In the case of Ubuntu, this takes the form of the Uncomplicated Firewall outlined in the previous chapter. This chapter will introduce a more advanced firewall solution available for Ubuntu in the form of firewalld. An Introduction to firewalld Originally developed for Red…

In the previous chapter, we looked at ports and services on an Ubuntu system. We also briefly looked at iptables firewall rules on Ubuntu, including the creation of a few very simple rules from the command line. In this chapter, we will look at a more user-friendly approach to iptables configuration using two tools named…

A firewall is a vital component in protecting an individual computer system or network of computers from external attack (typically from an internet connection). Any computer connected directly to an internet connection should ideally run a firewall to protect against malicious activity. Similarly, any internal network must have some form of firewall between it and…

It is difficult to envisage an Ubuntu system that does not have at least one network connection, and harder still to imagine how such an isolated system could be of much practical use. The simple fact is that Ubuntu is designed to provide enterprise-level services over network and internet connections. Therefore, a crucial part of…