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[This isn't a LinuxMCE specific question, it's a networking question, but answers would apply to LinuxMCE.]

If one considers a gateway (an aspect of LinuxMCE) as something the rest of the network goes through, and as a logical spot for provisioning of network services ... (e.g. firewall between inside and outside networks, and ntp)

"What's a gateway?" (What all is it composed of?)

It's a moving target. e.g. Not too many years ago asterisk wasn't something that immediately came to mind as something that should be on a gateway. As internet life evolves, so will the gateway.

When I have looked around the web, gateway 'aspects' are strewn all about the 'documentation.' Some aspects are in server provisioning, other aspects are in desktop provisioning (e.g. nfs/samba), other aspects are small topics unto themselves. I can't recall coming across a 'networking' 'category' of documentation / one-stop shopping.

I haven't come across any good links as to "What's a gateway?" / "What all a gateway does?"

- a simple checklist would be a good start, e.g. It has this and this and that and that.

Anyone with any good links / references / etc.?

Thanks.

Searched forums for 'swap' for no hits.

Referenced http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Single_to_Double_NIC.

Loading 7.10 CDs on a laptop. Internal NIC to be internal network (MUST BE - disconnected gateway, house still works. Other way around ... not.)

On a different disk, used DVDs - problem below didn't occur.

USB NIC to be external.

Internal NIC came in as eth1, usb eth2.

With CDs loaded, no swap interface button on admin web page.

Following link above failed, until I noticed a missed step (the first one) -

Web Admin: Show devices tree/My Devices/CORE > Device data/Network Interfaces

    * Change: eth0,dhcp|eth0:0,192.168.80.1,255.255.255.0 to: eth0,dhcp|eth1,192.168.80.1,255.255.255.0

Until I changed the above entries the swap interfaces button was not present. (But was on DVD.)

Once I changed the entry, my network came back. So did the swap interface button, but then I no longer needed it.

Thought I should post a note.

If there is a condition on when the swap interfaces button should be presented, the condition should be removed.

Post-CD install, it seems that sources.list is changed to prefer linuxmce package sources. (Good.)

Given that, is there any particular dis/advantage to the method of software installation - lmce admin website / command line / gui?

Is it reasonable to say if a bit of software isn't of concern to lmce, a package operates in the usual manner?

(I get that, for example, if I go and play with the network settings outside of lmce, lmce may well break.)

Gotchas?

Thanks.

What package does lmce use for the firewall?

Especially at initial setup, I'm not going to go through the limited firewall web interface. e.g. bogon filters.

I'd rather use the package's native interface, but don't want to get into a situation where lmce doesn't include those changes.

Thanks.

I've done a successful DVD install of 7.10 on a thinkpad laptop (PIII/700,512MB).

I've then gotten Kubuntu to start automatically. (/etc/init.d/kdm.saved -> kdm).

Where are the LinuxMCE icons/apps / how do I get them on my desktop?

Once clicked, I'll then see the expected with Ctrl-Alt-F11?

Thanks.

Ref: http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=640.0

The last time I looked at c/klamav for on the fly virus scanning, it needs dazuko, which needed compatibility. (That last still true?)

And compatibility meant recompiling the kernel.

If I go through all that ... am I simply going to end up with an un-updateable (linuxmce wise), and probably broken, appliance?

'dcerouter' doesn't really fit into my network naming schema.

Is it safe to change it?

Just installed the DVD - how do I get kubuntu to start by default instead of just the launch manager?

(No, starting admin website doesn't actually start kubuntu / desktop / etc.)

Thanks.

- the wiki pages (installation) seem to cover all possibilities except for this one.

New install from DVD.

apt-get update returns 'Failed to fetch http://linuxmce.com/ubuntu/./Packages.gz  404 Not Found' (among lots of other things).

Is there a problem with this sources.list entry?

Having lurked about LinuxMCE for quite some time, I am about to install LinuxMCE on a laptop, core only. No media will be stored on it. Basically, for the moment, I'm creating a gateway. Core, asterisk, etc., etc., dhcp, dns, proxy, squid, anything else 'gateway'y I can think of. Network services. (Ldap, nmap, nautilus, firewall, etc., etc.) Maybe some day I'll throw an external esata drive on it, but not today. I'll use the on-board ethernet for internal, and a usb ethernet for external. Or just usb to the modem. I'll create a single room only, for the moment, put the gateway in it, and leave well enough alone - for the moment.

Somewhere down the road, when time permits, I'll create a hybrid (near the living room TV), where all the storage will be (and the video out to the TV, etc., etc.). [Currently I replicate all data (changes) nightly between two machines with 1.5 TB disks. OS' use their native backup to the data partition nightly, then that and the local data gets replicated up. These are all Windows machines, multiple.] I'll worry about media storage / replication / backup, then.

As I go about my day, I can install software, reboot the core, update, yada, yada, yada. But, being the gateway IT CAN NEVER GO DOWN FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF TIME. Reboots, OK, large software / configuration problems - NOT. Other people in the house have to be productive throughout - the gateway being down is a BAD THING.

Having to recreate the gateway would also be a BAD THING.

At some point, something's going to happen, hardware is going to fail, and so on and so forth.

What do people use for backups? Preferably bare metal. [I considered making it a vm, but (a) nothing bare metal will go on something as small as a laptop, and (b) not infrequently there is some customization of the distro. of the first guest os - which will probably conflict all to heck with the LinuxMCE 'distro'.]

I'll need to be able to pick it up and put it down and voila. Make appropriate changes for different hardware, and it had better JUST WORK.

Not just the LinuxMCE settings, the _whole_ machine. Userids, accounts, user profiles, EVERYTHING.

The only safe backup is a backup never needed. Next to that, the only safe backup is to never lose the data. So on the fly squirreling elsewhere is de rigeur.

Suggested packages to look at?

TIA.


P.S. I expect to partition something like (120 GB disk):
680 MB - FreeDOS / 'boot' partition (Grub for DOS)
20 GB - LinuxMCE system partition
10 GB - LinuxMCE backup partition (replica? Mentioned in wiki entry on backup/restore).
Extended
  2 GB - swap
{something for the rest - not initially defined. I want LinuxMCE to keep its system fingers out of here. Probably a local data (rest of computer) local replica that will then be sent up, nightly.}

Reasonable?