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I have a small server that I've been using for stuff internal to our house - running Plex for the TV, mostly. I'd like to make some of the documents on it available for my friends to download over the internet, but I'm wary of installing something like Apache and running a full-on web server if I don't need to.

Would it be a better idea to try to set up an FTP server instead? Or another option? Is there a 'correct' way to do this?

(For the purpose of this question, my friends are capable of following technical instruction to the level of being able to connect to an FTP server, but not much further. They are running a mix of OSes and are in various locations around the country.)

fortyCakes
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  • My friend's computers aren't necessarily Ubuntu, or on the same LAN. I have edited the question to clarify. – fortyCakes Nov 09 '16 at 09:46
  • if they can access ftp on your server, I don't see why the options in that post should be difficult. – muru Nov 09 '16 at 09:50

2 Answers2

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FTP is probably the most convenient option. If you are concerned about security, you can either

  • Set up FTP to require "FTP over explicit SSL/TLS" at the server
  • Set up a VPN and open your FTP server only to your VPN

The first of those two options is going to be the easiest. It will be easy enough to instruct your friends of what settings to use in Filezilla to access the server. Filezilla will try using Explicit FTP over TLS by default, so no additional configuration should be needed if they use Filezilla.

Another security tip: use very strong passwords for FTP, and only give your FTP server access to the specific files you want to share.

thomasrutter
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Within a local area network, I'd use NFS and map the drive in Plex. The only package you need is nfs-kernel-server. For configuring plex: How to map NAS drives so Plex can read them

The server installation: export/folder/to/mount apt-get install nfs-kernel-server mkdir -p /export/users 

# Test mount export 
  mount --bind /home/users /export/users # to test

# If it works add it to fstab:
  /home/users    /export/users   none    bind  0  0

# Add to /etc/exports (if your network is 192.168.1.x, otherwise modify accordingly)
  /export 192.168.1.0/24(rw,fsid=0,insecure,no_subtree_check,async)
  /export/users 192.168.1.0/24(rw,nohide,insecure,no_subtree_check,async)


On the client side if using /etc/fstab: 
  192.168.1.xxx:/export/folder/to/mount    /local_folder     nfs     auto 0 0

Taken from: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpNFSHowTo

Windows 7+ mounting via cmd.exe:

net use N: \\<your_VPSA_IP>\export\folder

And for your Windows < 7 friends there is SAMBA: https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/serverguide/samba-fileserver.html

Community
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twicejr
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