Topic: some questions regarding SME server

[valexvo]

HI,
I'm new on SME server and I have some questions:
1. Which release shall I use in a small office network: 6.01, or 6.5rc1 ?
2. I want to use Sme-server as private server and gateway for my lan. Where can I find some docs concerning the firewall and/or how can I configure it ?.
What ports are open by default in firewall?
any helps welcomed.
thanks
regards
alex

[jester]

6.01 for production enviroment at this moment (though some say 6.5rc1 is up to the job as well). It might depend on how soon you want to start using this new SME server... development of SME7.0 is progressing rapidly but no telling when it will really be finished and how soon after usefull contribs will be updated for SME7.0.

Search the contribs and forums for usefull information:
open ports: http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=28348.msg117658#msg117658

More sources: http://no.longer.valid/phpwiki/index.php/SME%20Server%20FAQs
http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/bobk/SME_Manual/chpt-00.0-title.html

Kind regards,
Jester.

[valexvo]

@ jester
Thanks for your quick reply.
As I understand (pls. correct me if I'm wrong) I need a PC with 2 NIC's , one for local lan and one for outside ( I have a radio modem ). I don't need Web and mail server so I can use Private server and gateway mode. I need basic Internet access (http, https, ftp, POP3, etc ) for all my lan PC's, so I need to config one nic for local and another for Internet. I assume the SME gateway will make all for me to access the internet from lan. It is one thing that I don't know : my ISP give me a static IP , subnetmask , gateway ( ok till now ) and 2 DNS adress that I don't know if and where to put, maybe this are only usefull if I need Web server and Mail server.
Sorry for the silly questions but I'm new on servers , especially Linux.
Best regards
alex

[jester]

Yep, private server/gateway mode, 2nics - one to your lan and one to your modem (internet).

Find out what the IP addres of your modem is. When configuring SME give your nic that connects to your modem an IP address in the same range as your modem (e.g. if modem is 10.0.0.138 use something like: 10.0.0.150 and mask: 255.255.255.0). Use the IP addres of your modem (not the static IP from ISP) as gateway when configuring the nic to your modem.

For your nic to your lan use a different range than the one that connects to your modem (like 192.168.1.1)

I'm no network/linux wizzard but this is what works for me. I don't think you'll need any of the addresses from your ISP for your SME configuration. As far is i know they are needed for setting up your modem that will make the actual connection with the 'ouside world' and try to resolve addresses trough dns.

If there are more experienced network admins reading this please correct me.

Regards,
  jester.