Topic: Hail E-smith server version 4.0!!!!!!

[woodie]

Old PC's never Die!

I always thought linux could breath new live into old PC's. Well that is no more the case.
I wanted a simple Nas server for my home (2 pc's). And I had an old but very sturdy pentium pro (128MB ram gateway 2000) and some spare disks (30 & 40GB) to use. Low on powerconsumption etc, perfect for the job. I know this is old crap but I couldn't just throw her away so I tried to use her .
OK, find some Linux open source software:
naslite1+ too simple, anyhow I have no more floppy drive in my linux box to make the floppies, also no users accounts on samba
freeNAS gave me a BTX halted (FreeBSD) on boot whatever I tried, I posted a message on the forum but got no useful reply
Devil Linux, no HD install, too much hassle, no web interface, I haven't tried It, It might also not have booted.
Openfiler no standalone users account, to be used for >10 users, too complicated, not tried.
clarkconnect 4.2 community, gave a kernel panic on boot
SME server 7.2 sorry to say but also a kernel panic on boot during install
I have even explored distros like linuxconsole after a search on old computers on linuxdistros.
All didn't work. It seems the 2.6 kernel really doesn't like old PC's
The install is really slow, seems to use a huge ram disk, a lot of times it is a Live CD impossible to run in my old PC.
Then I found an old CD in my CD heap: E-Smith server 4.0 !!!!!(2001!!!)
It installed as a breeze, I now have nice working samba user accounts. It is working nicely for my XP pc and my kubuntu PC.It took me some searching to find out the web interface could be accessed via (your-IP)/e-smith-manager
I googled for old manuals, all link refer to e-smith.org which doesn't exist.
my questions:

So, first are old PC owners left in the cold with sme server (I prefer using new software) or is there a way to install sme server 7.2 on my old PC?
second, until this is solved Where can I find e-smith 4.0 manuals?
I like to add SWAT, and an extra disk as public and switch off any unused services like email

all the best, and keep the good work
Theo Berkhout

[raem]

woodie

The spec is quite low for sme7.x but it will probably run if you don't load it greatly.
I have tried sme7.0 on a P333 with 64MB RAM & it does run. Rather slow making server manager changes etc, but file access etc is fine. Do not turn on virus scanning & spam filtering though or your server will crash.

From various release notes for sme7.x versions:
In order to install on i586 machines you will need to do the following:
1) Press shift while booting to get the boot menu.
2) Type "smei586" at the boot prompt.

[CharlieBrady]

Then I found an old CD in my CD heap: E-Smith server 4.0 !!!!!(2001!!!)

Please don't connect that to the Internet. I'm sure there are multiple vulnerabilities ripe for exploit.

[woodie]

Off course CharlyBrady , it's behind a firewall-router-adslmodem, only for simple intranet fileserving.
Raymitchell, that is a very good and useful tip. I hope this will solve the kernelpanic issue. I intend to use the samba only. I give it a go in the weekend.
Thanks for the advice

woodie

[CharlieBrady]

Off course CharlyBrady , it's behind a firewall-router-adslmodem ...

That may not help you at all. If port 80, 443 or 22 is forwarded to the server, then vulnerabilities in PHP, horde/imp, SSL or SSH would be accessible.