The Presence of the Running Machine on the Internet

Everything has a start, and has an end.

Deploying a server over the Internet is different from setting up a local server without being revealed to outside people. For a server to be unknown on the Internet by fully-qualified hostname, it requires some registration processes. Furthermore, since the server is known to the public, some security measures should have been taken to avoid the abuse of the server.

This package includes basic elements for network operation, for example, DNS, FTP, firewall, backup storage server, VPN (Virtual Private Network) and Email .

We start from the introduction on Domain name registration with the following diagram:

1. Purchase domain name from the “vendor for domain name registration”

The “Domain Name Registration Vendor” usually will provide a Web interface for you to query your desired domain name. You may find some of the domain names you like have been acquired by other people. It is necessary for you need to find a domain name that is not being occupied. And then make the purchase of the domain name from the “Domain Name Registration Vendor” to complete this step.

2. Purchase Internet bandwidth and obtain “static” IP addresses from your local ISP (internet service provider).

Usually, the ISP will give you a set of IP addresses that may include a list of public IP addresses, the netmask, and the default Gateway. This IP information will be used when you install the software and configure your server. You shall keep the information in a safe place once you obtain that from your ISP.

3. Find a legitimate “DNS host provider”

It is to host your domain name (which you get from step 2) and the associated static IP address (which you get from step 3) record so that everybody on Internet can use your domain name to reach your server. Usually, the “DNS host provider” will provide a Web interface to allow you to input your domain name and the mapped IP address record into their hosted server. This step is completed after you have entered the data into the web page.

4. Update the record at the “Domain Name Registration Vendor” server with the IP addresses of the “DNS host provider”.

At this step, you need to access the website provided by “Domain Name Registration Vendor”. If you do not know the DNS server’s IP addresses of your “DNS host provider”, you can do as follows at your Windows command prompt (the command prompt is reached through Start > Run > cmd), issue the command

　　C:\>nslookup DNS-server- name-from-your-provider

The system will respond with the IP address of your “DNS host provider”. Usually, you need to find two IP addresses of the two DNS servers provided by “DNS host provider” (one is called primary DNS host server, the other is secondary DNS host server). The two IP addresses will be entered into the record in the place of “Domain Name Registration Vendor”. We suggest using primary DNS server and secondary server from different places. The Azblink server package also provides DNS server. But to allow people all over the world can query your domain, you should have your domain name placed in different DNS servers to alleviate the load.

5. Wait until it is in effect.

In general, it needs 24 hours to 72 hours to have your domain name record of the server populated across the world so that people can use domain name to access your server.
Those are the general steps as long as you want to have your own private server(s) on Internet.

Basic Web Setting

After the system installation be finished, take the CD out, reboot the machine, and then start the basic network setting for the system.

There are two modes to configure the host, one is console mode on the local host, and the other is Web interface mode on Client. You can choose the one you like or just by the network environment of that time.

Console Mode --- configure on local host

A. Input account and password to login into console configuration interface.

　login：reset
　Password：root123

B. You will see 7 options after login in

　1. IP Address：192.168.19.185
　2. Netmask：255.255.255.0
　3. Default Gateway：192.168.19.1
　4. Save and Reboot
　5. Reset to CD setting (DHCP) and Reboot
　6. View Current Active Values
　7. Exit without Saveing Changes

C. Is there any fixed ip ready for configuration?

　 Yes, type fixed IP address, Netmask and Default Gateway into option 1.2.3. severally. You can use up
　　and down arrow to choose the option who needs edit, and then press enter to configure. After option 1.2.3
　　be correctly configured, you can use option 4 to save these changes and reboot the machine. (If you have
　　no idea about the Netmask and Default Gateway, you can just refer to the Completion List provided by your
　　ISP.)

　 No, if there is a DHCP server providing the IP assignment services in your network, you can just use option6
　　to check the IP address assigned by the system. After checking eth0, please write down the IP address, and
　　remember to use option 7 to quit the Console interface.

D. By the IP address you set or the one obtained from DHCP, you can view the configuration page of the
　　 system host via Web browser on remote Client.

※ DHCP server exists in your network, but if you find eth0 shown as IP 1.2.3.4 when you check current system value, please check if your network cables plug into wrong place (eh0 and eth1 may been exchanged), or if there are some problems on other equipments. (Refer to Q&A in the manual)


Web interface Mode --- configure at sub-network

A. Is the host, which you installed system on, connected by other hosts?

　 Yes, please confirm the host is the only DHCP sever (that is to say the network should not have other
　　DHCP servers, e.g. IP distributor), and then start from C.

　 No, please complete basic network configuration according to B’s instruction.

B. A network cable makes host’s eth1 port and the Hub connected. And use another cable to connect to
　　Hub, let the other end of this cable link to a common Client computer.

C. Choose one Client computer from the sub-network which connected to the system host.

D. Open command prompt on the Client (suppose it’s a Windows machine), type “ipconfig” and then press
　“Enter” button, check whether the Default Gateway is 172.16.9.1 or not?

　 Yes, just close the command prompt, enter into next step.

　 No, type “ipconfig/release” to release the old IP in your computer, and then type “ipconfig/renew” to get
　　new assigned IP.
　　(If you are still unable to obtain new IP, please check if the network has other DHCP sever or not, or maybe
　　TCP/IP of this Client does not use the mode of “Obtain an IP Address Automatically”.)

E. Open your Browser, and type http://172.16.9.1 at the address bar to link. When you visit the page at the
　　first time, you will see 4 items;

　　Host Name：Please set Host Name for this host.
　　Admin Password：Default password is admin123.
　　New Admin Password：Please set new password.
　　Confirm Password：Please confirm your new password.

F. After you enter into system page, go to System>>Network, choose Internet or PPPoE depending on the
　situation.

　 Choose Internet. At the Internet Interface, mostly, you should set the values for IP address / Netmask /
　　Default Gateway and then submit, restart your machine and you will find it already connected to Internet.

　 Choose PPPoE. If you use PPPoE, remember to check the checkbox of “Turn on PPPoE”. Fill in the account
　　and password provided by ISP and submit, reboot your computer, then you can connect to the network.
　　(Please refer to the sections of Configuration and Q&A in Quick Installation Guide if you have any questions.)

Modify Account

It provides the Web interface to allow the administrator to add new user or delete user’s server login User Id . Please notice that the User ID created via the User Interface here, they are not allowed to login to the server via “telnet” or “ssh”. But it allows the user to fetch emails via POP3, store or access files via Windows file sharing service, and grant to execute other functions from this web interface.

There is a check box about FTP. If that box is checked, those accounts can be used for FTP.  Some pre-established accounts are with special purposes; for example, “root” account is to allow you to login from console to use this box as an ordinary Unix/Linux box; “filter” account is for you to view the passing emails when the Mail Transport Filter is turned on; “ftpmgmt” is to use to manage the user folders of ftp users. And there is one dynamic ftp account that will be switched to different user name with different password every 24 hours.

Furthermore, when you delete a User id, that User ID will also be removed from the corresponding “Mail Group Aliases” ( Email->Basic->Group Alias ). And that user’s directory under “/home” ( you can view it by using “ftpmgmt” via FTP ) will not be removed; it is under your decision to remove the associated files of that deleted user or not.

The user login ID should be alphanumeric characters (e.g. 0-9, a-z) and password should not use the non-ASCII characters.

Reset Password

When you try to reset the “admin” and “root” account password, the system will prompt you a dialog window for confirmation. It is to make sure if the user wants to change the password or not. This is to prevent users from accidentally making mistake while resetting the admin and root password. Furthermore, once you forget the admin password, you will not be able to login the administration page again.

View User Account

This is prepared for admin to view the users who forget their own passwords.