Re: Programs for direct friend-to-friend file transfer?
Aubrey Raech <aubreyraech@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sometimes I have the need to send files that are too large for email to
> a friend directly [...]
> 1. Not a proper server (http, ftp)
> 2. No usernames? (scp, rsync)
> 3. Preferably does not require a chat protocol (XMPP, IRC's DCC)
> - From what I can find it seems like XMPP would probably be the best bet
> for this...
But in #3 above you've just excluded XMPP. Do you want it or not?
> is there no program you can run with something like a - --listen to
> listen for a connection on one end, and then run the program with the
> destination IP from the other? Something along those lines?
Yes. A "proper" server (http, ftp, ssh) would satisfy this requirement
but you've excluded those with #1, #2. If your PCs can have Internet
facing ports configured, I'd go for ssh/rsync every time.
1. One (or both) of you configure your router/firewall to accept inbound
TCP connections from (say) port 10022 and route them to your
Linux-based PC on port 22. If you can't redirect port 10022 to port
22 then just forward port 10022 and create a firewall rule on your
Linux-based PC to rewrite inbound requests on 10022 to local port
22. (Come back here if you need help with that.)
2. Consider the use of DDNS services such as those provided by dyndns.org
to make your IP address available by name to your friend.
3. Install the openssh-server package
4. Configure /etc/ssh/sshd_config, adding an AllowGroups line such
as this:
AllowGroups sshuser
5. Put your and your friend's user accounts into the sshuser group:
groupadd sshuser
usermod -a -G sshuser YOURUSERNAME
usermod -a -G sshuser YOURFRIENDSUSERNAME
6. Make sure that your password, and your friend's password on your
machine, is sufficiently complex that others are unlikely to guess it.
7. Use rsync (over ssh) or sftp to copy the files. Remember to tell them
to use port 10022 (or whatever you decided in #1) instead of the
default port 22.
Chris
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