Home Server Upgrade

Background

I have been using a Mac Mini as a home server for the last few years for network file/printer sharing and Time Machine backups. It is old enough that the OS cannot be upgraded past Catalina which will no longer be receiving security updates as of November 2022 . I decided it was about time that I was due for another Linux installation and went with Ubuntu Server. The following information is for how I migrated from this setup

Mac Mini Server (late 2012) running Catalina
- Internal Drives
  - 500GB SSD (APFS)
  - 1TB HDD (Mac OS Extended Journaled)
- External Drives
  - 4TB HDD (Mac OS External Journaled)

To this setup

Ubuntu Server 22.04
- Internal Drives
  - 500GB SSD (EXT4)
  - 1TB HDD (EXT4)
- External Drives
  - 4TB HDD (Still need to figure out how to backup mac laptops to this)
  - 4TB HDD (EXT4 for backup of internal drives)

Log to GitHub

I have found the easiest thing these days is to just use the GitHub CLI

sudo apt install gh
gh auth login

And you are off to the races with your ssh keys automatically imported into GitHub.

Install dotfiles

I had already automated this process for an Ubuntu machine using Ansible. The source code for this part can be found here. All I had to do was to run ansible-playbook --ask-become-pass ubuntu.yml.

Upgrade Neovim

Since Ubuntu is not a rolling release distro, Neovim is out of date and I cannot live with that. To install the latest release I simply downloaded the .deb package from the GitHub releases, verified the checksum, and installed using apt.

wget https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/download/v0.7.0/nvim-linux64.deb
wget https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/download/v0.7.0/nvim-linux64.deb.sha256sum
sha256sum -c nvim-linux64.deb.sha256sum
sudo apt install ./nvim-linux64.deb

Repartition the drive

Before repartitioning the drive, I checked to see what the devices were using lsblk and fdisk -l.

Before

As we can see here, snap is installed by default these days on Ubuntu Server and is making my block device list messy.

> lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0    7:0    0  61.9M  1 loop /snap/core20/1405
loop1    7:1    0  79.9M  1 loop /snap/lxd/22923
loop2    7:2    0  44.7M  1 loop /snap/snapd/15534
loop3    7:3    0  61.9M  1 loop /snap/core20/1434
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
├─sda1   8:1    0     1G  0 part /boot/efi
└─sda2   8:2    0 464.7G  0 part /
sdb      8:16   0 931.5G  0 disk
├─sdb1   8:17   0   200M  0 part
├─sdb2   8:18   0 930.7G  0 part
└─sdb3   8:19   0 619.9M  0 part

Here we can see my two hard drives. The 500GB solid state drive is named sda and has two partitions. The second internal hard drive is named sdb and has three partitions. I will not be needing these three parititions and I will up repartitioning this drive to only have one ext4 partition for storage.

More information about the drives is displayed below using fdisk -l.

> sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/loop0: 61.89 MiB, 64901120 bytes, 126760 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop1: 79.95 MiB, 83832832 bytes, 163736 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop2: 44.68 MiB, 46845952 bytes, 91496 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop3: 61.9 MiB, 64909312 bytes, 126776 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sdb: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: APPLE HDD ST1000
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 836857F7-4F20-47E2-BB79-F8C1EFCDBAFD

Device          Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sdb1          40     409639     409600   200M EFI System
/dev/sdb2      409640 1952255591 1951845952 930.7G Apple HFS/HFS+
/dev/sdb3  1952255592 1953525127    1269536 619.9M Apple boot


Disk /dev/sda: 465.76 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Disk model: Samsung SSD 860
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 89968A95-CDFD-4253-9017-59C8711C0D0F

Device       Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1     2048   2203647   2201600     1G EFI System
/dev/sda2  2203648 976771071 974567424 464.7G Linux filesystem

Running `fdisk`

Repartitioning the drive is very straight forward using fdisk.

> sudo fdisk /dev/sdb

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.37.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.


Command (m for help): m

Help:

  GPT
   M   enter protective/hybrid MBR

  Generic
   d   delete a partition
   F   list free unpartitioned space
   l   list known partition types
   n   add a new partition
   p   print the partition table
   t   change a partition type
   v   verify the partition table
   i   print information about a partition

  Misc
   m   print this menu
   x   extra functionality (experts only)

  Script
   I   load disk layout from sfdisk script file
   O   dump disk layout to sfdisk script file

  Save & Exit
   w   write table to disk and exit
   q   quit without saving changes

  Create a new label
   g   create a new empty GPT partition table
   G   create a new empty SGI (IRIX) partition table
   o   create a new empty DOS partition table
   s   create a new empty Sun partition table


Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: APPLE HDD ST1000
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 836857F7-4F20-47E2-BB79-F8C1EFCDBAFD

Device          Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sdb1          40     409639     409600   200M EFI System
/dev/sdb2      409640 1952255591 1951845952 930.7G Apple HFS/HFS+
/dev/sdb3  1952255592 1953525127    1269536 619.9M Apple boot

Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-3, default 3): 3

Partition 3 has been deleted.

Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1,2, default 2): 2

Partition 2 has been deleted.

Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1
Partition 1 has been deleted.

Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: APPLE HDD ST1000
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 836857F7-4F20-47E2-BB79-F8C1EFCDBAFD

Command (m for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1):
First sector (34-1953525134, default 2048):
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-1953525134, default 1953525134):

Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 931.5 GiB.

Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: APPLE HDD ST1000
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 836857F7-4F20-47E2-BB79-F8C1EFCDBAFD

Device     Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sdb1   2048 1953525134 1953523087 931.5G Linux filesystem

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.

After

This is what the same commands show after writing the changes from fdisk.

> lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0    7:0    0  61.9M  1 loop /snap/core20/1405
loop1    7:1    0  79.9M  1 loop /snap/lxd/22923
loop2    7:2    0  44.7M  1 loop /snap/snapd/15534
loop3    7:3    0  61.9M  1 loop /snap/core20/1434
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
├─sda1   8:1    0     1G  0 part /boot/efi
└─sda2   8:2    0 464.7G  0 part /
sdb      8:16   0 931.5G  0 disk
└─sdb1   8:17   0 931.5G  0 part

Now we only have one partition for drive sdb.

Format the drive as ext4

After partitioning using fdisk, we use mkfs to format the partition on the drive.

> sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sdb1
mke2fs 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
Creating filesystem with 244190385 4k blocks and 61054976 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 1427af59-def0-4380-b0ce-92555e7dcec0
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
        32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
        4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872, 71663616, 78675968,
        102400000, 214990848

Allocating group tables: done
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (262144 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

First make sure that the drive is not mounted.

sudo umount /mnt/hd2

Check for the UUID using blkid. We will use the UUID instead of the device name sdb when editing /etc/fstab.

> sudo blkid
/dev/sda2: UUID="e6bff312-28be-4d23-a1e2-f2f10afbf9e6" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="0beea851-f2bb-4b6d-9f76-9745563d1b1d"
/dev/sda1: UUID="EA75-47A4" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="8f73a2aa-afd7-46a6-8c12-12a1d2044802"
/dev/loop1: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="1427af59-def0-4380-b0ce-92555e7dcec0" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="ace85f13-56dd-ce4d-a930-de12c1743881"
/dev/loop2: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop3: TYPE="squashfs"

Very carefully edit the fstab file

> sudoedit /etc/fstab
[ethan@rietz ~]
> cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda2 during curtin installation
/dev/disk/by-uuid/e6bff312-28be-4d23-a1e2-f2f10afbf9e6 / ext4 defaults 0 1
# /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during curtin installation
/dev/disk/by-uuid/EA75-47A4 /boot/efi vfat defaults 0 1
/swap.img       none    swap    sw      0       0

# ADDED BY ETHAN BELOW HERE
UUID=1427af59-def0-4380-b0ce-92555e7dcec0   /mnt/hd2    ext4    defaults    0   2

Now we can mount the hard drive at the mount directory automatically since the fstab file knows what is supposed to be mounted there.

[ethan@rietz ~]
> ls /mnt/hd2
[ethan@rietz ~]
> sudo mount /mnt/hd2
[ethan@rietz ~]
> ls /mnt/hd2
lost+found
[ethan@rietz ~]

We can see that the drive has correctly been mounted and has a lost+found directory.

Create a new user

sudo useradd --create-home yaneli
sudo passwd yaneli

Change owner (user and group) of folder on second drive

sudo chown ethan:ethan /mnt/hd2/ethan
sudo chown yaneli:yaneli /mnt/hd2/yaneli

Copy files from external drive to second drive

To copy files I used rsync rather than cp for better feedback of the progress.

rcp: aliased to rsync --progress --verbose --recursive

> rcp /media/flashdrive/Docs /mnt/hd2/ethan

Samba Config

Create a samba user

A linux user account must exist before you can create a “Samba” user. All we have to do is just configure a password (can be different from unix password) for the samba user.

sudo smbpasswd -a ethan
sudo smbpasswd -a yaneli

Create samba shares for the two users

I added the following to /etc/samba/smb.conf.

[ethan]
    comment = Ethan's directory on the second internal harddrive
    path = /mnt/hd2/ethan
    valid users = ethan
    public = no
    writeable = yes

    create mask = 0644
    force create mode = 0644
    directory mask = 0775
    force directory mode = 0775

[yaneli]
    comment = Yaneli's directory on the second internal harddrive
    path = /mnt/hd2/yaneli
    valid users = yaneli
    public = no
    writeable = yes

    create mask = 0644
    force create mode = 0644
    directory mask = 0775
    force directory mode = 0775

Create a shared public folder for any registered user

First create a new group called “smbgroup”

sudo groupadd --system smbgroup

Then create a new system user named “smbuser” who is a member of group “smbgroup”. The user has an invalid shell so they cannot ssh in.

sudo useradd --system --no-create-home --group smbgroup -s /bin/false smbuser

Change the ownership of the public shared directory.

sudo chown -R smbuser:smbgroup /mnt/hd2/public

Add a new share in /etc/samba/smb.conf

[public]
    comment = A shared directory on the second internal harddrive
    path = /mnt/hd2/public
    public = no
    browseable = yes
    writeable = yes
    force user = smbuser
    force group = smbgroup

    create mask = 0644
    force create mode = 0644
    directory mask = 0775
    force directory mode = 0775

Check smb.conf file for errors

Here is the what the final samba config file looked like below without comments.

> testparm
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
Loaded services file OK.
Weak crypto is allowed

Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE

Press enter to see a dump of your service definitions

# Global parameters
[global]
        client min protocol = SMB2
        log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
        logging = file
        map to guest = Bad User
        max log size = 1000
        obey pam restrictions = Yes
        pam password change = Yes
        panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
        passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
        passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
        server role = standalone server
        server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)
        unix password sync = Yes
        usershare allow guests = Yes
        idmap config * : backend = tdb


[printers]
        browseable = No
        comment = All Printers
        create mask = 0700
        path = /var/spool/samba
        printable = Yes


[print$]
        comment = Printer Drivers
        path = /var/lib/samba/printers


[ethan]
        comment = Ethan's directory on the second internal harddrive
        create mask = 0644
        directory mask = 0775
        force create mode = 0644
        force directory mode = 0775
        path = /mnt/hd2/ethan
        read only = No
        valid users = ethan


[yaneli]
        comment = Yaneli's directory on the second internal harddrive
        create mask = 0644
        directory mask = 0775
        force create mode = 0644
        force directory mode = 0775
        path = /mnt/hd2/yaneli
        read only = No
        valid users = yaneli


[public]
        comment = A shared directory on the second internal harddrive
        create mask = 0644
        directory mask = 0775
        force create mode = 0644
        force directory mode = 0775
        force group = smbgroup
        force user = smbuser
        path = /mnt/hd2/public
        read only = No

Mounting samba from a client

sudo mount -t cifs -o user=ethan,uid=ethan,gid=ethan,dir_mode=0755,file_mode=0644 //192.168.0.160/public /mnt/samba

For some reason I cannot use the server by name and I must use the IP address.

Also the uid and gid parameters are necessary because without them the share is mounted as root and I cannot create files without using sudo. The dir_mode and file_mode parameters must be added by default when connecting from pcmanfm but they are necessary to create files with the correct permissions when mounted from the cli.

TODO

In the next post I will describe how I will setup the backups and other software. I also need to figure out how to login using the hostname rather than the IP address of the machine. I would like to leave the server connected via Ethernet to the network for performance/stability reasons, but since I live in a tiny apartment I need to figure out how to connect it to wifi so I can physically move the machine :).