setting up Amahi on Ubuntu Server 12.04.2 LTS

[nburkholder]

Hi, I just installed amahi on my server running Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS. Reading the instructions, it seems i would have to have a GUI to set up Amahi to use. Is there a way i can do this using a Virtual Desktop on another machine, or do i need to install the desktop version of Ubuntu?

Thanks

[bigfoot65]

The server version can be used, however you will need a monitor connected to the server to install it.

I personally go with Desktop as it's easier to set up VNC if you need it.

[nburkholder]

I have Amahi installed on Ubuntu Server 12.04.2 with openVPN installed also and PuTTY

What I don't understand is how am I able to make it accessible from anywhere? My server is headless and there is no GUI. I am able to access the terminal from my laptop using Putty to do any configurations but every post I read about is going through amahi dashboard and using a GUI. I have SO many questions from playing around with this thing so much.

Do i install a virtual desktop and am i able to access the dashboard from there? How do I configure openVPN using the terminal so that when on my laptop, i can go to Networks > HDA and access the server? How am i able to access my server from outside the network?

I am new to linux based systems so still a bit of a noob, but i feel i am good at google. If anyone can tell me what to do or point me to a website, that would be awesome!

Thanks

[bigfoot65]

Did you follow the guidance at https://docs.amahi.org? You access the HDA via web browser, http://hda. Amahi is web server based, so much of the interaction with apps and users is done via the browser. Other tasks can be done via SSH. VPN will expose it outside your network using a VPN client with a laptop, phone, or another computer.

The Amahi wiki (https://wiki.amahi.org) is a good source of info as well as the web site.

[nburkholder]

Thank you for you response.

Yes i have followed the docs.amahi.org and looked everywhere on the forums. I am able to access Http:\\hda but i am not able to just click on networks on my laptop and open the hda server to acess the files. it gives me a windows cannot access \\hda error. I haven't done anything with the openVPN besides install it. When i go to my Amahi control panel and hit the openVPN tester. it comes back as inactive. when i hit the link to enable it, the website is not helpful.

[bigfoot65]

You have to forward port 1194 UDP on your router. Also if you are accessing the HDA inside your network, you should not need VPN.

Are you using the HDA as your DHCP and DNS server? If not, you should if possible. Otherwise there are capabilities you will lose.
http://www.amahi.org/faq#is-dhcp-server-required

There are troubleshooting pages in the wiki that can help as well. Recommend you try them if you still have problems.

[nburkholder]

I am not able to access the HDA to save/move files. I can only access the HDA using Putty and the \\hda. I also want to be able to access the server from outside the network.

[bigfoot65]

Have you tried using the IP address of your HDA via web browser? All your issues are related, so we need to tackle one at a time. Passing the troubleshooters is the first step.

[nburkholder]

ok.

Yes, when i put in the HDA's IP address the dashboard comes up.

[bigfoot65]

Too confusing and unproductive working on your issues in two places. Let's use this area to work things out and not the other one (viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4858).