How to Use Ubuntu to connect to an isolated island in Desktop Linux

For more information about Linux technology and applications, use Ubuntu to connect to an isolated island. No practical desktop is an isolated island. With Linux, network communication, file sharing, printing and other functions are much easier to implement than imagined.

Using Linux to run a PC only solves half of the problem, because no computer is isolated. For most people, 21 Century computing also means connecting with the external world. Fortunately, Ubuntu simplifies file and data sharing with other computers and devices.

Connect to the network

If the PC is connected to the LAN, once the machine is started to Ubuntu, it is likely to be connected to the network. A feature named "Roaming mode" automatically selects the most appropriate settings for the network environment. If not, you have to rely on the usual manual configuration options.

Wireless Networking is also simple, but additional settings are required. Depending on the hardware, you may need to install the corresponding driver by using Restricted Drivers Manager on the system → manage menu. In the next step, you may need to configure Security Options for the wireless network: You just need to right-click the icon on the right of the main menu bar and find these options.

This icon is like an all-in-one entry point for the Ubuntu Network Manager software. If you have installed the network-manager-vpnc or network-manager-openvpn software package with Synaptic, you can even use the network manager to configure the Cisco VPN or ssl vpn connection separately.

Share disks and files with Windows

The installation process automatically grants the user the permission to read and write all files on the local Windows hard drive partition. Be especially careful when processing files on the Windows primary hard drive, because when you are not careful, important files that will be protected during Windows running will be deleted. If you want to disable the write permission to a Windows hard disk, you can use Synaptic to install the ntfs-config package, which adds a control panel for the "application" → "System Tools" menu.

It is also easy to access files and folders on the network. The Connect to Server option on the Places menu allows you to add a network location as the drive on the desktop, including the FTP site and Windows shared area. Then, you can browse these folders as you browse the local hard disk.

To share files on Ubuntu with others on the network, install more software. Use Synaptic to install the samba package, and then use the shared folder control panel on the "System" → "manage" menu to create a shared area.

Print

Ubuntu uses the General Unix Printing System (CUPS) as its printing infrastructure (by the way, it is also used in Mac OS X ). It supports multiple color printers and black and white printers, but hardware support is not as powerful as in Windows, which is a common problem in Linux.

The USB printer is automatically detected and configured. You can use the "Printing" control panel on the "System" → "manage" menu to find and connect the online printer.

With Synaptic, you can also install a special driver named cups-pdf, which can directly send a print task to a pdf file. You can use the print control panel to make the PDF device the default printer. Otherwise, select from the Print dialog box for the print task.

Verify access to the Enterprise Network

If Ubuntu is used in the company environment, you need to overcome other difficulties when connecting to the network. Although Linux systems can be verified and accessed to LDAP or the Active Directory environment, centralized verification is unfortunately not simplified by Ubuntu developers. You must have a certain understanding of Linux to configure related software.

If it is important to connect to the Active Directory-if you want to set multiple Linux clients on a Windows Network, you may need to try other commercial Desktop Linux distributions now, they have tools to help simplify this process. I hope there will be similar tools in Ubuntu in the future. (Translated from Infowrld)