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Jack Sparks · Jul 22, 2004, 02:57 PM

Hi,

I want to know how I can access the files on my Mac @ home via my WinTel box at my office. I've tried looking around the net for info but I can't find much info. I'm not a total noob so I can follow complex instructions and I do know a few things, but I can't seem to make this work. Here are some specs.

Running OSX 10.3.4 on a Quicksilver machine hooked up to the net via cable modem @ home. I'm on a Win XP machine at my office.

Any links that you guys might have to how to go about this would be great. Thanks.

jack

jszrules · Jul 22, 2004, 03:22 PM

i've never done this either, but as far as i know, since your computers aren't on the same network, the only way to do this is via ftp.

LaGow · Jul 22, 2004, 03:50 PM

You can do it easily via VNC (Virtual Network Computing). Don't have time to provide you with links, but you can get all the software you want on tucows (for Windows) and MacUpdate (for the Mac). I use RealVNC (Win) and Chicken of the VNC (Mac).

You'll need to know your home Mac's IP address.

FTP is also a great way to do it, although less geeky.

Pix0r · Jul 22, 2004, 09:10 PM

I've done this with great success, my home machine is basically part of my works network. VNC is the way to go, the only problem then is that you probably have a dynamic IP at home? What I did was to use dyndns.com or a similar service, installed the client and then had an adress pointing at my home machine no matter my IP was, the client updates the domain's IP every few minutes. So you could connect to your machine at home with a normal adress. I even tried connecting straight out of the finder (command K) which also worked...

Have fun

Evinyatar · Jul 23, 2004, 10:42 AM

VNC does't allow you to share files, at least not last time I checked. I'd go with FTP. Go into the system prefs and find the Sharing preference pane. There, tick the checkbox next to 'FTP'. Then on the PC enter ftp://<ip of your Mac>/ in Internet Explorer (or any FTP utility you prefer), enter your username and password and you should be set (you can find your IP in the Sharing preference pane right under the list of services).

quadgrande · Jul 23, 2004, 10:51 AM

I would not choose FTP, but more specifically SFTP. FTP sends username/password in clear text over the Internet. If you enable "Remote Access" in System Preferences (Sharing), it enables SSH, which enables SCP, SFTP, etc....

SSH encrypts all traffic sent between two points. WinSCP is an app for example that is a graphical interface for your PC to copy files from and ssh server (your mac at home).

You could also share via HTTP (Apache), if you're interested post a reply and I can get more specific.

Matt OS X · Jul 23, 2004, 11:09 AM

Things would be different if you have .mac account and you'd be able to use iDisk?

Apple have iDisk for people to open on their PCs computers. So it'd be nice if you could just isync your stuffs on your PC. Am I making a sense here?

Jack Sparks · Aug 10, 2004, 05:04 PM

I do have .mac but I'd like to have my whole drive available to me. I have a LOT in my docs folder.

I'm still looking into all these options if anyone has more ideas that would be great. I may just have to go .mac and move a few key files up there.

quadgrande: I would be very interested in sharing via apache. Please let me know what you know.

thanks

jack

quadgrande · Aug 10, 2004, 07:57 PM

Ok, sharing files via Apache.

In sharing preferences, enable personal web sharing, which starts Apache. Every user has a 'Sites' directory in their home directory. The default config for Apache allows you to access this directory via http (web browser) via the following url:

http://<hostname or ip>/~username/

e.g.

http://192.168.0.4/~quadgrande/

Because I didn't provide a document (like home.html) after the last slash, Apache is going to look for the file 'index.html', which does exist by default in your Sites directory. Long story short, if you rename/remove index.html, Apache will provide a directory listing of the Sites folder for you to browse. You can navigate up and down your directory trees (starting at the web/document root of /Users/<username>/Sites) using your web browser, and clicking a file should download it to your local computer.

If you're interested, you can play around with the Apache config to tweak settings more to your taste, it's /etc/httpd/httpd.conf.

There's lots of apache documentation at apache.org, or if you have specific questions from here, I'll be happy to answer them.

Brass · Aug 10, 2004, 08:25 PM

Why would you not just set up Windows file sharing on the Mac (it's just a matter of clicking one checkbox in the System Preferences, Sharing pane).

this will run a Windows networking style SMB file sharing server on your Mac (SAMBA actually). You can then access your Mac the same way you would access other windows file servers.

Connect to \\macname.domainname.com\homename\
(using Windows)

or from another Mac, connect to smb://macname.domainname.com/homename/
or if you have apples normal file sharing turned on, you can connect from another Mac with: afp://macname.domainname.com (or just macname.domainname.com)

Gavin · Aug 11, 2004, 08:35 AM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brass:
[B]Why would you not just set up Windows file sharing on the Mac (it's just a matter of clicking one checkbox in the System Preferences, Sharing pane).
QUOTE]

Besides being a pain in the butt to set up from the windows side, SMB over the internet opens the windows network up to all kinds of security horrors.

If you really want to do 'files from home' at work the Windows way just put your stuff on a floppy!

Seriously though, you should also check out WebDAV. It's what .mac uses and you can run it with Apache. I believe XP can log in directly to a WebDAV host with windows explorer so it's very easy to use. It might be a big pain to set it up.

Or, if you are OK with the terminal you can get everything securely with ssh. You just log in with a terminal program. It's not too bad once you get the hang of it and you don't need to set up any special software. You basically type the path to the file on disk and it gets it. It's also faster than ftp.

try it.
put a file called bob.txt in your Documents folder.
turn on remote login in sharing control panel.

now log in to yourself and copy the file to your home folder: (in the terminal)

scp you@localhost

ocuments/bob.txt bob.txt

replace 'you' with your login name of course

send it back with a different name:

scp bob.txt you@localhost

ocuments/fred.txt

it works the same over the internet - you'll need to know your ipaddress or use dyndns.
you can log in with ssh to poke around your disk and see where the files are.

ssh yourip.com -l you

-- ha! the smilies should be : D (colon capital D) with no space in between

ryju · Aug 11, 2004, 09:58 AM

Try here

Aug 11, 2004, 11:49 AM

Windows file sharing is the way to do it, but there are security implications. FTP is probably a better way to go.

If you want to spend some money, get Timbuktu. They sell a Mac/Windows pack. It not only does remote control, but it does let you transfer files too.

Brass · Aug 11, 2004, 08:17 PM

Originally posted by Gavin:

Originally posted by Brass:
Why would you not just set up Windows file sharing on the Mac (it's just a matter of clicking one checkbox in the System Preferences, Sharing pane).

Besides being a pain in the butt to set up from the windows side, SMB over the internet opens the windows network up to all kinds of security horrors.

There is no need to set up anything on the Windows side at all. Just use the run command and enter: \\host.domain.com\username
Mapping a drive is simple too, if you want to do that.

Just for my own education, what security problems does SAMBA have? (not talking about Windows' SMB here). I'm aware of sending passwords in plain text, but I've not heard of any other security problems with SAMBA.