OS X Lion File Sharing, Web Sharing and Remote Login

OS X Lion allows users to securely share all files type, publish web files & more, and remote login via the advanced command terminal (e.g SSH).

We will discuss the newest OSX Lion feature AirDrop in another post.

These options are found in the System Preferences.

File Sharing - Various users will be able to access files
Web Sharing - Enable publishing web pages in the local computer
Remote Login - Allows you to remotely login via SSH terminal

1. From the Finder or main desktop, go to the Apple menu -> System Preferences

2. Click on the Sharing icon

3. Check mark File Sharing, Web Sharing and Remote Login (SSH)

4. MAC users will be accessing the shares via the AFP protocol. For windows users, enable the option "Share files and folders using SMB (Windows)

NOTE: Make sure you create exceptions in you firewall.

Port: TCP 548  (AppleShare, Personal File Sharing, Apple File Service)
Port: UDP 137 (Windows Internet Naming Service)
Port: UDP 138 (Windows Datagram Service, Windows Network Neighborhood)
Port: TCP 139 ( Server Message Block (SMB))

For all tcp/ip network ports used by Apple, please visit http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1629

To access files from another MAC, go to the finder, click on the Go menu, select Connect to Server or shortcut




Enter the IP address or local hostname of another MAC computer in your local area network.

If connecting to a PC from you MAC, enter the IP address or local hostname, and the shared folder. Enter this information as follows:

smb://192.168.1.10/share_folder

In this case, the "share_folder" is the share name created in the windows computer.

5. To enable the web server, check mark the option "Web Sharing".  Your web HTML files will need to reside in the folders indicated when you press in the buttons "Open Personal.." and "Open Computer...".

Personal Website Folder = /Users/YOUR_USER_NAME/Sites/
Computer Website Folder = /Library/WebServer/Documents/

In another post, I will show you how to enable the PHP engine so you can learn how to make dynamic websites.  I will also cover how you can change the locations of these web folders.

  

6. To enable remote login via the SSH terminal, mark the option "Remote Login"
Note: Make sure you only allow Administrators or specific users.