Easiest Method For Wifi File Transfer

[jtfolden]

I've been reading several threads and web pages on how to set up options such as SFTP, SHH, WebDav, etc to gain wifi access to the Pre. However, being new to the phone and how it's OS works has left me feeling like a lot of these instructions are greek and I, also, have no idea which method is the most likely to survive a software update.

Could someone help instruct or point me to the safest, most simple method of configuring read/write access to the Pre's USB drive over Wifi, please?

For the record, I am running Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" and can not use a Windows machine for this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

[ryleyinstl]

If you're looking for "simple" you're out luck.

[rwhitby]

Install Preware, then the OpenSSH SFTP Server (which will install lots of other dependencies).

The follow the directions in the Homepage link for the OpenSSH package in Preware.

Then use Fugu on your Mac.

-- Rod

[jtfolden]

Thanks, Rod! That seemed "simple" enough... now if only an SFTP connection could be reliably mounted as a drive in the Finder rather than Fugu, Transmit, etc...

Anyone have any experience with MacFuse & sshfs?

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by jtfolden

Thanks, Rod! That seemed "simple" enough... now if only an SFTP connection could be reliably mounted as a drive in the Finder rather than Fugu, Transmit, etc...

Anyone have any experience with MacFuse & sshfs?

I'm working on a WebDAV solution using lighttpd on the Pre.

-- Rod

[theonetruedevo]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

Install Preware, then the OpenSSH SFTP Server (which will install lots of other dependencies).

The follow the directions in the Homepage link for the OpenSSH package in Preware.

Then use Fugu on your Mac.

-- Rod

Got all this set up. Problem is I still don't have access to the /media/internal/ directory to upload files.

Is there any way to get access to that directory without sudo or plugging my pre into my pc?

[rwhitby]

If you've logged in as root using WinSCP or Fugu, then you will have access to /media/internal

-- Rod

[jrtesq]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

Then use Fugu on your Mac.

You recommend Fugu for mac. What would you recommend for a Windows 7 machine?

Thanks.

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by jrtesq

You recommend Fugu for mac. What would you recommend for a Windows 7 machine?

Thanks.

PuTTY and WinSCP

-- Rod

[jrtesq]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

PuTTY and WinSCP

Great! Thanks.

[jtfolden]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

I'm working on a WebDAV solution using lighttpd on the Pre.

-- Rod

I'll look forward to seeing that. In the meantime, I installed MacFuse and sshfs on my Mac. Then, I created a small AppleScript app that contains the following and put it in my Dock:

do shell script "mkdir \"/Volumes/PALM PRE\""
do shell script "sshfs root@192.168.1.10:/media/internal \"/Volumes/PALM PRE\" -oauto_cache,reconnect,volname=\"PALM PRE\""

This will mount the Pre on the Desktop. :-)

[NickDG]

Anyone get samba working? I think it would be the easiest way.

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by NickDG

Anyone get samba working? I think it would be the easiest way.

Samba2 or Samba3 can be installed with ipkg-opt ...

-- Rod

[theonetruedevo]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

If you've logged in as root using WinSCP or Fugu, then you will have access to /media/internal

-- Rod

I thought logging in as root was bad/wrong/evil and you should always have a user login to use instead?

[rwhitby]

It's a trade-off between security and convenience.

When we were using passwords to access the Pre, the security risk was too great. Now that we are requiring ssh keys for access, it is acceptable (imho).

Others are bound to have differing views on this topic. They can still create and use a separate user account if they choose.

-- Rod

[theonetruedevo]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

It's a trade-off between security and convenience.

When we were using passwords to access the Pre, the security risk was too great. Now that we are requiring ssh keys for access, it is acceptable (imho).

Others are bound to have differing views on this topic. They can still create and use a separate user account if they choose.

-- Rod

So the new way of accessing linux is all via keys and not passwords?

ahhh... So when I was setting up openssh sftp, I should have used the root user instead of the std user. Gotcha.

What is the best way to move the private key around? Or does each different computer get set up with its own public/private key?

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by theonetruedevo

So the new way of accessing linux is all via keys and not passwords?

ahhh... So when I was setting up openssh sftp, I should have used the root user instead of the std user. Gotcha.

What is the best way to move the private key around? Or does each different computer get set up with its own public/private key?

Ah, that depends on your level of paranoia.

I personally just keep my private key passphrase protected on a single laptop computer over which I have constant physical control. I never put my private key on a remote computer (I've enabled SSH authentication agent forwarding on the OpenSSH installation on the Pre) and I never let anyone else access the computer on which I do have my private key.

Other people keep one key per remote host on a fingerprint-protected secure USB key which they carry with them on a chain that is tied to their body

It's really up to you.

-- Rod

[theonetruedevo]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

Ah, that depends on your level of paranoia.

I personally just keep my private key passphrase protected on a single laptop computer over which I have constant physical control. I never put my private key on a remote computer (I've enabled SSH authentication agent forwarding on the OpenSSH installation on the Pre) and I never let anyone else access the computer on which I do have my private key.

Other people keep one key per remote host on a fingerprint-protected secure USB key which they carry with them on a chain that is tied to their body

It's really up to you.

-- Rod

haha.

I was thinking more of how do I set up my home computer, my work computer etc. I'm assuming that each computer gets its own private/public pair.

Now I'm debating being lazy and unsecure and not bothering with a passphrase.

[odinstorm]

I am looking to transfer mp3 files from my WinXP machine to my Pre through wifi. Each mp3 is about 140 megs. I would like to set up a scheduler so that the files can transfer over night when my phone is on the touchstone charging.
The instructions given don't sound that difficult. I wonder why someone has not made this into an app. yet? I think people would easily pay $10 or $20 to be able to do this (imho).

What does everyone else think?

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by odinstorm

I am looking to transfer mp3 files from my WinXP machine to my Pre through wifi. Each mp3 is about 140 megs. I would like to set up a scheduler so that the files can transfer over night when my phone is on the touchstone charging.
The instructions given don't sound that difficult. I wonder why someone has not made this into an app. yet? I think people would easily pay $10 or $20 to be able to do this (imho).

What does everyone else think?

There is an app. Preware + OpenSSH SFTP Server. There are plenty of Windows utilities that allow SFTP transfers, and you could just use Scheduled Tasks to set one of these up. Make sure your Pre is on the touchstone overnight so the wifi stays active, and set the schedule time accordingly. Rsync is a good solution, cause it will only transfer the things that have changed.

Both these apps use custom services and Linux utilities that simply cannot be done by normal webOS applications that are acceptable for the Palm App Catalog. So you simply won't be able to pay for such an app any time soon.

There's a WebOS Internals donation link at WebOS Internals:Site support - WebOS Internals if anyone wants to donate that $10 or $20 for this solution

-- Rod