How to share files with friends and family from my server by sending them a link

[freeflyjohn]

Prior to getting my Dell T30 server which is running Ubuntu 16.04, I used Dropbox to share files such as pictures and video with friends and family.

This simply involved copying the Dropbox link for a file and sending the link in an email or message.

Is there a way to do something similar with Ubuntu ?

I have got SSH and Filezilla working, both of which use SSH keys with a passphrase for added security. However, this is not as straightforward for friends and family to use unlike Dropbox links.

I don't need a personal cloud on my server as I am not interested in keeping files synced between different devices, I am just interested in sharing files (some might be large video files) with friends and family in a way that's easy for them to access the files and thats also secure for my server.

As I have implemented SSH keys, the only way I can share files with friends and family is to send them the key (which for security reasons is best not done via email etc) and they would then need to install Filezilla and configure Filezilla to access to my server.

A far simpler (and more secure?) method would be to send them a link to a file I want to share, but is there a way of doing this with Ubuntu ?

[monkeybrain20122]

Dropbox works the same way in Ubuntu. I have been sharing files by sending people dropbox links for a while.

[freeflyjohn]

Dropbox works the same way in Ubuntu. I have been sharing files by sending people dropbox links for a while.

The reason I wanted to stay away from Dropbox is because it has a size restriction (unless you pay a monthly subscription). I often have to delete files from Dropbox because I have exceeded the limit.

As I have my own server I was hoping I could use my own storage space to share files with family and friends.

But the Filezilla method with SSH keys is not very convenient, especially for one off file sharing.

[HermanAB]

You can run your own anonymous FTP server and put encrypted zip files on it. FTP is one of the few file transfer protocols that is natively supported by Windows and zip encryption is one of the few encryption methods that ordinary mortals can handle.

[freeflyjohn]

You can run your own anonymous FTP server and put encrypted zip files on it. FTP is one of the few file transfer protocols that is natively supported by Windows and zip encryption is one of the few encryption methods that ordinary mortals can handle.

FTP is not as secure as SFTP, which is the setup I have using SSH and keys I think ?

[gordintoronto]

There are two issues with running a server on a residential Internet connection, which have nothing to do with Ubuntu:
- your ISP might not allow you to run a server over their connection,
- you probably have a dynamic IP address, so others don't know where to find your computer. One solution is to buy a domain name and use the software provided by dnsexit.

Teamviewer might be worth a look. although it might provide TOO MUCH access.

You could always put a link in an encrypted zip file.

[freeflyjohn]

There are two issues with running a server on a residential Internet connection, which have nothing to do with Ubuntu:
- your ISP might not allow you to run a server over their connection,
- you probably have a dynamic IP address, so others don't know where to find your computer. One solution is to buy a domain name and use the software provided by dnsexit.

Teamviewer might be worth a look. although it might provide TOO MUCH access.

You could always put a link in an encrypted zip file.

- your ISP might not allow you to run a server over their connection,
I don't think this is an issue as I am able to connect to my server remotely using terminal (e.g. PuTTY) with SSH and a key, I am also able to connect to my server remotely using Filezilla and a key.

- you probably have a dynamic IP address, so others don't know where to find your computer
I don't think this is a problem either, I have registered with Dynu which provides a free dynamic DNS service and again this works remotely with terminal and Filezilla.

The downside (and the reason for this post) is that using Filezilla with keys is cumbersome to just share a file/s with family and friends, I don't want to them access to my whole server either.

I might be able to limit someones their access by adding a user to the key and restricting the users access (to a shared folder for example) but I haven't looked into this because it this still means the user would have to download and install Filezilla, configure Filezilla and I would have to share the key via email which is not recommended.

It would be so much easier if I could just send them a link that downloads the file directly, just like I do with Dropbox.

[again?]

Megsync works similar to dropbox but with a 50gb limit on free accounts.
Has an ubuntu client.
https://mega.nz/sync

[freeflyjohn]

Megsync works similar to dropbox but with a 50gb limit on free accounts.
Has an ubuntu client.
https://mega.nz/sync

Thanks, it just seems daft having to use a third party server (such as Dropbox or Megasync) when I already have my own server to that could host files for sharing.

I'm not interested in syncing between devices, just sharing files with friends and family, some of which could be large files like videos etc.

I just thought there might have been a way to do this using a simpler method than the Fillezilla approach with SSH keys.

[mastablasta]

A far simpler (and more secure?) method would be to send them a link to a file I want to share, but is there a way of doing this with Ubuntu ?

simple or secure won't go together. i suggest you install Owncloud or Nextcloud or Seafile or if this is about photos and videos, you can try the Piwigo galery. though they are "clouds", they actually do what you want to do perfectly.

they do not load the server much. these "clouds" are relatively small in size an don't need much CPU.

you get dropbox/google drive functionality in that you can just send a link, mark its availability time (for how long the material is available), add a password if you with and then they can access the site.

you can also isolate them from other server function and lock them down further if you wish. but do note that additional security will also reduce "user friendliness".

if you don't want or need to sync, then just don't use their client.

sFTP protocol has a lot of drawbacks (e.g. if you want to just look at some photos, you need to download them first to do it)

edit: another option would be to use apache server and then create websites. while this will work for pics, i am not sure it will do for videos. you could then lock down websites with password etc.