Cygwin  (www.cygwin.com)

Get the free download from www.cygwin.com - loads of info for installation and use on this page.

Cygwin is a free robust unix environment running on Windows platforms.

	Features: 
		- rich tool set of unix commands 
				(awk, cron,find, grep, rsh, sed, tar, ...)
		- unix mail tools (mutt, ssmtp)
		- ssh/scp/sftp capabilities
		- editor (vim)
		- developer environment (gcc, make, perl, lex, ...)
		- ALL these tools can work on the Microsoft filesystems, 
		  meaning you can 'vi c:\somefile.txt' or you can do a
		  'df -h' and see your free/used space on all drives including
		  shares.
		
	Some items to note:

		Suggested install directory names:
			install root dir: c:/cygwin   # this is / (root)
			local package dir: c:/cygwin-install 
					# this is where things are built from.
					# do not delete or it will loose 
                    # knowledge of what you
					# have installed and where

      		Devel        : select gcc
      		Editor       : select vim
		    Math         : select bc
		    Interpreters : expect expect, perl
		    Net          : select curl, ssh (openssh), ping, rsync, whois
		    Utils        : select file, bzip2, diffutils, time, util-linux, units, which 
		    web          : select all by choosing "install"
		    X11          : select all by choosing "install"

		Accounts created under cygwin
			NT & > : administrator
			95/98  : the username you installed cygwin as

		Add users and groups
			*LOCAL (recommended) Acounts
				mkpasswd -l -g > /etc/passwd

			DOMAIN Accounts
				mkpasswd -d -g > /etc/passwd

			BOTH		
				mkpasswd -l -d -g > /etc/passwd
		
			*LOCAL (recommended) Groups
				mkgroup -l > /etc/group

			DOMAIN Groups
				mkgroup -d > /etc/group

		Shells
			bash, sh, tcsh
			bash is default shell

		Terminals
			You get a DOS shell by default
			rxvt is provided (lean xterm)
				rxvt -e SHELL_TYPE
				i.e. rxvt -e bash

		To get "less" to work as "more"
			cd /bin; ln -s less more
			In your .profile, LESS="-X -E";export LESS	

		To get ksh to work 
			cd /bin; ln -s bash ksh
			
		To get "print" to work as an "echo" and not a lpr/lp (printers) command
			cd /bin; ln -s echo print

		Useful softlink
			cd c: 
			mkdir TEMP
			ln -s temp tmp

		Setup your properties in the cygwin shell window for scrolling:
			Properties
				Options
					Cursor Size: Large
					select Quickedit Mode
					select Insert Mode
				Layout
					Screen Buffer Size (vertical buffering): Height 2000

				Colors
					I like to make the background white, text black

				Modify shortcut that started this window.
				Close window and reopen.

		Cut and paste
			dos cmd: highlight, then CR|ENTER to get the hightlighted text into the
			         buffer.  Paste with right mouse.
			rxvt: highlight.  Paste by both mouse buttons or middle.

		Checks
			cygcheck -s sys
			cygcheck -c files

		Screen clear
			If it doesn't work, create a file "file /usr/bin/clear"
			Either load "ncurses", which contains a clear.exe.
			Or, try doing: 
				vi /usr/bin/clear (and add the following line)
					cmd /c cls
				chmod 755 /usr/bin/clear

get Xwin/xterm stuff
	X-Windows
		startx
		xhost +

		ipconfig #use IP for DISPLAY setting on the client

	OLD
		wm
		 fvwm & agent
			/bin/startxwin.sh
			/etc/system.fvwm2rc
		then startxwin.sh

email
	ssmtp
	/usr/bin/ssmtp-conf
	cd /usr/lib; ln s /usr/sbin/ssmtp sendmail

Interesting commands
	see full process list:  ps -W auxww   (-W show windows processes along with users)

================================================================================
1. Download cygwin from http://cygwin.com/. Run the setup program and select
the packages you want. The simplest thing to do is to get the default
packages that are selected for you by the installer, plus "cygrunsrv" from
the admin category and "openssh" from the net category. I found installing
cygwin to be the easiest part of the process, and if you get stuck there's
lot's of great help out there... 

2. Edit C:cygwincygwin.bat. Make sure it contains the following setting for
the CYGWIN environmental variable: 

set CYGWIN=binmode tty ntsec 

2. Start a cygwin bash shell. If cygwin installed correctly, you should be
able to find it in start->programs->cygwin. 

3. Make sure cygrunsrv is installed by typing "cygrunsrv -S sshd". This is
the command that will start the sshd server, but that's not installed yet. If
you get an error from cygrunsrv like "service does not exist" then you're on
the right track. If you get "command cygrunsrv not found" 
then go back over your install and make sure you get cygrunsrv. 

4. Again from the bash shell, run ssh-host-config. Answer yes to the key
generation questions. I found it easier not to use privilege separation.
Answer yes to install as a service. 

5. Start sshd with "cygrunsrv -S sshd" ("cygrunsrv -E sshd" shuts it down).
At this point you should also have "Cygwin sshd" available as a service that
you can start and stop from start->control panel->administrative
tools->computer management - go to the services and applications->services
list. 

6. If all that went well, you should be able to ssh to the server("ssh
localhost -l loginName"). At this point only user accounts that existed
before your cygwin install and had administrator access will work. This and
the next step were the biggest gotchas for me in this whole game. 

7. To enable a user to log in via ssh: You should know that sshd looks for
information in the comments field of /etc/passwd and coordinates it with NT
permissions. This was mentioned but not explained in the howtos I read. 

Here's how make it work: First, create the NT user and make them part of the
administrators group. 

Next, use the mkpasswd command to format a special passwd entry for that
user. You can look at the output with the command "mkpasswd -l". Then either
cut and paste the info you need into your /etc/passwd file, or use the
command "mkpasswd -l > /etc/passwd". 

This second will overwrite your existing passwd file. No matter what you do,
make a copy of /etc/passwd before making any changes. 

Create home directories for your users with the following commands: 
"mkdir /home/userLogin"; "chown userLogin /home/userLogin" 

Sshd only reads /etc/passwd once when it starts, so stop and start the server
after you make changes to /etc/passwd. 

================================================================================
IF you want your windows hosts file to work like /etc/hosts, you need to do a
"run as administrator" for privs to edit it on newer windows versions.  Add
your entries just like you always would on unix.  It is a link 
    /etc/hosts -> /cygdrive/c/Windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

================================================================================