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Using a phone as a server

From postmarketOS Wiki

This guide explains how to make a phone into a minimal home server over Wi-Fi, similar to a SBC. Other devices with different form factors may also work.

Initial setup

Select console, buffyboard or fbkeyboard as the UI.

Connect to a Wi-Fi

This must be done on the device itself, either by SSH over USB or with an on-screen keyboard.

$ nmcli device wifi connect {YOUR_WIFI_SSID} --ask

Check the local IP address

After connecting to your Wi-Fi, check the local IP adress for remote SSH connection. Consider setting up a DMZ or a port forward in your router with the IP associated to your device if you want to host services exposed to the Internet. (e.g. HTTP, E-mail, game server, etc.)

$ ip address

Optional steps

Make the server headless

Warning WARNING: Do not do this unless SSH access is confirmed to be working.

The screen can be blanked to create a headless effect. You will have to perform the following steps after each reboot.

$ TERM=linux sudo setterm --blank force < /dev/tty1

If you were using fbkeyboard or buffyboard, you can also disable the service with systemctl or rc-service.