Connect 2 laptops running Mint via ethernet

[icecake]

Hello,
I have two laptops running Mint 20.01. Laptop 1 will have a hard drive connected via USB and mounted in, say, /mnt/hdd.

I want laptop 2 to be connected to laptop 1 and be able to transfer files to this hard drive (as well as laptop 1).

I think I need to do this via ethernet and have ordered a crossover cable but don't have it yet.

There'll be no internet connection or security issues what would be the way to get this working in Mint please? Networking is something I never got into.

Thanks for any help.

[manyroads]

Time to start reading how-to network (connect) two Linux PCs.
You might want to start here:
viewtopic.php?t=301842

[icecake]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I now know how to connect via SSH and mount remote directory using SSHFS which is what I wanted.

So far, though, I'm doing this via my router where each computer has a static IP address that I've assigned. If I connect two computers together directly, how will that work with SSH? My cable hasn't arrived yet so can't try at the moment.

Thanks for any help.

[m00tpoint]

Assuming your NIC's can connect through a direct cable, as most can these days, it'll work fine -- as long as you configure a manual/static IP address on the interfaces. There won't be a router there to hand out IP addresses via DHCP. If the NIC's are unhappy with the cabling, you won't get any lights.

[icecake]

Thanks a lot for your help, cable arrived, got it working.