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howtos:network_services:running_an_access_point_from_a_slackware_box [2016/11/18 15:14 (UTC)] – [4.7.2 Slackware Wireless Clients] louigi600howtos:network_services:running_an_access_point_from_a_slackware_box [2023/01/20 09:43 (UTC)] – [4.3 DNS and DHCP Servers] fix typos tim
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 ====== Setting up a WiFi Access Point on your Slackware Box ====== ====== Setting up a WiFi Access Point on your Slackware Box ======
 You should read this, regardless of whether you are a Slackware enthusiast or not, because you will find most of it applicable to other distributions too.  You should read this, regardless of whether you are a Slackware enthusiast or not, because you will find most of it applicable to other distributions too. 
 +I have recently reused most of this on a debian/DietPI based NanoPi R1S H3 just because it was fester for me to get something functional like that rather than tinkering with uboot and kernel to get slackwareARM running on it. 
 ====== 1 Preamble ====== ====== 1 Preamble ======
 There are endless reasons for wanting to run an AP from a standard Linux environment as opposed to the crippled ones that come in most AP appliances, we're not here to discuss them all but if you're reading this you've found your own motivation for doing it. There are endless reasons for wanting to run an AP from a standard Linux environment as opposed to the crippled ones that come in most AP appliances, we're not here to discuss them all but if you're reading this you've found your own motivation for doing it.
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 Look at the section  Look at the section 
      
-   software interface modes:+   Supported interface modes:
                  * AP/VLAN                  * AP/VLAN
                  * monitor                  * monitor
-AP needs to be among the software interface modes.+AP needs to be among the Supported interface modes.
  
 Ok there is still some Wireless NICs that support hardware master mode but that's 3 against all the rest I'm not going to bother going into any detail with those 3 exceptions, google is your friend if you want to insist in the hardware master mode way.  Ok there is still some Wireless NICs that support hardware master mode but that's 3 against all the rest I'm not going to bother going into any detail with those 3 exceptions, google is your friend if you want to insist in the hardware master mode way. 
 +
 +
 +Should you want to have Virtual Access Poits (more than one AP on a single physical wireless NIC) you will want to look at the section "valid interface combinations".
 +Here's the output from two cards :
 +
 +  [root@nuc8i5 ~]# for Phy in $(iw dev |grep ^phy); do   echo "$Phy";   iw $Phy info | grep  "valid interface combinations" -A 2; done
 +  phy#1
 +        valid interface combinations:
 +                 * #{ AP, mesh point } <= 8,
 +                   total <= 8, #channels <= 1
 +  phy#0
 +        valid interface combinations:
 +                 * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP, P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1,
 +                   total <= 3, #channels <= 2
 +  [root@nuc8i5 ~]#
 +  
 +The first one would allow more than on vAP (up to a maximum of 8) but they all got to be on the same channel.
 +The second one would allow for one AP and one managed client to be used at the same time even of different channels but the total number of live APs need to be no more than one.
  
 ====== 3 Software Requirements ====== ====== 3 Software Requirements ======
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   * rp-pppoe (*)   * rp-pppoe (*)
  
-(*) only if you want your AP to actually manage your internet connection. +(*) only if you want your AP to actually manage your internet connection trough some sort of point PPP modem
  
  
 ===== 3.3 Other Software ===== ===== 3.3 Other Software =====
   * hostapd   * hostapd
 +  * miniupnpd (only required if you have appliances that require upnp)
  
-Hostapd is not shipped with Slackware packages and is the only extra software you need for a basic setup.+Neither of these are included in the slackare installation packages, only hostap is mandatory to gae basic AP functionality
 To obtain hostapd you could either download a binary version from some reliable source or compile it from sources. You might be slightly better off compiling from sources, so that you get e fairly recent version, but it's up to you. Just don't try using really old hostapd versions like 0.6.7 on 2.6+ kernels: hostapd has followed the kernel wireless stack drivers and transitioned from only supporting FullMAC devices to supporting SoftMAC on almost all devices trough nl80211. Nowadays the combination of both hardware and driver supporting FullMAC is hard to come by (Prism2/2.5/3, and Atheros ar521x) all the others need to go the SoftMAC way so I suggest ignoring the 2 that could still go the FullMAC way and just go for SoftMAC for all, allowing you to use almost any WiFi card for creating an AP. If you like you can read more about [[http://wireless.kernel.org/en/developers/Documentation/mac80211 |  mac80211 here]]. To obtain hostapd you could either download a binary version from some reliable source or compile it from sources. You might be slightly better off compiling from sources, so that you get e fairly recent version, but it's up to you. Just don't try using really old hostapd versions like 0.6.7 on 2.6+ kernels: hostapd has followed the kernel wireless stack drivers and transitioned from only supporting FullMAC devices to supporting SoftMAC on almost all devices trough nl80211. Nowadays the combination of both hardware and driver supporting FullMAC is hard to come by (Prism2/2.5/3, and Atheros ar521x) all the others need to go the SoftMAC way so I suggest ignoring the 2 that could still go the FullMAC way and just go for SoftMAC for all, allowing you to use almost any WiFi card for creating an AP. If you like you can read more about [[http://wireless.kernel.org/en/developers/Documentation/mac80211 |  mac80211 here]].
  
-Hostapd sources can be downloaded from [[http://w1.fi/hostapd/ | here]], you should be looking at recent stable version (2.last time this article was edited) and avoid the development/old branches.+Hostapd sources can be downloaded from [[http://w1.fi/hostapd/ | here]], you should be looking at the most recent stable version (2.last time this article was edited) and avoid the development/old branches.
 Compiling hostapd is really simple: Compiling hostapd is really simple:
   - extract the sources   - extract the sources
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   - edit the defconfig file and enable any optional features you need (default is fine for a simple setup)   - edit the defconfig file and enable any optional features you need (default is fine for a simple setup)
   - copy the defconfig file to .config   - copy the defconfig file to .config
 +  - make a softlink for netlink includes (cd /usr/include; ln -s libnl3/netlink .)
   - make   - make
   - make install (or optionally just put in /usr/local/bin just the hostapd binary)   - make install (or optionally just put in /usr/local/bin just the hostapd binary)
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 If your AP also acts a router it's probably going to be exposed to malware and even if you do your best to keep malicious users out of your work they might still find a way in. If your router is exposed to internet you might want to consider some sort of file integrity tool that would alert you if files have been tampered with. File integrity checking could be a whole article so I'm not going to go into any detail beyond advising to read more about it on security oriented communities like [[http://www.securityfocus.com|security focus]] or maybe just do a google search on "file integrity tool".   If your AP also acts a router it's probably going to be exposed to malware and even if you do your best to keep malicious users out of your work they might still find a way in. If your router is exposed to internet you might want to consider some sort of file integrity tool that would alert you if files have been tampered with. File integrity checking could be a whole article so I'm not going to go into any detail beyond advising to read more about it on security oriented communities like [[http://www.securityfocus.com|security focus]] or maybe just do a google search on "file integrity tool".  
 ====== 4 Configuring ====== ====== 4 Configuring ======
-Now let's have a look at how to configure everything to that it will work right.+Now let's have a look at how to configure everything so that it will work right.
  
 ===== 4.1 Hostapd ===== ===== 4.1 Hostapd =====
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   * hw_mode=g  #to keep it simple don't attempt n mode right away even if your hardware supports it   * hw_mode=g  #to keep it simple don't attempt n mode right away even if your hardware supports it
   * channel=6  #or whatever other channel you prefer   * channel=6  #or whatever other channel you prefer
 +  * ieee80211d=1
 +  * country_code=IT
 +  * ieee80211n=1
 +  * auth_algs=1
   * macaddr_acl=1 # see notes below    * macaddr_acl=1 # see notes below 
   * # 0 = accept unless in deny list (iptables mac filtering and optionally have a ban list)   * # 0 = accept unless in deny list (iptables mac filtering and optionally have a ban list)
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   * wpa=2   * wpa=2
   * wpa_psk_file=/etc/hostapd/wlan0.wpa_psk   * wpa_psk_file=/etc/hostapd/wlan0.wpa_psk
-  * wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK WPA-PSK-SHA256 +  * wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK 
-  * wpa_pairwise=TKIP +
   * rsn_pairwise=CCMP   * rsn_pairwise=CCMP
   * wpa_group_rekey=600   * wpa_group_rekey=600
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 ===== 4.3 DNS and DHCP Servers ===== ===== 4.3 DNS and DHCP Servers =====
 Now it's time to start dnsmasq. You can actually leave it running from boot if you like or even run specific servers at your choice. I now run separate dnsmasq instances for each AP so I've abandoned Slackware's rc.dnsmasq and start it from my custom network scripts which requires separate config files for each interface (like /etc/dnsmasq/br0.conf and /etc/dnsmasw/wlan1.conf). Now it's time to start dnsmasq. You can actually leave it running from boot if you like or even run specific servers at your choice. I now run separate dnsmasq instances for each AP so I've abandoned Slackware's rc.dnsmasq and start it from my custom network scripts which requires separate config files for each interface (like /etc/dnsmasq/br0.conf and /etc/dnsmasw/wlan1.conf).
-Configuring it is something you should look into to suit best your networking needs ... let's just look at some of the most common tings.+Configuring it is something you should look into to suit best your networking needs ... let's just look at some of the most common things.
 Supposing that you want to assign ip addresses belonging to 192.168.0.0/24 and this are the options you will need: Supposing that you want to assign ip addresses belonging to 192.168.0.0/24 and this are the options you will need:
  
   * interface=br0   * interface=br0
 +  * bogus-priv
 +  * local=/local/
 +  * domain=local
   * except-interface=lo   * except-interface=lo
-  * bind-interfaces 
   * listen-address=192.168.0.1   * listen-address=192.168.0.1
   * dhcp-range=192.168.0.2,192.168.0.254,24h   * dhcp-range=192.168.0.2,192.168.0.254,24h
   * dhcp-leasefile=/run/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.leases   * dhcp-leasefile=/run/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.leases
   * conf-dir=/etc/dnsmasq.d   * conf-dir=/etc/dnsmasq.d
 +The options local and domain allow dnsmasq to tell clients they belong to a domain and in return serve as authoritative for that domain. Some distributions that use NetworkManager will not get local resolution to work unless you define these 2 options.
  
 The options except-interface bind-interfaces and listen-address are particularly useful if you want to run more then one instance of dnsmasq. The options except-interface bind-interfaces and listen-address are particularly useful if you want to run more then one instance of dnsmasq.
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 Now is a good time to configure your firwall protection. Now is a good time to configure your firwall protection.
 Supposing that the box will be routing packages thought it I'll show some rules that you might find helpfull. Supposing that the box will be routing packages thought it I'll show some rules that you might find helpfull.
 +
 +Newer kernels nswitched to nftables but you can still use iptables to manipulate the kernel netfilter tables.
 +Actually if you want to move to using nftables but you are not familiar with the syntax you can save the kernel netfilter tables in netfilter format like this:
 +
 +  nft list ruleset > nftables.conf
 +
 +Personally I'm still struggling with nft syntax so I will keep the rest of this chapter in iptabls syntax: you can convert, like I showed above, after you are done.
 + 
 This is the output of iptables-save, you can edit it to make the changes you require and then pipe your edited file to iptables-restore. This is the output of iptables-save, you can edit it to make the changes you require and then pipe your edited file to iptables-restore.
 The iptables-save/iptables-restore is a handy way of keeping configuration for easy firewall activation and editing. The iptables-save/iptables-restore is a handy way of keeping configuration for easy firewall activation and editing.
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 It should then be possible to restart rc.inet1 (or just rc.inet1 wlan0_down and rc.inet1 wlan0_up) and the client should associate. It should then be possible to restart rc.inet1 (or just rc.inet1 wlan0_down and rc.inet1 wlan0_up) and the client should associate.
  
-There's also the command line alternative with wpa_cli in this example we'll assume that your client is totalu unconfigured and wpa_supplicant is not running. Wr're going to do everything on the command line:+There's also the command line alternative with wpa_cli in this example we'll assume that your client is totally unconfigured and wpa_supplicant is not running. We're going to do everything on the command line:
  
   # wpa_supplicant -B -W -Dwext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf   # wpa_supplicant -B -W -Dwext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
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 in it the above snippet would have saved the new network to wpa_supplicant.conf and associated you with it. in it the above snippet would have saved the new network to wpa_supplicant.conf and associated you with it.
  
-Remember that if you're doning that for an AP with no secutity you need to use this:+Remember that if you're associating with an non secured AP you need to use this:
   > set_network 0 ssid "Insecure-WiFi"   > set_network 0 ssid "Insecure-WiFi"
   OK   OK
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 Please note the above script only works on 2.6 kernels or above. This probably also applies to socklist. Please note the above script only works on 2.6 kernels or above. This probably also applies to socklist.
 +
 +===== 5.5 Virtual AP =====
 +If your wireless NIC supports it you might like to run multiple virtual APs. As mentioned in Chapter 2 to be able to do this 
 +you will need the "valid interface combinations" sections to have #AP to be greater than one and if you optionally want them to live on separate channels you will need #channels to be greater than 1.
 +If this is the case then you can add virtual AP like this
 +
 +  iw phy0 interface add vap0 type __ap
 +or
 +  iw wlan0 interface add vap0 type __ap
 +  
 +this will create a new virtual AP, arbitrarily called vap0 on which you will need to activate a separate instance of hostapd as explained in Chapter 4.
 +Incidentally the type can be any of of these (as long as your wireless NIC supports them):
 +
 +  * monitor
 +  * managed 
 +  * wds
 +  * mesh 
 +  * ibss 
 +  * __ap
 +
 +
 +if you subsequentlt want to remove the virtual AP toy can terminate the hostapd running on it, optionally put the nick in down state and then tell iw you want to delete the virtual device:
 +
 +  iw vap0 del
 +  
  
 ====== 6 Remote Administration ====== ====== 6 Remote Administration ======
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   * save the random-seed to unused sector on flash when shutting down (rc.0 ... well it's a link to rc.6) and load it back to /dev/urandom from rc.S when system comes up again   * save the random-seed to unused sector on flash when shutting down (rc.0 ... well it's a link to rc.6) and load it back to /dev/urandom from rc.S when system comes up again
  
-You could optionally have fstab specify that root should be mounted ro like this:+You could optionally have fstab specify that root should be mounted ro like this: (example below is relative to when I was using ubifs on the DocStar)
  
-/dev/ubi0_0      /               ubifs  ro                       1+  /dev/ubi0_0      /               ubifs  ro                       1
  
-You will also haveto make some links in various places so that they end up writing in /run that has been mounted tmpfs. I do that manually just once with / mounted rw and then remount it ro.+You will also have to make some links in various places so that they end up writing in /run that has been mounted tmpfs. I do that manually just once with / mounted rw and then remount it ro.
  
 If you're interested in actually making such changes to the init scripts I've shared how I go about it on [[http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-arm-108/anyone-else-interested-in-running-some-of-their-arm-devices-with-root-mounted-read-only-4175590642/ | Linux Questions]]. If you're interested in actually making such changes to the init scripts I've shared how I go about it on [[http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-arm-108/anyone-else-interested-in-running-some-of-their-arm-devices-with-root-mounted-read-only-4175590642/ | Linux Questions]].
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 I'm not going to miss my old low end AP, are you ? I'm not going to miss my old low end AP, are you ?
 I replaced it with home-brew stuff from which this article is derived. I replaced it with home-brew stuff from which this article is derived.
-Over the years I've done several remakes adding some new features. The last upgrade was 8 programmable buttons with indicator leds to carry out arbitrary functions.+Over the years I've done several remakes adding some new features. The last upgrade was using a Friendlyelec NanoPi R1S with integrated wifi and 2 ethernet nics requiring no extra usb dongles. 
 + 
 +Gen 5 (Friendlyelec NanoPI R1S) 
 + 
 +{{howtos:network_services:g5_nanopi.jpeg| NanoPi R1S}} 
 + 
 +The original case has 2 issues: cappy internal antenna and tendency to overheat ... so I 3d-printed my own [[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5408048|case]]. 
 + 
 +{{howtos:network_services:nanopi_r1s_diy_case.jpg| DIY Case}} 
 + 
 +Gen 4 (RPi2 with display) 
 + 
 +{{howtos:network_services:g4_rpi.jpeg| RPi2 with shoft buttons}} 
 + 
 + 
 +Gen 3 (RPi2 with buttons and leds
 + 
 +{{howtos:network_services:g3_rpi.jpg| RPi2 with hardware buttons}} 
 + 
 +Gen 2 (RPi2 in aluminum Sandwich) 
 + 
 +{{howtos:network_services:g2_rpi.jpg| RPi2}} 
 + 
 +Gen 1 (Seagate DocStar in aluminum Sandwich)
  
-{{http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg113/louigi600/ARM/piwrap_zpshjjyflm8.jpg}} +{{howtos:network_services:g1_seagate_docstar.jpg| Seagate DocStart}}
-{{http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg113/louigi600/ARM/RPi2_2_zpsytug1dvq.jpg}} +
-{{http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg113/louigi600/ARM/Seagate_wrapStar_zpsf6047f16.jpg}}+
  
  
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