I wanted to use a 3G dongle with a twin SIM card as my Internet connection when I’m traveling. I have earlier decribed howto share the Internet connection and make it more flexible by using an OpenWRT router with USB interface as a bridge between Wlan and 3G/GPRS provided internet.

Unfortunatly Tele2s support personel cannot keep track of the unlogical rules among their different subscriptions so they fouled my to buy a twincard to my regular subscription and use that for data. After a couple of more calls to Tele2, including that they listened to a recording of when I ordered the twincard I have to give up that track because it was not possible. The twincard only works for phone calls, not data connections and especially not when I had a flatrate subscription on my master SIM card.

After some investigation I came to the conclusion that I have to use my Regular phone, a HTC Desire with Android as my connection to internet.

Unfortunatly the work done with getting the USB 3G dongle was a waste of time.

PreReq

An OpenWRT router with a working USB interface and a rndis enabled modem, I use a HTC Desire.

Installation

root@WRT160NL:~# opkg install kmod-usb-net-rndis

I also installed some USB packages, probably not all of them are necessery:

root@WRT160NL:~#opkg install kmod-ar9170 kmod-usb-acm kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-ohci kmod-usb-serial comgt
kmod-usb-serial-option kmod-usb-storage kmod-usb-uhci kmod-usb2  usb-switch

Add the following to /etc/config/network

config 'interface' 'usb0'
    option 'name' 'usb0'
    option 'proto' 'dhcp'
    option 'ifname' 'usb0'
    option 'defaultroute' '0'
    option 'peerdns' '0'
 

Use the same firewall rules with your 3G connection as your normal WLAN, add the yellow marked line to /etc/config/firewall:

config 'zone'
    option 'name' 'wan'
    option 'input' 'REJECT'
    option 'output' 'ACCEPT'
    option 'forward' 'REJECT'
    option 'masq' '1'
    option 'mtu_fix' '1'
    option 'network' 'wan usb0 ppp0'

Do a reboot
 

Test

To use your new connection, run ifup

root@WRT160NL:~# ifup usb0
udhcpc (v1.15.3) started
root@OpenWrt:~# Sending discover...
Sending select for 192.168.100.100...
Lease of 192.168.100.100 obtained, lease time 864000
udhcpc: ifconfig usb0 192.168.100.100 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast +
udhcpc: setting default routers: 192.168.100.254
udhcpc: setting dns servers: 192.168.100.254

root@WRT160NL:~# ping www.google.com
PING www.google.com (74.125.39.104): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 74.125.39.104: seq=0 ttl=51 time=371.025 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.39.104: seq=1 ttl=51 time=388.617 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.39.104: seq=2 ttl=51 time=316.767 ms
^C
--- www.google.com ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 25% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 316.767/358.803/388.617 ms

Shutdown the connection with ifdown

root@WRT160NL:~# ifdown usb0

Background

After waiting for the Hummingbird release for the LaFonera 2.0G a long time and discussed with the Fon support team when 3G dongles will work, I gave up and installed OpenWRT on my LaFonera 2.0G router.

I’m sorry FON, you have a cool idea and nice routers but your unlogical approach to the users and communtity, finally got me to install plain OpenWRT instead.

Installation

After alot of googling and testing and downloading, reading and so on, I finally run into a guide that worked for me.

Most of the descriptions and howto assumes that the RedBoot will accept to download a new firmware via TFTP, this is true with the early releases of 2.0G , but the one sold now do not have this feature.

The trick is to install a firmware that allows changing the RedBoot partition of the memory, change the RedBoot parttion and install OpenWRT via TFTP.

The guide is unfortunatly in French, but google translate helped me to translate it to English.

The pitfalls I run into is to reboot the device several timesafter installing the hacked version of FON firmware: FON2202_2.2.5.0_Flipper_RedBootC_VoteGOP.image

The only difference is that I used a later version of OpenWRT. I used Backfire 10.03 instead of Kamikaze 8.9.1

After succesfully installed my new Linksys WRT160NL with OpenWrt, the next step is to configure it. As the summer is approaching and my need for Internet access in our summer cottage will arrise. The summer cottage is in the middle of nowhere so it would be handy to put a USB dongle and the Wlan router in the spot with best 3G field strength and use the WiFi to connect several computers to the router and Internet.

The 3G USB modem is a Huawei modem I bought for 20 EUR and unlocked using this guide.

I found an excellent guide describing excactly what I wanted todo but it did not work 100% in my environment so I will describe what I did to get it running. Read the guide to get background and deeper explanation of how things are done. This guide assumes that you have read the guide, basic knowledge of OpenWRT, howto edit files in a Linux environment and so on.

Installation

The USB hardware and the modem need some extra packages to be installed. I installed the following:

root@WRT160NL:~#opkg install kmod-ar9170 kmod-usb-acm kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-ohci kmod-usb-serial comgt
kmod-usb-serial-option kmod-usb-storage kmod-usb-uhci kmod-usb2  usb-switch

Probably not all of them are necessery but during my tests and fiddeling these are the ones I installed.

Configuration

Create /etc/modules.d/60-usb-serial:

usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1446
 

The vendor and product parameters can be found by attaching the 3G modem and run:

root@WRT160NL:~# cat /proc/bus/usb/devices

T:  Bus=01 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=480 MxCh= 1
B:  Alloc=  0/800 us ( 0%), #Int=  0, #Iso=  0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=01 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1d6b ProdID=0002 Rev= 2.06
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 2.6.32.10 ehci_hcd
S:  Product=Atheros AR91xx built-in EHCI controller
S:  SerialNumber=ar71xx-ehci
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=  0mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub
E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=   4 Ivl=256ms

T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#=  2 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=12d1 ProdID=1446 Rev= 0.00
S:  Manufacturer=HUAWEI Technology
S:  Product=HUAWEI Mobile
C:* #Ifs= 2 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=500mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usbserial_generic
E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=01(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
I:* If#= 1 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usbserial_generic
E:  Ad=02(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=82(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
 

The parameters are marked in yellow above.

The next step is to configure usb switch. Create /etc/usb-modeswitch.conf

########################################################
# Huawei E270+  (HSPA+ modem)

DefaultVendor= 0x12d1
DefaultProduct=0x1446

TargetVendor=  0x12d1
TargetProductList="1001,1406,140c,14ac"

CheckSuccess=20

MessageContent="55534243123456780000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000"

I have no clue of the syntax but I copied it from my Ubuntu machine /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/12d1:1446 and it works:-)

Add the following to /etc/config/network

config 'interface' 'ppp0'
    option 'ifname' 'ppp0'
    option 'proto' '3g'
    option 'device' '/dev/ttyUSB0'
    option 'apn' 'internet.tele2.se'
    option 'pincode' '1234'

The pincode is obvious, the apn is local and given by your local operator. It is handy to configure it to work in Ubuntu and then look at the configuration Ubuntu creates.
 

The firewall rules need to be updated and I added ppp0 to the wan section in /etc/config/firewall

config 'zone'
    option 'name' 'wan'
    option 'input' 'REJECT'
    option 'output' 'ACCEPT'
    option 'forward' 'REJECT'
    option 'masq' '1'
    option 'mtu_fix' '1'
    option 'network' 'wan ppp0'

To make the change to take effect run:

root@WRT160NL:~# /etc/init.d/firewall restart
 

Start it

Attach the modem and run:

root@WRT160NL:~# usb_modeswitch

Looking for target devices ...
 No devices in target mode or class found
Looking for default devices ...
 Found default devices (1)
Accessing device 002 on bus 001 ...
Using endpoints 0x01 (out) and 0x81 (in)
Inquiring device details; driver will be detached ...
Looking for active driver ...
 OK, driver found ("usbserial_generic")
 OK, driver "usbserial_generic" detached

SCSI inquiry data (for identification)
-------------------------
  Vendor String: HUAWEI 
   Model String: Mass Storage   
Revision String: 2.31
-------------------------

USB description data (for identification)
-------------------------
Manufacturer: HUAWEI Technology
     Product: HUAWEI Mobile
  Serial No.: not provided
-------------------------
Setting up communication with interface 0 ...
Trying to send the message to endpoint 0x01 ...
 OK, message successfully sent
 Device is gone, skipping any further commands

Checking for mode switch (max. 20 times, once per second) ...
 Original device is gone already, not checking
 Searching for target devices ...
 Searching for target devices ...
 Searching for target devices ...
 Searching for target devices ...
 Searching for target devices ...
 Found correct target device

Mode switch succeeded. Bye.
 

logread should now give something similiar to:

Jun 12 17:29:11 WRT160NL user.info kernel: generic ttyUSB0: generic converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
Jun 12 17:29:11 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usbserial_generic 1-1:1.0: device disconnected
Jun 12 17:29:11 WRT160NL user.warn kernel: usb 1-1: usbfs: process 1345 (usb_modeswitch) did not claim interface 0 before use
Jun 12 17:29:11 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usb 1-1: USB disconnect, address 2
Jun 12 17:29:11 WRT160NL user.info kernel: generic ttyUSB1: generic converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
Jun 12 17:29:11 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usbserial_generic 1-1:1.1: device disconnected
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usb 1-1: new high speed USB device using ar71xx-ehci and address 3
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: option 1-1:1.0: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usb 1-1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: option 1-1:1.1: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usb 1-1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB1
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: option 1-1:1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: usb 1-1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB2
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: scsi3 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.debug kernel: usb-storage: device found at 3
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.debug kernel: usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.info kernel: scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.debug kernel: usb-storage: device found at 3
Jun 12 17:29:16 WRT160NL user.debug kernel: usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
Jun 12 17:29:21 WRT160NL user.notice kernel: scsi 3:0:0:0: CD-ROM            HUAWEI   Mass Storage     2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
Jun 12 17:29:21 WRT160NL user.debug kernel: usb-storage: device scan complete
Jun 12 17:29:21 WRT160NL user.notice kernel: scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access     HUAWEI   SD Storage       2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
Jun 12 17:29:21 WRT160NL user.notice kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk
Jun 12 17:29:21 WRT160NL user.debug kernel: usb-storage: device scan complete
 

Using it

To start using your new configuration:

root@WRT160NL:~# ifup ppp0
SIM ready
PIN set successfully

And now ping a host on Internet

root@WRT160NL:~# ping ftp.sunet.se
PING ftp.sunet.se (194.71.11.69): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 194.71.11.69: seq=0 ttl=55 time=119.351 ms
64 bytes from 194.71.11.69: seq=1 ttl=55 time=88.978 ms
64 bytes from 194.71.11.69: seq=2 ttl=55 time=88.751 ms
64 bytes from 194.71.11.69: seq=3 ttl=55 time=88.484 ms
64 bytes from 194.71.11.69: seq=4 ttl=55 time=128.257 ms
^C
--- ftp.sunet.se ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 88.484/102.764/128.257 ms
 

Stop your connection:

root@WRT160NL:~# ifdown ppp0

Useful links

• http://josefsson.org/openwrt/dongle.html The excellent guide that I used as a platform, read it!
• OpenWrt, Linuxbased firmware for routers

Background

After getting fedup with the bad fon support I decided to give a new wireless router a try. After browsing internet and openwrt forums I thought that a Linksys WRT160NL would fulfill my requirements:

The requrements are:

• N
• 3G USB dongle
• Cheap

Packing up

The installation from Linksys is crap, a CD comes with the product and if you want to configure it you need to install software from the CD. The only supported operating systems are windows or Mac, I run linux.

I skipped the CD and connected my Linux box with a ethernet cable to the router. I tried to connect to http://192.168.1.1 and got a login screen.

After some googling I found that the default login was blank and the password admin.

I managed to configure my new router after logging in. I do not now the purpose of the CD, real stupid.

Install OpenWRT

I read the instructions to get OpenWRT on my Linksys WRT160NL and tried the "OEM easy installation". According to the instruction openwrt-ar71xx-wrt160nl-squashfs.bin is the image to install. Unfortunatly I get an errormessage " Firmware Upgrade Failed!"

I upgraded the firmware to the latest Linksys firmware and after that tried the OpenWRT firmware with the same error message.

After some bad language and alot of googling I found a bug reported that the version I tried to install always gives that message when installed from the Linksys webgui.

So I tried the Beta version instead and finally I success message.

I telneted to 192.168.1.1 and run passwd to change my password.

ssh to 192.168.1.

run:

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg update

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg install kmod-ath9k

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg install  hostapd

And start configure.

Update BETA to stable version

It was a annoying feeling to run beta when a stable version existed.

I used the luci webgui to update the firmware to the stable version and it looked alright. I managed to log in both with ssh and webgui.

But when I tried to install a new package it gave me an error message that there was no free disk, sigh!

I installed the BETA version and it worked, tried RC3 and the same problem with no free disk.

After some bad language and a lot of fiddeling I updated to the stable with the checkbox "Keep configuration files" unchecked and this time it works flawless.

Follow the guidlines above to change root password, update the software package list, install wlansupport, WAP support  and start configure.

A succefull login below:

peter@peter-laptop:~$ ssh -l root 192.168.1.1
root@192.168.1.1's password:

BusyBox v1.15.3 (2010-04-06 03:14:11 CEST) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 Backfire (10.03, r20728) --------------------------
  * 1/3 shot Kahlua    In a shot glass, layer Kahlua
  * 1/3 shot Bailey's  on the bottom, then Bailey's,
  * 1/3 shot Vodka     then Vodka.
 ---------------------------------------------------

root@WRT160NL:~# uname -a
Linux WRT160NL 2.6.32.10 #20 Tue Apr 6 15:01:26 CEST 2010 mips GNU/Linux

I have registred me to attend the open Splunk event in Stockholm. Within 24 hours I got an email telling that they do not want competitors at the event and would like to discuss the purpose of me attending.

I called the Splunk representative and told him that op5 thinks Splunk is a competitor in some cases and in some cases we have products that run in parallel at customer sites. We want to integrate op5 Monitor with Splunk because we have got the question a couple of times from customers and potential customers. My intention of attending the meeting is to get a better understanding of Splunk so op5 can integrate our products, so our customers get the products that suits them best. If Splunk wants to be part of the integration, the better.

The Splunk representative still do not want me to attend. At Splunk they will discuss this matter internally but so far, this is their view.

I would really like to make a parallel with another op5 competitor, Würth, at their event they invited op5 as key speaker and I really recommend Splunk to reconsider their decision.

I wanted to unlock my operator locked Huawei e1750 modem. After googling I found this page in swedish.

The unlock code can be calculated by using the IMEI number, the unlock code is sent by using AT commands.

I have succesfully tested this on e1750 and e1550.

I also tried it on e220 and it did not work.

1. Get the IMEI number

Normally this is printed on the device put the geek way of getting it is by asking the device:

peter@peter-laptop:~/huawei$ cat /dev/ttyUSB0 &
[1] 9378
peter@peter-laptop:~/huawei$ echo -e "ATI\r" > /dev/ttyUSB0
peter@peter-laptop:~/huawei$ ATI
Manufacturer: huawei
Model: E1750
Revision: 11.126.07.04.00
IMEI: 123456789012347
+GCAP: +CGSM,+DS,+ES

OK

So the IMEI number is: 123456789012347

2. Calculate the unlock code

The following python script will calculate the unlock code:

import hashlib

def getCode(imei, salt):
    digest = hashlib.md5((imei+salt).lower()).digest()
    code = 0
    for i in range(0,4):
        code += (ord(digest[i])^ord(digest[4+i])^ord(digest[8+i])^ord(digest[12+i])) << (3-i)*8
        code &= 0x1ffffff
        code |= 0x2000000
    return code

# Your IMEI goes here:
imei = "123456789012347"

print "Unlock code: %s" % getCode(imei, "5e8dd316726b0335")
print "Flash code: %s" % getCode(imei, "97b7bc6be525ab44")

When run:

peter@peter-laptop:~/huawei$ python unlock_code.py
Unlock code: 36963763
Flash code: 53969249

3. Use the unlock code

peter@peter-laptop:~/huawei$ echo -e 'AT^CARDLOCK="36963763"\r' > /dev/ttyUSB0

OK

Congratulations, now your modem is unlocked

With my new and fancy HTC Desire I wanted to look at my Nagios or op5 Monitor status. I have found two apps Nagroid and NagMonDroid.

NagMonDroid did I not get working, probably because op5 Monitor only uses https as protocol.

Nagroid works like a charm:

The configuration is rather straightforward:

I wanted to use the Android SDK on my Ubuntu machine, mainly to grab screenshoots but also to play around with it.

I followed the guidelines at this guide, but it did not work. DDM just show garbage as the device and when trying to get a screenshoot it complained with:

54:42 W/ddms: Unable to get frame buffer: device (????????????)
request rejected: insufficient permissions for device

After some googling i figured out that I had to hack my udev rules.

I added to /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bb4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0c87", MODE="0666"
 

and run

reload udev

The idVendor and  idProduct was found by running lsusb:

# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 011: ID 0bb4:0c87 High Tech Computer Corp. 

Now when starting DDM:

And I can take screenshoots:

For the first time I felt that this is more than a phone, for the first time calender integration works, for the first time I can use the builtin GPS, for the first time accessing the web with a phone works, for the first time downloaded software really works.

My favorite apps so far is:

• Nagroid, to be able to view my op5 Monitor status
• FONMaps, find hotspots for LaFoneras
• Car Cast, listen and download podcasts
• MapDroid, to use preloaded OpenStreetmaps and GPS without using any bandwidth. Perfect when abroad because of the crazy price of data roaming outside Sweden.
• HTC Facebook, read and post on facebook
• FON Access, automatically connect to FON hotspots when traveling.
• GPS Logger, logg tracks in gpx format that almost any GPS software understand
• Sipdroid, to connect to my Asterisk PBX using 3G or WiFi

Of  cource the device is not perfect, I miss:

• The phone must be ‘rooted’ to be real useful, why? Open the phone so the community and others can develop apps that are real useful. Vendor lock-in always sucks.
• IPSec VPN so I can connect to my IPSec based OpenBSD firewall. The IPSec implementation in the phone sucks.
• OpenVPN, there exists OpenVPN apps but to use the the phone must be ‘rooted’
• Bluetooth modem, it is not possible to use the phone as a modem using bluetooth
• Screenshots, the phone must be rooted or using the SDK to take screenshoots. Why?

I really hope that Google and/or HTC understand and use the power of the community to make the Android even more succesfull by open it even more.

I bought a Fonera 2.0g WLAN router and I wanted to extend the functionality to have the possibility to add packages from OpenWRT. I also wanted the possibility to manage my new router with ssh.

The way to achive this is by installing developer firmware.

Installing

I followed the instructions at Fons beta/developer wiki.

The image I used can be found here.

Test

I try to connect by using ssh

peter@peter-laptop:~$ ssh -l root 192.168.10.1
root@192.168.10.1's password: 

BusyBox v1.11.1 (2009-04-17 12:45:57 CEST) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

                                        __
                                    _.-~  )
                         _..--~~~~,'   ,-/     _
                      .-'. . . .'   ,-','    ,' )
                    ,'. . . _   ,--~,-'__..-'  ,'
                  ,'. . .  (@)' ---~~~~      ,'
                 /. . . . '~~             ,-'
                /. . . . .             ,-'
               ; . . . .  - .        ,'
              : . . . .       _     /
             . . . . .          `-.:
            . . . ./  - .          )
           .  . . |  _____..---.._/ ____ Seal _
     ~---~~~~----~~~~             ~~                

                      Flipper                       

--------  Fonera 2.0 Firmware (v2.2.5.0) -----------
      * Based on OpenWrt - http://openwrt.org
      * Powered by FON - http://www.fon.com
----------------------------------------------------

When using a cool router software like OpenWRT it is a good idea to monitor the network usage. This article describe howto get SNMP on your OpenWRT based router.

1. Install

The easiest way is to use the webgui, http://<your router ip>

1. Log in as root/-<your password>
2. Click on Adminstrator to enable the Advnced menues
3. System->Software
4. Click on "Update Package List" (this require Internet access).
5. Install snmpd-static

2. Configure

Log in to the La Fonera using ssh:

peter@peter-laptop:~$ ssh -l root 192.168.0.159
root@192.168.0.159's password:

BusyBox v1.11.2 (2009-12-02 11:25:47 UTC) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 KAMIKAZE (8.09.2, r18961) -------------------------
  * 10 oz Vodka       Shake well with ice and strain
  * 10 oz Triple sec  mixture into 10 shot glasses.
  * 10 oz lime juice  Salute!
 ---------------------------------------------------
root@fon:~#

Start snmpd

root@fon:~# /etc/init.d/snmpd start

Make it start when rebooted:

root@fon:~# /etc/init.d/snmpd enable

If you want to change your SNMP configuration the configuration is located in:

/etc/config/snmpd

3. Monitor

Now you can get the SNMP data and use your favorite Monitor tool, i.e. Nagios or op5 Monitor.

Below a screenshoot from op5 Monitor:

Useful links

• OpenWRT, an OpenSource router software
• Net-SNMP, an SNMP implementation
• Nagios, an OpenSource Monitoring software
• op5 Monitor, an Enterprise Class Monitoring software based on Nagios

 Background

I got an unused La Fonera router by a collegue. They can be bought from http://www.fon.com for approximately 40 Euro including freight. The purpose of the Fon community is to build a community of hotspots around the world so every owner of a La Fonera could use any other La Fonera router in the world.

I am curios about the legal aspect if someone in the Fon community uses my internet connection to do something bad, like download copyrighted software, hack CIA or whatever.

The La Fonera router is real cool because:

• Looks good so it has a high wife acceptance factor
• Hackable, the firmware could be replaced with for example OpenWRT, DD-WRT, Jasager and others…
• Even more hackable, there are several guides and howtos to modify the La Fonera hardware.
• Cheap, in the good old days it was possible to get one for free.

Install OpenWRT

I followed this guide, the only exception was that I used the latest OpenWRT in "Phase C":

 # ./ap51-flash-1.0-42 eth0 openwrt-atheros-root.squashfs openwrt-atheros-vmlinux.lzma

The files can be downloaded from OpenWRTs download section for atheros platform.

Background

It is always a good idea to monitor the server hardware, in many cases the root cause of the probblem is hardware related like: a fan stops and the temperature gets to high, dust in the machine makes it to hot, disks that fails, memory corruption and so on.  This article will describe howto enable hardware monitoring on a HP Proliant running CentOS Linux and then howto collect the data with Nagios or op5 Monitor. The procedure is the same with RedHat Enterprise Linux and similiar with Suse Enterprise server.

The HP manuals and information is bloated with irrelevant information and I had to struggle several hours, ask collegues to get it running. I hope this blog article will help others to get monitoring of HP Proliant using HP Insight Manager easier to setup.

Installing the software on the target system

You need two packages from HP and can be downloaded from hp.com under "Support & Drivers". Search your hardware plattform and correct operating system:

• ProLiant Support Pack for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (i686)  The latest Proliant Support Package 2010-03-02 name is psp-8.25.rhel5.i686.en.tar.gz
• HP System Health Application and Insight Management Agents for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (x86). The latest name is hpasm-8.0.0-173.rhel5.i386.rpm

Install kernel source code and rpm tools:

# yum install kernel-devel rpm-build rpm-devel
 

Proliant Support Package is not supported on CentOS so you have to let the installer think it is a RedHat system. If you have a RHEL system skip the next steps.

# cp /etc/redhat-release /etc/redhat-release.backup

# echo "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.4 (Tikanga)">/etc/redhat-release

Untar the Proliant Support Package

 # tar xzvf psp-8.25.rhel5.i686.en.tar.gz

Install the Proliant Support Package

# cd compaq/csp/linux/

# ./install825.sh

alot of text appears and some questions, answer them.

Install HP System Health Application and Insight Management Agents, and for some stupid reason it is in conflict with some other packages just installed. I solved it in a dirty way:

# rpm -i --force  --replacefiles --nodeps hpasm-8.0.0-173.rhel5.i386.rpm

Configure by running:

# hpa/etc/init.d/hpasm configure

and answer the questions.

Do not forget to restore /etc/redhat-release

# cp /etc/redhat-release.backup /etc/redhat-release

I did modify my /etc/snmp/snmp.conf to:

dlmod cmaX /usr/lib/libcmaX.so
rocommunity public
trapsink 10.1.1.20
syscontact peter@it-slav.net
syslocation PDC, Peters DataCenter

To test that you have installation and configuration work, run a snmpwalk from your Nagios or op5 Monitor host:

# snmpwalk -c public -v1  <ip-adress of your proliant box> 1.3.6.1.4.1.232

SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.1.1.0 = INTEGER: 1
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.1.2.0 = INTEGER: 23
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.1.3.0 = INTEGER: 2
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.2.1.4.1.0 = INTEGER: 30
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.2.1.4.2.1.1.1 = INTEGER: 1
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.2.1.4.2.1.2.1 = STRING: "Compaq Standard Equipment Agent for Linux"
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.2.1.4.2.1.3.1 = ""
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.2.1.4.2.1.4.1 = Hex-STRING: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.232.1.2.1.4.2.1.5.1 = STRING: "To gather Standard Equipment data for Linux."

...
 

Install check_hpasm on the Nagios or op5 Monitor host

The check_hpasm can be downloaded from Console Labs.

Unpack the tarball

# tar xzvf check_hpasm-4.1.2.tar.gz

Configure and compile

# ./configure --prefix=/opt/plugins/custom/hp-insight --with-nagios-user=monitor --with-nagios-group=users --enable-perfdata

...

# make

...

# make install

Test

# /opt/plugins/custom/hp-insight/libexec/check_hpasm -H  -C public

OK - System: 'proliant dl360 g3', S/N: '7J31LMW6N01D', ROM: 'P31 01/28/2004', hardware working fine, da: 1 logical drives, 1 physical drives | fan_1=50% fan_2=50% temp_1_cpu=16;50;50 temp_2_cpu=15;65;65 temp_3_ioBoard=21;56;56 temp_4_cpu=20;65;65

Congratulations your plugin and hw monitoring works!

Configure Nagios or op5 Monitor
 

checkcommands.cfg

# command 'check_hpasm'
define command{
    command_name                   check_hpasm
    command_line                   $USER1$/custom/libexec/check_hpasm -H $HOSTADDRESS$ -C $ARG1$
    }

services.cfg

# service 'Insight Manager'
define service{
    use                            default-service
    host_name                      humpa
    service_description            Insight Manager
    check_command                  check_hpasm!public
    contact_groups                 call_it-slav,it-slav_jabber,it-slav_mail
    }

Screenshoot, using ninja

 Useful links

• op5, a systems and network management company
• op5 Monitor, an enterpise monitor system based on Nagios
• Ninja, Nagios is now just awesome
• Nagios, enterprise monitoring based on opensource
• Hp support & drivers, a place to start looking for the HP software used in this article

• op5 Monitor Beta, virtual image in ovf format
• Try op5 Monitor Beta

The op5 Monitor Beta use Ninja as GUI and Merlin as a databasebackend.

• Hard to manage without iTunes
• iTunes is crap
• Cannot play ogg and flac
• I just want to attach it and it should popup like a USB disk, drop the files into it, detach and play the songs.

I got a hint from a friend that I should try RockBox, so I download it and used the very simple installer on linux and it works perfectly well. All the drawbacks mentioned above are solved and  as a bonus the gui is much better.

Now I can:

• Play ogg
• Play flac
• Customize the GUI
• Change myriads of settings
• Throw away mysterious sync software like iTunes and others.
• Attach it as a USB disk, drop my media files into it, detach and play them

If you are lucky and owns a Rockbox supported media player, update it. You will not regret it.

I have read the book Asterisk now by Nir Simionovich, published in March 2008. The book was a big disappointment, the reason is that the book do not cover the software used in AsteriskNOW today. The book cover the Asterisk GUI but AsteriskNOW is using FreePBX instead which is totally different. One main reason to use AsteriskNow is to avoid the sometimes cumbersome task to install Linux or a similair operating system, download, compile and configure Asterisk using cryptic text files. So an accurate description of the GUI used is essential for a book like this and unfortunatly the book is to old. I do not intend to install an old version of AsteriskNOW just for a bookreview so I cannot tell how accurate the book is. So my recommendation is to wait for an updated version of AsteriskNow book.

Links

• A sample chapter Chapter-7-For-Annoyance-Press-1-Voice-Menus-and-IVR
• Link to the book AsteriskNow

–cut–

• Implementation of the missing Nagios cgi’s. (showlog, history,trends, notifications etc)
• Include Avail/SLA reports in Ninja  (Avail reports are an improved version of the Nagios avail reports and SLA is a new report type)
• Lots of bugfixes

–cut–

Links

• Ninja, Nagios Is Now Just Awesome
• Merlin, Module for Endless Redundacy and Loadbalancing In Nagios
• op5, a company with enterprise network- and systems management based on OpenSource.

Background

I was with my geekfriends at a ski resort and I managed to get an Internet connection using a cellphone. Of course I wanted to share it with my friends. As geeks we brought a switch and a couple of ethernetcables.

Solution

Using this script on a Ubuntu 9.10 I managed to share my connection:

sudo ifconfig eth0 10.8.16.1
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.default.forwarding=1
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.forwarding=1
sudo iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT
sudo iptables --table nat -A POSTROUTING -o ppp0 -j MASQUERADE

Conmnect everymachine with the switch and the clients just needed to use a 10.0.0.0/8 network adress and add 10.8.16.1 as default gateway and it works!

Background

At op5 we often run into BizTalk at customer sites as a business critical application. We have done an investigation and come up with a plugin  to monitor BizTalk.

To fully understand this document BizTalk knowledge is necessary.

Solution

op5 has developed a plugin that can monitor the following at a BizTalk server:

• Recieve locations – Verify that they are enabled.
• Send Ports – Verify that they are in Started state
• Group Overview – Catch messages in the message queue that are in state Suspended. The different type of messages are:
  • Dehydrated
  • Suspended
  • Queue

The plugin license is GPLv3 so it is free for any one to use and enhance.

Links

• check_biztalk the plugin that monitors BizTalk
• op5 Monitor Monitor solution based on Nagios
• Nagios free enterprise monitor software

Pre req

• a GPS reciever
• gpsd
• gpsd-client

In my setup I have the GPS reciever attached to my laptop which I travel around with. On my webserver I have gpsd-client and a script that generates the webpage. I use a VPN connection to allow my webserver to communicate with the laptop gpsdaemon. On the roads I use 3G attached cellphone and when I have an internet connection via cable or wifi I use that.

The script

#!/bin/sh
GPSPIPE=/usr/bin/gpspipe
OUTFILE=/home/peter/public_html/my_position.html
#GPSDIP=10.8.0.10
GPSDIP=192.168.0.153
while true
do
        GPSDATA=`$GPSPIPE -w -n 10 $GPSDIP |grep O=`
        if [ "$?" ]
        then
                LON=`echo $GPSDATA| awk '{ print $5 }'`
                LAT=`echo $GPSDATA| awk '{ print $4 }'`
        	echo "LON=$LON LAT=$LAT"
		cat > $OUTFILE <<EOF
<html>
<head>
        <title>Last know It-slav location</title>
        <!-- bring in the OpenLayers javascript library
                 (here we bring it from the remote site, but you could
                 easily serve up this javascript yourself) -->
        <script src="http://www.openlayers.org/api/OpenLayers.js"></script>
        <!-- bring in the OpenStreetMap OpenLayers layers.
                 Using this hosted file will make sure we are kept up
                 to date with any necessary changes -->
        <script src="http://www.openstreetmap.org/openlayers/OpenStreetMap.js"></script>

        <script type="text/javascript">
                // Start position for the map (hardcoded here for simplicity,
                // but maybe you want to get from URL params)
EOF
echo "var lat=$LAT" >>$OUTFILE
echo "var lon=$LON" >>$OUTFILE
cat >> $OUTFILE <<EOF
                var zoom=13

                var map; //complex object of type OpenLayers.Map

                function init() {
                        map = new OpenLayers.Map ("map", {
                                controls:[
                                        new OpenLayers.Control.Navigation(),
                                        new OpenLayers.Control.PanZoomBar(),
                                        new OpenLayers.Control.LayerSwitcher(),
                                        new OpenLayers.Control.Attribution()],
                                maxExtent: new OpenLayers.Bounds(-20037508.34,-20037508.34,20037508.34,20037508.34),
                                maxResolution: 156543.0399,
                                numZoomLevels: 19,
                                units: 'm',
                                projection: new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:900913"),
                                displayProjection: new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:4326")
                        } );

                        // Define the map layer
                        // Note that we use a predefined layer that will be
                        // kept up to date with URL changes
                        // Here we define just one layer, but providing a choice
                        // of several layers is also quite simple
                        // Other defined layers are OpenLayers.Layer.OSM.Mapnik, OpenLayers.Layer.OSM.Maplint and OpenLayers.Layer.OSM.CycleMap
                        layerMapnik = new OpenLayers.Layer.OSM.Mapnik("Mapnik");
                        map.addLayer(layerMapnik);
                        layerTilesAtHome = new OpenLayers.Layer.OSM.Osmarender("Osmarender");
                        map.addLayer(layerTilesAtHome);
                        layerCycleMap = new OpenLayers.Layer.OSM.CycleMap("CycleMap");
                        map.addLayer(layerCycleMap);
                        layerMarkers = new OpenLayers.Layer.Markers("Markers");
                        map.addLayer(layerMarkers);

                        // Add the Layer with GPX Track
                        //var lgpx = new OpenLayers.Layer.GML("MB Bruderholz", "mb_bruderholz.GPX", {
                        //    format: OpenLayers.Format.GPX,
                        //    style: {strokeColor: "green", strokeWidth: 5, strokeOpacity: 0.5},
                        //    projection: new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:4326")
                        //});
                        //map.addLayer(lgpx);
                        var lonLat = new OpenLayers.LonLat(lon, lat).transform(new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:4326"), map.getProjectionObject());
                        map.setCenter (lonLat, zoom);

                        var size = new OpenLayers.Size(21,25);
                        var offset = new OpenLayers.Pixel(-(size.w/2), -size.h);
                        var icon = new OpenLayers.Icon('http://www.openstreetmap.org/openlayers/img/marker.png',size,offset);
                        layerMarkers.addMarker(new OpenLayers.Marker(lonLat,icon));
                }
        </script>

</head>
<!-- body.onload is called once the page is loaded (call the 'init' function) -->
<body onload="init();">
        <!-- define a DIV into which the map will appear. Make it take up the whole window -->
        <div style="width:90%; height:90%" id="map"></div>
</body>
</html>
EOF
	else
		echo "No GPS data"
	fi
	sleep 10
done

Gpsdaemon

To enable the gpsdameon to allow another host to attach to it start it with -g i.e.

sudo gpsd -N -n -D 3 -G /dev/rfcomm1

The result

The result can be found here or a screenshot below:

Links

• gpsd
• how to attach the bluetooth GPS reciever
• OpenStreetMaps

In situations like this I recommend a USB SATA/PATA interface i.e. Plexgear at Kjell&Company, the adapter looks like it is OEM:ed so there probably several with different brands.

Features:

• USB-SATA
• USB-PATA 2.5"
• USB-PATA 3.5"
• Power Supply for normal devices and SATA devices

The only thing I miss is that it does not contain a SCSI interface aswell

I have used it to backup files on a LVM disk, transfer files from old disk to a new when upgrading, reinitialize a disk that refused to install Windows 7, attach a DVD-Rom to a blade server and so on.

In my opinion every geek and sysadmin should have one.

Now I have upgraded my PSP to firmware 5.50 GEN-D and finally I can drop movies into the /VIDEO folder and look at them in full resolution. So finally I can look at mythtv recordings on my way to the work or my kids can look at movies in the back of the car when we are travelling. Now it time to buy a second PSP.

Converting movies into a PSP accepted format is rather painful. I have not find any good solution running on linux. I have fiddled several hours with handbrake, avidemux, commandline driven ffmepg and PSPVC. The only program that makes the converting somewhat painless, just time consuming, is PSPVC on windows. The main problem on linux seems to be that ffmpeg is broken and need to be recompiled.

My recommendation to Sony is to open up their excellent solutions. Right of my mind I know four failures Sony have made because of their vendor look in strategy:

• Betamax video format, technically much better then VHS but closed. Betamax died and crappy VHS conquered the world.
• MiniDisc, an excellent technology which Sony refused to open up until it was to late. If they would have opened it would replaced floppys and killed Compact Cassets much earlier. Probably portable MP3 players would be postponed a year or two.
• PSP, if Sony would have opened it with SDKs and open APIs Apples POD products would not exist or be a margin product.
• PS3, with a open hardware platform so a real Linux solution could run, not the hybrid they have now, Sony would own the HTPC market. With the power of the PS3 and possibility to install for example mythtv, XBMC and other media solutions they would sell alot more PS3 and when the PS3 is there, several games would be sold aswell. 

So Sony if you want to get richer, open up!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

I have finished reading the great book "FreePBX 2.5 Powerful Telephony Solutions", by Alex Robar and it is 277 pages.

The intended target audience for this book are system administrators who want to get started with Asterisk and FreePBX.  It is perfect for administrators who want to reduce costs by replacing a proprietary PBX with a PBX that runs on open source packages. The pre required knowledge is basic knowledge of Linux and telephony, though neither is strictly required.

I find the targeted audience and the pre required knowledge correct, however I think the Linux knowledge is an absolute demand or at least have someone to ask. A basic knowledge of Telephony is also more or less required.

The book cover installation on CentOS and Ubuntu Server, configuration, adding handset, trunk setup, call routing, voicemail, digital receptionist, music-on-hold, call recording, maintenance, backups and much more.

I find the book very valuable and I really like the concept of FreePBX. When starting with Asterisk the myriads of parameters are overwhelming. FreePBX makes the approach to Asterisk easier and makes the startup much faster then go to the Asterisk config via textfiles. FreePBX comes with many modules that should be enough for most demands and if needed it is still possible to use configuration using config files.

The book describes the most important modules in FreePBX in a structured and pedagogic way with many screenshoots and figures. I really likes the examples in the end of the book with trunk configuration to some big SIP providers. Even if none of them is valid in Sweden it gives you an idea what parameters to start with when configure trunks.

When it comes to trouble shooting I think the book should have contained a chapter about that. In many cases the way of trouble shoot is to use the Asterisk CLI, read logs and in some cases use a network analyser like WireShark. I think the book should have contained an introduction to trouble shooting and the different tools available.

Some of the script examples contain some typos but with basic scripting knowledge it is easy to fix.

I reccomend this book for anyone interested in FreePBX, FreePBX admins and Asterisk newbies. This book makes the start with FreePBX much faster compared to  trying to collect the information from the web and other sources. The FreePBX website is a great as a reference, however this book makes it easy and fast to get started with FreePBX and Asterisk.

Links:

• More info about  the book "FreePBX 2.5 Powerful Telephony Solutions"
• Example chapter 8 Recording calls
• FreePBX homepage
• Asterisk homepage

I was reading the Swedish computer magazine, Tech World. There was an article about an appliance solution that could give a report about unused switch ports. The box PortIQ from Infoblox costs approximatly 10.000 Euro.

op5 has developed this feature at a customer site and is included with op5 Monitor, op5 has published the code as opensource.

This guide will describe howto get it running in op5 Monitor. op5 Monitor is vanilla Nagios with some addons so it should be no problem to follow this guide in a Nagios environment

Installation

1. Update your op5 Monitor or download the plugin and report script.

2. Create metadata for check_portstatus as $USER1$/check_portstatus -H $HOSTADDRESS$

in checkcommands.cfg:

# command 'check_portstatus'
define command{
    command_name                   check_portstatus
    command_line                   $USER1$/check_portstatus -H $HOSTADDRESS$
    }
 

3. mkdir /var/spool/check_portstatus

4. chown monitor:apache /var/spool/check_portstatus

5. cp /opt/monitor/op5/portstatus/portstatus.php /var/www/html/portstatus.php

6. Define your service i.e. services.cfg:

# service 'Portstatus'
define service{
    use                            default-service
    host_name                      gw
    service_description            Portstatus
    check_command                  check_portstatus
    }
 

The result

The screenshot below shows a Cisco switch with alot of unused ports.

Conclusions

This article shows how easy it is to modify Nagios and other opensource tools to give you what you want. Do not hesitate to contact me or op5 to help you enhance you Nagios or op5 installation.

Links

• op5
• op5 Monitor
• Nagios
• PortIQ appliance box from Infoblox
• Tech world