Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    OLSR mesh GUI $400 {awarded}

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Completed Bounties
    95 Posts 7 Posters 75.7k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • P
      pcatiprodotnet
      last edited by

      " Its starting just fine here. "
      I need to discover what setting I changed to cause that then.  Perhaps it was assigning Wan to ethernet interface and Lan to wifi interface.  I'll do some investigating.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • S
        sullrich
        last edited by

        Try starting olsrd from the console.

        I believe the command is olsrd -f /var/etc/olsrd.conf  (but I cannot check at the moment)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • P
          pcatiprodotnet
          last edited by

          I think I discovered the when/why issue #14 occurs:  When the IP/netmask of an interface is improperly set to conflict/overlap with the IP/netmask of another interface, and "Enable Dynamic Gateway" is checked, olsr won't start.
          I'm still having problems with issue#10, though.
          I look forward to pfSense getting RIP; setting up routes for the non-olsr systems is quite burdensome.
          Thanks, -Pete

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • P
            pcatiprodotnet
            last edited by

            To solve issue #10:
            Add a check box for "Announce self as Dynamic Gateway" underneath "Enable Dynamic Gateway".
            The following line found in olsr.conf should only exist if "Announce self as Dynamic Gateway" is checked:
                0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
            Thank you, -Pete

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • J
              jeroen234
              last edited by

              @pcatiprodotnet:

              I
              I look forward to pfSense getting RIP; setting up routes for the non-olsr systems is quite burdensome.
              Thanks, -Pete

              a route for a non olsrd system you setup with the hna config
              adding
              10.0.1.0 255.255.255.0
              adds a route to 10.0.1.0/24 tru the olsrd server
              10.0.1.1 255.255.255.255 adds a olsrd route to pc 10.0.1.1 tru the olsrd server
              this you have to do only on the server that nows the route to the non olsrd network or pc
              and the olsrd server will let the other olsrd servers now tru hna that tose pc's /networks can be found tru him

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • P
                pcatiprodotnet
                last edited by

                A very handy tip, jeroen234!
                Unfortunately, in pfSense imbedded, edits to /var/etc/olsr.conf are Not persisting after reboot.  After editing, I deleted /tmp/config.cache but it didn't help.  Is there any way to get around this?  Or, could a field such as "Announce Dynamic local routes: [IP/Netmask]" be added to the GUI so I don't have to edit the file?  This would be added directly below where the "0.0.0.0  0.0.0.0" entry in olsr.conf.
                Thanks, -Pete

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • P
                  pcatiprodotnet
                  last edited by

                  Summary Post:
                  Our tests of OLSR in pfSense are going well, and it appears to be solid.  I can go ahead and Award the second half of the Bounty if we can resolve these remaining issues (mostly mundane revisions to gui/config):

                  10. This fixes issue#10:
                  Add a check box for "Announce [self as] Dynamic Gateway" underneath "Enable [reception of] Dynamic Gateway" in the OLSR config.
                  The following line found in olsr.conf should only exist if "Announce [self as] Dynamic Gateway" is checked:
                      0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0

                  15. In the OLSR GUI, I recommend making Link Quality Level "2" the default.

                  16. Please add a field such as "Announce Dynamic local route: [enter IP / Netmask]" in the OLSR GUI (these values should be inserted into olsr.conf directly below the "0.0.0.0  0.0.0.0" entry).  Thanks jeroen234!

                  17. Please allow in the DHCP GUI, a manually entered Netmask, when OLSR is enabled on that interface.
                  (the purpose of this is to force a node's non-olsr ad-hoc wifi clients to route through the current node as a gateway onto olsr, so it may communicate with nodes that are otherwise out-of-range for non-olsr wifi clients when they use the netmask of the interface).

                  18. Please advise us on how to manually edit/tweak the olsr.conf config, so that changes remain after reboot on imbedded version.  At some point in the future we may want to alter values, such as: Willingness and Weight.  If this isn't possible, please add more detail fields to the gui.

                  19. I'm not quite sure how other olsr implimentations do this but… when a "Ping" host is specified in the OLSR GUI, only when ping fails should "Enable [reception of] Dynamic Gateway" be overwriting the default route, and when the ping succeeds, the default route should be set to the specified "Ping" host (or pfSense default route, aka Gateway, specified in the WAN GUI?).  Also, at times when there are no Dynamic Gateways being received from the OLSR mesh, instead of deleting the default route in the route table thus leaving no default route, it should set it back to the default route, aka Gateway, specified in the pfSense WAN GUI (or the "Ping" host?).  Please advise if this is impossible or if you have no control over any of this.

                  Thank you,

                  • Internet Professionals, LLC
                  • Pete
                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • P
                    pcatiprodotnet
                    last edited by

                    We'll up the total bounty payout to $400 if the issues directly above can be resolved within a week, and made available in an imbedded snapshot/beta shortly thereafter.
                    Thank you,

                    • Internet Professionals, LLC
                    • Pete
                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • S
                      sullrich
                      last edited by

                      @pcatiprodotnet:

                      10. This fixes issue#10:
                      Add a check box for "Announce [self as] Dynamic Gateway" underneath "Enable [reception of] Dynamic Gateway" in the OLSR config.
                      The following line found in olsr.conf should only exist if "Announce [self as] Dynamic Gateway" is checked:
                          0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0

                      Done.

                      @pcatiprodotnet:

                      15. In the OLSR GUI, I recommend making Link Quality Level "2" the default.

                      Done.

                      @pcatiprodotnet:

                      16. Please add a field such as "Announce Dynamic local route: [enter IP / Netmask]" in the OLSR GUI (these values should be inserted into olsr.conf directly below the "0.0.0.0  0.0.0.0" entry).  Thanks jeroen234!

                      Done.

                      @pcatiprodotnet:

                      17. Please allow in the DHCP GUI, a manually entered Netmask, when OLSR is enabled on that interface.
                      (the purpose of this is to force a node's non-olsr ad-hoc wifi clients to route through the current node as a gateway onto olsr, so it may communicate with nodes that are otherwise out-of-range for non-olsr wifi clients when they use the netmask of the interface).

                      Done.

                      @pcatiprodotnet:

                      18. Please advise us on how to manually edit/tweak the olsr.conf config, so that changes remain after reboot on imbedded version.  At some point in the future we may want to alter values, such as: Willingness and Weight.  If this isn't possible, please add more detail fields to the gui.

                      This is not so easy, its auto generated on each bootup.

                      @pcatiprodotnet:

                      19. I'm not quite sure how other olsr implimentations do this but… when a "Ping" host is specified in the OLSR GUI, only when ping fails should "Enable [reception of] Dynamic Gateway" be overwriting the default route, and when the ping succeeds, the default route should be set to the specified "Ping" host (or pfSense default route, aka Gateway, specified in the WAN GUI?).  Also, at times when there are no Dynamic Gateways being received from the OLSR mesh, instead of deleting the default route in the route table thus leaving no default route, it should set it back to the default route, aka Gateway, specified in the pfSense WAN GUI (or the "Ping" host?).  Please advise if this is impossible or if you have no control over any of this.

                      This is out of our control.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • S
                        sullrich
                        last edited by

                        @pcatiprodotnet:

                        We'll up the total bounty payout to $400 if the issues directly above can be resolved within a week, and made available in an imbedded snapshot/beta shortly thereafter.
                        Thank you,

                        • Internet Professionals, LLC
                        • Pete

                        I'll have an update for you shortly.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • P
                          pcatiprodotnet
                          last edited by

                          My, that was fast!  Thank you Scott!

                          " This is not so easy, its auto generated on each bootup. "
                          I see, could anything at all be accomplished by adding xml hooks in /cf/conf/config.xml ?
                          If not, I think we can live with simply having "Weight" added to the olsr gui (though, this could be a little complicated for the gui because a distinct weight should be specified for each interface that olsr is enabled on).
                          Will test the next imbedded snapshot/beta as soon as I see it, and paypal the bounty.

                          Thanks, -Pete

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S
                            sullrich
                            last edited by

                            I would copy the file /var/etc/olsrd.conf to /root and then add a script to /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ to copy the file back on bootup.

                            Something like this:

                            #!/bin/sh

                            cp /root/olsrd.conf /var/etc/
                            killall olsrd
                            olsrd -f /var/etc/olsrd.conf

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • P
                              pcatiprodotnet
                              last edited by

                              If it allows me to edit olsr.conf without causing any problems for you, me or other users using the olsr gui… seems good to me.  I don't know if I realize all the effects that code will have.  Will we be able to edit the file then make changes in the olsr gui without undoing our manual edits?

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • S
                                sullrich
                                last edited by

                                @pcatiprodotnet:

                                If it allows me to edit olsr.conf without causing any problems for you, me or other users using the olsr gui… seems good to me.  I don't know if I realize all the effects that code will have.  Will we be able to edit the file then make changes in the olsr gui without undoing our manual edits?

                                You can simply copy /var/etc/olsrd.conf /root/ after making changes to pfSense, then edit the file in /root/ to add or change those settings.

                                I am uploading a test embedded image to: http://www.pfsense.com/~sullrich/0/pfSense-pc.img.gz

                                It will be uploaded 10 minutes from the posting of this message.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • P
                                  pcatiprodotnet
                                  last edited by

                                  17.  Setting the DHCP Netmask caused DHCP not to start.  After selecting a Netmask and clicking [Save], the next page showed two Netmask fields:

                                  On the GUI…

                                  Subnet  10.128.0.0
                                  Subnet mask 255.248.0.0
                                  Available range 10.128.0.0 - 10.135.255.255
                                  Subnet Mask [24]
                                  Range  [10.130.1.10]  to  [10.130.1.254]

                                  From the logs…

                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: /var/dhcpd/etc/dhcpd.conf line 9: too few numbers.
                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: /var/dhcpd/etc/dhcpd.conf line 9: too few numbers.
                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: subnet 10.128.0.0 netmask 24 {
                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: subnet 10.128.0.0 netmask 24 {
                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: ^
                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: ^
                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: Configuration file errors encountered -- exiting
                                  May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: Configuration file errors encountered -- exiting

                                  16.  I tried setting "Announce Dynamic Local Route" to both "10.130.1.0 255.255.255.0" and "10.130.1.0/255.255.255.0", but OLSR failed to start with either setting.  I tried looking in /var/etc/olsr.conf but I didn't see the values anywhere.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • S
                                    sullrich
                                    last edited by

                                    @pcatiprodotnet:

                                    17.  Setting the DHCP Netmask caused DHCP not to start.  After selecting a Netmask and clicking [Save], the next page showed two Netmask fields:

                                    On the GUI…

                                    Subnet  10.128.0.0
                                    Subnet mask 255.248.0.0
                                    Available range 10.128.0.0 - 10.135.255.255
                                    Subnet Mask [24]
                                    Range  [10.130.1.10]  to  [10.130.1.254]

                                    From the logs…

                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: /var/dhcpd/etc/dhcpd.conf line 9: too few numbers.
                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: /var/dhcpd/etc/dhcpd.conf line 9: too few numbers.
                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: subnet 10.128.0.0 netmask 24 {
                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: subnet 10.128.0.0 netmask 24 {
                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: ^
                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: ^
                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: Configuration file errors encountered -- exiting
                                    May 17 06:16:13 dhcpd: Configuration file errors encountered -- exiting

                                    Ok, that should be fixed.

                                    @pcatiprodotnet:

                                    16.  I tried setting "Announce Dynamic Local Route" to both "10.130.1.0 255.255.255.0" and "10.130.1.0/255.255.255.0", but OLSR failed to start with either setting.  I tried looking in /var/etc/olsr.conf but I didn't see the values anywhere.

                                    Are you sure?  It should be in there if it suddenly doesn't start.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • P
                                      pcatiprodotnet
                                      last edited by

                                      Very sure.  I've tried it and looked in /var/etc/olsr.conf more than five times now just to be sure.  I tried these combinations "10.130.1.0/255.255.255.0", "10.130.1.0 255.255.255.0", "10.130.1.0 / 255.255.255.0", "10.130.1.0/24" many times each with no start.  One odd thing, I tried setting it to just "10.130.1.0" and also "10.130.1.0 / 24" and the service started, however there is still no sign of "10.130.1.0" in /var/etc/olsr.conf … perhaps this file isn't getting updated?  As a side note, I did notice that the "Announce [self as] Dynamic Gateway" (from issue#10) is properly adding and removing the "0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0" entry from olsr.conf. (other than sometimes leaving Hna4 {} empty, see post below)

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • P
                                        pcatiprodotnet
                                        last edited by

                                        olsr doesn't start when "Announce self as Dynamic Gateway" is Unchecked; perhaps it doesn't like the empty Hna4 { } section as below, so I guess this Hna4{ } section should be absent from the config (or auto-commented out) when ( "Announce [self as] Dynamic Gateway" unchecked AND "Announce Dynamic Local Route" is empty ):
                                        Hna4
                                        {

                                        }

                                        It may be more consistant with other forms to change this entry field to two fields with drop-down on the second like:
                                        "Announce Dynamic Local Route IP: [10.130.1.0] / [24]"
                                        Thank you,
                                        -Pete

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • S
                                          sullrich
                                          last edited by

                                          @pcatiprodotnet:

                                          olsr doesn't start when "Announce self as Dynamic Gateway" is Unchecked; perhaps it doesn't like the empty Hna4 { } section as below, so I guess this Hna4{ } section should be absent from the config (or auto-commented out) when ( "Announce [self as] Dynamic Gateway" unchecked AND "Announce Dynamic Local Route" is empty ):
                                          Hna4
                                          {

                                          }

                                          Done.

                                          @pcatiprodotnet:

                                          It may be more consistant with other forms to change this entry field to two fields with drop-down on the second like:
                                          "Announce Dynamic Local Route IP: [10.130.1.0] / [24]"
                                          Thank you,
                                          -Pete

                                          Hrm.  I'll look into it.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • P
                                            pcatiprodotnet
                                            last edited by

                                            17.  DHCP is Not functioning when I choose smaller subnet mask in the drop-down box; Right now, it only works when I chose a large enough subnet to encompass both the interface subnet AND my chosen dhcp range:

                                            My Interface IP address & netmask:  10.130.1.1 / 13

                                            DHCP GUI:

                                            Subnet  10.128.0.0
                                            Subnet mask 255.248.0.0
                                            Available range 10.128.0.0 - 10.135.255.255
                                            Subnet Mask [24]  <–  I entered this.
                                            Range [10.130.1.10]  to  [10.130.1.254]  <–  I entered these.

                                            I tried to change the subnet mask drop down box to "24" but it failed to serve dhcp and I got the following error lines in the system log {below}.  10.130.1/24 is within the "Available Range" of 10.128/13 (10.128.0.0 - 10.135.255.255), but the logs indicate that DHCP server's validation routine thinks it's available address range to serve should be limited to 10.128/24 when the Netmask is set to [24] … It appears that the DHCP server's validation checking is incorrectly applying the custom Netmask (/24) to the "Available Range" (10.128) instead of correctly validating against either the entered "Range" (10.130) OR interface IP/netmask.

                                            System Logs...

                                            May 18 06:44:15 dhcpd: Address range 10.130.1.10 to 10.130.1.254 not on net 10.128.0.0/255.255.255.0!
                                            May 18 06:44:15 dhcpd: Address range 10.130.1.10 to 10.130.1.254 not on net 10.128.0.0/255.255.255.0!

                                            Since I want to set up each olsr node to serve different class-c (/24) range within the common interface range of 10.128/13, I can't be limited to only the first class-c 10.128.0.0/255.255.255.0 within the 10.128/13 range.  I've never configured a DHCP server so I'm unsure what setting changes to suggest; perhaps "Subnet" field could be made changable from the default of "10.128.0.0" to either the first "Range" value "10.130.1.10" OR the interface IP/netmask OR allow me to manually enter it?  If you run out of ideas, I wonder if there is there a way to simply tell the dhcp server Not to do it's Netmask validation checking, and just push my desired settings out "as is" to the dhcp client.

                                            update:  In another forum discussion, it was determined that it may not be possible to change the first two dhcp values "Subnet: 10.128.0.0" & "Subnet mask: 255.248.0.0" (which are also the actual interface subnet & subnet mask) in dhcp.conf, not even to subset values such as: "10.130.1.0/255.255.255.0".  If you verify this as true, perhaps I could get around this problem by turning on pfSense DHCP Forwarding and serving the DHCP from another more flexible system; and also if true, could you verify that pfSense gui permits me to enable dhcp forwarding to the WAN interface?  Thanks, -Pete

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.