How to edit, modify, override broadcast ip ??

sash99 · Mar 26, 2010, 1:02 AM

hi there I not too familiar with pfsence or freebsd for that matter so I am little stuck

i think I figured out most..

from my linux box router this is my routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
XX.xx.XX.64 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.252 U 0 0 0 eth0
xx.xx.XX.80 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.240 U 0 0 0 eth1
172.16.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth1
1.1.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth2
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
0.0.0.0 204.112.96.65 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

virtual lan on eth1
ip XX.XX.XX.81
subnet 255.255.255.240
broadcast xx.xx.xx.95

and lan eth0 – (wan)
ip xx.xx.XX.66
subnet mask 255.255.255.252
broadcast xx.xx.xx.255

in that is where my problem lies the broadcast for 255.255.255.252 is xx.xx.XX.67 but this broadcast is for the (ISP provided ip ) xx.xx.xx.80 -94 behind the router and for the router itself it need the broadcast of xx.xx.xx.255.. this is how the linux router being setup and working for years like this so I would assume pfsence would need to be set the same ..

from pfsense routing table it matches the linux box.. I created matching wan, lan and vlan ( parent = lan device) and used the same ip and subnets as were in my original linux router box

IPv4
Destination Gateway Flags Refs Use Mtu Netif Expire
default xx.xx.xx.65 UGS 0 1427 1500 vr0
127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 UH 0 0 16384 lo0
172.16.0.0/24 link#1 UC 0 0 1500 xl0
172.16.0.73 6c:f0:49:42:64:2b UHLW 1 374 1500 xl0 1174
xx.xx.xx.64/30 link#2 UC 0 0 1500 vr0
xx.xx.xx.65 link#2 UHLW 1 68 1500 vr0
xx.xx.xx.66 00:0d:87:04:07:25 UHLW 1 51 16384 lo0
xx.xx.xx.80/28 link#7 UC 0 0 1500 vlan0

the only difference is the broadcast for the router IP( xx.xx.xx.66) which is xx.xx.xx.67 but for the ISP side it needs to be xx.xx.xx.255 while at the same time maintaining the subnet of 255.255.255.252 for the pass through

any help on how to override the broadcast IP for this subnet

thank you for your time

sash

sash99 · Mar 26, 2010, 3:41 PM

humm okay no one knows how to ???
I did some searching on openbsd network commands.. and what they list how to do it does not work in pfsense..

first use ifconfig to get the device info.. which works fine

then use cat and enter it this way to view configuration hostname.(device name) mine is vr0
normally it should output this:
cat /etc/hostname.fxp0
inet 10.0.0.38 255.255.255.0 NONE

then just edit this file with vi and change the none to my broadcast addresses

but now the problem is does not work.. pfsense is constructed differently then openbsd

cat /etc/hostname.vr0 ( but this does not work say file is does not exist)

any one have a suggestion ???? or am I missing something simple..
thank you for your time

okay i checked in freebsd and it somewhat similar but still does not work

in this case it refers me to look a /etc/ rc.conf and modify it there.. the broadcast ip.. but again it does not exist.. where is this network interface file in pfsense ???

sash99 · Mar 28, 2010, 1:33 AM

okay.. so I loaded freebsd with a desktop and mounted your pfsense volume. so I could make sense of your structure.. I see how it works now. via an config.xml so it should be fairly easy to insert the broadcast option into the webpages or atleast into the config.xml to pass it on to the network boot process… now I am searching through your phps and inc files i can not find how you are parsing the xml to boot up process.. I think i might have Idea but a little pointing in the right direction would be easier then me mucking about until I find it..

atleast I hope someone can atleast point me in that direction. so that it might be easier to enter a broadcast variable or something like that.. ???

so if someone know how the config.xml parsed as in written description that would be great :) . as in such and such /etc/rc.xxx.ph reads the the config.xml for such and such line or heading.. or config.inc reads such and such from config.xml and passes it onto such and such to be processed to boot.. I really only worried about the lan or wan process of the config.xml..

sash99 · Mar 28, 2010, 4:06 AM

okay now I search through the phps and inc and I think I know what to to but I am a bit stuck why it will not work

first off , if I do this from shell it configures the card correctly
ifconfig dc0 172.16.3.80/28 broadcast 173.16.3.255

now to try to edit the config script to do it automatically at boot is where I am having the problem. I narrowed it down to, two files /cf/conf/config.xml and /etc/inc/interfaces.inc

I edited config.xml```

 <interfaces><lan><if>dc0</if>
		<ipaddr>172.16.3.80</ipaddr>
		<subnet>28</subnet>
		<broadip>172.16.3.255</broadip>
		 <media><mediaopt><bandwidth>100</bandwidth>
		<bandwidthtype>Mb</bandwidthtype></mediaopt></media></lan></interfaces>


then edited line 157 in /etc/inc/interfaces.inc ( it seems to be the only place that looks like this may work that I found..
to this..

mwexec("/sbin/ifconfig " . escapeshellarg($lancfg['if']) . " " .
	escapeshellarg($lancfg['ipaddr'] . "/" . $lancfg['subnet']." "."broadcast"." ".$lancfg['broadip']));


but unfortunately it did not work  it probably the wrong line or file or argument.. but it looks like it should be the correct line  ( for some reason to me it seems to be defaulting to the backup config.xml file.. maybe there is a protection routine that causing it not to work)..  pfsense still works fine  editing this line so far that i notice it starts up fine just did not adjust the  broadcast IP..  it should not interfere with it if the value is blank it will use the default value of subnet  anyways..

it really be appreciated  if someone could point me in to the direction..  if not I will keep digging  and maybe I figure out the hiccup.. or what ever I am missing..

sash99 · Mar 30, 2010, 7:33 PM

okay I guess this forum you only get reply if you subscribe to the paid service ( since most queries are ignored from what i see on the forum).. which is fine you want to make money.. but why have open registration.. ???

but anyways for those wanting or needing custom broadcast addresses there are 2 methods of doing it.. but I will list the easiest install shellcmd
then just add your entry that way.
example :
ifconfig re0 172.16.16.66/30 broadcast 172.16.16.255
this way every time you restart… you reboot with the proper configurations.
problem after reconfiguration you may need to reboot so things are working properly. (
when setting up your wan,lan or opt within pfsense set it to the basic ( internet capable setting or network what ever your network priority is)
in this case with the above example it would be 172.16.16.66/24.. ( since these special broadcast configuration in my case only allow multiple ip pass through pfsense-- but if I need the pass through priority then I set it at 172.16.16.66/30 then these ips will remain functional )

I have a more eloquent method that does not need reboot and actual works very well even if system is reset to defaults by mistake. the basic system will reboot into redundancy fully operational mode, with all your basic "hardcoded" IPs settings in place--

but this requires some modification to pfsense - config.xml and adding a couple of files advanceIP.php and advanceIP.sh

GruensFroeschli · Mar 30, 2010, 8:15 PM

@sash99:

okay I guess this forum you only get reply if you subscribe to the paid service ( since most queries are ignored from what i see on the forum).. which is fine you want to make money.. but why have open registration.. ???

This is not true….
You just try to do something extremely exotic.
The way you asked, you're basically trying to break how the routing table works.
I wouldnt be surprised if what yoi're attempting is impossible with pfSense.

Of course you can add routes to the routingtable allowing the pfSense to communicate with this certain broadcastIP.
But then you're not doing what you asked ;)

sash99 · Mar 31, 2010, 1:36 AM

well not impossible.. working fine here.. all routes, gateways and broadcast channels are in place and functioning fine.. the linux box using mandrake 10.0 ran it for years like this. but it is a little depreciated now ( well a lot depreciated ;) ) so there is no reason freebsd, openbsd, nestbsd or pfsense –would not be capable of the same routing tables.. heck you can make dd-wrt but it usually stalls the router often because it just does not have enough juice to keep up..

I do not get this "Of course you can add routes to the routingtable allowing the pfSense to communicate with this certain broadcastIP.
But then you're not doing what you asked Wink "

I thought i asked how to modify a broadcast ip and make it permanent ??? and that is what i am doing adding specific IPs, netmask and broadcast ip to a routing table.. sure it not controlled completely by pfsense . and basically over riding any setting done by pfsense interface.. but it the only way i could see how to make it work easily and effectively with out having to rewrite half of pfsense.. i asked in other forums for other software routers zeroshell, ebox and other they provided some basic info to how to do it possibly .. but i like pfsense interface and functionality better.. so I am trying to use it if it can keep up performance wise and not unstable..

and it really not that exotic it a very commonish business network setup. the ISP is providing us 14 public IPs in the 80 range and one public IP at the 66 for total of 15 public IPs in a block of 19 IPs to which several servers can be connected . and one connection (66) that controls all the bandwidths throttling and control of every thing behind it ( we separate the "public " -ip 66 from the business +81 ip). I guess most people would not see this because one this is backbone connection and dedicated.. their isp would put in a managed switch at the point of entry and they control all the throttling and what ports you can use ( at usually a ~100 dollar a month port management fee) we get a chunk and we do what we want with it and divide it up how we see fit therefore no port fees because we manage it directly.. also it provides alot of security to snooping.. since on the same segment as us there are +10 corporations.. the Canadian lottery, health Canada and others ( we are not a corporation only a small community based Internet provider for a public school, 10 small business and 150 public clients - on a wireless backhaul 30 mile in (also why a managed switch is not be used at point of entry- but we could but it at the end of the backhaul but then we would loose the 66 ip since then it would be dedicated to switch for remote configuration).. all these companies on the same segment run their network basically the same. they run their "public" IP runs on broadcast 255. and their " private" run on other broadcast channel.. they all can reach the internet but they are all isolated from the other companies..

but since we are a small community base internet I have to run it on a dime to cover the cost of a symmetric dedicated backbone. which are freaken expensive . also considering we move 5- 6 tetra a month does not help much

cmb · Apr 3, 2010, 12:54 AM

The broadcast address is determined by your subnet mask. If it's not what it should be, you're using the wrong mask.