[Solved]Automated Wake-On-Lan
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Hi,
I have a server in my home network, the router I am using is equipped with pfsense 2.0.1.
As a home server, I am hosting a FTP and sometimes using it via MS RDP.
To save power, I set it to sleep after 10mins of idle(enhanced for data transfer using a simple software called Coffee).After getting into sleep, I can wake it up simply by WOL in the router page, it is ok for me but quite inconvenient for the others, especially when I am sharing something to the public via a link.
Would it be some setting or function available such that the server will automatically wake up upon an access request via port 21 or 3389?
If not possible via router, please share with me your experience on how you get this done if possible, many thanks. -
Reply to my own post :P
Actually there is a setting in Windows that can achieve this, called Wake On Pattern Match.
This pattern is determined by Windows, using Windows 7, I successfully wake it via a FTP access and MS RDP from WAN ;D
Thanks all for reading. -
Sounds like just what I'm after!
How do you tell windows what the pattern is? Or will it wake for any traffic, not just FTP and RDP?
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Sounds like just what I'm after!
How do you tell windows what the pattern is? Or will it wake for any traffic, not just FTP and RDP?
Similar to Wake On Lan, this setting wakes the concerning computer on an access to it, for details you may read the below:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg463242#EAE
In short, any accesses like HTTP, FTP, MS RDP and even opening up your "Network" in your "Computer"(which will try to access neighbor's shared devices) on Windows 7 with anther computer in the LAN would all wake up the server.It is no doubt very convenient while could also bring you troubles with wrong positives which are extremely annoying and harmful to your computer(imagine powering cycle it over 10 times everyday). You have to use caution and get enough measures in order that it wakes only as desired.
Some hints are, setting up pfblocker(a package in pfsense) and block countries that you confirm there won't be valid accesses; configuring Working Hours, a period when the NAT is valid.
You may also need to observe if there are regular crawlers(Google is one of them) and block them from accessing too.Also, you may observe the number of times and time your computer is waken,
this can be found in the Windows Event Viewers,
press start, type "Event" without quotes, check Event Viewer.
Then "Windows Logs" –> "System", the events with "Source" = "Power-Troubleshooters" are the wake up events. -
Great stuff, thanks for the detailed answer!
I suspect I'll have issues with other PCs on the LAN waking things up all the time. Nosing at the NDIS doco it looks like at some level hardware can support patterns of IP address/port numbers to match on. I wonder if this is accessible, in which case we'd be able to make it wake ONLY for RDP. I feel a coding session coming on…
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Great stuff, thanks for the detailed answer!
I suspect I'll have issues with other PCs on the LAN waking things up all the time. Nosing at the NDIS doco it looks like at some level hardware can support patterns of IP address/port numbers to match on. I wonder if this is accessible, in which case we'd be able to make it wake ONLY for RDP. I feel a coding session coming on…
You're welcome.
You will know it soon after turning the "Wake on Pattern Match" on, should be at the same position when you config WOL in Windows.
For your problem, you may try to establish rules to block the trouble-making LAN devices from accessing the server(possible?), on all ports or just the one problematic in case you have idea which it is.
…...Lucky enough, or not, you may need to do some trouble-shooting before it have learnt what and who to listen. ;) -
Maybe a bit late, but this would be a solution too:
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,65092.0.html
:)