WifiDog Finally Working
After a small problem with PostgreSQL, an open-source database program, I finally finished the basic authentication server. Compared to the linux-based Content filtering and caching server we use, the basic authentication server runs only:
Apache - web server
PHP5 - scripting langauge
PostgreSQL - database server
Postfix - e-mail server
Iptables - firewall
The filtering and caching server has DansGuardian (content filtering) and Squid (web caching), but neither Postfix or PostgreSQL. I should note that DansGuardian is not open-source software. It is proprietary software that is free for non-commercial use.
Postfix is setup for one-way use only; it only sends authentication e-mails out and Iptables blocks all incoming e-mail traffic. Otherwise, you could end up unwittingly hosting a spam relay. This actually happened to me when I initially started testing our own in-house filtering solution back in the Fall of '05; it was installed by default and set to run on boot. Since it's not needed on the filtering and caching server, it's not even installed.
So, with the server out of the way, I turned my attention to the gateway.
As I mentioned in my last post, the gateway is software that runs on a modified Linksys WRT-54G V.4 wireless router. These are still available, but are currently known as the WRT-54GL (L for Linux).
The WifiDog development group is still as active as ever, and recently released a WifiDog package for the latest version of OpenWRT. This is a significant development because you couldn't just install firmware, install WifiDog and run it. This is due to the fact that there's a "link" between the package and the operating system. For it to work, you either have to compile the operating system and package from the same buildroot, or get what you need already complied as such.
After a few more minor tweaks and customization, the setup worked. I could create accounts, authenticate them via e-mail, and surf the Internet as was intended.
So, what's next? Nothing right now. There's still no plans for testing or deployment, and there's still a lot more work to do. Such as:
1. Limiting the bandwidth so no one ends up hogging up too much and slowing everyone else down.
2. Making sure that access to certain parts of our network are inaccessible from the gateway.
3. Customizing the appearance of the WifiDog web interface (it's set at default, which is nice)
4. Implementing other features that add to its functionality.
If you want to try this for yourselves, I recommend you start by going to these sites for information:
www.wifidog.org
www.openwrt.org
Apache - web server
PHP5 - scripting langauge
PostgreSQL - database server
Postfix - e-mail server
Iptables - firewall
The filtering and caching server has DansGuardian (content filtering) and Squid (web caching), but neither Postfix or PostgreSQL. I should note that DansGuardian is not open-source software. It is proprietary software that is free for non-commercial use.
Postfix is setup for one-way use only; it only sends authentication e-mails out and Iptables blocks all incoming e-mail traffic. Otherwise, you could end up unwittingly hosting a spam relay. This actually happened to me when I initially started testing our own in-house filtering solution back in the Fall of '05; it was installed by default and set to run on boot. Since it's not needed on the filtering and caching server, it's not even installed.
So, with the server out of the way, I turned my attention to the gateway.
As I mentioned in my last post, the gateway is software that runs on a modified Linksys WRT-54G V.4 wireless router. These are still available, but are currently known as the WRT-54GL (L for Linux).
The WifiDog development group is still as active as ever, and recently released a WifiDog package for the latest version of OpenWRT. This is a significant development because you couldn't just install firmware, install WifiDog and run it. This is due to the fact that there's a "link" between the package and the operating system. For it to work, you either have to compile the operating system and package from the same buildroot, or get what you need already complied as such.
After a few more minor tweaks and customization, the setup worked. I could create accounts, authenticate them via e-mail, and surf the Internet as was intended.
So, what's next? Nothing right now. There's still no plans for testing or deployment, and there's still a lot more work to do. Such as:
1. Limiting the bandwidth so no one ends up hogging up too much and slowing everyone else down.
2. Making sure that access to certain parts of our network are inaccessible from the gateway.
3. Customizing the appearance of the WifiDog web interface (it's set at default, which is nice)
4. Implementing other features that add to its functionality.
If you want to try this for yourselves, I recommend you start by going to these sites for information:
www.wifidog.org
www.openwrt.org
posted by Technology Coordinator at 12:52 PM
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