Topic: wanted: SME as wireless bridge, "configure server" wont see new wifi nic

[beatshoes]

Hi there.
I have recently been playing with my sme server. After bricking my wireless router, I want to set up my server (currently in server only mode) to connect wirelessly to the main modemrouter, and then act as a gateway to a small number of seperate pc's which are wired to the server.

after a bit of effort i got the wireless card up and running, as in i got it to connect to the AP, but i would have to manually start it each time I rebooted the server.

the main problem I am having is, when i run the "configure server" option on the admin screen, and get to the selecting "server+gateway", after selecting "dedicated" i get an error telling me that the server only has one nic.

is this because the adapter isnt starting at boot up, or is it due to some other configuration?

I am aware of the many threads about wanting to attempt a similar result, all of which are told not to bother, but I would really really like to bother trying, and have plenty of time to "tinker" so that is not an issue. I cant afford (both the cost and the room) any more equipment, so buy another wireless router is impossible, this is very much my only option.

All im asking for is some sort of starting point to work from with this. I have the card functioning, connecting to my AP, all i need to know how to do is make SME use the thing.

any advice very very greatly appreciated.

specific details:
SME Server version 7.3
DWL-G510 revC2 using RT61 driver

[zatnikatel]

this may work to to start the wireless card so when the system boots it loads up the nic go in to the directory /etc/rc.d/ the edit the rc.local and at the bottom of the file add what you need to start the wireless card the rc.local file is like the autoexec.bat file in windows
then with some luck when you run configure your server it will find the nic if that is a no go buy a wireless card that is supported by centos 4.6 which is what SME is based on

[arne]

I have tried and tested out all variants of of wireless card arrangements for the SME server that I could imagine, and they actually all worked.

But I would recomend none of them. The conclusion after some testing was that wireless cards in general tends to mess up the sme server and then also give diverse unwanted side effectes.

I then tried to run the SME server as a virtual server on vmware and then let the Linux host system take care about the wireless card problem. This worked bether, but I still thought that it messed up the host system a bit.

My conclusion after spending a lot of time on this, is that the best result is obtained when the sme server or the vmware host system is using traditional wired network adapters. I then use an external wireless access point for the wireless function.

zatnktel suggestion about editing the etc/rc.d/rc.local file is according to my opinion a good one for testing out things. I use it myself.

[beatshoes]

cheers for the fast responses guys.

I've tried what you suggested by bringing the device up with the rc.local script.

it does autostart the device but the server configure page/too/thing still only see's 1 adapter.

my thoughts were on using that

config set <blah> thing (can you tell I have little clue what im doing here :p )

speaking of which, something interesting i have noticed.

config show

spits out  (alot of stuff, but particularly)
EthernetDriver1=rt61
EthernetDriver2=unknown
<some other stuff>
ExternalInterface=interface
  Configuration=disabled
  Driver=unknown
  Gateway=192.168.1.254
  IPAddress=192.168.1.9
  Name=none
  Netmask=255.255.255.0
<some other stuff>
ExternalInterface=interface
  Broadcast=192.168.2.255
  Configuration=static
  Driver=rt61
  IPAddress=192.168.2.33
  NICBondingOptions=miimon=200 mode=active-backup
  Name=eth0
  Netmask=255.255.255.0
  Network=192.186.2.0

this seems broken to me ???
details:
the main router in the house is that gateway address 192.168.1.254
the smeserver provides dhcp on the 192.168.2. subnet
the second externalInterface has driver listed as the wireless driver module (rt61) but is called eth0 (with all the correct details for eth0)

also, when i booted today, things had stopped working well, i couldnt get a putty shell to connect for one.

i gotta go, will report more later.

any opinions or translation of the above would rock.
cheers again fellas

[imcintyre]

Forget this comment, I did not understand what you were trying to do.

[beatshoes]

ok

[CharlieBrady]

My conclusion after spending a lot of time on this, is that the best result is obtained when the sme server or the vmware host system is using traditional wired network adapters. I then use an external wireless access point for the wireless function.

I strongly support this view. You will save yourself a lot of time and a lot of problems if you just connect a wireless router to your LAN.

[beatshoes]

yeah, i've begun to notice so much.

but as i said, time and patience are not an issue.

however its starting to look easier to just use vanilla CentOS and configure all the services I need from scratch.
tis a shame really, I liked SMEServer alot.

[zatnikatel]

yeah, i've begun to notice so much.

but as i said, time and patience are not an issue.

however its starting to look easier to just use vanilla CentOS and configure all the services I need from scratch.
tis a shame really, I liked SMEServer alot.

there is a lot of of work going with just centos if you use email then you have to setup postfix from the start as well as samba and also setup iptables to lock down the server and also to share the connection i know this because i have down this at work for some clients as my boss is a stick in the mud when it comes to linux he will only uses centos or redhat
there is a good days work in it if you have not down it before this web site will help

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-centos-5.2

there is also another page on that site for sharing an internet connection as well with centos go here

http://www.howtoforge.com/home-gateway-firewall-with-dhcp-server-for-connection-sharing-centos5
try vmware as well

[beatshoes]

cheers zatnktel,
luckily i dont need a mail server, thats already handled.
samba yes though.
had found those 2 sites you linked earlier, but thanks anyway.
i think my main concern will be hardening the server, but i will get there eventually

[arne]

The problems of setting up a server based on the newest Centos will still be some of the same. In general, and as I will see it: Linux servers and wireless network cards is not a very good combination. Wireless network cards are for workstations.

Well to set up a "server only" that is not acting as a gateway is something that reletively simple can be done, while setting up the server more or less as if it was a workstation.

If on the other hand it is a qustion about setting the Linux server to work as a wireless access ponint ar as a wirless gateway this have for me allways ended up as something rather "messy". I has worked, but not with a "clean and nice" configuration. (There is encryption and diverse stuff to take care about.)

If someone find I relly good "receipt" for setting up a Linux wireless access point, please post it here. (I have found some howtos on the net. They did work, but I did not like the way they worked at all. As far as I remember they also only could do WEP encryption that is not safe at all. (Does I remember this correctly ?))

By the way - I believe the reason why it does not work to activate the wireless network card via the /etc/rc.d/rc.local script for the sme server is because this will be to late in the start up process. For other distros it might work bether.

[zatnikatel]

centos 5 will do wpa now
but you are correct he would be better off getting another wireless router if he does not want to spend heaps of money for one either get a billion or linksys i have used billion a lot they are very good have put in many with no returns linksys can break so i would go billion

arne is correct linux and wireless does not mix well at the moment and wep does really suck way easy to hack
to get the card to load you would have to do a full system v setup

[beatshoes]

hey all,
first off, i finally managed to get it running at startup, connected  and such, so good news there.

also, i dont know if i'm getting confused here, or if everyone else is.
what i am attempting to do, is not use the wireless as an AP.
but rather as a standard normal wireless card, as if it were a standard normal work station, that is, just connected it to my wireless modem down the hall.
and then from there bridge that connection to  my ethernet port, to allow my other computers to all connect up via an ethernet switch.

is that what we are thinking?

If/When i get this all set up and running, i shall post step by step what i did, incase it helps anyone else.

and yeah, i know buying more crap would be the easiest way, but this is more of an excercise in linux, than a means to an end.
and at the moment i can literally not afford another AUD$80-90. for more gear anyway.

still, thanks for all the advice.

[mercyh]

also, i dont know if i'm getting confused here, or if everyone else is.
what i am attempting to do, is not use the wireless as an AP.
but rather as a standard normal wireless card, as if it were a standard normal work station, that is, just connected it to my wireless modem down the hall.
and then from there bridge that connection to  my ethernet port, to allow my other computers to all connect up via an ethernet switch.

I think we understand. It seems like you are describing using the SME as an access point. Maybe a drawing would help??


Option #1 (with a real access point)

Wan
v
v
Wireless router
(wireless link)
v
v
(radio connection)
Wireless AP
(wired link)
v
v
Switch>>>SME
v
v
LAN workstations



Option #2 (without wireless access point)

Wan
v
v
Wireless router
(wireless link)
v
v
(wireless NIC, eth1)
SME
(wired link, eth0)
v
v
Switch
v
v
LAN workstations


Correct?

[beatshoes]

yup setting up as option 2.
much apologies about not being clear enough