In this page you find:
The network menu can be used to tweak the networking configuration by adding specific hosts and routes, or configuring the uplink and adding VLANs. This menu should not be confused with the Network configuration wizard available at , that allows to configure interfaces, zones, and to define uplinks, although many settings and configuration options, especially in the Interfaces menu item are the same found there.
The sub-menu on the left-hand side of the screen contains these items, each of which groups several configuration options:
Edit hosts - define hosts for local domain name resolution.
Routing - set up static routes and policy routing.
Interfaces - edit the uplinks or create VLANs.
Wireless - set up wireless network connections.
The page contains the list of hosts previously defined. Each line
contains an IP address, the associated hostname, and the domain name,
if specified. Two available actions are available for each entry: To
edit it 
or to delete it. 
Warning
Deleting an host entry by clicking on the small
icon does not require any confirmation and is not reversible. If
deleted by mistake, an entry must be re-added manually.
A new entry in the file can be added by clicking on the Add a host link right above the table. A simple form will replace the table, in which to enter the following options:
The IP address of the remote host.
The hostname associated to the IP address.
An optional domain name.
Note
Unlike in the /etc/hosts file (see below), each IP
address added here corresponds to one hostname and
viceversa. To add two hostnames to a same IP, add two
entries with the same IP address.
The choice can be confirmed by clicking on the Add Host button. To associate more hostnames to the same IP address, repeat the procedure by inserting the same IP address but a different name.
Hosts management, dnsmasq and /etc/hosts.
The dnsmasq application is used in small networks as DNS server for local hosts and as a DNS forwarder and caching server for worldwide DNS servers. The Endian Hotspot Appliance uses dnsmasq to be able to correctly resolve and answer DNS requests coming from the GREEN, ORANGE, and BLUE zones. It is sometimes desirable (e.g., for testing purposes on a remote website) to override some entries in dnsmasq, or to add some local server to dnsmasq’s cache, for local clients to be able to connect to it.
The hosts added in this page are stored in a dnsmasq’s settings
file and merged with the /etc/hosts file at every restart
of the daemon. Host added to that files directly via CLI will not
persist after a reboot of the Endian Hotspot Appliance or a restart of dnsmasq.
The /etc/hosts file contains the so-called static lookup
table, in the form:
IP1 hostname1 [hostname2]
IP2 hostname3 [hostname4] [hostname5]
Here, IP1 and IP2 are unique (numerical) IP addresses and
hostname1, hostname2, hostname3,`hostname4`, and hostname5 are
custom names given to those IPs. Names within square brackets are
optional: In other words, each IP address can be associated with one
or more names of known hosts. Custom host entries can be added to the
file, that will then be resolved for all the clients connecting
through the Endian Hotspot Appliance. On a typical Endian Hotspot Appliance, the
/etc/hosts file contains at least the following entries:
127.0.0.1 localhost.localhost localhost
172.20.0.21 myappliance.localdomain myappliance
Here, 127.0.0.1 is the IP address of the loopback device, localhost, which is a mandatory entry for the correct workink of any Linux system; while 172.20.0.21 is the IP address of the GREEN interface. The entries listed for that IP have the following meaning and purposes:
The hostname and domainname of the Endian Hotspot Appliance, as set up during the Network configuration.
Besides the default routing table, that can be seen in , the routing on the Endian Hotspot Appliance can be improved with static and policy routing rules. This page displays a unique table that contains all the custom routings, although new rules are added from the two different tabs that present on this page. Indeed, static and policy routing rules require slight different settings. The table contains a summary of the rule: the source and destination networks or zones, the gateway, a remark, and the list of available actions: Enable or disable, edit, and delete a rule.
Whenever a modification is carried out on the routing table, it is required that the changes be saved and the service be restarted.
A static route allows to associate specific source and destination networks with a given gateway or uplink. A click on the Add a new route link above the table allows create new routes by defining the following fields in the form that will appear:
The source network, in CIDR notation.
The destination network, in CIDR notation.
Four options are available to define through which means should the traffic be channeled: Static Gateway, Uplink, or OpenVPN User. In the case the Static Gateway is selected, the IP address of a gateway should be provided in the text box on the right. Otherwise, a drop-down will appear, proposing the choice among the available uplinks or OpenVPN users.
A ticked checkbox means that the rule is enabled (default). If unchecked, then the rule is only created but not activated: It can always be enabled later.
A remark or comment to explain the purpose of this rule.
A click on one of the icons will trigger an action on the respective item:
- toggle the status of the item, enabled or disabled.
- modify the item’s property.
- remove the item
See also
A guide to set up basic static routes.
A policy route rule allows to associate specific network addresses, zones, or services (expressed as port and protocol) with a given uplink.
The table shows all the already defined rules for both static and policy routing, with some of their properties: Source, Destination, TOS, Gateway, Service, Remark, and the available actions:
- move a rule
- toggle the status of the item, enabled or disabled.
- modify the item’s property.
- remove the item
Hint
The TOS column appears only if at least one rule with that field has been defined.
Rules that appear higher in the table have higher priority.
When clicking on the Create a policy routing rule link, a form will open, which seems rather more complicated then the one for static routes and very similar to the firewall rule’s editor. However, this policy rule editor is much like the previous one, but gives more control over the definition of the rule. Additionally, the setup of the rule is guided by several drop-down menus, to simplify entering the data in the following fields:
The first drop-down menu allows to choose the source of the traffic. More entries, one per line, are accepted, but all must belong to the same type, either: A zone or interface, OpenVPN users, IPs or networks, or MAC addresses. Depending on the choice, different values shall be supplied. To apply the rule to all sources, select <ANY>.
The second drop-down menu permits the choice of the destination of the traffic, in form of a list of IPs, networks, OpenVPN or L2TP users. Again, by selecting <ANY> the rule will match every destination.
The next two drop-down menus allow to specify the service, protocol, and a destination port for the rule when the TCP, UDP, or TCP + UDP protocols are selected. Some predefined combinations service/protocol/port exists, like HTTP/TCP/80, <ALL>/TCP+UDP/0:65535, or <ANY>, which is a shortcut for all services, protocols, and ports. User defined permits to specify a custom protocol and the ports to block, an option that proves useful when running services on ports different from the standard ones.
The type of traffic that is interested by the rule: TCP, UDP, TCP+UDP, ESP, GRE, and ICMP. TCP and UDP are the most used, GRE is used by tunnels, ESP by IPsec, and ICMP by the ping and traceroute commands.
How the traffic should be routed for this rule. Four options are available:
Static gateway: In this case an IP Address shall be provided
Uplink: The uplink that should be used for this rule. There is the option, when the uplink becomes unavailable, that the routing be carried over to the backup link corresponding to the selected uplink. This option is enabled when the checkbox next to the drop-down menu is ticked.
OpenVPN user: An OpenVPN user, choosen from those available in the drop-down menu.
The type of service (TOS) can be chosen here. Four values can be chosen, depending on what is the most important charactertic of the traffic interested by that rule: default, lowdelay, reliability, or throughput.
A remark or comment to explain the purpose of this rule.
The position in which to insert the rule (relative position in the list of rules).
Tick this checkbox to enable the rule (default). If unchecked, the rule is created but not active: A rule can be enabled later.
This checkbox must be ticked to log all the packets affected by this rule.
Warning
The activation of this option may cause the size of the log files to dramatically improve.
See also
There is a tutorial to set up basic policy routes available here.
The uplinks manager allows to carry out a number of tasks that are related with the uplink and the interfaces, and in particular to define custom VLANs on the network interfaces.
By default, the uplink editor shows the available uplinks that have been created and the actions that can be executed on each of them, by clicking on the icons in the last column, Actions:
- toggle the status of the item, enabled or disabled.
- modify the item’s property.
- remove the item
Hint
The main uplink can not be deleted.
Additional uplinks can be defined by clicking on the Create an uplink hyperlink above the list of uplinks. A rather long page, full of configurable options will open, that should be filled with appropriate values -very similar to those in the network configuration. Depending on the type of uplink chosen, the available settings will differ.
Note
Not all the available options are described here: They are the same that are present in the network configuration wizard and depend on the type of the uplink chosen, so please refer to that section for the full explanation of each option.
A description of the uplink.
The selection of the type of RED connection includes one additional protocol, compared to those available in the network configuration wizard: PPTP. PPTP can be configured to work in static or in DHCP mode, selectable from the respective value from the “PPTP method” drop-down. The IP address and netmask must be defined in the appropriate textfields if the static method has been chosen, in which case additional IP/netmask or IP/CIDR combinations can be added in the field below if the checkbox is ticked. Phone number, username, and password are not required but may be needed for some configurations to work, depending on the provider’s settings. The authentication method can be either PAP or CHAP: if unsure, keep the default value “PAP or CHAP”.
Note
When choosing Mobile Broadband or Analog Modem, the SIM card must be plugged in when the Endian Hotspot Appliance is turned off.
Tick this checkbox to enable the uplink.
This checkbox specifies whether an uplink should be enabled at boot time or not. This option proves useful for backup uplinks which are managed but do not need to be started during the boot procedure.
Tick this checkbox for the uplink to be managed. See the Uplink Information Plugin under for a discussion about managed and manual modes.
Tick this checkbox if you are using uplinks for which the generated traffic might become expensive. If this is enabled and the uplink is online no services will update their signatures. Keep in mind that this might result in security issues because new threats might not be recognized anymore.
If enabled, an alternative connection can be chosen from a drop-down menu, which will be activated when this uplink fails.
Tick this option to enter a list of IP or hostnames that will be ping-ed when the uplink fails, to check whether it has reconnected.
Hint
One of those hosts could be the provider’s DNS server or gateway.
In the advanced settings panel, two other options can be customised:
The time interval (in seconds) after which an uplink tries to reconnect if it fails. This value depends on the provider’s settings. If unsure, leave this field empty.
A custom value for the MTU size. See here for a discussion about the reasons to modify the default value.
See also
A tutorial that explains the setup of a failover uplink.
The idea behind offering VLAN support in Endian Hotspot Appliance is to allow arbitrary associations of VLAN IDs to the zones and to provide an additional level of separation (and therefore adding another level of security) between the zones. The existing VLANS are shown in the table, if any had already been created. The only action available is:
- remove the VLAN. A pop-up window will open, that requires
a confirmation for the deletion.
A new VLAN can be defined by clicking on the Add new VLAN hyperlink above the VLAN list. In the form that will open a few click suffice to create an association between an interface and a VLAN, by specifying a few values:
The physical interface to which the VLAN is connected to. Only the available interfaces can be chosen from the drop-down menu. The menu also shows the status of the link of the interface.
The VLAN ID, which must be an integer number between 0 and 4095.
The zone to which the VLAN is associated with. Only the zones that have been defined in the network configuration wizard can be selected. The option “NONE” can be chosen, if that interface is used as a High Availability management port.
Warning
It is not possible to define a VLAN that serves one zone (e.g., a VLAN on BLUE) on an interface that already serves another zone (e.g., eth1 serving GREEN). When trying to do so, the form closes and a red callout appears, informing that the VLAN can not be created.
Whenever a virtual LAN is created, a new interface is created and named as ethX.y where X is the number of the interface and y is the VLAN ID. This interface is then assigned to the chosen zone and will show up as a regular interface in the various sections that report network information, like or in the Dashboard, where it can be selected to be drawn in the graph.