Part 2: Raspberry Pi SoftEther Bridge Setup for Maestro Remote Access to your Flex 6000 Radio

K6OZY

In Part 2, I am completing the configuration of a second Raspberry Pi for Maestro remote access.  I do make a few mistakes and have to correct them, but hey, we're all human!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaH8LJ6_MQc


I am pasting my notes here for easier duplication.

Setup vpnbridge account on home Pi Server

sudo raspi-config

Expand File System
Boot options B1 Console only

Finish reboot

Setup static IP for backup reconfiguration

sudo pico /etc/network/interfaces

auto eth0:1
iface eth0:1 inet static
address 10.10.10.1
netmask 255.255.255.0

save exit

sudo reboot

Reboot & login verify eth0:1 is up

ifconfig 

Install SoftEther Server

wget http://www.softether-download.com/files/softether/v4.21-9613-beta-2016.04.24-tree/Linux/SoftEther_VP...
tar zxpvf v4.21-9613-beta-2016.04.24-tree/Linux/SoftEther_VPN_Server/32bit_-_ARM_EABI/softether-vpnserver-v4.21-9613-beta-2016.04.24-linux-arm_eabi-32bit.tar.gz
cd ~/vpnserver
./.install.sh
cd

sudo mv ~/vpnserver /usr/local

sudo chown root:staff -R /usr/local/vpnserver

sudo pico /etc/init.d/vpnserver

#!/bin/sh
# chkconfig: 2345 99 01
# description: SoftEther VPN Server
DAEMON=/usr/local/vpnserver/vpnserver
LOCK=/var/lock/vpnserver
test -x $DAEMON || exit 0
. /lib/lsb/init-functions
case "$1" in
start)
$DAEMON start
touch $LOCK
;;
stop)
$DAEMON stop
rm $LOCK
;;
restart)
$DAEMON stop
sleep 3
$DAEMON start
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart}"
exit 1
esac
exit 0

chmod +x /etc/init.d/vpnserver
update-rc.d vpnserver defaults
service vpnserver start

Run wizard and setup bridge (See Video)

Setup wpa_supplicant.conf with a list of AP's to join.  Replace network ssid & password below with your hotspot info.

sudo pico /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

network={
    ssid="iPhone"
    psk="flexradio"
}

sudo ifdown wlan0
sudo ifup wlan0

ifconfig wlan0  
verify you have acquired an IP from your hotspot.

sudo poweroff

Tether to Maestro, open iPhone Hotspot page

Boot Pi, wait for connection to Phone, spot check Pi server for connection

Turn on Maestro

Once working, backup SD card in case of corruption from pulling power on the Pi inappropriately

N4TTY

Part 2!  Awesome!  Awaiting the arrival of another Pi 3 and notification that my Maestro is ready to ship!!

Not having actually done this procedure yet, I surmise that you will have to edit the "wpa_supplicant.conf" file each time you find yourself trying to attach to a different wifi network.  Am I understanding that correctly?

Steve G./N4TTY

Jeffrey Kerber, N3VE

I too am waiting for my second PI to arrive today.  I built the first image yesterday.  Is there a youtube video for Part 2?  Thanks, Jeff N3VE

K6OZY

Click the YouTube icon in the embedded video and it wil pop out.

W5UN_Dave

I'd love to be able to do this, but with my failing 81 year old memory I am afraid to try. At one time I programmed in C, Basic, Basic Visual, C++,  and some command line Linux, but that ability has left  me. If someone is willing to be my Elmer, I will purchase two of these units.  I'm good to go with Teamviewer, hi.
BTW, my Maestro invoice arrived ten minutes ago.

Cal N3CAL

K6OZY,  thank you very much for taking the time to post these videos!  

Since I already have Softether VPN Server configured and running on a windows machine at my home QTH I'll assume I only need to do Part 2 of your video with a RaspberryPi-3 running the client/bridge software?   Hopefully this type setup will work? 

Cal/N3CAL

 

Steve - N4TTY

Dave, have you had any responses?

You can contact off list if you prefer: n4tty (at) arrl (dot) net

Steve G./N4TTY

Lawrence Kellar KB5ZZB

Thanks for the write-up  I had one question.....I am using an ASUS router with their built in PPTP VPN solution for my iPad setup using K6TU's program.  Can I configure a raspberry pi to connect to my VPN and bridge the connection over to my Maestro like you did for softether? Thanks Lawrence

K6OZY

You certainly can, there are many PPTP choices available, but the issue is that the Maestro won't appear on your home network that way.  The Pi will appear on your home network.   The "Bridge" part of the SoftEther setup is what is key here.   It makes everything that is on the ethernet port of the Pi appear as if it was on your home network.

Peter Bacon

Are there any measurements of the actual internet bandwidth required to support one slice remotely?
Peter G3ZSS

K6OZY

As my video said, it depends on your FPS and rate settings. It will usually max out at about 2-3Mbps inbound per pan adapter. Upstream is about 80-90kbps (8-9Kbps). The slice count doesn't matter, it's all visual bits that eat bandwidth. Set it to 1 FPS and Rate and you can sip bandwidth. These radios want consistent latency without packet loss. That usually is the thing that causes the most problems.

Chris DL5NAM

pse change
from

tar zxpvf v4.21-9613-beta-2016.04.24-tree/Linux/SoftEther_VPN_Server/32bit_-_ARM_EABI/softether-vpnserver-v4.21-9613-beta-2016.04.24-linux-arm_eabi-32bit.tar.gz

to

tar zxpvf softether-vpnserver-v4.21-9613-beta-2016.04.24-linux-arm_eabi-32bit.tar.gz

and


not working

Now i stop as "Linux Lid" :-)

Walt - KZ1F

It does my heart good to see more Linux saavy people on here.

K6OZY

Follow video, notes were just chicken scratch for myself to not get side tracked during the video creation.

K6OZY

Hi Cal, correct. Watch part 2 and you should be good.

Chris DL5NAM

Walt, i am a double left hander but i must try every thing ;-).

Walt - KZ1F

Chris, I am the polar opposite of ambidextrous and left handed too. What does dbl lefty mean?

Chris DL5NAM

Sorry, normaly i am a "right hander" and if i am doing a job that i have never done or the skill's to low, we say here your a double left hander ( joking ).

N4TTY

Have two Pi's running now.  One as the server as shown in Part 1, and the other as the bridge as shown in Part 2.  The "bridge" does connect to my iPhone, but how do I really tell if things are right since the Maestro hasn't arrived yet.  Tracking number says Wednesday!

Should "Managing Sessions" on the server show 'vpnbridge' as connected without anything plugged into the ethernet port on the Pi?

Steve G./N4TTY

K6OZY

Correct.  On the PI server you should see the user "vpnbridge" logged in.  You could always attach a laptop to the Bridge Pi with DHCP enabled on the laptop and it should grab an IP of your home network.  

1) Boot the Pi Bridge, make sure you see it join your HotSpot
2) Verify user vpnbridge is connected on your home Pi Server
3) Boot the client computer or Maestro on the Pi Bridge ethernet interface connected to it.

Glad you've gotten it this far!

N4TTY

Thanks for the reply Chris!

Well I have an issue and I guess this isn't the place to do trouble shooting except maybe others might benefit if they run into the same issues.

I took we several tries to get it to the point I mentioned above, and although I thought it might be working, it looks as if something is amiss.

I see my iPhone pick up the connection as it is supposed to, but when looking at the VPN Server connections I don't see user 'vpnbridge' connected.  And the laptop I have connected to the Ethernet port is not picking up an IP address (obviously because the vpnbridge didn't get logged in.  So somehow I have missed something. 

Are there any log files that can be looked at?

Steve G./N4TTY

K6OZY

Yes, on both Pi's look at logs in:

/usr/local/vpnserver/security_log/VPN
/usr/local/vpnserver/server_log

N4TTY

Have looked at the logs on the VPN server side, but not sure what I'm seeing or even what I'm looking for.

Have to reconnect to the VPN Bridge to take a look at those logs.

And a very odd, to me at least, occurrence happens if both devices are sitting on the same subnet at the same time.  I will lose connectivity to both devices.  Usually on the bridge first, then shortly thereafter on the server.  :-(

Lawrence Kellar KB5ZZB

Using my vpn connection and softether bridge and securenat I got my laptop to obtain an IP address on my vpn tethered to my iPad Air. Next to try on maestro. I set this up on a Asus Windows 10 tablet

K6OZY

Be careful not to bridge your network to itself.   If you are bridging eth0 on the bridge Pi and have eth0 attached to your home network to work on the bridge Pi, you will cause an amazingly fantastic broadcast loop that will trash your home network.  

Stop the SoftEther server on the Pi bridge to work on it safely

sudo service vpnserver stop

Steve - N4TTY

@K6OZY - I've looked at the log files, but not really knowing what I'm looking for I don't see anything obvious.  Any suggestions on what I should be looking for.  Also any ideas about what might be an issue about why my 'vpnbridge' isn't logging into the vpn server.  All the items from your video seemed to have gone good and responded as I thought they should.

Steve G./N4TTY

Steve - N4TTY

@K6OZY - Looks like you were replying to me as I was entering another comment!  Thanks!!!  And that has to be the reason I was seeing those results.

But with the bridge server disconnected from my home network and just connected to my iphone via the wifi hotspot I don't seem to be establishing the connection to my home VPN server.  I'm reasonably sure I got the passwords correct as I just used the demo 'raspberry' password everywhere.  All to be changed later after I get things working and have a better understanding of what is going on.

Thanks for your assistance!

Steve G./N4TTY

K6OZY

Lets dissect the issue.   

Does your Pi Server work properly?  By that, I mean are you able to use a Windows laptop outside your home network and connect to it, run SmartSDR and use the radio using the native Windows L2TP client?

Lawrence Kellar KB5ZZB

Ok an update. I can surf the internet with a laptop connected to softether bridge, however no radios show up in the radio chooser.

Steve - N4TTY

I have not had a chance to try my laptop from outside of my home network to try connecting thru the Pi SoftEther Server.  Only by using the bridge to try connecting to the server.  But I guess that puts two possible points problems.  Will try today to get to another outside network to connect using my laptop and see is I'm able to use SmartSDR.

Steve - N4TTY

@K6OZY - I may be on to something!  I noticed when I went into the Windows SoftEther Server Manager that my VPN Server wasn't using the Dynamic DNS host name I thought I had setup!  It was showing up as a random number preceded by the letters "vpn."  When I used that DNS name I was able to connect to my VPN server via a native Windows L2TP client.

I'll update when I've taken another look at the settings in my VPN Bridge.

Steve G./N4TTY