OpenWRT+CoovaChilli

Introduction

Today I am going to share my experience in Installing CoovaChilli on a router.

My first attempt with this endeavor ended up with me having a very expensive brick instead of a captive portal. So for those who want to avoid this costly experience I am laying out this simple installation process for you to follow and hopefully succeed. Once you get comfortable with it you can then venture into more riskier approach, like compiling your own OpenWRT.

I am using TP-Link's MR3220 as my router. Though I haven't tried it yet, I hope the same approach will work on other routers based on Altheros AR71xx.
Let's start!

Download required Packages

1. Download openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3220-v1-squashfs-factory.bin from http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/.
2. Download the following from http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/packages/

• coova-chilli_1.2.9-1_ar71xx.ipk
• haserl_0.9.29-1_ar71xx.ipk
• kmod-tun_3.3.8-1_ar71xx.ipk
• libpthread_0.9.33.2-1_ar71xx.ipk
• librt_0.9.33.2-1_ar71xx.ipk

Flash OpenWRT for MR3220

1. Use a LAN cable to connect your computer to one of the LAN ports of the router
2. Start a browser and go to http://192.168.1.1 (this is the router's default IP address, change this accordingly if you already changed your router's IP address)
3. Choose System Tools --> Firmware Upgrade
4. Click the Browse button
5. Locate and select openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3220-v1-squashfs-factory.bin file
6. Click the Upgrade button
7. Wait until it says rebooting

In this stage OpenWRT is already installed in your router and you will not be able to access your router’s web interface

Initialize OpenWRT

For first time login, you have to set root’s password. Follow these steps.

1. Still connected to your router, open telnet and connect to 192.168.1.1
2. Once logged in you should be see a display similar to this:
   

  BusyBox v1.19.4 (2012-11-18 23:21:39 EST) built-in shell (ash)
  Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
  
  _______                     ________        __
  |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
  |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
  |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
  |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
  -----------------------------------------------------
  BARRIER BREAKER (Bleeding Edge, r34253)
  -----------------------------------------------------
  * 1/2 oz Galliano         Pour all ingredients into
  * 4 oz cold Coffee        an irish coffee mug filled
  * 1 1/2 oz Dark Rum       with crushed ice. Stir.
  * 2 tsp. Creme de Cacao
  -----------------------------------------------------
  root@OpenWrt:~# 

3. To set root’s password type passwd the press return key
4. Type in root’s new password, press return, then re-type the password for confirmation

After setting the password you should quit telnet and login to the router using ssh

Setup Wireless Configuration

1. Login to the router using ssh

ssh root@192.168.1.1

2. Edit /etc/config/wireless
   
vi /etc/config/wireless

3. Comment or delete the line “option disabled 1” to enable wireless LAN
4. Optionally change the SSID by changing the value of “option ssid”, from OpenWRT to your choice
5. Save and close the file
6. Execute wifi to force the system to re-read the wireless configuration file and start wireless LAN

Install CoovaChilli

1. Go to your computer’s terminal and copy the rest of the packages to router’s /tmp directory
   
scp coova-chilli_1.2.9-1_ar71xx.ipk haserl_0.9.29-1_ar71xx.ipk kmod-tun_3.3.8-1_ar71xx.ipk libpthread_0.9.33.2-1_ar71xx.ipk librt_0.9.33.2-1_ar71xx.ipk root@192.168.1.1:/tmp

2. Log back in to the router
   
ssh root@192.168.1.1

3. Go to /tmp and install the packages in the following order
   
opkg install librt_0.9.33.2-1_ar71xx.ipk
opkg install libpthread_0.9.33.2-1_ar71xx.ipk
opkg install kmod-tun_3.3.8-1_ar71xx.ipk
opkg install coova-chilli_1.2.9-1_ar71xx.ipk
opkg install haserl_0.9.29-1_ar71xx.ipk

Setup CoovaChilli

 Configuration File

1. Open /etc/chilli/defaults and change the following lines

  
  from “# HS_WANIF=eth0                      # WAN Interface toward the Internet”
  to “HS_WANIF=eth1                          # WAN Interface toward the Internet”
  
  from “HS_LANIF=eth1                        # Subscriber Interface for client devices”
  to “HS_LANIF=wlan0                         # Subscriber Interface for client devices”
  
  from “HS_RADIUS=locahost”
  to “HS_RADIUS=<your RADIUS IP address>”
  
  from "HS_RADSECRET=testing123              # Set to be your RADIUS shared secret"
  to "HS_RADSECRET=<your RADIUS password>    # Set to be your RADIUS shared secret

2. Save and close the file

Start-up Script

Now we need to create the startup script for coova-chilli. Coova-chilli package does not provide this so we have to create this by hand
Create a the file /etc/init.d/chilli with the following content

     #!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
     # - init script for chilli -

     START=60
     STOP=90

     NAME=chilli
     RUN_D=/var/run
     CMDSOCK=$RUN_D/$NAME.sock
     PIDFILE=$RUN_D/$NAME.pid

     option_cb() { [ -n "$2" ] && echo "HS_$(echo $1|tr 'a-z' 'A-Z')=\"$2\"" | sed 's/\$/\\\$/g'; }
     config_load hotspot > /etc/chilli/config

     . /etc/chilli/functions

     start() {
         HS_DNS_DOMAIN=${HS_DNS_DOMAIN:-cap.coova.org}
         HS_DNS1=${HS_DNS1:-$HS_UAMLISTEN}
         HS_DNS2=${HS_DNS2:-$HS_NASIP}
         HS_NASID=${HS_NASID:-$HS_NASMAC}
         HS_MACAUTHMODE=${HS_MACAUTHMODE:-local}
         HS_USELOCALUSERS=${HS_USELOCALUSERS:-off}
         HS_PROXY_TYPE=${HS_PROXY_TYPE:-none}
         HS_RADCONF_URL=${HS_RADCONF_URL:-http://ap.coova.org/config/tos.conf}
         HS_CFRAME_URL=${HS_CFRAME_URL:-http://coova.org/cframe/default/}
         HS_CFRAME_SZ=${HS_CFRAME_SZ:-100}
         HS_DEFSESSIONTIMEOUT=${HS_DEFSESSIONTIMEOUT:-0}
         HS_DEFIDLETIMEOUT=${HS_DEFIDLETIMEOUT:-0}
         HS_DEFINTERIMINTERVAL=${HS_DEFINTERIMINTERVAL:-300}
         HS_LAN_ACCESS=${HS_LAN_ACCESS:-deny}
         HS_CFRAME_POS=${HS_CFRAME_POS:-top}
         HS_PROVIDER=${HS_PROVIDER:-Coova}
         HS_PROVIDER_LINK=${HS_PROVIDER_LINK:-http://coova.org/}
         HS_LOC_NAME=${HS_LOC_NAME:-My HotSpot}
         HS_LOC_NETWORK=${HS_LOC_NETWORK:-Coova}
         HS_OPENIDAUTH=${HS_OPENIDAUTH:-off}
         HS_ANYIP=${HS_ANYIP:-off}

         [ -z "$HS_LANIF" ] && {
             [ -e /tmp/device.hotspot ] && {
                 stop
             }
             HS_LANIF=$(wlanconfig ath create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode ap)
             for i in 0 1 2 3 4; do ifconfig ath$i mtu 1500; done 2>/dev/null
             echo $HS_LANIF > /tmp/device.hotspot
             iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE
             iwconfig $HS_LANIF essid ${HS_SSID:-Coova} 2>/dev/null
         }

         writeconfig
         radiusconfig
                                                                                            
         [ -d $RUN_D ] || mkdir -p $RUN_D

         /sbin/insmod tun >&- 2>&-
         /usr/sbin/chilli
     }

     stop() {
         [ -f $PIDFILE ] && kill $(cat $PIDFILE)
         rm -f $PIDFILE $LKFILE $CMDSOCK 2>/dev/null
         iptables -t nat -D POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE
         wlanconfig $(cat /tmp/device.hotspot) destroy
         rm /tmp/device.hotspot
     }

Automatically Start CoovaChilli

Create a symbolic link to /etc/init.d/chilli in /etc/rc.d and name it S60chilli

cd /etc/rc.d
ln -s ../init.d/chilli S60chilli

This will automatically start CoovaChilli everytime you start your router.

Login Page

Lastly we need to create the login pages for CoovaChilli. CoovaChilli's package for OpenWRT does not include this and so we have to download CoovaChilli's source code and copy the contents of the miniportal forder

1. Back in your computer, download CoovaChilli's source code
   
wget http://ap.coova.org/chilli/coova-chilli-1.2.9.tar.gz

2. Untar the package
   
tar -xzvf coova-chilli-1.2.9.tar.gz

3. Goto the miniportal folder
   
cd coova-chilli-1.2.9/miniportal

4. Edit the files functions.sh.in, config-local.sh.in, uam.sh.in and replace @SBINDIR@ and @ETCCHILLI@ with /usr/sbin and /etc/chilli respectively
5. Rename the files that end in ".in", removing ".in" part
   
e.g. functions.sh.in will be renamed to functions.sh

1. Copy the contents of miniportal folder to your router's /etc/chilli/www
   
scp * root@192.168.1.1:/etc/chilli/www/  

We're done. All you have to do is reboot your router and connect to it once it starts up.

When you open your browser and starts browsing you will be redirected to CoovaChilli's login page.

Enjoy!!!