OpenWrt with Transmission, Samba and vsftpd

December 1st, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , ,

My brother asked me to customize firmware in his WiFi router TP-Link TL-WR1043ND. He wants to use if for downloading torrents and sharing them using smb and ftp protocols.

I have good experiences with OpenWrt, which is really good in customization and suits well for this purpose. Nowadays you there are few torrent clients in OpenWrt distribution, but I choose transmission and for ftp daemon vsftpd.

I decided to compile it from scratch (using Fedora 13), because I’m able include all necessary software in the image (because it’s compressed). If I install the packages using opkg later I will not have enough free space to install all my favorite programs.

Here are my notes beginning with the compilation from sources, uploading firmware and basic OpenWrt configuration.

Download necessary packages to compile OpenWrt:

yum install subversion gcc-c++ libz-dev flex unzip ncurses-devel zlib-devel

Download OpenWrt Backfire from svn:

cd /var/tmp/
svn co svn://svn.openwrt.org/openwrt/branches/backfire

or use the standard way:

cd /var/tmp/
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/10.03/backfire_10.03_source.tar.bz2
tar xvjf backfire_10.03_source.tar.bz2
mv backfire_10.03 backfire

Start configuring it:

cd backfire

./scripts/feeds update

./scripts/feeds install block-extroot e2fsprogs cifsmount collectd-mod-conntrack collectd-mod-contextswitch collectd-mod-cpu collectd-mod-df collectd-mod-disk collectd-mod-dns collectd-mod-exec collectd-mod-filecount collectd-mod-iptables collectd-mod-irq collectd-mod-memory collectd-mod-netlink collectd-mod-network collectd-mod-ping collectd-mod-processes collectd-mod-protocols collectd-mod-syslog collectd-mod-tcpconns collectd-mod-uptime collectd-mod-users collectd-mod-vmem darkstat htop kmod-ath9k kmod-usb2 kmod-usb-storage luci-app-livestats luci-app-ntpc luci-app-qos luci-app-samba luci-app-statistics luci-ssl mc mini-snmpd mount.ntfs-3g nmap ntfs-3g ssmtp tcpdump-mini transmission-web vsftpd wget wpad-mini zoneinfo-europe

make menuconfig

Now you should select what you want to have in the final firmware image. I just selected what I installed from the feeds above (my .config):

Then run

make V=99

… and take a cofee :-)

Connect router to your desktop/laptop and flash it form the webgui using this file: /var/tmp/backfire/bin/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-factory.bin

If you already have OpenWrt installed you can replace it by this command:

sysupgrade -v -i ftp://ftp.xvx.cz/pub/distributions/openwrt/bracha/openwrt-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin
# scp ./backfire/bin/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin root@192.168.0.2:/tmp
# sysupgrade -v -i /tmp/openwrt-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin
# or
# mtd -r write /tmp/openwrt-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin firmware

Set password using telnet command and continue with firewall, network and other system stuff :

ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0
telnet 192.168.1.1
passwd

uci add firewall rule
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].name=ssh
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].src=wan
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].target=ACCEPT
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].proto=tcp
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].dst_port=22

uci add firewall rule
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].name=ftp
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].src=wan
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].target=ACCEPT
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].proto=tcp
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].dst_port=21

uci add firewall rule
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].name=snmp
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].src=wan
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].target=ACCEPT
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].proto=udp
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].dst_port=161

uci add firewall rule
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].name=transmission
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].src=wan
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].target=ACCEPT
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].proto=tcp
uci set firewall.@rule[-1].dst_port=51413

uci set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].ssid=kerova11
uci set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].encryption=psk2
uci set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].key=xxxxxxxx
uci set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].network=lan

uci set wireless.radio0.channel=3
uci set wireless.radio0.htmode=HT40
uci del wireless.@wifi-device[0].disabled

uci set dhcp.@dnsmasq[0].notinterface="eth0.2"

#uci set dhcp.wifi=dhcp
#uci set dhcp.wifi.interface=wifi
#uci set dhcp.wifi.start=10
#uci set dhcp.wifi.limit=250

uci add dhcp host
uci set dhcp.@host[-1].name=jura_nb
uci set dhcp.@host[-1].ip=192.168.1.5
uci set dhcp.@host[-1].mac=00:21:5d:70:61:de

uci add dhcp host
uci set dhcp.@host[-1].name=jura_pda
uci set dhcp.@host[-1].ip=192.168.1.6
uci set dhcp.@host[-1].mac=00:1a:6b:95:ae:26

uci set system.@system[0].hostname=OpenWrt-bracha
uci set system.@system[0].timezone=CET-1CEST,M3.5.0,M10.5.0/3
uci set system.@system[0].timezone=CET-1CEST,M3.5.0,M10.5.0/3
uci set system.@system[0].log_size=64
uci set system.@system[0].log_ip=gate.xvx.cz

uci set qos.wan.upload=819200
uci set qos.wan.download=819200

uci commit
reboot

Try if you are able to mount NTFS drives and create swap on it:

echo "ruzicka:*:1000:1000:ruzicka:/tmp:/bin/false" >> /etc/passwd
mkdir /mnt/sda1
#mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
ntfs-3g -o rw,utf8,fmask=0133,dmask=0022,noatime,uid=1000 /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
mkdir -p /mnt/samba /mnt/sda1/openwrt/shared /mnt/sda1/openwrt/torrent-incomplete /mnt/sda1/openwrt/torrent /mnt/sda1/openwrt/collectd_rrdtool /mnt/sda1/openwrt/shared/torrent
#swapon /dev/sdb2
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/swap count=262144
mkswap /mnt/sda1/openwrt/swap
swapon /mnt/sda1/openwrt/swap

cat >> /etc/rc.local << EOF
ntfs-3g -o rw,utf8,fmask=0133,dmask=0022,noatime,uid=1000 /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 && swapon /mnt/sda1/openwrt/swap &
/etc/init.d/transmission start
/etc/init.d/transmission enable
mount.cifs //192.168.0.1/all /mnt/samba -o guest,nosetuids,nosuid,noperm,noacl,noexec,nodev,nouser_xattr,file_mode=0644,dir_mode=0755 &
exit 0
EOF

#uci set fstab.@swap[0].enabled=1
#uci set fstab.@mount[0].target=/mnt/sda1
#uci set fstab.@mount[0].fstype=ext4
#uci set fstab.@mount[0].enabled=1

Setup the ssh key to enable autologin:

scp $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa.pub root@192.168.0.2:/tmp/authorized_keys
ssh root@192.168.0.2
cp /tmp/authorized_keys /etc/dropbear/authorized_keys
chmod 600 /etc/dropbear/authorized_keys

Configure certificate details for https:

uci set uhttpd.px5g.days=3650
uci set uhttpd.px5g.country=CZ
uci set uhttpd.px5g.state="Czech Republic"
uci set uhttpd.px5g.location=Brno
rm /etc/uhttpd.crt /etc/uhttpd.key

Configure darkstat and snmpd:

uci set darkstat.@darkstat[0].interface=wan

uci set mini_snmpd.@mini_snmpd[0].interfaces=lo,eth0.2,wlan0
uci set mini_snmpd.@mini_snmpd[0].community=my_community
uci set mini_snmpd.@mini_snmpd[0].location='Kerova 11, Brno'
uci set mini_snmpd.@mini_snmpd[0].contact='PeRu'

Setup ssmtp to be able to send emails:

sed -i 's/\(^root\)=.*/\1=openwrt.email@gmail.com/;s/\(^mailhub\).*/\1=smtp.gmail.com:587/;s/\(^rewriteDomain=\).*/\1gmail.com/;s/^#\(FromLineOverride=YES\)/\1/;s/^#\(UseTLS=YES\)/\1/' /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf

cat >> /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf << EOF
UseSTARTTLS=YES
AuthUser=openwrt.email
AuthPass=my_password
EOF

Samba configuration:

uci delete samba.@sambashare[-1]
uci delete samba.@samba[-1].homes
uci add samba sambashare
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].name=shared
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].path=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/shared
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].read_only=yes
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].guest_ok=yes

uci add samba sambashare
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].name=shared_rw
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].path=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/shared
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].read_only=no
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].guest_ok=no
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].users=ruzicka

uci add samba sambashare
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].name=openwrt
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].path=/mnt/sda1/openwrt
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].read_only=no
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].guest_ok=no
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].users=ruzicka

uci add samba sambashare
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].name=sda1
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].path=/mnt/sda1
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].read_only=no
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].guest_ok=no
uci set samba.@sambashare[-1].users=ruzicka

sed -i -e 's|security = share|security = user|' /etc/samba/smb.conf.template
sed -i -e 's|ISO-8859-1|UTF-8|' /etc/samba/smb.conf.template
echo -e "\tdisplay charset = UTF8" >> /etc/samba/smb.conf.template
echo -e "\tdos charset = CP852" >> /etc/samba/smb.conf.template

smbpasswd ruzicka testpassword123

/etc/init.d/samba enable

FTP configuration:

sed -i 's/\(^anonymous_enable\).*/\1=YES/;s/^#\(syslog_enable=YES\).*/\1/' /etc/vsftpd.conf
cat >> /etc/vsftpd.conf << EOF
anon_root=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/shared
ftp_username=nobody
hide_ids=YES
EOF

passwd ruzicka

Luci statistics module configuration:

uci set luci_statistics.collectd_ping.enable=1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_ping.Hosts=www.google.com
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_df.enable=1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_df.Devices=/dev/sda1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_df.MountPoints=/mnt/sda1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_df.FSTypes=fuseblk
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_dns.enable=1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_dns.Interfaces="eth0.2"
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_interface.Interfaces="eth0.2 wlan0"
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_iptables.enable=0
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_irq.enable=1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_network.enable=1
uci set luci_statistics.@collectd_network_server[0].host="\"collectd.xvx.cz\""
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_netlink.enable=1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_netlink.VerboseInterfaces="eth0.2 wlan0"
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_netlink.QDiscs="eth0.2 wlan0"
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_tcpconns.LocalPorts="22 80 443 667"
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_rrdtool.DataDir=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/collectd_rrdtool
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_disk.enable=1
uci set luci_statistics.collectd_disk.Disks=sda

mkdir -p /etc/collectd/conf.d
cat > /etc/collectd/conf.d/my_collectd.conf << EOF
LoadPlugin contextswitch
LoadPlugin memory
LoadPlugin uptime
LoadPlugin vmem

LoadPlugin protocols
<Plugin protocols>                                                                                                                                                            
        Value "/^Tcp:/"                                                                                                                                                      
        IgnoreSelected false                                                                                                                                                  
</Plugin>

LoadPlugin filecount
<Plugin filecount>
    <Directory "/mnt/sda1/openwrt/torrent/torrents">
      Instance "torrents"
      Name "*.torrent"
    </Directory>
</Plugin>

LoadPlugin syslog
<Plugin syslog>
  LogLevel "info"
</Plugin>
EOF

Transmission bittorrent client configuration:

uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].enabled=1
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].config_dir=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/torrent
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].download_dir=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/shared/torrent
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].incomplete_dir_enabled=true
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].incomplete_dir=/mnt/sda1/openwrt/torrent-incomplete
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].speed_limit_down_enabled=false
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].speed_limit_down=100
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].speed_limit_up=0
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].alt_speed_enabled=false
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].alt_speed_down=0
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].alt_speed_up=10
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].alt_speed_time_day=127
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].alt_speed_time_begin=0
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].alt_speed_time_end=360
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].rpc_whitelist=127.0.0.1,192.168.1.*
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].start_added_torrents=true
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].script_torrent_done_enabled=true
uci set transmission.@transmission[-1].script_torrent_done_filename=/etc/torrent-done.sh

cat > /etc/torrent-done.sh << \EOF
echo -e "$TR_TORRENT_NAME finished." | ssmtp ruzickajiri@gmail.com
EOF
chmod a+x /etc/torrent-done.sh

uci commit
reboot

Now you can use one of the transmission clients and try to download something.

I’m sure you need to customize most of the thing mentioned above, but these notes can still help you.

Enjoy :-)

VN:F [1.9.20_1166]
Rating: 10.0/10 (4 votes cast)
OpenWrt with Transmission, Samba and vsftpd, 10.0 out of 10 based on 4 ratings
Leave a comment
  1. massayoshi
    December 7th, 2010 at 02:29
    Reply | Quote | #1

    what about a way to upload or send a torrent file when not at home?
    great article, I just bought the same router and I was already running everything but I think I’m gonna replace everything with your file.

    thanks!

  2. Petr Ruzicka
    December 7th, 2010 at 21:34
    Reply | Quote | #2

    Hello.
    Honestly I was also thinking about uploading torrents to the “watch” directory which will cause transmission to download it automatically.
    There are two options in OpenWRT (watch_dir_enabled and watch_dir), which enable this feature, but when I tried it had no luck with it…
    If you have working router – then it’s better not to touch it if it’s working… :-)

  3. massayoshi
    December 8th, 2010 at 00:46
    Reply | Quote | #3

    @Petr Ruzicka
    Yeah I see what you mean. I was reading that watch_dir needs inotify enabled in kernel. Maybe that’s what’s wrong. But since I have no idea how to compile a new kernel, I’ll leave it that way.

    Two things that aren’t exactly what I wanted is I can get samba to work. It always gives an user error when I try to connect and the web interface for transmission takes a lot of time to load even though I know the daemon is running. Anyway, I’ll keep trying.

  4. massayoshi
    December 8th, 2010 at 00:49
    Reply | Quote | #4

    Oh and I forgot. Instead of sending me an email when the torrent is done, I will tweet me. That should be fun.

  5. Csarlee
    January 16th, 2011 at 09:42
    Reply | Quote | #5

    Very good stuff! Thanks!

  6. Cosmin
    December 19th, 2011 at 17:58
    Reply | Quote | #6

    Hello, great tutorial,
    I compiled everything and got the folowing in /var/tmp/backfire/bin/ar71xx

    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 695 Dec 19 04:32 md5sums
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 9.0M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-rootfs.tar.gz
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 13M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-root.jffs2-128k
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 12M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-root.jffs2-64k
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 7.2M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-root.squashfs
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 7.1M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-root.squashfs-4k
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 1.2M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-uImage-gzip.bin
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 849K Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-uImage-lzma.bin
    -rwxr-xr-x. 1 cosmin cosmin 2.6M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-vmlinux.bin
    -rwxr-xr-x. 1 cosmin cosmin 2.7M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-vmlinux.elf
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 1.2M Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-vmlinux.gz
    -rw-r–r–. 1 cosmin cosmin 896K Dec 19 04:32 openwrt-ar71xx-vmlinux.lzma
    drwxr-xr-x. 2 cosmin cosmin 12K Dec 19 04:32 packages

    which is the bin to write to the router?
    I don`t have /var/tmp/backfire/bin/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-tl-wr1043nd-v1-squashfs-factory.bin

    regards,
    Cosmin

  7. Kea
    November 15th, 2012 at 16:54
    Reply | Quote | #7

    Hi, nice tutorial. Is it possible to use samba to transfer files over WiFi using two router boards that run Openwrt?