p2traveller - OpenWrt Travel Router

My adventures setting up a custom travel router with OpenWrt. A collection of OpenWrt configuration files & gists.

My initial router is a TP-Link TL-WR902AC v3, but that has proved insufficient for my demands.

I have a GL-XE300 Puli on order from AliExpress. The GL-XE300 Puli has OpenWrt as factory firmware. DO NOT buy direct from their website. You may be hit with hidden charges. Instead use their AliExpress store or a trusted reseller of your choice.

I will be adding two disks. The first will be a SD card formatted like...

partition | name / description | size --------- | ------------------ | ---- /dev/sda1 | ExtRoot / /overlay formatted Ext4 | 256 MB /dev/sda2 | swap formatted as Linux swap. | 192 MB /dev/sda3 | Remaining capacity formatted exFAT that I use as /webdev.

If you're not using a swap volume, /dev/sda2 will be the remaining space, & you won't have /dev/sda3.

The second will be a 5 TB hard drive for Time Machine backup.

Major Objectives

1. Mobile hotspot - to get online wherever I happen to be.
2. China proof - unrestricted internet access in countries with heavy restrictions.
3. Time Machine - so I don't have to plug a drive into my Mac for backups.
4. LAMP stack - for my little bits of web development.
5. File server - as an aid to web development.

Objectives/Wishlist Detail

1. one
2. two
3. three
4. four
5. five

Steps Taken

1. Flash OpenWrt to Router

2. Initial Router Setup

3. Some Preparation

4. Set Up ExtRoot & Swap

5. Set up Travelmate

6. Install OpenVPN

7. Step

8. Step

9. Step

10. Step

11. Set up TravelMate - turns OpenWrt onto a travel router.

---

###<a id="step_1"></a> 1. Flash OpenWrt to Router

• Instructions for TL-WR902AC.
• Not necessary on a router with OpenWrt pre-installed.

###<a id="step_2"></a> 2. Initial Router Setup

1. Go to Luci > Network > Wireless to configure WiFi.
2. Set up broadcast WiFi for both 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz.
3. Set up one connection, on 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz, to a local WiFi with public internet (will be deleted later).

###<a id="step_3"></a> 3. Some Preparation

These mount points aren't needed yet, making them now is least trouble. I need volumes mounted for Time Machine & web development.

mkdir -p /webdev
chmod 776 /webdev
touch /webdev/USB_DISK_NOT_PRESENT
chmod 444 /webdev/USB_DISK_NOT_PRESENT
mkdir -p /TimeMachine
chmod 776 /TimeMachine
touch /TimeMachine/USB_DISK_NOT_PRESENT
chmod 444 /TimeMachine/USB_DISK_NOT_PRESENT

###<a id="step_4"></a> 4. Set Up ExtRoot & Swap

• Instructions.
• I'm installing enough that ExtRoot is essential.
• Swap might not necessary on a more capable router.

Before rebooting...

block info

Output...

root@OpenWrt:~# block info
...
/dev/sda1: UUID="9b150345-5a3e-4164-b494-3e91dccfde8d" LABEL="overlay" VERSION="1.0" MOUNT="/mnt/sda1" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda2: UUID="0c01be5c-efb0-4032-9dba-87aada184546" LABEL="swap" VERSION="1" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda3: UUID="1536-CA6E" LABEL="web_dev" TYPE="exfat"

Using those UUIDs, edit fstab to look like...

config global
	option anon_swap            '0'
	option auto_swap            '1'
	option anon_mount           '1'
	option auto_mount           '1'
	option delay_root           '5'
	option check_fs             '0'

config 'mount'
	option target               '/overlay'
	option uuid                 '9b150345-5a3e-4164-b494-3e91dccfde8d'
	option enabled              '1'

config 'swap'
	option uuid                 '0c01be5c-efb0-4032-9dba-87aada184546'
	option enabled              '1'

config 'mount'
	option target               '/webdev'
	option uuid                 '1536-CA6E'
	option enabled              '1'

• Keep a copy of this, because it seems to get overwritten readily.
• A section for Time Machine will be added later.

Upgrading installed packages messes up the target entries in fstab, so edit to fix or scp the correct file to OpenWrt, then remount.

block umount
block mount

Ignore the error on /dev/sda3 for now.

###<a id="step_5"></a> 5. Set up Travelmate

Install Travelmate & a few extras...

opkg install dnsmasq iwinfo curl fdisk qrencode msmtp
opkg install -force-overwrite wpad
opkg install travelmate luci-app-travelmate

To complete Travelmate setup the local connection added in 3 of step 2 should be removed.

1. If logged into Luci, log out.
2. Log into Luci & there is now a Services menu with a single item, Travelmate.
3. Select that item, & click Interface Wizard....
4. Add wireless stations in the Wireless Stations tab.

###<a id="step_6"></a> 6. Install OpenVPN

opkg update
opkg install -force-overwrite openvpn-openssl luci-app-openvpn

Log back into Luci & there will now be a menu VPN > OpenVPN.

ExpressVPN Setup

Log into your ExpressVPN account & navigate to Manual Configuration.

*<a id="ovpn_firewall"></a> Firewall...

###<a id="step_7"></a> 7.

###<a id="step_8"></a> 8.

###<a id="step_9"></a> 9.

###<a id="step_10"></a> 10.

Gists

• OpenVPN UCI Directives Cheat Sheet