Server as router setup assistance

[Messugga]

Hey guys

I have an atom-based, low power box with a couple of NICs. I'd like to use it as a router as my old Netgear is showing its age these days and would function better as a normal modem. What I would like to happen is have the server emulate what's commonly referred to as half-bridge mode on routers, in that it dials a PPPoE connection, which is accessible to all systems behind it, on the LAN, or have he option of dialing another PPPoE connection from one or more of the local machines. So what I have is the Netgear running in modem mode, connected to eth0, and then eth1 connected to a switch and the rest of the LAN.

Now, getting the box to dial a PPPoE connection through eth0 is pretty damn simple. Getting that connection shared through eth1, I'm yet to manage. I'm making use of Ubuntu, which I suspect may not be the best distribution for this, but it's what I know.
I'm also not finding much joy with regards to whether it's even possible to dial another PPPoE connection from within the local LAN.

Any and all advice on this would be appreciated. Keep in mind that I'd like to run a firewall, DHCP server, a torrent client and maybe one or two other things on the server. If what I want isn't possible, then so be it, but it would be pretty nice if it is.

 

[jord@n]

Have a look at endian community - http://www.endian.com/en/community/download/

 

[Messugga]

Thanks, I'll have a look. It seems part of my problem is the NIC configuration. Something's being strange there and one of the interfaces wouldn't keep its IP. I reinstalled Ubuntu, just to get a fresh start, and will try again.

Just to confirm from anyone familiar with this sort of setup:
I need to configure my modem as IP 192.168.0.1
I need to configure eth0 as IP 192.168.0.2
I need to configure eth1 as IP 192.168.1.1
ppp0, the PPPoE, connection obviously gets its IP from the ISP

Use FireStarter to configure connection sharing (It seems a bit easier than doing the configs manually) on eth1, using ppp0.

In the end, things look like this:
INTERNET << ppp0 << eth1 << switch << local LAN

Is my logic correct or am I missing the ball completely? Will this allow additional PPPoE connections to be made from inside the LAN?

 

[Roger.Wilco]

How about something like Smoothwall or IPCop?

I have a pc with a couple of nics, running VM machines. One of them is IPCop, works perfectly. You can maybe use vSphere (it's free) and run something like IPCop, plus another OS for your torrents etc?

 

[Messugga]

How about something like Smoothwall or IPCop?

I have a pc with a couple of nics, running VM machines. One of them is IPCop, works perfectly. You can maybe use vSphere (it's free) and run something like IPCop, plus another OS for your torrents etc?

These are options I'm willing to consider. Before I charge off in completely the wrong direction, I'd like to know if what I want to do is even possible. I have a 10Mbps ADSL connection and 4Mbps uncapped. The 4Mbps connection needs to be accessible to all computers on the LAN, including the server for torrent duty, but since I have an extra 6Mbps of bandwidth spare, I'd like to be able to make use of it when required, by opening a PPPoE connection from whatever system I'm working on, with one of my capped accounts.

 

[MyWorld]

Yes it is possible, I did this in the ISDN days on Gentoo, but that was a long time ago.

Basically all you will need to know is a bit of IPtables to route the traffic correctly and that is about it. If you Google a bit you should get some great tutorials that should set you on your way. Most sysadmins will do something like this on a daily basis so if you are lucky one of them can point your to the correct tutorial.

 

[ponder]

Something's being strange there and one of the interfaces wouldn't keep its IP. I reinstalled Ubuntu, just to get a fresh start, and will try again.

Is network manager running?
Network manager only allows for a single active interface at any one time and would disable a second one if you have one configured. So try disabling network manager.

This is old but probably still relevant to some degree http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=111972

Alternatively have a look at ClearOS which you can easily configure to be a all-in-one solution. Or if you want less than that have a look at ZeroShell.

 

[mccrack]

take a look at Vyatta, http://www.vyatta.org. it's debian rebased with a focus as a o.s based router and it has a small footprint.

i'm currently using it to fire up 4 PPPOE connections (load-balancing across) and then quite a big network sitting behind it and routing internet traffic via it. shaping/sniffing/throttling it's got it all. more than happy to share my config if you take that route as an assist. PM.