Here comes the stable...

I am uploading iso's today... No big changes to anything, but it completes the initial development of Public IP. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to be working hard at improvements(and I'm sure a couple bug fixes), and enhancements to the system. All I am saying is that the client(ZoneCD) and server(Authserver), will soon be ready for production use. After March 1, I will be developing and testing on another server.

Changes in the ZoneCD 0.1-4 "stable" release:

+ Closed port 22 for Public class
+ Updated nocat.conf LogoutURL directive
+ Updated dansguardian.conf accessdeniedaddress directive
+ Apache not started during boot (no longer needed)

The project will not be officially stable, in production, until I have completed documentation.

Polishing and Tweaking

I am cleaning house and checking all the programs on the Authserver.... I have compiled the final candidate for the official release of the ZoneCD. Will be up for grabs soon. I will post changes later, they were minor updates...

The ZoneCD has a lot of room for more additions, including bandwidth throttling and more accounting features like bandwidth usage.... These will be worked on and released once I prioritize everything on my plate.

Thanks for all the great feedback!

Translations

Based on feedback, I have added a language option to the Zone Control. The only pages that will be available for translation are the Term of Use, and the content filter block page. I have also added an email field that will appear on these two pages for reporting abuse or whatever.....

Public User Content Filter

I got Dansguardian working properly(I think). Turned out it was a tweak in the Authserver. Anywho, only Public class users should be filtered. If you experience no filter for the Public user class please post in the forum or email me... I need to squash this bug before releasing the stable version.

There is still a tweak in the dansguardian.conf file for the customization of the block page. Here is a demo of the new block page. This will be available in the next release.

Dansguardian Block Page

Dansguardian is not working like it should.
I will be adding customization/branding for the block page that Dansguardian throws-up to the user when a dirty request is made. These changes will require an update to the dansguardian.conf file, and NoCat's initialize.fw script on the ZoneCD.

An update is also required for nocat.conf in the next release.

ZoneCD PPPoE (v0.0-1 alpha)

I gave it a shot... Here is a beta release candidate for using the ZoneCD with a direct PPP Internet connection, not nat'ed behind a router. I don't have a PPP Internet connection to do a real-life test. If you do, please download and test it for me. I have only confirmed a successful boot....

f5ff315f95a8ba2f8d2c84c1d4daeac0 ZoneCD-PPP_0.0-1.iso

NoCat Patchers

Anyone experimenting with their own NoCat gateway (not ZoneCD), should check out the patch page. Or you can just make the change listed below to your nocat.conf.

LogoutURL http://home.publicip.net/logout.php?remote=$ZoneID

This is a simple tweak to keep your logo and stuff on the logout page.

Bandwidth Blues

Well it's a good thing I guess... The ZoneCD is being downloaded a lot. My current download server has 2GB of disk space and 80GB monthly transfer... Not gonna be enough. I am moving to another server that has 4.5GB space and 350GB transfer. Hopefully that will be enough.

Public IP is privately funded... I don't just think of all this cool stuff, I have to pay for it too. Please support Public IP by visiting sponsor links(Adwords), maybe buying some crap from the store, or just give it to me as a "donation" via paypal.

Finishing-Up

Please provide feedback on the "Customize Your Zone" page... I am just about done. Just going over it a few more times, but it seems to be working properly.

I did a little more programming to make it easier to setup the login page. If you do not define any HTML header or footer (zero characters in field), the program prints your logo with a hyperlinks to your site. It also defines a default footer with a "branded" Terms of Use page that contains your network name and logo.

OK.... Wrapping-up... I will continue testing the system as a whole, writing some documentation for the Authserver and Gateway, and setup the development/staging environment so you guys don't see me working anymore ;-). On target for March 1 stable release.

Oh yeah, I have one very small change to the iso... It just enables customization of the logout window... That web page is set in nocat.conf on the Gateway... PLEASE provide feedback if something is not working the way it should... I hate releasing the iso with one file that has 10 new characters in it... Waste of bandwidth!

Logo Upload

Still making progress on the customization screen... Instead of linking your logo from a remote server (<img src="http://www.your_server.org/images/logo.gif" /> ), I am allowing you(s) to upload your logo. Why? Because the screens use https, which means you get a warning dialog when linking to an object with http.

Here's the restrictions: *.gif or *.jpg (duh), and < 1MB. The image is not saved in the db, only the path from document root using a unique naming convention is saved. The file will be overwritten each time you upload... The default logo is below. You will want to keep yours near the same proportions to fit in the pages.

ZoneCD - Open Gateway

Based on feedback, I will be working on a ZoneCD with a NoCat Gateway in Open mode... No Authserver, just a splash page. If things continue to go well, look for the beta release to roll-out next week.

Crazy Days

The last couple day have been crazy! The project is starting to pick-up a little momentum, and I have gotten a lot of feedback. Thank you.

Now that the migration is complete, I have to force myself to get the customization screen done. Once that is complete, Public IP will be closer to production use. I will just be working out bugs, and adding docs after that...

Mail's In

Mail is up... If you notice anything not working (ZoneID request, or Contact form), please let me know... I am going to setup the devl enviroment so you guys can have public ip to yourselves. Target date is March 1 for stable production Authserver enviroment.

Migration Complete?

Well, everything is moved to the new server and everything seems to be resolving properly... There is one problem with mail being sent from the server with sendmail... but it doesn't impact the performance of the Authserver. I will get it fixed soon...

Please post in the forum if something isn't working right....

Mainmod available for download.

For anyone that is interested in customizing the ZoneCD, I have put the latest publicip.mod up for download.

http://www.publicip.net/index_sub.php?show=iso&from=hotspots

The Migration has begun

Started moving stuff to our new server last night. So far, so good.... Hopefully things continue to go smoothly and no interruption in server availability occurs. New web server is RH9 vs. current of RH7.3, I'm sure I'll be changing versions of stuff (Gnupg)...

Released ZoneCD v0.1-3(still beta)

It's up for grabs...The new iso is now available for download. It only has a couple changes, but they are important ones. This upgrade is required to take advantage of all functionality available in the Zone Control.

Version 0.1-3 Beta (Released 02·17·2004)

1. Fixes for user tracking module


2. Support for user classes. Only Public class is subject to content filter
   and firewall restrictions.


3. Fixed Gnupg again.
   
   

Total and comlpete customization

Those of you that have logged in have probably notice the new link - Customize Your Zone. This will allow you to customize all the pages displayed by Public IP's Authserver. This is all on the server side, so no updates to the ZoneCD will be required.

For those of you that want to put the entire login page together on you own webserver, I may be trying a little webpage siphoning to implement this... You will need to add the login <form> to a page on your webserver, set the url to your website, and the url of the page to display in the Customize Your Zone page. The login program will suck the html off of your page, and display it in the login program on our server.

I am hoping that the basic program will be completed by the end of the week, the web siphon may take a little longer. Please email me if you would like this functionality and i will push to get it done...

Authserver Migration

The Authserver migration was delayed, but the new box is built, and is now ready to roll... The switch should be completed by Wednesday. I will try to make the switch transparent, but the DNS change(actually it's an ip change) may cause a problem at first. We'll see how it goes...

User tracking comlpete

I have completed the programming to track individual user stats. I have also created interoperability to automate user access between separate zones. Public IP users can now access any Public IP location once they signup.

Try signing up for my testspot. Once you signup, check your Zone User page... nothing... Try logging in from your location with the new login, your new profile created on my testspot will be added to your Zone Users.

It's all coming together.....

ZoneCD v0.1-3(beta) delayed

I wanted to get a new ISO out today but ran into problems with Gnupg... again. It's up to it's old tricks again... It needs to run once with the Authserver key before the gateway will function. Hopefully tomorrow it will be up for downloading.

As pointed out in the forum the hit counting is failing with the current ZoneCD release. This is part of the reason for the new *-3 release.

I will post changes when the release is out..

Anybody testing the user classes available in the Zone User interface will need to update when the next release is posted. Trusted and Super users will still go through the content filter and have file restrictions. This will change in the next release. - see blog from Tue Feb 10, 11:43:09 PM

I apologize for all the Google ads all over the place... But it is the only means i currently have of funding the project. Please support Public IP by visiting sponsors... all funds are used to cover our server, and hosting costs.

Thank you.

I have completed the user tracking program on the server and made a couple tweaks to the parameters that are shared between the Authserver, Gateway(ZoneCD), and the zone control system. To get the full functionality of my recent improvement a new iso release will be made available.... But i will wait to release a new image for a week or two to add more features....

I still haven't started the migration to the new server. I am still waiting for the initial server setup to be completed. Maybe tomorrow...

I am making progress on user tracking... The current ZoneCD release should continue to work as is. I have updated the generic NoCat patch, and will release a new ZoneCD with slight modifications for changes in the redirect parameters. I have a couple other mods in mind as well... we'll see if i get the time to add them to the next beta release.

In bigger news... I will be moving Public IP to a new server(more space, bandwidth, and stability) over the weekend. If all goes well with the DNS switch, you should not notice a lapse in server availability.

Well, I have the NoCat User classes setup in the virtual authserver's user administrative interface completed.

I am currently developing logic to track individual user stats, and create interoperability to automate user access between separate zones. i.e. If a user registers in your zone, they also can access the Internet from another Public IP zone without re-registering. When a user accesses the Interent via a different zone, their existing login profile will be added to the new zone's virtual setup.

This will be available for both ZoneCD users and generic [patched] NoCat gateways.

Before documenting the Authserver, i thought i should finish it, or at least get it more better.... I am currently working on the Zone User interface to add NoCat Classes to each user profile. Three classes will be defined, each with specific rights on the network.

• Public Users - Content filtering, file restrictions, & strict firewall rules (ZoneCD - default).


• Trusted Users - No restrictions.


• Super Users - No restrictions, given network priority, pre-empts traffic from other classes (reserve for owner, staff, etc.).

You will be able to change user privileges using the drop-list provided. This should be the last major change before stabilizing the Authserver environment... I hope. After i finish this-up (couple days), I will add a couple more minor tweaks previously blogged, and the docs.

Anybody that is using/testing the 0.1-1 ZoneCD release must upgrade to 0.1-2. SSL has been turned off for the home subdomain. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause....

Since writing the How_to for the generic NoCat Gateway, I have realized the need for a general How_to for the Virtual Authserver. I will provide some explanation on how to customize the login & registration pages with examples, as well as setting the homepage redirect.

This is an area that still has a lot of room for more add-ons. The Virtual Authserver is controlled using a web interface I refer to as the Zone Admin. The Zone Admin will keep growing in features and customization options as Public IP evolves. It is currently not stable, and won't be until the first stable release on the ZoneCD. They both go hand-in-hand...

Planned additions to the Zone Admin:

+ Customize Dansguardian block page
+ Add a custom logo to "NoCat" login pop-up

Look for the How_to and new features to be available soon........

I am working on a How_To for using the Virtual Authserver with NoCat Gateway machines. The How_To will explain how to patch and configure any NoCat Gateway for use with Public IP's Authserver (not just ZoneCD users). I thought this might be useful since the NoCat Gateway is not intended to run on the same box as the Authserver. This would give NoCat users an easy, alternative setup option.

It's really only a couple of tweaks to nocat.conf and Passive.pm and you can forget about trying to setup the Gateway and Authserver on the same box. There are also usage stats, user data, and homepage redirection available with Public IP's Zone Admin web interface.

Well, at this point I am waiting for feedback, requests, and suggestions... Please contact me with any problems you experience. tullys(at)publicip.net

In the meantime I will update the website with more docs and info on the ZoneCD and how it all works.

Let me know if you have a tweaked ZoneCD you would like to make available for download.

If you would like to see a link to your WiFi, Networking, or Linux related website in the blog or Public IP's website send it to me... I'll put it up in the blog right away... I'll see about putting a link page together for project supporters.

The new beta release is out.... Here are some changes made...

1. Corrected first run gateway failure (GnuPG)


2. Changed Authserver address to ssl.publicip.net (trusted root certificate)


3. Dansguardian block page changed to remote server (ssl.publicip.net) to
   enable customization.


4. Eliminated a couple annoying boot bugs


5. Homepage redirect will only occur once every two hours


6. Opened port 110 for pop3 to allow users to check email.
   
   

I am updating SSL certs.... Please forgive any notices or warnings. Public IP runs virtual SSL hosting and I need to do the CA bundles so you may notice weirdness until tomorrow....

Anyone intersted in tweaking a release should start by checking the quickstart howto guide on Customizing the ZoneCD

I am nearly ready to release a new beta iso[0.0-2]. A few things will be updated including a new Authserver address with a trusted root certificate. I will post a Change Log with details. The thing that is killing me is friggin GnuPG. Seems that it likes to be initialized before it's first use.

NoCat uses gpg(GnuPG) to authenticate the gateway to the authserver. If GnuPG is not initialized (/root/.gnupg/* created) before the first request comes from a client it results in a page not found error. I have tried a number of things during boot with no success other than creating pile of coasters. Simply running '/usr/bin/gpg' does the trick, but pauses the boot till ^C sends a kill signal to it.