Also... I'm aware that the Installing Homenet guide elides the reasons for 
using it. Do we have a short paragraph that tells *why* a lay person would want 
to use Homenet? 

If I'm not mistaken, these are the big attributes:

- No configuration - Homenet routers figure out how things are connected and do 
the right thing
- Local devices (printers, servers, etc) can be discovered easily (using mDNS, 
et al, but I don't want to use those acronyms...)
- Is it true that if a vendor shipped a fully-Homenet router, you could take it 
out of the box, plug it in, and you'd be 'on the air'?

I looked to see if there was anything on homewrt.org (it's currently down, but 
the Wayback Machine archived a few pages - 
https://web.archive.org/web/20150912135701/http://www.homewrt.org/doku.php ) 
Nothing there that I could use. 

Thanks.

Rich


> On Jul 29, 2016, at 10:42 AM, Rich Brown <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Thanks again for your comments. They're reflected in the new draft: 
> https://gist.github.com/richb-hanover/ec88b851c4da074e48003e6fe9276901
> 
>> On Jul 29, 2016, at 7:12 AM, Juliusz Chroboczek 
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Should the procedure remain silent on the firewall? Or should people
>>> just put all interfaces into the lan zone? Or something else?
>> 
>> Pleae leave it as it is, it's fine.  I'd remove the bits about making E0
>> internal, it just confuses things -- if the router has a 4-port switch,
>> it's not likely that getting an extra internal interface is likely to be
>> a critical feature.
> 
> Done.
> 
>>>> If I were you, I'd explicitly tell hnetd that the E0 interface is external
>>>> ("option mode external"), since I don't trust the edge detection mechanism.
>> 
>>> I think you mean E1 - that's what the instructions use for the wide area
>>> interface.
>> 
>> It looks like one of us is confused.
> 
> It looks like it was me. :-) 
> 
>>> And 'option mode external' goes in /etc/config/network?
>> 
>> Yes, in the interface section.
> 
> I have updated E0 /etc/config/network to mention "option 'mode' 'external'"
> 
>>> And is there a man page for hnetd that gives other options?
>> 
>> https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/uci/network#protocol_hnet_self-managing_home_network_hncp
> 
> Added to the External References section along with a link to RFC7788
> 
>>>> - before you start hacking, write down the IPv6 link-local address of
>>>> the LAN interface, to make sure you can log in;
>> 
>>> Done. The newest draft also tells people to make backups :-)
>> 
>> Please tone it down -- no need to frighten people,
> 
> Actually, I'm writing this for a less knowledgeable audience. (Me, for 
> example. I'm learning as I go along, with your kind assistance :-) 
> 
> My goal is to produce an approachable document that has a good balance 
> between background information and "Just Do This". I want to produce the 
> "guide" that I wish I had when I started with Homenet. That's why I'm also 
> adding in bits of knowledge (in the External References, Troubleshooting 
> Procedures, etc.) that might help other people get themselves out of trouble.
> 
> This is a corollary of your assertion at IETF the other day ("if it’s not 
> implemented, it didn’t happen") It's also true that if no one can install it, 
> it's not going to be tested in the real world. :-)
> 
>> and if things go wrong,
>> you just boot into failsafe mode and either fix things or reset the router:
>> 
>> https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/generic.failsafe
> 
> This is useful advice. There's now a link to the page in the Troubleshooting 
> Procedures. 
> 
> <rant> That OpenWrt page is a primary example of the style of documentation I 
> abhor. It's enough to make the shields come down over my eyes. Huge blocks of 
> text. Starts with a description of what it does ("bypasses all 
> configuration...") without initially saying *why* you might want to use it. 
> Three alternative methods, giving equal prominence to a) the most common case 
> that's easy and will work 99% of the time, b) a super-techie process (packet 
> sniffer) and c) using a serial connection that most people don't have. In 
> fact, I had never looked at that page until you recommended it, since it was 
> so inscrutable, and I wasn't sure it would ever apply to me...</rant>
> 
>> Please use "sysupgrade -b backup.tar.gz" to do the backup -- I'd rather
>> you didn't mention the web interface at all, I've found it to be more
>> hassle than it's worth, and it's not included by default in the snapshot
>> (unstable) builds.
> 
> I have added sysupgrade to the Backup procedure. But I like to recommend the 
> LuCI GUI because:
>       a) it gets the backup off the device onto my computer
>       b) it date-stamps the backup
>       c) it adds the router's name to the filename
> 
>>>> - you should review /etc/config/upnpd, and list the interfaces you want
>>>> to allow NAT-PMP on.
>> 
>>> I'm not quite sure how that affects things. Where would NAT-PMP be
>>> important in my home net?
>> 
>> It allows clients to perform port redirection automatically.  Firewalls
>> are evil.
>> 
>> I also add the following to the firewall config:
>> 
>> config rule
>>       option target 'ACCEPT'
>>       option src 'wan'
>>       option name 'Accept-v6'
>>       option family 'ipv6'
>>       option dest 'lan'
>>       option dest_port '1024-65535'
>> 
>> Of course, since you've renamed wan and lan, you'll need to tweak the
>> relevant tweakanda.
> 
> I have added both these to a "Next Steps" section since they're not core to 
> switching to hnet. I don't know much about them, and will study them more 
> when I get time.
> 
>>> And finally, a prosaic question: There is a -wide variety of single
>>> quote usage in config files. Are there any places that quotes are
>>> mandatory?
>> 
>> The syntax is the same as the shell's.  Actually, the config files are
>> shell script fragments -- 'config' and 'option' are shell functions,
>> defined in /lib/functions.sh.
>> 
>>> What is the best practice here?
>> 
>> Put single quotes everywhere, it avoids having to think about special
>> characters.
> 
> Done.
> 
>> Thanks again for your work, Rich.
>> 
>> -- Juliusz
> 
> And thank you for your patience. 
> 
> Rich

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