Mesh RPi

This article describes the needed modifications for PirateBox RPi image 1.1.3 to get a similar setup like on OpenWrt. Similar setup means a bridged network between AP and Mesh.

Note: Due to kernel incompatibilities of BATMAN-advanced betweeen OpenWrt and RPi, both Systems can not talk to each other.

Requirements:

1. 2nd wifi card for mesh only
2. some time ;)

All the scripts will be executed on the Pi. The configuration consists of the following steps:

1. Setup a software bridge
2. Reconfigure PirateBox to make use use of the bridge interface
3. Enable IPv6 configuration for PirateBox
4. Create Mesh setup script & make it bootable
5. Configure Avahi to announce PirateBox

Create the network configuration file for the bridge:

cat <<EOF > piratebox_bridge
Description="General bridge interface for PirateBox"
Connection=bridge
Interface=br-lan
BindsToInterfaces=()
ForceConnect=yes
#Enabling DHCP stuff
SkipForwardingDelay=yes
IP=static
Address=(192.168.77.1/24)
IP6=no
EOF
sudo mv piratebox_bridge /etc/netctl/
sudo netctl enable piratebox_bridge
sudo netctl start piratebox_bridge

sudo sed -i -e 's|DO_IFCONFIG="yes"|DO_IFCONFIG="no"|' \
    -e 's|DO_BRIDGE="no"|DO_BRIDGE="yes"|' \
     /opt/piratebox/conf/piratebox.conf

Edit piratebox.service file for system dependencies

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/piratebox.service

The top of the file needs to look like this:

[Unit]
Description=PirateBox Service
PartOf=netctl@piratebox_bridge.service