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Nanny-level CatWrt Quick Network Guide

#CatWrt#Openwrt285
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This post is translated from Chinese into English through AI.View Original
AI-generated summary
The document provides a guide for installing CatWrt on x86_64 platforms, detailing methods such as fresh installation, system upgrades, and container setups. It emphasizes using the PE method for most users, including those with virtual machines. The installation process involves using tools like Ventoy and soft disk tools to create a bootable USB drive with the CatWrt image. Key steps include: 1. Preparing the USB drive with Ventoy. 2. Using the soft disk tool to write the CatWrt image to the hard drive. 3. Adjusting network settings if the default IP address conflicts with existing network architecture. 4. Changing the default password for security. The document also discusses DHCP server configurations, including basic and advanced settings, and provides instructions for managing multiple network interfaces and PPPoE connections. Overall, it serves as a comprehensive installation and configuration guide for CatWrt users.

Start#

Applicable to the entire CatWrt series and LEDE, not applicable to OpenWrt mainline LuCI 18.06+, I think this method is relatively standard.

There are several ways to install CatWrt on the x86_64 platform:

  • Fresh installation (PE)
  • System upgrade (overlay partition on the existing system)
  • Container (LXC, Docker)

Here, the PE method is used, suitable for most users including virtual machine users. This also includes the Wireless router series with wireless capabilities; users can skip this part if they wish.

However, virtual machines can directly import the hard disk; VMDK files imported directly are prone to corruption during power outages. VMware users are advised to choose the PE installation method; PVE, UNRAID, etc., can directly import virtual hard disk files.

Cattools supports a quick network wizard within the CatWrt terminal. If you're interested, please refer to 👇

1

Installation#

Fresh Installation (x86)#

Soft router steps only

Tools needed:

I will demonstrate briefly. First, install UltraISO; there are no special notes, just proceed to the next step.

Next, extract Ventoy, open Ventoy2Disk.exe, and select your USB drive for installation. This will format your USB drive, so please back up your data.

Open the WEPE toolbox, select Other Installation Methods - Generate Bootable ISO in the lower right corner.

Open the generated WEPE ISO file with UltraISO. If a prompt appears about not being registered, select Continue Trial.

Then, we will place the IMG writing tool and the CatWrt img image inside. I recommend using EFI firmware for new machines. Once everything is set up, the file structure will look like this.

image

| WEPE.ISO
.
├── EFI
├── WEPE
├── BOOTMGR
├── DiskImage_1_6_WinAll.exe
├── CatWrt.v23.8.x86_64-squashfs-combined-efi.img

Insert the keyboard and mouse USB drive into the machine, power it on, and select to boot from the USB drive. In the Ventoy interface, select the WEPE we just prepared and press enter, enter, enter; there’s nothing special to note here.

Once on the desktop, open This PC (File Explorer) and find the DVD drive labeled "Micro PE Toolbox." Open the IMG writing tool DiskImage_1_6_WinAll.exe, select Write Image to and choose our hard drive Physical Disk 0(223.57 GB). Note that this includes partitions; selecting a partition here is incorrect.

If the hard drive already has another system installed, directly writing the img will cause error 2048.

It is recommended to use partition management tools to clear the corresponding hard drive partition before proceeding.

Then, in Source File, select Browse to find the IMG image, click Start to confirm the writing process. Once the writing is complete, restart and remove the USB drive.

image

For issues related to EFI firmware and booting, it is recommended to contact the industrial computer manufacturer to inquire about how to enable UEFI and disable secure boot.

Flashing Mode UBOOT/Breed (wireless)#

Hard router steps only

For the Redmi AX6000 router, plug it in and press and hold for 15 seconds to enter UBOOT at http://192.168.31.1.

For TP-Link XDR 4288/6086/6088 routers, plug it in and press and hold for 5 seconds to enter UBOOT at http://192.168.1.1.

For Xiaomi/Redmi AC2100/Newifi-d2, plug it in and hold until it flashes quickly to enter Breed at http://192.168.1.1.

Preview the file and select the image Update to proceed. The method for setting Xiaomi mt7621 Breed corresponds to the released blog!

Change Network Segment (x86)#

Soft router steps only

If the CatWrt's 192.168.1.4/24 network segment differs from your network architecture, you need to change it; generally, it is unnecessary to change.

Since it is not initialized now, we will operate in the terminal. Enter nano /etc/config/network to edit.

Find config interface 'lan' and change option ipaddr '192.168.1.4'. Remember not to delete any punctuation!

After editing, press [ctrl]+[O] when you see File Name to Write: /etc/config/network and press enter to save, then [ctrl]+[X] to exit the nano editor.

Enter reboot to restart and apply the configuration changes.

Initialization#

In the following operations, the default shortcut link is set to 192.168.1.4. If you have modified the network segment, please enter manually.

Change Password#

The default system password is password. If your gateway needs to connect to the internet and you have public network conditions (IPv4/v6), it can easily expose you to the public network, leading to backdoor implantation and becoming part of a botnet. Therefore, we need to change our password.

Log in to the backend System - Management Rights, find the host password, enter your password, confirm the password, and save.

Lan - DHCP#

Network - Interface - LAN

Here, taking a four-port industrial computer as an example, by default, there is only eth0 (lan) and eth1 (wan, wan6). You can directly see the following configuration.

If it is a virtual machine or a dual-port industrial computer, you don’t need to worry about it; just use the default settings, and you can swap ports if needed.

  • General Configuration Basic Settings

Protocol Name: Static Address

IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.4

IPv4 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

IPv4 Gateway: 192.168.1.4

IPv4 Broadcast: 192.168.1.0

Use Custom DNS Servers: 223.6.6.6 119.29.29.99

IPv6 Allocation Length: 60


  • DHCP Server Basic Settings

Start: 20

Number of Clients: 150

Lease Time: 12h


  • DHCP Server Advanced Settings

Force (If you are bypassing the gateway, please turn it off; if you are using a router in AP mode, it is recommended to turn it on)


  • DHCP Server IPv6 Settings

Routing Advertisement Service: Server Mode

DHCPv6 Service: Server Mode

DHCPv6 Mode: Stateless + Stateful

Advertised DNS Server: 240C::6666

Save without applying, and continue to the next step.

Multi-Port (x86)#

Soft router steps only; if you have more than two ports, you need to bind them manually!

  • LAN General Configuration Physical Settings Interface:

Bridge Interface

Ethernet Adapter: "eth0" Ethernet Adapter: "eth0" (wan, wan6)

Ethernet Adapter: "eth1" Ethernet Adapter: "eth1" (lan)

Ethernet Adapter: "eth2" Ethernet Adapter: "eth2" (lan)

Ethernet Adapter: "eth3" Ethernet Adapter: "eth3" (lan)


  • WAN/ WAN6 General Configuration Physical Settings Interface:

Ethernet Adapter: "eth0" Ethernet Adapter: "eth0" (wan, wan6)

……

Save without applying, and continue to the next step.

PPPoE#

By default, it uses DHCP to connect to the internet. If you need to dial up, click on Protocol Name, find PPPoE, confirm the switch, and enter your broadband account and password. You can contact your ISP customer service or installation technician for specifics.

Save without applying, and continue to the next step.

TurboACC#

Software Traffic Offload (x86: not necessary to enable sfe)

DNS Cache (mt7621 - wireless: small memory, do not enable)

DNS Resolution Method: Use PDNSD for resolution

Upstream DNS Servers: 223.5.5.5,223.6.6.6,119.29.29.99,119.28.28.28

Save without applying, and continue to the next step.

UPNP#

It is recommended to enable UPNP to improve P2P efficiency, but using UPNP may cause streaming media software and domestic downloaders (Thunder, Baidu Cloud) to use your broadband for commercial purposes.

Enable UPnP and NAT-PMP Services

Enable UPnP Functionality

Save without applying, and continue to the next step.

WLAN (Wi-Fi)#

Hard router steps only

Since the wireless series is divided into mt7621 and mt798x, please choose accordingly.

x86 and arm users can directly Save and Apply.

  • Network - Wireless

ra0/radio0 is your 2.4G wireless; modify it; rai0/radio1 is your 5G wireless; modify it.

  • Interface Configuration - Basic Configuration

ESSID/SSID is your wireless name; enter it as needed.

  • Interface Configuration - Wireless Security

Encryption: WPAPSKWPA2PSK/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK Mixed Mode

Password is your wireless password; enter it as needed.

Save and Apply, then wait for about ten seconds without worrying about the spinning circle. You can directly unplug and replug to restart the system, completing the initialization. After this, your network will run smoothly as the main router.

Make sure to restart the router afterward!

This article is synchronized and updated by Mix Space to xLog. The original link is https://www.miaoer.net/posts/network/quickstart-catwrt

Footnotes#

  1. https://www.miaoer.net/posts/blog/cattools ↩

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