Use IPCop to turn the TK-63T into a Linux-based Internet gateway/router

by Justin James | Feb 08, 2007 8:00:00 AM

Tags: BIOS, Justin James, Linux, Internet, eWay TK-63T, USB, USB Key, Downloading IPCop

Takeaway: With its dual NICs, the small, energy-efficient TK-63T is a great fit for a variety of networking projects. Justin James recently installed IPCop on the device to turn it into a router/gateway with great flexibility and several nice features. Here's a look at the step-by-step process.

This article is also available as a PDF download.

In a previous article, I reviewed the eWay TK-63T system, a small, appliance-like product that's perfect as a router, gateway, or other networking device. Now, I'm going to explain how to turn the TK-63T into a Linux-based Internet gateway/router with a wide variety of great features, using the proven IPCop software.

IPCop supports up to four NICs: GREEN for the internal, trusted network, RED for the Internet, ORANGE for the internal DMS, and BLUE for a wireless or "guest" network (conference rooms, for example). The TK-63T has two NICs, one that we'll use for GREEN (the internal LAN) and RED for the Internet. For the GREEN network, we'll use 192.168.3.0 for the IP network and 255.255.255.0 for the subnet mask. This will provide more than enough internal IP addresses for a home or small business network. We'll use 192.168.3.1 for the GREEN NIC. The RED NIC will be assigned the static IP address my ISP has provided me with.

Downloading IPCop

The first step is to download IPCop and write it to a USB key (or CD-ROM or Compact Flash card) so that we can boot the TK-63T and install it. For this article, we'll be using IPCop 1.4.11. The two best options are:

Download an ISO image, burn it onto CD-ROM, and boot from a USB CD-ROM drive.
Download the "floppy" version and copy it to a USB key or Compact Flash card.

Since I didn't have a USB CD-ROM drive and the boot image is small (about 44 MB), I decided to go the USB key route. A small, cheap USB key can be had just about anywhere. I bought a 64 MB model from the "cheap stuff" bin at the checkout counter of the local Staples for $6.99.

After downloading the USB-FDD install image and unzipping it, we'll use the program dd (version 0.3) to write the image to the USB key. dd is similar to rawrite, but it will work for many types of drives, not just floppy disks. It took a little bit of experimentation to get the copy process nailed down, but the command that worked for me, albeit it a touch slower than needed, was:

dd if=ipcop-install-usb-fdd-1.4.11.i386.img of=\\.\f: bs=1k

In the of switch, change f: to the correct drive letter for your USB key. This command also assumes that the IPCop image file is in the same directory as dd.exe.

Installation

We're now ready to begin the IPCop installation. Plug the USB key into the TK-63T and turn it on. One small hangup I had was that while the TK-63T recognized my USB keyboard for BIOS configuration, it did not like the USB keyboard on the screen to select the boot device. This may be due to my KVM, or my particular keyboard, but if it seems like the TK-63T won't allow you to select a boot device, I suggest that you try a PS/2 keyboard. To access the boot device chooser, press [F11] on the BIOS' POST screen.

Before beginning the IPCop configuration, I made a few minor changes to the BIOS settings. (Press [F12] to access the BIOS settings on the POST screen.) I disabled the onboard sound, changed the onboard video to use 8MB of RAM (the lowest setting), and set the USB key to be the secondary boot device. As a side note, while I did not find a setting in the BIOS for the TK-63T to enter the "last power state" when power is restored, it seems to re-power on the TK-63T.

When IPCop's installer first starts, a boot prompt appears. Here are the steps for completing the installation:

Press [Enter] at the boot prompt.
Choose a language.
After an informational screen, choose the installation source ("CD-ROM/USB-KEY") by pressing [Enter].
When the installer asks you to confirm the installation, press [Enter] to continue.
At this point, IPCop will wipe out the hard drive, partition it, and copy itself to the drive.
Next, it will ask you if you have a backup IPCop configuration to use. Since this is a clean install, press the spacebar to select Skip, tab to the OK button, and press [Enter] to continue.
The next screen will ask how you want to select the driver from the NIC. Press [Enter] to choose the Probe option, and it will discover a RealTek RTL-8139 FastEthernet NIC. Press [Enter] to approve this driver.
Now you will be asked to give this NIC (the GREEN interface) an IP address and subnet mask.

After this initial configuration, IPCop tells you it's about to reboot the machine. This is not true; you need to finish some additional configuration first:

Select your keyboard mapping type. (The default is fine if you live in the United States.)
Choose your time zone.
Enter the hostname of the IPCop PC.
Enter your internal network's domain name.
For the ISDN settings, tab to highlight Disable ISDN, and press [Enter] to disable ISDN failover.
On the Network Configuration Menu, choose Network Configuration Type and press [Enter]. Scroll down to GREEN + RED and press [Enter].
Press the down arrow to get to Drivers And Card Assignments and press [Enter]. Press [Enter] again to confirm the change to network settings and then press [Enter] once more to choose Probe. It should detect a VIA Rhine FastEthernet device and automatically set it to be RED. Press [Enter] to accept this selection and press [Enter] again to return to the menu.
On the menu, go to Address Settings and select the option to change the address for the RED interface. Configure your settings with the information your ISP provided for your router or to use on your PC if it's connected directly to a cable or DSL modem.
Go back to the Network Configuration menu and choose DNS And Gateway Settings. Again, enter the appropriate information from your ISP.
At the main menu, tab to Done and press the spacebar.
You will now be presented with a chance to turn on IPCop's DHCP server if you want. (It's disabled by default.)
After you set up the DHCP server to your liking, you'll be asked to create a password for the user "root" (for command-line access), "admin" (for the Web-based access), and "backup" (for exporting IPCop's configuration).
After setting these passwords, the initial configuration is complete, and the final screen simply tells you that IPCop will now reboot.

When the BIOS starts to POST, turn off the TK-63T. Remove the USB key and connect the network cables. The cable to the cable or DSL modem should be connected to the NIC next to the VGA connector. The NIC below and to the right of the VGA connector should be connected to your LAN switch.

Final setup

At this point, IPCop should be working as a basic router/gateway, approximately the same as a standard home router/gateway. It's time to access the Web-based configuration and complete the setup.

Point the Web browser on your PC to https://ipaddress:445 to access the IPCop configuration Web site, using the internal (GREEN) IP address of your IPCop machine. The username is admin and the password is whatever you set to be the admin password during installation. You should now see the IPCop configuration Web site. From here, you can set up IPCop to meet your exact needs.

All of the configuration settings you'd expect to find in a consumer grade router/gateway are here, as well as some pleasant surprises. For instance, IPCop has a proxy server. Its firewall configuration is much more flexible than the typical consumer grade hardware. It also has a much more advanced status system, intrusion detection, traffic shaping, support for dialup failover (a USB modem would be needed for this on the TK-63T), an NTP server, VPN support, SSH access, heavy-duty logging capabilities, and support for many dynamic DNS systems.

Although the effort and cost of working with the TK-63T and installing IPCop as opposed to buying a $50 consumer router may not make sense for most home or small office users, the satisfaction of a job well done, the additional features IPCop brings to the table, and the significant increase in flexibility may be enough to make this a worthwhile project for the enthusiast or the small business systems administrator who needs a bit more control over the network.

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