Web Interface

Bryan Cribbs
05 December 2004

In order to provide an accessible, easy to use interface for basic node configuration to the end user, and supply diagnostic information, a small web server (thttpd) has been added to the distribution. The node configuration consists of a privileged backend and an unprivileged frontend. There is a web based CGI front end, as well as a command line interface. A
design specification document is published in the CUWiN CVS repository. The design attempts to make extending the system to support future configurable values easily. Currently configurable values are:


  • 802.11b SSID and Channel.

  • Behaviour of the node's wired interface. By default, the software will attempt to determine automatically whether it should act as a DHCP server or client, but the user may force the node either way.

  • The node's hostname.

  • One or more nameservers used by the node. If the server acts as a DHCP server, this value is also given to clients.

  • The latitude and longitude may optionally be specified, for usage on RouteViz map. The map image and it's latitude / longitude dimensions cannot be set with this interface at this time.


Screenshot of CUWiN node configuration web interface

In addition to configuring the node through the web interface, a user may inspect at a glance the state of the mesh, using the RouteViz system. The map shows each peer and the quality of the link between them, as measured by the ETX metric. Throughput tests over the mesh, and the connection status to any peer or to the an internet site may be performed on this page.


273 reads