Explain to me all the interfaces I see

martixy · September 18, 2024, 5:29pm

I'm new to OpenWrt, so I need some education.

Can you please explain to me what all the interfaces do here?

Running ip -f inet addr show gives me 4 - the loopback, eth1, br-lan and wgserver.

From that I can deduce that eth1 is the WAN interface and wgserver is my VPN. I saw elsewhere that br-lan is the bridge between the internal switch and the wireless radios.

lan1/2/3/4/5 are presumably the various lan ports. However the traffic I see on the active lan ports is much lesser than the actual outgoing traffic I see on on eth1. I tried sending local traffic, but the lan# didn't budge. And if eth1 is the physical WAN port, what is eth0? It shows a similar graph to eth1, but always lower values and the direction is reversed.

I know some of the other ones are the wireless radios. And what does br-lan measure?

I can post ip link show, but it contains all my MAC addresses, so I'm not sure it's a good idea.

I see traffic on the following
br-lan, eth0, eth1, lan2, lan3, wgserver, rax0

(I think rax0 is the 5ghz radio, meaning ra0 is 2.4, and I don't see anything there because I have no 2.4 connected devices. lan2 and lan3 are the only wired ports I have plugged.)

slh · September 18, 2024, 5:42pm

It appears you are using firmware that is not from the official OpenWrt project.

When using forks/offshoots/vendor-specific builds that are "based on OpenWrt", there may be many differences compared to the official versions (hosted by OpenWrt.org). Some of these customizations may fundamentally change the way that OpenWrt works. You might need help from people with specific/specialized knowledge about the firmware you are using, so it is possible that advice you get here may not be useful.

You may find that the best options are:

Install an official version of OpenWrt, if your device is supported (see https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org).
Ask for help from the maintainer(s) or user community of the specific firmware that you are using.
Provide the source code for the firmware so that users on this forum can understand how your firmware works (OpenWrt forum users are volunteers, so somebody might look at the code if they have time and are interested in your issue).

If you believe that this specific issue is common to generic/official OpenWrt and/or the maintainers of your build have indicated as such, please feel free to clarify.

martixy · September 18, 2024, 5:53pm

I did not expect to be greeted by a canned response right out of the gate...

I have no issue. I just wish to learn.

frollic · September 18, 2024, 6:01pm

We can't tell you anything about the black box (to us) OS you're running...

martixy · September 18, 2024, 6:07pm

I don't know what other information to provide. I know my way around the terminal. Ask and I shall provide.

Of course it's a black box. It's the first time I'm interacting with OpenWrt. I have no idea what's relevant and what's not.

psherman · September 18, 2024, 6:11pm

Can you show us the output of:

ubus call system board

Those interfaces are not representative of what would be expected in OpenWrt. It is highly likely that your device is running a fork of OpenWrt -- not the 'real'/official OpenWrt. It was likely highly customized by some other entity for a specific device and/or purpose.

The output of the command above will help provide some context as to what hardware you've got and maybe who created that firmware. We also might be able to point you to the relevant official OpenWrt firmware, assuming the hardware is supported by the project.

frollic · September 18, 2024, 6:14pm

Problem isn't it's a black box to you, problem is it's a back box to us too.

martixy · September 18, 2024, 6:23pm

{
        "kernel": "5.4.238",
        "hostname": "GL-MT6000",
        "system": "ARMv8 Processor rev 4",
        "model": "GL.iNet GL-MT6000",
        "board_name": "glinet,gl-mt6000",
        "release": {
                "distribution": "OpenWrt",
                "version": "21.02-SNAPSHOT",
                "revision": "r15812+1075-46b6ee7ffc",
                "target": "mediatek/mt7986",
                "description": "OpenWrt 21.02-SNAPSHOT r15812+1075-46b6ee7ffc"
        }
}

Ok, so... to understand correctly: Because it's not official, all of the interfaces above are non-standard, so you can't answer just based on the names?

Like I said, I could post ip link show. Googling around I also found /etc/config/network. Is that openwrt specific? All the search results seem to lead to openwrt.

Once again, this is not an "issue". I am not looking for support.
Just knowledge.

Is this strictly a support forum? Should I bugger off and let people with actual problems do their thing?

frollic · September 18, 2024, 6:32pm

Correct,

but your device is supported by Openwrt, you can install our version instead.

https://openwrt.org/toh/gl.inet/gl-mt6000

psherman · September 18, 2024, 6:33pm

Correct.... the names are specifically relevant to the way that the vendor configured the device and have no 'universal' meaning here. We don't know what those are.

However... what we do now know...

This is clearly gl-inet's customized fork for this device. The changes they have made are much more than a simple 'skinning' of the interface -- it is deep into the OS and fundamentally alters the operation of the system. I always like to make an analogy that vendor firmware like this is to OpenWrt as "maple flavored" corn-syrup based pancake syrup is to pure Maple Syrup from Vermont, USA or Quebec, Canada.

But, that device is fully supported by official OpenWrt:
https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=23.05.4&target=mediatek%2Ffilogic&id=glinet_gl-mt6000

You can download the sysupgrade file and then use the built-in upgrade routines (in the gui or the CLI) to install official OpenWrt. Be sure to allow the device to reset to defaults during the upgrade (in the official OpenWrt context, this means unchecking the "keep settings" box or using the -n argument on the CLI). The current vendor configuration is not compatible with offifical OpenWrt.

If you want to continue to use GL-Inet's firmware, that's fine, but you need to ask them for assistance on their support channels. We can only help you here if you're using official OpenWrt.

slh · September 18, 2024, 6:39pm

Your screenshot very obviously comes from a firmware that is not OpenWrt, which is later confirmed by your further output. Do you write a letter to General Motors, if you have issues with the UI of your Toyota?

And as laid out by the others, there are very substantial differences between GL.Inet's OEM firmware and OpenWrt here, a number of the interfaces you're referring to would be named differently on OpenWrt - and round about half of them wouldn't even exist on a default OpenWrt installation - do you realize why that might be a problem for us to explain?

martixy · September 18, 2024, 6:42pm

Did not know that. I assumed it's just a user-friendly reskin of certain key features. The device is still supported, and the easy VPN config in particular is pretty useful, I think I'll stay for now.
After all I have access to the openwrt backend as well, so I can do things like install vnstat to keep traffic data for me.

I just wish I knew what it was measuring. I figured I could get help answering that, if not based on the screenshot, then based on terminal output of this or that cat /etc or /proc people here would know to ask about. But apparently not.

Yea, after having my assumption proven wrong, that much is clear.

slh · September 19, 2024, 6:00am

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