The Attic

Installing the right packages

To get the fwbuilder generated scripts up and running on a OpenWrt powered device, you need to install a few packages. Those packages are found in de standard repository of white russian. The packages you need to install from that repository are ip_2.6.11-050330-1_mipsel.ipk, iptables-mod-extra_1.3.3-2_mipsel.ipk and iptables-utils_1.3.3-2_mipsel.ipk

Editing /etc/firewall.user

I am using a SquashFS version of OpenWrt. This means that the real filesystem is readonly and that all files are available with symbolic links on a writeable JFFS filesystem. What we now need to do is to delete the symbolic link and copy the real file in place of the symbolic link in the /etc directory.

Now we need to add the following code to the firewall.user file.

insmod ipt_LOG
insmod ipt_limit

if [not -f /usr/sbin/firewallscript.fw ] ; then
{orginal script}
else /usr/sbin/firewallscript.fw
fi

Now you have to place your firewall script in the /usr/sbin directory (or place it at a location of your choice, but you will have to edit the code above to match your location).

Instead of adding the two insmod lines in the firewall.user file, you can also edit the file /etc/modules. You can just edit the file like the example below.

ipt_LOG
ipt_limit

Remote syslog with wallwatcher

Now we have to set up remote syslog, so we can log the output of your firewall script with wallwatcher. Remember to put some rules in fwbuilder on logging, otherwise we will never log a thing. You need to set up OpenWrt to use a remote syslog server. You need to replace the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the ip-address of the system that will be running wallwatcher.

nvram set log_ipaddr=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
nvram commit

The only thing you have to do next is to set up wallwatcher router tab

Change Startup order

With the RC5 release of OpenWrt all was working just fine, but when I started to use the RC6 version of OpenWrt I discovered that the firewall script was not executed after a reboot of the router. The problem seemed to be that the /etc/init.d/S35Firewall is executed before /etc/init.d/S40Network. So, When I renamed /etc/init.d/S35Firewall in /etc/init.d/S45Firewall and rebooted the router, the firewall script was executed and all worked just fine. 📝🖋️

What is it?

ActivityPub is the glue or the oil, if you like, for the Fediverse. It glues all the services together in the Fediverse. It lets mastodon servers communicate with each other, but it also lets Pixelfed talk with mastodon and vice versa. All the social media that is ActivityPub aware can exchange messages with each other.

WordPress

WordPress is by its nature not ActivityPub aware. So, it can’t exchange messages with the Fediverse. But there is a solution. Matthias Pfefferle created a WordPress plugin to connect WordPress to the Fediverse. This enables you to get your WordPress posts across the Fediverse.

What do you need

1. Webfinger WordPress Plugin installed on your WordPress instance;
2. ActivityPub WordPress Plugin installed on your WordPress instance.

Setup

There is not much needed to get this working. Installed both plugins. The ActivityPub plugin has default settings that could work for you, but fiddle with them if you like. The Webfinger plugin doesn’t need configuration at all. When both plugins are installed, you will see it advises you for 2 more plugins. They are not needed to get ActivityPub working. But will enhance the experience.

Checking the setup

1. First check the Site Health under Tools > Site Health. If all is working correctly, you will get no critical errors on this page.
2. Go to the Webfinger website and check if you get a JSON response from your ActivityPub plugin by entering the e-mail address at the top. HINT: This is not your regular e-mail address, but the account name and domain name of your WordPress instance. So, if you have an account “Jake” on your WordPress instance at the domain “great.blog.com”, your “e-mail address” will be jake@great.blog.com. You can enter it at the top of the page. As a result, you should get a JSON response.
3. Go to your Mastodon account and search for your WordPress account (i.e., jake@great.blog.com) in the search bar of Mastodon.

Dos and Don’ts and Hints

1. Don’t install a cache enhancing plugin. It will mess with the ActivityPub or Webfinger Plugin. You will see critical errors after a while in your Site Health menu.
2. I found that https://mastodon.social messes with the avatar. It will not come through, even after a few posts on WordPress. I checked a few other mastodon instances (also mastodon.online, which is the other flagship server) they were fine. So, you should be careful with the mastodon server you choose to test this. It could make you think the plugin isn’t working properly.
3. Some hosting providers protect the .well-known directory. When this directory is inaccessible for the plugin. It will not work. (This made me host my WordPress instance at home). 📝🖋️