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Step by step user guide for STUX GNU/Linux (index)

Networking - the Network Panel

    The Networking Panel is an application to manage network connections from STUX Live: it is designed to configure networks and restore network status on startup: if configuration is saved persistently, network configuration will be preserved on reboot and connections are re-established, if requested.

    To open the Networking Panel: 
    STUX CONTROL CENTER -> NETWORK -> Network configuration
    you will see a window like this:



    The Networking Panel is composed of these 3 sections

    1. Select operation

        Select the operation to perform.
        Double-Click with mouse on a line to perform the selected operation ( change host name, configure a new connection, domain name servers, default gateway, NAT, Dynamic DNS ).

    2. Connections

        Here are the connections configured.
        Right-Click with mouse to access functions to perform over selected connection (connect, disconnect, edit, delete).

    3. Interface status

        This is the connections status.
        You cannot interact with this section: this section only shows all active connections.

  1. Assign an Host Name

      To assign an host name, open the Network Panel, double click on 'Host name' in the ' Select operation' section.
      you will see a window like this:



      Select your hostname and click Ok to set.

  2. Set up connections

      To configure a new connection, open the Network Panel, double click on 'New connection'. Click Next to skip the introduction.
      you will see a window like this:



      Select the connection type you are going to configure, and press 'Ok'.

    1. Dial Up modem

        If you choosed to configure a dialup connection, a window like this will appear:



      1. Choose a name for this connection.

      2. Insert username and password as provided by your ISP.

      3. Choose the device where dialup modem is attached and its speed.

        WARNING: if the checkbox 'reconnect at startup' is checked, and the configuration is saved, STUX will try to reconnect automatically on reboot.

        Note for advanced users:

          Debug: PPP connections logs their status primarily in files:

          • /var/log/messages
          • /var/log/syslog
          • /var/log/pppd.stux.log

          To see what is happened to a ppp connection, you can issue a command like this: 
          cat /var/log/syslog /var/log/messages /var/log/pppd.stux.log | grep -i ppp
          You can track pppd connections current status with a command like this: 
          tail -f /var/log/syslog /var/log/messages /var/log/pppd.stux.log | grep -i ppp

      There is a public forum about this argument

    2. Ethernet

      If you choosed to configure an Ethernet connection, a window like this will appear:



      The name for ethernet connections is choosed automatically, that is eth0, eth1, eth2, etc.

      Choose one of these 3 options:

      1. Don't configure the card.

          To do this, check the checkbox labeled 'Card not configured'.
          Press 'Ok'.

      2. Use DHCP to configure the card.

          To do this, check the checkbox labeled 'Use DHCP';
          if required, specify the DHCP hostname provided by your ISP.
          Press 'Ok'.

      3. Specify an IP address and netmask.

          To do this, check the checkbox labeled 'Specify IP address';
          choose an IP address and a netmask ( unexperienced users should use netmask=255.255.255.0 ).
          Press 'Ok'.

        NOTE: If configuration is saved persistently, ethernet connections are automatically reconfigured at startup.

      There is a public forum about this argument

    3. ADSL (pppoe modem)

      If you choosed to configure an ADSL modem that supports PPPoE, a window like this will appear:



      1. Choose a name for this connection.

      2. Insert username and password as provided by your ISP.

      3. Be sure that ADSL modem is correctly connected to an ethernet card.

      4. Click button 'Search modem': this will search an ADSL modem on available network interfaces. If no modem is found, check if ADSL modem is powered and is correctly connected to an ethernet card.
        You cannot continue until ADSL modem is correctly detected by this procedure.

        NOTE: ADSL connections are automatically reconnected at startup until the checkbox labeled 'Restart at boot' (that is visible when the checkbox labeled 'Show advanced') is checked.

      5. When modem has been successfully detected by the 'Search modem' procedure, press 'Ok' to start connecting.

        You can track connection status in the Status textarea (see picture).

        Note for advanced users:

          Debug: PPP connections logs their status primarily in files:

          • /var/log/messages
          • /var/log/syslog
          • /var/log/pppd.stux.log

          To see what is happened to a ppp connection, you can issue a command like this: 
          cat /var/log/syslog /var/log/messages /var/log/pppd.stux.log | grep -i ppp
          You can track pppd connections current status with a command like this: 
          tail -f /var/log/syslog /var/log/messages /var/log/pppd.stux.log | grep -i ppp

      There is a public forum about this argument

    4. Wireless

        STUX supports wireless cards with chipset ACX100/111 (DLink cards, for example) and all cards are theorically supported via the NDisWrapper module that allow to use Windows™ XP drivers.

        NDisWrapper is not recomended (but sometimes there is no alternative) and sometimes loading an XP driver into memory could freeze system.

        If you choosed to configure a wireless connection, a window like this will appear:



      1. Choose a name for this connection.

      2. Insert the ESSID of the network where you wish to connect, or 'any' to select any network.
        NDisWrapper does not support 'any' option, so, if you use NDisWrapper, you need to specify the correct ESSID.

      3. If you have an ACX100/111 compatible wireless card, choose that driver; else choose NDisWrapper.

        To check if you have a PCI wireless card that supports ACX driver, you can issue this command: 
        lspci | grep -i acx
        if none is returned, your card does not support ACX driver, else the description of the card is shown.

        If you selected NDisWrapper, click on the button 'INF file ...' to select the location of the Windows™ XP .INF file: you can use the CDROM shipped with the wireless card to locate the Windows™ XP .INF file.

      4. If IP address is provided by DHCP server, check the radio button labeled 'use DHCP'.
        You you want your own IP address, netmask and gateway, check the radio button labeled 'Specify IP address', insert IP, netmask and, if any, the default gateway.

      5. If the checkbox labeled 'Reconnect at startup', the connection will be re-established at startup.

      6. Press 'Ok' to connect.


      There is a public forum about this argument

  3. Specify Domain Name Servers (DNS)

      For internet connections, usually you don't need to configure the DNS to resolve IP addresses because this is normally done by your ISP, depending on connection type.

    1. If you need to edit the servers that resolve IP addresses (DNS), double-click on 'Domain Name Servers' in the Network Panel.
      A window like this will appear:



      At least one Domain Name Server is required to resolve IP addresses.

    2. Insert you DNS servers.

    3. Press 'Ok'.

      For advanced DNS configurations, is possible to edite directy file /etc/resolv.conf clicking button labeled 'edit /etc/resolv.conf'.

  4. Specify a default route and a default gateway

      If you have multiple network connections, you need to specify which of them is the default, and optionally a default gateway.

      For internet connections, at least one default route is required.

      If you need to specify the default route, double-click on 'Default gateway' in the Network Panel.
      A window like this will appear:



      This program sets the current default route and/or gateway and, if configuration is saved persistently, will set boot scripts to re-set default route on startup.

      Select the default network interface and/or default gateway and press 'Ok' when ready.

    There is a public forum about this argument

  5. Apply IP Masquerading ( use STUX as a NAT gateway for your LAN )

      If you have multiple network connections, and at least one of them is an internet connection, you probably want to share the internet connection with other network connections.

      You can do this with IP masquerading (aka NAT - Network Address Translation -,aka Network Bridging).

      To configure IP masquerading, double-click on item labeled 'Network Address Translation' in the Network Panel.
      A window like this will appear:



      In the picture above, we can see a NAT rule configured to share TCP/Internet connection on interface wlan0 with interface eth0.

      You can add multiple NAT rules.
      To delete a NAT rule, right-click with mouse on the rule, and choose 'delete' from pop-up menu.

      To add a new NAT rule:

      1. choose a rule name

      2. choose interface connected to the network you want to share.

      3. choose interface that will be allowed to use the shared connection.

      4. press 'Ok'.

      If the checkbox labeled 'restore at startup' is checked, and if configuration is saved persistently, the new NAT rule will be applied on startup.

  6. Domain name registration for dynamic IP addresses ( DynDns™ client )

      If you have a dynamic IP address ( tipically ADSL or dialup connections ) and you wish to dinamically associate your IP address to an host name ( like example.net or yourname.homelinux.net ), you can use services like www.DynDNS.com. To use this service you need to register, download and run a client software that will check at fixed time intervals if your IP address is changed, and, if changed, updates the DNS in order to make your PC always reachable using an unique domain name, even if you IP address changes.

      STUX supports DynDNS.com service including DynDNS client software in distribution.

      If you wanto to use DynDNS:

      1. Register yourself on DynDNS.com, get at least the free service called Dynamic DNSSM
        ( today is at: http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/ )

      2. double-click on item labeled 'Dynamic DNS'.

        A window like this will appear:



      3. Insert the username and password used to register to DynDNS service.

      4. Insert your static domain name.

      5. If the checkbox labeled 'Restore at startup' is checked, and if configuration is saved persistently, DynDNS client will be started when system starts up.

      6. Click 'Ok'.

There is a public forum about this argument


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