Wednesday, August 2, 2017

How-to setup ExpressVPN using OpenVPN on a Xiaomi Mini Wifi running LEDE 17.01.2

ExpressVPN Setup using OpenVPN on Xiaomi Mini Wifi running LEDE 17.01.2
(NOTE: Sorry...I'm super lazy on this post. I wrote it in MS Word and copy and pasted it here...spacing is bad)

This tutorial assumes that you have LEDE with the luci webif (web interface) installed. Visit lede-project.org for more information.
Please note that I use a Linux desktop for these instructions to work (I do not want the hassel of Windows based versions of SSH and SCP … although this is possible using WinSCP and Putty)

1.       Install LEDE r17.01.2 on the Xiaomi Mini Router (this is a whole other document, see HERE)
       Note: Download LEDE images here: https://downloads.lede-project.org/releases/17.01.2/targets/ramips/mt7620/
2.       Download all the files you will need from ExpressVPN’s website.
a.        Sign-in to ExpressVPN’s subscriber area: https://www.expressvpn.com/users/sign_in
b.       Once you’ve clicked the link in the welcome email or logged in to the website, click on Set Up ExpressVPN on the Active Subscriptions page. This will take you to the Downloads page.

c.        Click on Manual Config on the left side of the screen and then select the OpenVPN tab on the right. You will first see your username and password and then a list of OpenVPN configuration files.
d.       Copy the  username and password from this website to a text file on your computer; you will be asked to enter them later in the setup process.
e.        Download and save the .ovpn file(s) or locations (e.g. Los Angeles, New York, etc.) that you wish to connect to. Copy as many as you like…within reason J
f.         Download the ZIP file that contains copies of your certificates and keys separately.

3.       Open the Luci web app in a browser, the default LEDE router address is http://192.168.1.1, username is root and password is blank
4.       Set the Administrator’s password to miwifipass135 by clicking System | Administration, entering the password and confirmation, and then clicking Save & Apply.
5.       Click Logout, and then log back in to the web interface with the new password
6.       From a command line on the computer, connect to the router via ssh with this command:

ssh root@192.168.1.1

Note: If you’ve reset the router after using ssh before, use this command to clea the SSH logs:

ssh-keygen -f /home/username/.ssh/known_hosts -R 192.168.1.1

If you sucessfully sign in, you will see a screen like this:

BusyBox v1.25.1 () built-in shell (ash)

     _________
    /        /\      _    ___ ___  ___
   /  LE    /  \    | |  | __|   \| __|
  /    DE  /    \   | |__| _|| |) | _|
 /________/  LE  \  |____|___|___/|___|                      lede-project.org
 \        \   DE /
  \    LE  \    /  -----------------------------------------------------------
   \  DE    \  /    Reboot (17.01.2, r3435-65eec8bd5f)
    \________\/    -----------------------------------------------------------

root@LEDE:~#

7.       Run the following command to install the basic set of software packages for the router:

opkg update ; opkg install openvpn-openssl luci-app-openvpn ca-certificates luci-theme-material mtr ; reboot

Note: A successful installation will have the following text in the command line at the end of the process:

Configuring terminfo.
Configuring luci-theme-material.
Configuring kmod-tun.
Configuring libncurses.
Configuring mtr.
Configuring liblzo.
Configuring zlib.
Configuring libopenssl.
Configuring openvpn-openssl.
Configuring ca-certificates.
Configuring luci-app-openvpn.

8.       After the route reboots, sign into the router using SSH again (see step 5)
9.       Run the following command to create a new “expressvpn” network interface:

uci set network.expressvpn=interface ; uci set network.expressvpn.proto='none' ; uci set network.expressvpn.ifname='tun0' ; uci commit

10.    Sign into the LUCI web interface (see step 2)
11.    Add the EXPRESSVPN interface to a firewall zone by going to Network | Interfaces and click Edit for the correct line.

12.    Chose the Firewall Settings tab and chose the wan radio button. Click Save & Apply.



13.    Extract the contents of the my_expressvpn_keys.zip to a new folder of your choosing. I extracted mine to a folder called expvpn which is on my Desktop.
14.    For convenience, move an *.ovpn config file of your choice to the same folder that holds your keys. The *.ovpn config file I'm going to choose for this example is: my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn
15.    Create password file. Create a new text file using Notepad++ (Windows) and put your user-name in line 1 and your pass in line 2 and save it as "pass.txt". Make sure you choose UNIX file format when saving!! (See Screen Shot Below) Put the pass.txt in your keys folder as well.
16.    Using Notepad++ edit your *.ovpn file; in this case, it's the my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn.  Make the following edits to the OVPN file.
a.        Change line           auth-user-pass to
auth-user-pass ./pass.txt
17.    ADD the following lines to the OVPN file after the auth-user-pass line
ca ./ca2.crt
cert ./client.crt
key ./client.key
tls-auth ./ta.key
18.    Delete the section below this with the certificate information (<cert>, <key>, <tls-auth>, <ca>)

The OVPN file contents will now look something like:

dev tun
fast-io
persist-key
persist-tun
nobind
remote hongkong1-ca-version-2.expressnetw.com 1195

remote-random
pull
comp-lzo
tls-client
verify-x509-name Server name-prefix
ns-cert-type server
key-direction 1
route-method exe
route-delay 2
tun-mtu 1500
fragment 1300
mssfix 1450
verb 3
cipher AES-256-CBC
keysize 256
auth SHA512
sndbuf 524288
rcvbuf 524288
auth-user-pass ./pass.txt
ca ./ca2.crt
cert ./client.crt
key ./client.key
tls-auth ./ta.key

19.    Verify that inside your keys folder you should now have the following files:
·         ca2.crt
·         client.crt
·         client.key
·         my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn
·         pass.txt
·         ta.key

20.    Use SCP to copy all of these files into /etc/openvpn folder on the router.

scp /home/username/Desktop/expvpn/*.* root@192.168.1.1:/etc/openvpn


username@computername ~ $ scp /home/username/Desktop/expvpn/*.* root@192.168.1.1:/etc/openvpn
root@192.168.1.1's password:
ca2.crt                                       100% 2130     2.1KB/s   00:00   
client.crt                                    100% 1207     1.2KB/s   00:00   
client.key                                    100% 1679     1.6KB/s   00:00   
my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn          100%  451     0.4KB/s   00:00   
pass.txt                                      100%   50     0.1KB/s   00:00   
ta.key                                        100%  636     0.6KB/s   00:00   

21.    Now it's time to run the OpenVPN service on the router. We do this by issuing commands via the SSH protocol.

cd /etc/openvpn/
openvpn --config My_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn

Your vpn service should now be up and running. YOU MUST GET THE "Initialization Sequence Completed" message before proceeding!

22.    To start the service automatically when the router powers on, add the openvpn commands to the System | Startup | Local Startup command box in the Web UI (http://192.168.1.1)

# Put your custom commands here that should be executed once
# the system init finished. By default this file does nothing.

openvpn --cd /etc/openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn

exit 0



23.    Edit the rest of the ovpn files that you are interested in using following steps 16-18.

openvpn --cd /etc/openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn

Note: Keep a list of these files on your computer.  If you are interested in using a different server, replace the file name in the start-up line with the new filename.

24.    Use SCP to copy all of the new OVPN files to the same folder in the router (etc/openvpn)

scp /home/username/Desktop/expvpn/*.ovpn root@192.168.1.1:/etc/openvpn

25. Add entries to the Local Startup for each configuration, but insert a "#" in front of them to preven them from running.  If you want to change the server your router connects to, simply remove the "#" from the location you want to use and ADD a "#" to the front of the previous one.  The Local Startup will look something like this when you are done:

# Put your custom commands here that should be executed once
# the system init finished. By default this file does nothing.

openvpn --cd /etc/openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_1_udp.ovpn
#openvpn --cd /etc/openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_2_udp.ovpn
#openvpn --cd /etc/openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/my_expressvpn_hong_kong_-_4_udp.ovpn



exit 0
25.   Change the DNS settings on the LAN interface so that your devices that connect to Wifi get their internet addresses from an unrestricted source; Google.  At the SSH command line (see Step 4), enter the following two commands:

uci add_list dhcp.lan.dhcp_option='6,8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4'


uci commit

26. By default, the Wifi is disabled on LEDE routers.  Go into the Network | Wireless section and ENABLE both radio.0 and radio.1, then setup the wifi SSID and password with your preferred network name and password.  If you need more help with this, please see LEDE's Help page on Wireless configuration HERE.
27. To prevent a conflict with the ISP's modem, it is a good practice to change the LAN IP range from 192.168.1.1 to another subnet, like 192.168.100.1.  This can be done in the LUCI webapp under Networking > Interfaces > LAN and then edit.  Look for 192.168.1.1, edit it, and then Save and Apply.  You will have to renew your DHCP lease to reconnect to the router after the change takes place.  Give that router a good old fashion reboot when you're done just to make sure everything is reconfigured.

 Thanks to the LEDE community, the HMA help page on OpenWRT, and the Streisand developers who all wrote good documentation that I've incorporated in this article.
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Friday, April 7, 2017

LineageOS: Rebuilding the XT1095 Victara Image to work with the Chinese version XT1085 (Hardcore Raw Edition)

NOTE: The text that follows is not edited and may not even be coherent.  I don't have time to make it nice and pretty for the public, but these are my "dump notes" I use when rebuilding the XT1095 ROMs to work on the XT1085.  They're better from a technical perspective than the other article I wrote, although they lack the explanation as to why it's necessary...hopefully I'll have the energy (or focus) to come back to this later and edit it.  If I remember correctly, these are my personal edits to an XDA article on a very similar subject...

UPDATE: With Lineage there are two extra steps now to convert the image to a sparse image and to convert the file_contexts.bin file to file_contexts (no .bin).  I just followed these instructions to convert a March 2018 image of LineageOS 14.1 and I realize that these instructions are pretty rough.  Very sorry - I hope to update them soon.

XDA: [DEV] sdat2img 1.0 - img2sdat 1.2 ◦ Unpack/re-pack android DAT files

Ubuntu x64 - Guide
A. Prerequisites | Getting Ready
1. You must run all of these commands from an Ubuntu x64 operating system.  I am using Ubuntu LTS 16.04.
2. 10 GB of free space (for the temporary files)
3. Download all of the scripts listed on the XDA site.  You'll need and put them in a folder on your Linux system. I created one in my home directory called \BUILD.  Here are the download links as of 2017 Aug 9:

          Note: Make each script executable (including the sefcontext binary under lib64 for the convert tool

 4. Install all package dependencies that you'll need to run the scripts, namely:
  • python3
  • build-essential
  • android-tools-fsutils
5. Download the ROM ZIP file that you want to edit. I use LineageOS 14.1 for Victara
6. Extract the ROM ZIP file into a new folder on your computer. I make a new folder called \VictaraLineage in my home directory. The typical ROM will contain the following files:
  •  boot.img
  •  file_contexts.bin
  •  system.new.dat
  •  system.patch.dat
  •  system.transfer.list
  •  \install
  •  \META-INF
  •  \system
7. Copy the system.transfer.list, system.new.dat, and file_contexts.bin files into the \BUILD folder with your scripts.

B. Converting the Image to EXT4
1. You will first use the sdat2img binary; the usage is as follows. CD into the BUILD folder:
          ./sdat2img.py <transfer_list> <system_new_file> <system_ext4>
            - <transfer_list> = input, system.transfer.list from rom zip
            - <system_new_file> = input, system.new.dat from rom zip
            - <system_ext4> = output ext4 raw image file
          an quick example:
            sudo ./sdat2img.py system.transfer.list system.new.dat new_system.img

 Note: By running this command the script will create a new file called my_new_system.img which is the raw ext4 image.  This IMG file will be about 2.9GB.

 2. Delete the system.transfer.list and system.new.dat files from the \BUILD directory to free up space and avoid conflicts or confusion later.

 C. Convert the file_contexts.bin file
Nougat now uses a file_contexts file instead of the old file_contexts.bin. Run the following script to create the older file format:

           sudo ./convert.sh
Copy the file from the "convert" subfolder back into the BUILD folder.

D. Decompress and Re-compress the image to a new size
3. Mount the ext4 raw image into an output folder so we can see apks/jars etc.  To do this we need to type this command:

          sudo mount -t ext4 -o loop new_system.img LinOS14

 Note: To increase the likelihood of success, I first create the mount point's folder...I'm not a seasoned Linux guy, so this might not be necessary, but it works well for me when I do.

As you can see there is a new folder called output which we can edit/modify/delete your files. I see the following on a recent LineageOS 14.1 image:

  • build.prop
  • recovery-from-boot.p
  • \addon.d
  • \app
  • \bin
  • \etc
  • \fake-libs
  • \fonts
  • \framework
  • \lib
  • \media
  • \priv-app
  • \tts
  • \usr
  • \vendor
  • \xbin

E. To compress it back to a raw ext4 image, to do this we need the make_ext4fs binary. Make sure you have the file_contexts file (taken from the Rom zip) inside the make_ext4fs path. Then type this (got issues? see here)
./make_ext4fs -T 0 -S file_contexts -l 1073741824 -a system system_new.img output/
You will get the new raw ext4 image called 'system_new.img' ready for the next step.
<<My command for the XT1085 looks like:
sudo make_ext4fs -T 0 -S file_contexts -l 2046820352 -a system new_raw_system.img LinOS14/
Unmount the image file

sudo umount LinOS14

 Step 3 - Converting = EXT4 (raw image) -> IMG (sparse image)

 Now we need to convert the ext4 raw image into a sparse image. For this you need img2simg binary in the BUILD directory (see pre-requisites)
The usage is simple:  img2simg <raw_image_file> <sparse_image_file>


 My command is
img2simg new_raw_system.img new_sparse_system.img

 Step 4 - Converting = EXT4 (raw image) -> DAT (sparse data)
Now we need the img2sdat binary, the usage is very simple:
./img2sdat.py <system_sparse_img>
- <system_sparse_img> = name of input ext4 raw image file
and a quick example:
sudo ./img2sdat my_new_system.img
<<My command for the XT1085 looks like:
 ./img2sdat.py new_sparse_system.img
Type "4" and enter for Android Nougat 7.0
The script output will be a new

  • system.transfer.list
  • system.patch.dat
  • system.new.dat


 Step 5 Move the New Files Back into the ZIP
A. Copy the system.transfer.list and system.new.dat into the original unzipped ROM image folder, overwriting the originals (ignore the system.patch.dat file)
B. Rezip the files into a new ZIP, and for consistency's sake rename the ZIP exactly like the original ZIP but with XT1085VERSION at the end
C. Copy that ZIP file away from your BUILD and SCRIPT folders to avoid deleting it when cleaning up
D. CLEANUP
 Delete build information...it's big
 .img
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ROM: LineageOS 14.1 for Moto X (2014) Chinese Edition, XT1085

   The Chinese edition of the Motorola Moto X 2014 (XT1085) has a smaller system partition than the Moto X in the rest of the world (XT1095).  The code name for this phone is "Victara".

   There's several scripts and tools available to repack the LineageOS build for the XT1095 (see my other article on the subject or the original XDA article).  I've run these scripts and am happy to make the shrunken ZIP file available for download.

lineage-14.1-20170804-nightly-victara-signed-xt1085version.zip
DOWNLOAD LINK (Google Drive)

MD5: 9fa293e463cba3829262646d08d0eae8

   NOTE: Other than unpacking the zip, recompiling the image to a smaller system partition, and rezipping there is no modification to the download available on LineageOS' site (BIG thanks to the hard work they're doing over there on this new Android build).

Google Services
   If you're installing this image on your Moto XT1085, you'll also want to install the latest Opengapps for Android 7.1, ARM - I use the Nano package myself, with great success.

Recovery Image
   The standard recovery partition image from TWRP works well, without modification.  You can download that from their website; here's a direct link to the victara download page.

E
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