Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
1–10 of 44 posts
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#2Is Wake on Lan still actively used?
I created WOL software, but didn't do a good job of maintaining it. :|
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#3An alternative with simpler networking is to to rig up a little Web server on your home OpenWrt router, listening on the WAN interface. When the URL is requested (with authentication of some kind), it runs `etherwake` with the hardcoded MAC address and the hardcoded interface (e.g., `eth1.1`).
Then your UI to wake up your machine, from anywhere in the world, would be to access that URL via a Web browser or `curl` script.
For accessing the machine once it's awakened, probably you have a single TCP port forward configured on the router, forwarded to the port on the machine for SSH or whatever service is exposed. No other networking config.
(You could alternatively code a small "wake-on-demand" program that runs on the router, and initially listens on the port that will be forwarded to the service of the machine, but is resilient against port-scanning (maybe in a service-specific way to validate requests before waking machine), and reliable in setting and unsetting the port forward in the router when the machine is up and down.)
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#4At work we tunnel WoL payloads inside DHCP packets (https://github.com/eait-itig/wolod) so we can use the DHCP relays on the edge network to push the packets out for us. The bootp procotol has a handy flag that indicates whether the last dhcp relay should broadcast or unicast the message being relayed, which is very useful in this situation.
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#5An alternative with simpler networking is to to rig up a little Web server on your home OpenWrt router, listening on the WAN interface. When the URL is requested (with authentication of some kind), it runs `etherwake` with the hardcoded MAC address and the hardcoded interface (e.g., `eth1.1`). Then your UI to wake up your machine, from anywhere in the world, would be to access that URL via a Web browser or `curl` scr…
My very simple solution is to use a smart plug and config the mainboard to wake on power.
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#6Is Wake on Lan still actively used? I created WOL software, but didn't do a good job of maintaining it. :|
I use it to wake my NAS a few minutes before a backup job.
I've also built a reset-on-LAN card using an old wake-on-LAN-capable NIC and some simple circuitry to shape the pulse so it's suitable for the motherboard's reset signal. I send a WOL packet to the otherwise-unused address, and kapow, the presumably-wedged machine is no longer wedged!
Writeup here:
https://www.i3detroit.org/reset-on-lan-an-ethernet-aware-rem...
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#7Damn, wake on LAN, the memories. Used to disable this all the time back in the early 2000s when everyone was scanning ports.
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#8An alternative with simpler networking is to to rig up a little Web server on your home OpenWrt router, listening on the WAN interface. When the URL is requested (with authentication of some kind), it runs `etherwake` with the hardcoded MAC address and the hardcoded interface (e.g., `eth1.1`). Then your UI to wake up your machine, from anywhere in the world, would be to access that URL via a Web browser or `curl` scr…
I connect to my Wireguard endpoint, then SSH into my home server and run a script that does etherwake for my desktop computer - a bit convoluted, but works well for when I need it.
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#9Is Wake on Lan still actively used? I created WOL software, but didn't do a good job of maintaining it. :|
I almost exclusively boot my desktop via WoL, either by running the command from a laptop or hitting a button on my phone (homescreen shortcut -> termux script -> ssh to router -> send WoL to desktop).
Re: Using Wake on LAN (WOL) Across the Internet (2010)
#10Is Wake on Lan still actively used? I created WOL software, but didn't do a good job of maintaining it. :|
It is useful for IT staff especially on big properties or when working remote since we don't have to wait for a user to wake up a machine for us or go there ourselves, as long as one on the lan is reachable. I did this in 2022.