AB-Solution - The Ad Blocking Solution

[thelonelycoder]

Jun 4 21:07:14 admin: Started pixelserv-tls (AB-Solution) from .

To elaborate, I was on my mobile earlier and I hate to use the phone to type...
That line is sent to logfile from /opt/etc/init.d/rc.func, line 42:

logger "Started $DESC from $CALLER."

The /opt/etc/init.d/rc.unslung iterates through S.. files, in order of the number that follows (s means it's a start file, k would be a kill file).
S10.. would run before S20..
The $DESC variable is from the /opt/etc/init.d/S80pixelserv-tls, which is itself built from two variables:

PROCS=pixelserv-tls
DESC="$PROCS (AB-Solution)"

The $CALLER is the S80pixelserv-tls in the current working directory CWD (/opt/etc/init.d/), hence the . (dot) short form.
As in ./ab-solution.sh this translates to: run this file from the current working directory. In this case it is /home/root/, the admin/root $HOME directory on Asuswrt.

Edit: I am wrong with the $CALLER. This variable is undefined and it simply prints the dot in the logger line $CALLER. It omits the variable.

 

[jack901]

any particular reason when I update ab-solution it always delete a cronjob
I have set up ya-malwareblock?.
otherwise great solution.
thanks

 

[Xentrk]

Edit: I am wrong with the $CALLER. This variable is undefined and it simply prints the dot in the logger line $CALLER. It omits the variable.

Thank you. I have been seeing this in the system log for sometime now and never followed up on it. I wanted to make sure it was working correctly and that there were no more conflicts with any of the blocker scripts I run.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Thank you. I have been seeing this in the system log for sometime now and never followed up on it. I wanted to make sure it was working correctly and that there were no more conflicts with any of the blocker scripts I run.

How about that. To put yours and maybe other minds at rest, I looked into that gaping hole of potential useful information.

To test it, I added some positional parameters to the relevant files and now get the following:
At boot, when the /jffs/scripts/services-start kicks in:

Started pixelserv-tls (AB-Solution) from /jffs/scripts/services-start.

And if you turn ad-blocking off and back on in the AB UI using the a option or off/on pixelserv in the ps menu you'll see:

Started pixelserv-tls (AB-Solution) from /tmp/mnt/primary/adblocking/addon/pixelserv-tls.add.

Would that be worth adding?
Edit: Posted updates to files in a post below.

 

[thelonelycoder]

any particular reason when I update ab-solution it always delete a cronjob
I have set up ya-malwareblock?.
otherwise great solution.
thanks

AB-Solution does not delete cron jobs created by other scripts. That I can guarantee.
UNLESS the cron job has the same name as one of AB's cron jobs.
Use the cj function in AB to display the currently running cron jobs. Post this here, I'd be surprised if yours has the same name as the ones created by AB-Solution:

 UpdateHosts: [a] is on, updates blocking file, weekly
 RotateLogs:  [l] is on, rotates log files, daily
 WeeklyStats: [rs] is on, sends stats, weekly

How do you add the cron job in the first place? What script do you use and what does the line look like to add the cron job for your script?

 

[elorimer]

Would that be worth adding?

Yes, I think so. It's consistent with the completeness of ab-solution.

 

[thelonelycoder]

As posted above, I have made some minor changes to the main script and the pixelserv-tls addon file.
There is no version change, use 1233 in the AB UI to update to these latest versions.

Changelog:
ab-solution.sh: Added $0 positional parameter for ps start script verbose output in services-start *)
pixelserv-tls.add: Added path and filename as positional parameter for ps start script verbose output
pixelserv-tls.add: When updating or upgrading Entware packages, a new pixelserv-tls start file is written and pixelserv-tls is restarted.
This is to prevent future problems should Entware overwrite the AB-generated start script.

*) This change comes only in effect when a new /jffs/scripts/services-start file is written. This is almost never the case in AB.
To take advantage of the added verbose output to syslog, you may do one of the following:
- If you only have standard AB entries in the services-start file, just delete the file and then start the AB UI, the file will be recreated with the added parameter.
(only do this if you know what you do)

- You can add the parameter by hand to the services-start file:
Change the line

$RC start

to:

$RC start $0

That's the number zero after the dollar character.

 

[Xentrk]

Thanks @thelonelycoder, updates made and the message is now showing the from location.

Jun  5 19:34:08 admin: Started pixelserv-tls (AB-Solution) from /tmp/mnt/absolution/adblocking/addon/pixelserv-tls.add.

 

[jack901]

this is all standard taken from their install and I used this to add it.
cru a UpdateYAMalwareBlock "0 */6 * * * /jffs/scripts/ya-malware-block.sh"
and when I did a cru l it showed the ab stuff but ya-malware was gone .so just added it.
I am going to update ab-solution later and see if changes or what might be changing as only run those 2 scripts.
thanks

AB-Solution does not delete cron jobs created by other scripts. That I can guarantee.
UNLESS the cron job has the same name as one of AB's cron jobs.
Use the cj function in AB to display the currently running cron jobs. Post this here, I'd be surprised if yours has the same name as the ones created by AB-Solution:

 UpdateHosts: [a] is on, updates blocking file, weekly
 RotateLogs:  [l] is on, rotates log files, daily
 WeeklyStats: [rs] is on, sends stats, weekly

How do you add the cron job in the first place? What script do you use and what does the line look like to add the cron job for your script?

 

[thelonelycoder]

this is all standard taken from their install and I used this to add it.
cru a UpdateYAMalwareBlock "0 */6 * * * /jffs/scripts/ya-malware-block.sh"
and when I did a cru l it showed the ab stuff but ya-malware was gone .so just added it.
I am going to update ab-solution later and see if changes or what might be changing as only run those 2 scripts.
thanks

But where is this cru line added to?
You have to have it in one of the custom scripts.

 

[thelonelycoder]

this is all standard taken from their install and I used this to add it.
cru a UpdateYAMalwareBlock "0 */6 * * * /jffs/scripts/ya-malware-block.sh"
and when I did a cru l it showed the ab stuff but ya-malware was gone .so just added it.
I am going to update ab-solution later and see if changes or what might be changing as only run those 2 scripts.
thanks

I just reread the instructions. You surely missed the part below your posted cru line.
Read that again. Adding a cron job with your line in the terminal is not persistent, you need to add it every time you boot the router.

 

[jack901]

oops ,sorry bout that! I only reboot the router with merlins firmware updates. guess that explains it as it was updated recently.
thanks for figuring my mistake.
thanks

I just reread the instructions. You surely missed the part below your posted cru line.
Read that again. Adding a cron job with your line in the terminal is not persistent, you need to add it every time you boot the router.

 

[thelonelycoder]

oops ,sorry bout that! I only reboot the router with merlins firmware updates. guess that explains it as it was updated recently.
thanks for figuring my mistake.
thanks

You're welcome, these are common mistakes. Paging @redhat27 to make that more clear and add the line explaining it above the cru code.

 

[redhat27]

Maybe I should make the "The schedule will only remain in effect till the next router boot unless also put in init-start" in bold?

 

[thelonelycoder]

Maybe I should make the "The schedule will only remain in effect till the next router boot unless also put in init-start" in bold?

Why not add an append line of code for the lazy?

 

[unknownz]

With the new pixelserv-tls update, I was planning to use AB-solution to manage the installation and tried to use the [ps] option. However, I get the following error message

Error:  Your router's firmware (374.43) is too
old and not capable to run pixelserv-tls.
Upgrade your routers firmware first.

I am currently running @john9627's LTS fork on a RT-N66U router, any thoughts?

 

[thelonelycoder]

With the new pixelserv-tls update, I was planning to use AB-solution to manage the installation and tried to use the [ps] option. However, I get the following error message

Error:  Your router's firmware (374.43) is too
old and not capable to run pixelserv-tls.
Upgrade your routers firmware first.

I am currently running @john9627's LTS fork on a RT-N66U router, any thoughts?

How old is this version, surely it's not the latest release.
Copy and paste the following into the terminal and post output:

netstat -tuln | grep ":80 "

It should return about two lines.

Then enter the this, which should return nothing:

netstat -tuln | grep ":80 " | grep '0\.0\.0\.0:80 '

If it does, your firmware is indeed too old to run pixelserv-tls.

 

[Bamsefar]

I did a search on what I am about to ask, however I either can not search correct, or I don't know why or what I am looking for... I am trying to learn from time to time, even though I just upgraded to "version 5.0" (that is I just turned 50 years old, or young).

I get this status email, and a few lines get me wondering what I am looking at, and particular this:
The top 10 noisiest name clients:
--------------------------------------------------
46507 xxx.xxx.xxx.xx1 - 12097 99.1.xxx.xxx.in-addr.arpa - 26.0111%
12214 xxx.xxx.xxx.xx2 - 12099 99.1.xxx.xxx.in-addr.arpa - 99.0585%

Any idea what this is? 99.1.xxx.xxx seems to be AT&T internet in US - however I happen to be in Europe so I can not see any use for this. xx1 is a win10 machine, and xx2 is a Ubuntu server with only Squeeze Server software running. And what is this ".in-addr.arpa" kind of thing?

 

[thelonelycoder]

I did a search on what I am about to ask, however I either can not search correct, or I don't know why or what I am looking for... I am trying to learn from time to time, even though I just upgraded to "version 5.0" (that is I just turned 50 years old, or young).

I get this status email, and a few lines get me wondering what I am looking at, and particular this:
The top 10 noisiest name clients:
--------------------------------------------------
46507 xxx.xxx.xxx.xx1 - 12097 99.1.168.10.in-addr.arpa - 26.0111%
12214 xxx.xxx.xxx.xx2 - 12099 99.1.168.10.in-addr.arpa - 99.0585%

Any idea what this is? 99.1.168.10 seems to be AT&T internet in US - however I happen to be in Europe so I can not see any use for this. xx1 is a win10 machine, and xx2 is a Ubuntu server with only Squeeze Server software running. And what is this ".in-addr.arpa" kind of thing?

Thats a reverse intenral query, you can hide it as follows:
Use the es option in the sub menu.
Select Dnsmasq settings, select default (d) for the first two and set domain-needed to on.

 

[Bamsefar]

Thats a reverse intenral query, you can hide it as follows:
Use the es option in the sub menu.
Select Dnsmasq settings, select default (d) for the first two and set domain-needed to on.

Thanks - however I now have more questions: the d for default is not an option in 3.8.1 (in my AC88 router) - I can only choose 1=Yes or e=Exit. And "only when logging is enabled" (which I guess it is since I get the email for stats from AB-solution). Anyway, "dnsmasq settings is inactive at the moment." - and the only option is "Enable it? [1=Yes e=Exit]" - ehh if I need default, and d is not accepted - how to proceed?