AB-Solution - The Ad Blocking Solution

[thelonelycoder]

how can I reset shell history? is it enough to delete ".ash_history" re-enable shell history? also it seems it's not working, is there any tricks to follow to fix this?

AB-Solution keeps a copy of it in /jffs/ to be copied over to /home/root when booting.
They are kept in sync whenever you start or exit the AB UI.
Exit AB UI and delete both. Then quit the terminal and log back in.

 

[thelonelycoder]

how can I reset shell history? is it enough to delete ".ash_history" re-enable shell history? also it seems it's not working, is there any tricks to follow to fix this?

Actually, you can simply disable shell history sh in the sub menu and re-enable it. You still need to log out of your SSH terminal to clear it in its memory.

 

[Sunny786]

how to unblock facebook app? facebook works fine in browser

 

[ssj4gokou]

The Orbi may use it's own DNS resolving and bypass the the built in Dnsmasq on your Asus router. Make sure your Orbi network uses the Asus router as the DNS server.

Thanks for the quick reply. I did look into my orbi's settings and the DNS is indeed pointing to the Asus router. So, at this point I am at a loss as what to do next.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Thanks for the quick reply. I did look into my orbi's settings and the DNS is indeed pointing to the Asus router. So, at this point I am at a loss as what to do next.

Here, on page 30, the Domain Name Server would be your routers IP.
https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBK50/Orbi_UM_EN.pdf

 

[thelonelycoder]

how to unblock facebook app? facebook works fine in browser

I'm not using any Facebook apps at all so I can't tell.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Thanks for the quick reply. I did look into my orbi's settings and the DNS is indeed pointing to the Asus router. So, at this point I am at a loss as what to do next.

And maybe IPv6 is enabled on the Orbi but not on the Asus.

 

[hervon]

I'm not using any Facebook apps at all so I can't tell.

Facebook ios app runs fine with 5+ hosts

 

[ssj4gokou]

And maybe IPv6 is enabled on the Orbi but not on the Asus.

Well, the orbi is set to AP mode so therefore I cannot configure any IP settings whatsoever. The options become very limited.

Edit:
I went ahead and turned it into Router mode and manually configured the Orbi to point to the ASUS router. Currently everything seems to be working and AB Solution is doing it's job. I will keep you updated if anything changes.

 

[Sunny786]

I'm not using any Facebook apps at all so I can't tell.

finally figured out what was not right, I checked the domain "graph.facebook.com" was blocked then added to white list. all ok now.

 

[PeterR]

Raphie said:
Since the latest update i can no longer reach LinkedIn.com (can reach it over 4G or public wifi)
pinging routes to 108.174.10.10 it's not on Skynets of ABsolutions blacklists? any suggestions?

LinkedIn.com is blocked in at least one hosts file.
I have www.linkedin.com in my whitelist.

I also had to whitelist static.licdn.com & media.licdn.com.

 

[thelonelycoder]

AB-Solution 3.11 appears to run as solid as I expected. Good, this gives me more time to work on 4.0.

Speaking of it, I have a question to ponder for those wanting to express their views on the matter.
For AB4.0 I intended to only install into the Entware environment. This would eliminate the 'looking for an installation' part in the startup procedure as in Entware, you can simply use a path that is defined system wide.
That luxury is not available if AB is installed directly into an attached device as it is done now. The system path solves a lot of hard coded references in dynamically created files to where the config file is, for example the update of the blocking file needs to include it to know where to store the files.

But then I thought again of all the users that do not install pixelserv (and with it Entware) and run AB3.x in its original form: Just a http blocker using 0.0.0.0 as the blocking IP.
Requiring Entware just to have a system wide path seems overkill if pixelserv is not installed with it.

Any opinions on that from users with or w/o pixelserv-tls installed?

 

[JacquesR]

Any opinions on that from users with or w/o pixelserv-tls installed?

Your initial plan (only the Entware environment) seems sensible to me. Those who don't want to use pixelserv can surely just not enable it, and Entware installed (but not doing anything) is surely not a problem, given its small size? And the benefits of the new code/model seem clear. I might well be missing some other reason to prefer the current installation, but that's my impression of things...

(As a side-note, if you don't already have some idea of numbers, a quick poll to see how many users this change would even affect might be useful.)

Finally, many thanks for this wonderfully-useful script!

 

[elorimer]

I had reported having an issue somewhere in my ab-s/pixelserv/skynet setup that seemed to be kicking off my openvpn servers. I had turned off everything so as to avoid this while I was away. My openvpn servers worked fine during that period, but I'm back now to set up anew and see if it recurs.

My word folks have been busy in the last two weeks!

Anyway, TLC, I had one thought for a system check for you. (I wouldn't be surprised if you already check for this.) I run one of my openvpn servers on port 443 so as to avoid hotspots that block tunnels. Default is to bind to all the interfaces. Pixelserv listens on port 443, so that is a problem. The solution is to add to the openvpn setup the local command: "local insertHostNameHere". That causes the server to only listen on the WAN side, avoiding the conflict.

 

[thelonelycoder]

I might well be missing some other reason to prefer the current installation, but that's my impression of things...

Oh, there are many more reasons to use Entware.
One BIG hurdle is already rammed into the ground and gone: If for some reason the device name changes, Entware will not start.

With that out of the way, I can reveal some of the new things AB4.0 will offer. It will come in three editions:
- Basic: Bare bone, with terminal UI (as AB3.x), no Web UI, no pixelserv-tls.
- Standard: Terminal UI, Web UI, pixelserv-tls.
- Business: Terminal UI, Web UI, pixelserv-tls, automated install from a central settings file, centralized white and blacklist, centralized blocking file.

They all run on the same code, in-place upgrading is possible, downgrade not. Those edition names are placeholders for the moment until someone comes up with better names.

As with any ordinary business software, AB-Solution 'Business' comes at a cost: A lot of additional coding and it might not be available on initial release. And the prize will significantly increase: From nil, zilch, gratis to a whopping 'donate here if you like what AB-Solution does for you'.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Anyway, TLC, I had one thought for a system check for you. (I wouldn't be surprised if you already check for this.) I run one of my openvpn servers on port 443 so as to avoid hotspots that block tunnels. Default is to bind to all the interfaces. Pixelserv listens on port 443, so that is a problem. The solution is to add to the openvpn setup the local command: "local insertHostNameHere". That causes the server to only listen on the WAN side, avoiding the conflict.

I do check on ps install but not afterwards. If openvpn is listening on the same port as ps and on all interfaces, this prevents pixelserv from starting up because the port is already taken. Or it's a race who gets it first.

 

[elorimer]

Those edition names are placeholders for the moment until someone comes up with better names.

You might try "Enterprise" instead of "Business". Looking forward to what you mean by "central", since ab-s does everything from the router.

 

[thelonelycoder]

You might try "Enterprise" instead of "Business".

That was my first thought but I didn't want to sound so bold and call it that right away.

Looking forward to what you mean by "central", since ab-s does everything from the router.

Actually, that already works since AB3.10

It's part of my local development environment. All it takes is a certain file placed in the right location with extra code.
I have local servers running here, one of them compiles all the blocking file types and hosts them along with the white and blacklist. They are auto-curled when installing and updating. Switching the blocking file is a matter of seconds that way, same for changing the black/whitelist. They are auto-curled if the master file changed.

Since I install and remove AB a lot on my routers I needed a better way of handling blocking files , white/blacklists and install server selection.
The centralized management was born and built into AB3.x. With the intention to make it available to public in AB4 for those that manage multiple installations - as the AB-Solution Enterprise edition.

 

[elorimer]

Okay then. "AB-Solution Pro".

 

[Raphie]

I would not use “enterprise” for a consumer router

You could say “Elements” “Standard” and “Pro”