amtm amtm step-by-step install guide - L&LD

[Jcquantum]

Hi @K-2SO!I totally agree with you. Just tge other scripts alone with amtm is enough to clog the AIO router (in my case, AC86u). Ill look into Suricata maybe as i move into a more split system. Thanks once again for your kind words and advice

 

[L&LD]

@Jcquantum what is installed on our routers isn't what is installed on a full-blown computer. The smart people here know what they are doing (@rgnldo, etc.). Even if the scripts have the same/similar name.

You lose nothing to try it out yourself. But pay attention to not install conflicting scripts simultaneously either.

What is possible on RMerlin powered routers today is putting those big names to shame, IMO.

 

[Jcquantum]

Hi @L&LD I hope I didn't offend anyone inadvertently as thats not at all what I want. I'm purely trying to get as informed as I can and make my router smarter/better. I hope @rgnldo did not take it wrongly

I will give different thing a try for sure to learn. Thank you!

 

[K-2SO]

(in my case, AC86u)

I had the same router(s) before. I did try Suricata for Merlin. The router has about 150MB RAM available after boot. You'll see what I mean.

 

[L&LD]

@Jcquantum no offense taken. Don't let other's failures be yours.

It's up to you to find the perfect mix of scripts that work harmoniously for the equipment you have.

 

[K-2SO]

You understand @L&LD I have the option to compare how Suricata works on different hardware platforms. It's not a failure, but a very serious hardware limitation affecting the performance of Suricata and the router as a whole. Your router may work better due to 2X RAM and 2X CPU, but @Jcquantum doesn't have that. AiProtection on the other hand is optimized to run on this hardware. Between the two AiProtection is the better option leaving some room for something else.

 

[L&LD]

What I understand is that you don't read what people type. I don't use Suricata on my RT-AX88U.

Neither have you on any Asus router for over six months.

Progress has been made since then.

 

[K-2SO]

Neither have you on any Asus router for over six months... Progress has been made since then.

Sure.

Release - ASUS RT AC86u Firmware - 3.0.0.4.384_81992-gdc7a780

I just checked. I lost a lot of names and icons but does this really justify a factory reset? I just changed them back. You right, I will simply add them :-)

www.snbforums.com

Jul 11, 2020. When was the Suricata for Merlin updated last time?

I don't use Suricata on my RT-AX88U

"Your router may work better due to 2X RAM and 2X CPU". @Jcquantum will understand what I mean.

 

[Jcquantum]

Hi @K-2SO And @L&LD . Thank you both for your ideas and opinions. @K-2SO, I get what your saying and yeah, 150Mbytes left will not leave much room for me. Besides, I have noticed a 73% usage of the RAM, even without much traffic( CPU at 7%). @L&LD, I thank you for encouraging me. I should give things a try to see whats good for my use. Unfortunately, my equipment isn't there yet. BUT, you are right, with scripts like YazFi and the continence of amtm, it sure made my router not feel like a couch potato, so that's for the encouragement.

At today's environment, is Wifi 6 really reasonable to get? I noted that @L&LD has a AX series router. Six months to a year.. i get it, but for now (not enough wifi 6 devices i mean)?

Anyways, thank you both for all these. I dont feel as cold out there trying to see whats good for my case!

 

[Decado]

@L&LD Please accept my thanks for the work you're put in and for making it so much easier. I greatly appreciate it as I'm probably older than the average member here (I've been retired over 10 years) and it does take me a little longer to get my head around things than it once did, I'm not an I/T professional either. Two weeks ago I'd never had an ASUS network device, now I have an AX88u router and two AC68U Aimesh nodes and it's been fun but is certainly a learning curve

I'll attempt not to ask too many questions that have already been answered but as you know, there's a lot of information here, not all of it up to date and it's going to take me a while to read it all so I'll hope you'll excuse the questions so I can get up and running faster.

My final goal is to have a working Aimesh system with Skynet and Diversion on the router. I flashed and configured Merlin 384.19 on the AX88U about 8 hours ago and all seems well. Once it has 24 hours uptime I'll add Skynet and Diversion and after reading your step by step I'm very hopeful I'll have no issues but as far as the USB storage device goes I'd like a little clarification.

From what I have read an external SSD is the way to go and I'm happy to go that way, I'll pick one up in the morning my time. My supplier has nothing smaller than 240Gb available currently which I realise is over kill but I'm not bothered about that.

Note, I will never be sharing files, doing torrents, web server, ftp or anything else from the router. I have servers on the network doing all that already.

That being the case and as the USB storage is only going to be used to swapfile and config/script etc storage what are you partitioning and formatting suggestions?

1. One partition?
2. If more than one partition for what advantage?
3. ext 4 with journal for file system?
4. considering the overkill in SSD size is 2Gb still the suggested optimal swap file size?
5. As I am using an SSD not a USB I assume setting to USB3 in firmware should be viable without 2.4Ghz degradation?

Many thanks again
Ari

 

[L&LD]

@Decado thank you and you're welcome.

1) Yes, one partition is my recommendation no matter what size of USB drive/SSD you use (I use a 256GB too with a single partition and over 224GB 'free').

2) No advantage from everything I've read, but many (possible) headaches.

3) Ext4 with journaling is working flawlessly on many USB drives over many routers for a few years now. When I tested for 'speed' between journaling enabled or not, there was no real-world difference on the much slower drives I was using back then. Today's much faster drives will make that even more negligible, even in USB 2.0 mode.

4) 2GB swap file is still recommended (even by amtm, btw). Skynet for example now requires a 1GB swap file to even run.

5) That is something you will have to test with the specific SSD and USB 3.x cables you'll be using. If you rely on 2.4GHz for the highest throughput speeds while simultaneously requiring the highest speeds possible from all the scripts you plan to use, then USB 2.0 mode is suggested for the least impact. To be clear, it doesn't matter if a USB drive/'key' or an SSD is in use on the USB 3.0 ports in USB 3.0 mode, just the fact that USB 3.0 mode is in use is a potential cause of interference for the 2.4GHz band. How much it affects your network throughput and stability is up to you to decide.

HTH.

 

[Jcquantum]

Hi @L&LD ! Is there a way to move the USB swap file to 2.0 from 3.0? What will need to be done? Thanks

 

[L&LD]

There is nothing to 'be done'.

All you need to do is safely remove the USB drive from the GUI.

After it is removed, insert the USB drive to the 2.0 Port. If you want to use the USB 3.0 port in USB 2.0 mode, make the change and reboot the router without the USB drive inserted into the router at all.

Once it has rebooted and you verify that it is in USB 2.0 mode, I would power off the router and insert the drive and power it up. Remember it may need 10 minutes or more to get the router fully 'ready' and stable again.

HTH.

 

[Decado]

@Decado thank you and you're welcome.

1) Yes, one partition is my recommendation no matter what size of USB drive/SSD you use (I use a 256GB too with a single partition and over 224GB 'free').

2) No advantage from everything I've read, but many (possible) headaches.

3) Ext4 with journaling is working flawlessly on many USB drives over many routers for a few years now. When I tested for 'speed' between journaling enabled or not, there was no real-world difference on the much slower drives I was using back then. Today's much faster drives will make that even more negligible, even in USB 2.0 mode.

4) 2GB swap file is still recommended (even by amtm, btw). Skynet for example now requires a 1GB swap file to even run.

5) That is something you will have to test with the specific SSD and USB 3.x cables you'll be using. If you rely on 2.4GHz for the highest throughput speeds while simultaneously requiring the highest speeds possible from all the scripts you plan to use, then USB 2.0 mode is suggested for the least impact. To be clear, it doesn't matter if a USB drive/'key' or an SSD is in use on the USB 3.0 ports in USB 3.0 mode, just the fact that USB 3.0 mode is in use is a potential cause of interference for the 2.4GHz band. How much it affects your network throughput and stability is up to you to decide.

HTH.

Thanks again for taking time out to reply so promptly.

Well, that answers my questions. A 250Gb SSD with a single ext4 journaled partition and a 2Gb swapfile it is. I wasn’t thinking about a smaller swapfile but rather wondering if larger was desirable or indeed possible.

regards
Ari

 

[L&LD]

The last time I formatted a USB drive via amtm, a 2GB swap file was not only the recommended but also the maximum too.

 

[Jcquantum]

Hi @L&LD ! Thanks again for the help.

 

[Gr33n]

Hi,

Noob here and new to ASUSWRT-Merlin coding etc. I was following this guide: Allow Netflix to bypass VPN and was able to access the amtm through putty, but couldn't through Notepad++ (which is what I tried first and was trying to figure out for hours and hours). Notepad++ would connect, but would not recognize either of the amtm commands (see below). I was just curious if anyone knew why and or could tell me what I am doing wrong? Is SFTP not the same thing as SSH? (Honestly don't know what either of them are lol)

FYI, I know some SQL because I use it for work, and I want to learn more coding stuff for stuff like this. Can someone tell me what language this is using and where I could learn some basic commands and other basics for it?

 

[L&LD]

Notepad++? I wouldn't have even thought to access the router like that.

What you need is a terminal, not a text editor to run amtm or any other script.

If you want an uncomplicated way to edit files (that are editable) on the router, try using WinSCP instead.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Hi,

Noob here and new to ASUSWRT-Merlin coding etc. I was following this guide: Allow Netflix to bypass VPN and was able to access the amtm through putty, but couldn't through Notepad++ (which is what I tried first and was trying to figure out for hours and hours). Notepad++ would connect, but would not recognize either of the amtm commands (see below). I was just curious if anyone knew why and or could tell me what I am doing wrong? Is SFTP not the same thing as SSH? (Honestly don't know what either of them are lol)


View attachment 26015

FYI, I know some SQL because I use it for work, and I want to learn more coding stuff for stuff like this. Can someone tell me what language this is using and where I could learn some basic commands and other basics for it?

Notepad++ is a text editor, you need an SSH client like Xshell to run amtm: https://diversion.ch/diversion/use/development-tools.html

 

[JohnD5000]

Notepad++ is a text editor, you need an SSH client like Xshell to run amtm: https://diversion.ch/diversion/use/development-tools.html

I've been using Putty, does Xshell have any benefits over Putty