Howdy folks,
374.35 has been released. This release took longer than usual due to the combination of Asus having made major changes in the latest release, and things being quite busy lately here both at home and at work.
UPDATE: 374.35_4 is now available, resolving various VPN-related issues introduced in 374.35.
The biggest focus of this new release is the merge with GPL 374.339 (from RT-AC68U). This means Time Machine support is now available for both RT-AC56U and RT-AC68U. Support is not possible for other routers, as it requires a newer closed-source component, and at this time Asus hasn't decided yet whether they would add support for TM to these older routers or not (as it requires them to pay for a licence).
339 also means integrating Asus's own OpenVPN implementation. While Asus based theirs on the Asuswrt-Merlin one, they made extensive changes to it to make it more user-friendly. This means that I had to find a common ground between both implementations, so not to lose the advanced features of my implementations (such as the ability of having two separate OpenVPN server instances configured), but benefit from theirs such as the ability to import an .ovpn config file, or configure just a basic username/password based style of authentication. This required the OpenVPN webui to be completely overhauled. It should still be familiar enough to current Asuswrt-Merlin users. One big change is the OpenVPN Keys page is now gone, being integrated directly into the Server/Client config page as a clickable link (same as Asus).
One new feature did get slipped into this release, with support for the Namecheap DDNS (patch provided by Saintdev). A new qos-start custom script was also added, for people wanting to manually customize their QoS implementation.
The NAT loopback fix for AC56/AC68U is included (this is the patch that Asus integrated in their recent 374_371 AC68U release).
IPTraffic should now be able to count traffic that goes through an OpenVPN tunnel. Along the way, I reworked the way IPTraffic iptables rules were configured, making them more optimum performance-wise.
Various bugfixes were also slipped in:
- Fixed broken Settings backup which would generate an empty CFG file
- Fixed IPv6 firewall rules that would be corrupted if entering long IPs/CIDRs
- Asus's bruteforce protection on the web server have been disabled, as they would frequently cause users to be locked out of their own router
A few more details, which are all listed in the Changelog.
IMPORTANT: Due to changes with Mediafire (they no longer allow custom URLs with their service), people using the old download link pointing at Mediafire might no longer be able to access the download site. Always use the following download URL, as I can easily adjust this one to accomodate any change on the download site provider's end:
http://www.lostrealm.ca/asuswrt-merlin/download
Next on the agenda: things are still as busy on my end, so I expect development to remain slower until the Holidays. Most likely the focus of the next release will be to merge with the next GPL release from Asus (which seem to be working overtime on fixing issues lately!).
Note that I might start slowing down with merging with new GPL, as these merges are becoming increasingly complex to accomplish. That means I will probably no longer push out a new release every time Asus pushes a new one.
There's one or two features I have in mind that should slip into the next release, but expect the focus to remain on the new GPL and on bugfixes for the time being.
374.35 has been released. This release took longer than usual due to the combination of Asus having made major changes in the latest release, and things being quite busy lately here both at home and at work.
UPDATE: 374.35_4 is now available, resolving various VPN-related issues introduced in 374.35.
The biggest focus of this new release is the merge with GPL 374.339 (from RT-AC68U). This means Time Machine support is now available for both RT-AC56U and RT-AC68U. Support is not possible for other routers, as it requires a newer closed-source component, and at this time Asus hasn't decided yet whether they would add support for TM to these older routers or not (as it requires them to pay for a licence).
339 also means integrating Asus's own OpenVPN implementation. While Asus based theirs on the Asuswrt-Merlin one, they made extensive changes to it to make it more user-friendly. This means that I had to find a common ground between both implementations, so not to lose the advanced features of my implementations (such as the ability of having two separate OpenVPN server instances configured), but benefit from theirs such as the ability to import an .ovpn config file, or configure just a basic username/password based style of authentication. This required the OpenVPN webui to be completely overhauled. It should still be familiar enough to current Asuswrt-Merlin users. One big change is the OpenVPN Keys page is now gone, being integrated directly into the Server/Client config page as a clickable link (same as Asus).
One new feature did get slipped into this release, with support for the Namecheap DDNS (patch provided by Saintdev). A new qos-start custom script was also added, for people wanting to manually customize their QoS implementation.
The NAT loopback fix for AC56/AC68U is included (this is the patch that Asus integrated in their recent 374_371 AC68U release).
IPTraffic should now be able to count traffic that goes through an OpenVPN tunnel. Along the way, I reworked the way IPTraffic iptables rules were configured, making them more optimum performance-wise.
Various bugfixes were also slipped in:
- Fixed broken Settings backup which would generate an empty CFG file
- Fixed IPv6 firewall rules that would be corrupted if entering long IPs/CIDRs
- Asus's bruteforce protection on the web server have been disabled, as they would frequently cause users to be locked out of their own router
A few more details, which are all listed in the Changelog.
IMPORTANT: Due to changes with Mediafire (they no longer allow custom URLs with their service), people using the old download link pointing at Mediafire might no longer be able to access the download site. Always use the following download URL, as I can easily adjust this one to accomodate any change on the download site provider's end:
http://www.lostrealm.ca/asuswrt-merlin/download
Next on the agenda: things are still as busy on my end, so I expect development to remain slower until the Holidays. Most likely the focus of the next release will be to merge with the next GPL release from Asus (which seem to be working overtime on fixing issues lately!).
Note that I might start slowing down with merging with new GPL, as these merges are becoming increasingly complex to accomplish. That means I will probably no longer push out a new release every time Asus pushes a new one.
There's one or two features I have in mind that should slip into the next release, but expect the focus to remain on the new GPL and on bugfixes for the time being.
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