OpenMPTCProuter VPS [Beta]

This project is used to create an OpenMPTCProuter (OMR) VPS image. OMR uses MultiPath TCP (MPTCP) and OpenWrt to aggregate multiple Internet connections. This Droplet serves as the aggregation endpoint for your local OMR. If you like OMR, consider donating at: openmptcprouter.com.

Wait Wat? ELI5: OK, so let's say you spend a lot of time in an area with unreliable and/or slow Internet (🚐 🌲 🏕️). You can't get a single good Internet connection, but you can get several so-so options (Starlink, Cellular, Open Hotspots, etc.). OMR allows you to leverage MPTCP so that you can aggregate or bond those connections together into a faster, more reliable connection.

Cool, cool cool cool...so how do I...

Use It

If you want to get up and running in as little time as possible:

1. Go here, create a Droplet, wait a bit, then SSH in (port 65222)
2. Grab your server key from /root/openmptcprouter_config.txt & add it along with your Droplet IP to your local OMR (see OMR Homelab Client Setup Guides)
3. Profit

Slightly more info:

• This image was built using a $4 Droplet, and it should (🤞) work just fine on one
• First boot setup takes a bit of time
  • Why? On first boot, the OS is updated. Then, OpenMPTCProuter is installed.
• The README in the Droplet provides additional info
• Using Floating / Reserved IPs:
  • Create your Droplet
  • Assign your Reserved IP to the Droplet

OMR Homelab Client Setup Guides

• OpenMPTCProuter tutorials page
• Kamru's guide

UDM Pro SE & Raspberry Pi 4

The image below is the setup I used to test the OMR VPS Image. To use this setup in the field:

• Remove the Primary UDM Pro SE from the picture
• Connect the OMR WAN 1 port (UDM port 5 in the picture below) to your first modem/router, e.g. a Starlink router (preferrably in passthrough mode)
• Connect the OMR WAN 2 port (UDM port 7 in the picture below) to your second modem/router, e.g. a cellular modem

UDM Config

• Create 3 VLAN only networks; in the picture above:
  • OMR is VLAN 10
  • OMR WAN 1 is VLAN 11
  • OMR WAN 2 is VLAN 12
• Create a port profile (OMR VLANs):
  • Native network is OMR (VLAN 10), i.e. untagged
  • Tagged networks are:
    • OMR WAN 1 (VLAN 11)
    • OMR WAN 2 (VLAN 12)
• Assign each network and the port profile:
  • VLAN 10 is on Port 8
  • VLAN 11 is on Port 5
  • VLAN 12 is on Port 7
  • OMR VLANs is on Port 6
• Connect your cables:
  • Modem/router 1 to Port 5
  • Modem/router 2 to Port 7
  • WAN Port 9 to Port 8
  • OMR to Port 6

🤞 I didn't forget anything

OMR Config

Kamru has an excellent guide on this! It's what I used to setup my OMR. A summary below:

• Set a password
  • System > Administration
• Probably change the LAN subnet as it collides with Starlink
  • Network > Interfaces > LAN > Edit
  • 10.10.10.0/29 is used in the picture above
• Delete the default WAN ports and create two new ones:
  • Create one on eth0.11 interface
  • Create another on eth0.12 interface
  • Set the appropriate protocol for each (DHCP here)
  • Make sure they are added to WAN under Firewall Settings
• Go to: System > OpenMPTCProuter > Settings Wizard
  • Set the Server IP to your OMR VPS
  • Set the Server Key to your OMR VPS Server Key
  • Set ISP1 MultiPath TCP to Master
  • Set IPS2 MultiPath TCP to enabled
  • Verify protocol and interface for both ISP1 & ISP2

🤞 I didn't forget anything

Contribute Changes

Create the OpenMPTCProuter Image

First, generate an API_TOKEN on the API page. Then, create a vars file:

echo 'do_token = "API_TOKEN"' > variables.auto.pkrvars.hcl

Finally, validate and build the image:

packer init .
packer validate .
packer build .

Provision Droplets for Testing

The recommended way to provision droplets for testing is by using terraform.

Use Cases:

1. You created an image by following the steps in the Create the OpenMPTCProuter Image section above and you would like to now create a Droplet using that image.
2. You want to create a Droplet using the image that the packer build is based off of so you can test the build scripts in a clean environment.

Terraform Configuration

First, we need to create a vars file:

cd terraform
echo 'do_token = "API_TOKEN"' > terraform.auto.tfvars
echo 'image    = "IMAGE_ID"' >> terraform.auto.tfvars
echo 'ssh_keys = [SSH_ID]'   >> terraform.auto.tfvars

NB: the square brackets [] around SSH_ID are required.

Now that we have a template, let's grab the required information:

API_TOKEN: use the API_TOKEN that you generated in the Create the OpenMPTCProuter Image section above.

IMAGE_ID: the IMAGE_ID you use here depends on the use case (listed above)

1. For use case 1, the IMAGE_ID is a string of numbers output by the Packer build process.
2. For use case 2, the IMAGE_ID is debian-11-x64

Alternatively:

• Find the IMAGE_ID in the URL (imageId= for Snapshots, distroImage= for Distributions) of the Create Droplets page after selecting the desired image in the "Snapshots" tab.

• Acquire the IMAGE_ID from the API:

  • Distributions

      curl -s -X GET \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer API_TOKEN" \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/images?type=distribution" | \
      jq -r '.images | .[] | [.id, .name] | @tsv'
    

  • Snapshots

      curl -s -X GET \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer API_TOKEN" \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/images?private=true" | \
      jq -r '.images | .[] | [.id, .name] | @tsv'
    

SSH_ID: DO's ID for your SSH public key. You can obtain the SSH_ID for any previously added keys (i.e. any public keys added via the API or via the Settings -> Security page) with the following query:

    curl -s -X GET \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer API_TOKEN" \
    "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/account/keys" | \
    jq -r '.ssh_keys | .[] | [.name, .id] | @tsv'

If you haven't yet added a key, you can use the query below to upload your SSH public key and get its SSH_ID:

  curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer API_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"name\":\"OMR Key\",\"public_key\":\"$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)\"}" \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/account/keys"

Terraform Use

If you don't already have Terraform installed, checkout Terraform's installation page . The terraform code requires version 1.2.0 or later.

Make sure you've setup your vars file as described in the previous section. Then:

terraform init
terraform validate
terraform plan
terraform apply

You may use terraform show to see your Droplet's IP address:

terraform show

Finally, to destroy your Droplet:

terraform destroy