wolweb - Minimal Wake-on-LAN Web Service

A lightweight, minimal web service for remotely waking up computers on your home network via Wake-on-LAN (WoL). Perfect for Raspberry Pi or similar single-board computers as a systemd service.

Overview

wolweb provides a simple HTTP interface to:

• Send Wake-on-LAN packets to power on home servers
• Monitor the online status of target devices
• Manage WoL requests with cooldown protection

Use Case

Deployed on a Raspberry Pi or similar device within your home network, wolweb allows you to:

1. Connect via VPN to your home network
2. Access the web interface
3. Wake up your home server or other devices
4. Access your server after it's online

Features

• Minimal Web UI - Simple HTML interface for sending WoL packets
• Status Monitoring - Continuous checks for device online status
• Cooldown Protection - Prevents WoL packet spam
• Quick Links - Show service links when server is online
• Easy Deployment - Single binary, runs as systemd service
• Configurable - TOML config file or command-line flags

Installation

Prerequisites

• Go 1.16+ (for building)
• Linux system with systemd

Build from Source

make build

This compiles the binary and places it in /usr/local/bin/wolweb.

Or manually:

go build -o wolweb wolweb.go
sudo cp wolweb /usr/local/bin/

Usage

Command-line Flags

wolweb [flags]

• -config - Path to TOML config file (optional, overrides defaults)
• -listen - Address to listen on (default: :8080)
• -checkAddr - Address to check for online status, format host:port (default: 192.168.1.10:22)
• -checkTimeout - Timeout for each connectivity check (default: 3s)
• -checkEvery - Interval between status checks (default: 30s)
• -mac - MAC address of the target device (required, format: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX)
• -broadcast - Broadcast address for WoL packet (default: 255.255.255.255:9)
• -cooldown - Cooldown between WoL requests (default: 10s)
• -title - Page title displayed in web UI (default: WoL Service)

Configuration File (TOML)

You can use a TOML configuration file for easier management:

wolweb -config /etc/wolweb/config.toml

Example configuration file:

[server]
mac = "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF"
checkAddr = "192.168.1.100:22"
checkTimeout = "3s"
checkEvery = "30s"
broadcast = "255.255.255.255:9"
cooldown = "10s"
title = "Home Server WoL"
listen = ":8080"

# Links to display when server is online
[[links]]
name = "Nextcloud"
url = "https://nextcloud.home:8443"
icon = "☁️"

[[links]]
name = "Home Assistant"
url = "http://192.168.1.100:8123"
icon = "🏠"

[[links]]
name = "Jellyfin"
url = "http://192.168.1.100:8096"
icon = "🎬"

Important: When the server is online, the UI will show all configured links as clickable buttons with their icons. When offline, only the WoL button is available.

Example

Using flags:

wolweb -mac "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF" -checkAddr "192.168.1.100:22" -listen ":8080" -title "Home Server WoL"

Using config file:

wolweb -config wolweb.toml

Systemd Service Setup

1. Create the service file:

sudo cp wolweb.service /etc/systemd/system/

2. Edit the service file to configure your settings:

sudo systemctl edit wolweb

3. Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable wolweb
sudo systemctl start wolweb

4. Check status:

sudo systemctl status wolweb

Example Systemd Unit

See wolweb.service for a complete example configuration.

Build and Installation with Makefile

make build          # Compile and install to /usr/local/bin
make clean          # Remove built binaries
make install        # Install systemd service file
make uninstall      # Remove systemd service file

CI/CD

This project uses GitHub Actions for continuous integration:

• Linting - golangci-lint checks code quality
• Testing - Runs all tests with coverage reporting
• Multi-platform builds - Automatically builds for:
  • Linux (amd64, arm, arm64) - Perfect for Raspberry Pi!
  • macOS (amd64, arm64)
  • Windows (amd64)
• Automated Releases - Tags trigger automatic binary releases

Building Different Architectures Locally

# Linux ARM (Raspberry Pi)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm GOARM=7 go build -o wolweb-rpi wolweb.go

# Linux ARM64
GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 go build -o wolweb-arm64 wolweb.go

# Linux x86-64
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o wolweb-amd64 wolweb.go

Security Considerations

• VPN Access Only - Run behind a VPN or private network only
• Firewall Rules - Restrict HTTP access to trusted sources
• No Authentication - This service has no built-in authentication; rely on network security
• HTTPS - Consider using a reverse proxy (nginx) with SSL/TLS for production

License

MIT