This section describes some basic tests to make sure your hotspot is working properly. These tests are designed to be performed in order, without leaving any of them out. In other words, each test assumes the configuration changes of the previous test.

This tests whether you can access the NoCat network site, which you should always be able to do in the default configuration, since NoCatAuth puts no restrictions on access to this site by default.

1. Start with the default NoCat configuration file (/usr/local/nocat/nocat.conf). If you have already edited this file, you can rename your edited file to a unique name, copy gateway. conf from the NoCatAuth install directory and rename it nocat.conf. In the default configuration file, everything below LogoutURL is commented out, with the exception of ExcludePorts 25. Important settings include:

2. Reboot the gateway machine and start NoCatAuth by typing /usr/local/nocat/ bin/gateway at the command prompt.

3. Assuming a smooth start-up, as described above in “NoCat Installation,” go to a client machine and associate with the wireless AP by selecting its SSID. (For testing purposes, you could also access the gateway from a cabled workstation. From the gateway’s point of view, there is no difference between wired and wireless clients coming in over the same interface, such as eth0.)

4. Start your browser and type nocat.net in the address bar. You should immediately be taken to http://nocat.net

Make sure the DHCP server is handing out good DNS addresses. You should be able to determine this through the DHCP server management interface. Make sure the client machine is either configured to automatically obtain its DNS information or is configured with known-good DNS addresses.

Try setting one or more known-good DNS addresses in the DNSAddr parameter in nocat.conf.

If you only make adjustments on the client, type /usr/local/nocat/bin/gateway -R at the Linux command prompt, to reset any firewall rules that have been changed.

If you change things on the server side, reboot the server and restart the gateway. Then try navigating to nocat.net again.

This tests whether you can access Google, which requires you to go through the login screen.

1. Type www.google.com in the browser address bar. You should get the NoCat login screen, as shown in Figure 10-6.

2. Click the Skip button.

3. After a small NoCat Logout Agent window opens (don’t close it—it keeps your connection alive and allows you to log out), you will be taken to the Google site. From there, you should be able to go to any site on the Internet, without any further involvement with NoCat.

This is pretty much like the last test, except that you will register and log in this time, instead of hitting the Skip button.

1. Type /usr/local/nocat/bin/gateway –R at the Linux command prompt, to reset NoCatAuth firewall rules.

2. On the client, type www.google.com in the browser address bar. You should get the NoCat login screen, as shown in Figure 10-6 above.

3. Click “Register here.”

4. Fill out the registration form and click “Register.” A “thank you” screen will be displayed briefly. Then you will be returned to the login screen.

5. Log in with the name and password that you just created. As in the previous test, you should get the NoCat Logout Agent window and then be forwarded automatically to Google. From there, you should be able to go to any site on the Internet.

NoCatAuth uses IPtables to create firewall rules. Therefore, IPtables gives you a way to “look under the hood” and determine whether NoCatAuth is operating properly. This test describes one simple interaction with IPtables.

1. Open a new terminal window on the Linux box, and type IPtables -L at the Linux command prompt.

The line beginning ACCEPT is a firewall rule that says traffic using any protocol (prot all), from anywhere, and destined for your client will be accepted.

2. Go to the terminal window where you restarted the gateway. Use CtrlP to bring up the /usr/local/nocat/bin/gateway –R command, and hit the Enter key to reset NoCatAuth firewall rules.

3. Go back to the terminal window where you executed the previous IPtables –L command. Use CtrlP to bring up the command again, and hit the Enter key. You will see:

The rule allowing traffic to get your client has been removed.

4. Try refreshing the Google screen. You will get the NoCat login screen, because in step 2 above you “erased” NoCatAuth’s memory of you.

This test checks Open Mode operation.

1. Edit nocat.conf as follows:

2. Optionally, change GatewayName to reflect the change. You might make it “My Open NoCat Portal,” for instance.

3. Reboot the computer and then use /usr/local/nocat/bin/gateway or CtrlP to start NoCatAuth.

4. On the client, type www.google.com in the browser address bar. You should get the NoCat splash screen, as shown in Figure 10-6.

5. Click “Login.” You will be taken to the Google site. From there, you should be able to go to any site on the Internet. (Note that there is no NoCat Logout Agent window in this case.)

This test makes sure that the “Allowed Web Hosts” feature is working properly.

1. In nocat.conf, uncomment MembersOnly 1 and AllowedWebHosts. Edit as follows:

(Leave GatewayMode: Open)

2. Reboot the computer. Use /usr/local/nocat/bin/gateway or CtrlP to start NoCatAuth

3. On the client, type www.google.com in the browser address bar, or attempt to refresh the Google screen, if it is already open. You get the NoCat splash screen, as shown in Figure 10-7. The first time the gateway is accessed, a “none” message will appear. It will be replaced by a date and time after the first login.

4. Click “Login.” You are not taken to the Google site, because it is not an allowed site. Instead, you are returned to the splash screen.

5. Type www.rockisland.com in the browser address bar. You are taken to that site. If you attempt to go to any other site, you will be returned to the splash screen.

6. Change back to Passive mode, reboot, and restart the gateway. The behavior is essentially the same, except that you get the login screen instead of the splash screen.

Note that a user whose initial request is for an allowed site will never see the splash screen at all. This is the intended behavior of AllowedWebHosts. However, if you want all users to view and accept an AUP, it is an unfortunate behavior. One possible workaround is editing the splash page to always redirect to a particular site (see instructions in the next section) and putting the AUP on that site instead of on the splash page.

This tests a configuration in which all users are redirected to one particular site, no matter which site they initially request.

1. Make a copy of the splash page (/usr/local/nocat/htdocs/splash.html) so that you can always go back to the original.

2. Open the splash page using your preferred text editor. (In Red Hat, you can get to the gedit editor by clicking on the red hat, then selecting Accessories ➪Text Editor.) Toward the bottom of the page, where you see value“$redirect”, substitute a URL for  $redirect. For example: value“http://www.rockisland.com” (be sure to include the http://.)

3. Make any other changes you wish, as well, in the splash file. This is your chance to insert an AUP, for instance. In addition, since users are not logging in, you may want to edit the splash page so that it has a Continue button rather than a Login button.Toward the middle of the page, where you see src=“images/login.gif,” substitute

src=”images/continue.gif.” If you want to see all the possible button images,

look in /usr/local/nocat/htdocs/images. Or you can create a new image and use it, instead.

If you have multiple allowed sites, you can put links to all those sites on your splash page. Be sure to include the http://, like this:

4. Save the file.

5. Edit nocat.conf, to change back to Open mode. Leave the other settings as shown in the previous section.

6. Reboot the computer and restart the NoCatAuth gateway.

7. On the client, type www.google.com in the browser address bar, or attempt to refresh the Google screen, if it is already open.You get the NoCat splash screen, as shown in Figure 10-8.

8. Click “Login.” You are immediately taken to www.rockisland.com.With splash.html edited in this fashion, all users will be forwarded to www.rockisland.com when they click “Login.” If there are other allowed domains in the AllowedWebHosts parameter, users will be able to navigate to those domains from www.rockisland.com.