Configure Raspberry Pi Stretch Network for AdHoc and Local Wifi

Question

I am trying to connect a network of Pi's using an AdHoc network and OLSRd. However, I do not want to have to change the wifi settings each time that I need to install a package.

My solution was to have 2 wifi networks configured. At high priorityو the AdHoc network. At low priority, the local wifi network. This way, any time I need to install packages, I turn off my AdHoc Network and the Pi's automatically connect to their second choice network.

I looked online but only saw to change the wpa_supplicant file.

Mine now looks like this:

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
country=US

network={
    ssid="localWifi"
    psk="wifipwd"
    priority=1
}

network={
    ssid="ADHocSSID"
    key_mgmt=NONE
    priority=2
}

What else do I need to change?

Thank you.
Charlie

Answer 1

My solution -- create a shell script to easily switch between AdHoc mode and internet connected mode

This does not configure OLSRd, it just creates an AdHoc network that you can connect to.

Shell script just copies the locally stored config files over to the location of the active config files

sudo cp /home/pi/adhoc_config/interfaces /etc/network/
sudo cp /home/pi/adhoc_config/dhcpd.conf /etc/dhcp/
sudo cp /home/pi/adhoc_config/isc-dhcp-server /etc/default/

Here are all the config files:

isc-dhcp-server:

# Defaults for isc-dhcp-server (sourced by /etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server)

# Path to dhcpd's config file (default: /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf).
#DHCPDv4_CONF=/etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf
#DHCPDv6_CONF=/etc/dhcp/dhcpd6.conf

# Path to dhcpd's PID file (default: /var/run/dhcpd.pid).
#DHCPDv4_PID=/var/run/dhcpd.pid
#DHCPDv6_PID=/var/run/dhcpd6.pid

# Additional options to start dhcpd with.
#       Don't use options -cf or -pf here; use DHCPD_CONF/ DHCPD_PID instead
#OPTIONS=""

# On what interfaces should the DHCP server (dhcpd) serve DHCP requests?
#       Separate multiple interfaces with spaces, e.g. "eth0 eth1".
INTERFACESv4="wlan0"
INTERFACESv6=""

interfaces:

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)

# Please note that this file is written to be used with dhcpcd
# For static IP, consult /etc/dhcpcd.conf and 'man dhcpcd.conf'

# Include files from /etc/network/interfaces.d:
source-directory /etc/network/interfaces.d

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

iface eth0 inet manual

# ad-hoc config
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
  address 192.168.7.1
  netmask 255.255.255.0
  wireless-channel 1
  wireless-essid TurtleAdHoc
  wireless-mode ad-hoc

dhcpd.conf:

# dhcpd.conf
#
# Sample configuration file for ISC dhcpd
#

# option definitions common to all supported networks...
option domain-name "example.org";
option domain-name-servers 8.8.8.8;

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;

# The ddns-updates-style parameter controls whether or not the server will
# attempt to do a DNS update when a lease is confirmed. We default to the
# behavior of the version 2 packages ('none', since DHCP v2 didn't
# have support for DDNS.)
ddns-update-style none;

# If this DHCP server is the official DHCP server for the local
# network, the authoritative directive should be uncommented.
# authoritative;

# Use this to send dhcp log messages to a different log file (you also
# have to hack syslog.conf to complete the redirection).
#log-facility local7;

# No service will be given on this subnet, but declaring it helps the 
# DHCP server to understand the network topology.

#subnet 10.152.187.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
#}

# This is a very basic subnet declaration.

#subnet 10.254.239.0 netmask 255.255.255.224 {
#  range 10.254.239.10 10.254.239.20;
#  option routers rtr-239-0-1.example.org, rtr-239-0-2.example.org;
#}

# This declaration allows BOOTP clients to get dynamic addresses,
# which we don't really recommend.

#subnet 10.254.239.32 netmask 255.255.255.224 {
#  range dynamic-bootp 10.254.239.40 10.254.239.60;
#  option broadcast-address 10.254.239.31;
#  option routers rtr-239-32-1.example.org;
#}

# A slightly different configuration for an internal subnet.
#subnet 192.168.7.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
#  range 192.168.7.10 192.168.7.50;
#  option domain-name-servers 8.8.8.8;#
#  option domain-name "internal.example.org";
#  option routers 192.168.7.1;
#  option broadcast-address 192.168.7.255;
#  default-lease-time 600;
#  max-lease-time 7200;
#}

# Hosts which require special configuration options can be listed in
# host statements.   If no address is specified, the address will be
# allocated dynamically (if possible), but the host-specific information
# will still come from the host declaration.

#host passacaglia {
#  hardware ethernet 0:0:c0:5d:bd:95;
#  filename "vmunix.passacaglia";
#  server-name "toccata.example.com";
#}

# Fixed IP addresses can also be specified for hosts.   These addresses
# should not also be listed as being available for dynamic assignment.
# Hosts for which fixed IP addresses have been specified can boot using
# BOOTP or DHCP.   Hosts for which no fixed address is specified can only
# be booted with DHCP, unless there is an address range on the subnet
# to which a BOOTP client is connected which has the dynamic-bootp flag
# set.
#host fantasia {
#  hardware ethernet 08:00:07:26:c0:a5;
#  fixed-address fantasia.example.com;
#}

# You can declare a class of clients and then do address allocation
# based on that.   The example below shows a case where all clients
# in a certain class get addresses on the 10.17.224/24 subnet, and all
# other clients get addresses on the 10.0.29/24 subnet.

#class "foo" {
#  match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 4) = "SUNW";
#}

#shared-network 224-29 {
#  subnet 10.17.224.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
#    option routers rtr-224.example.org;
#  }
#  subnet 10.0.29.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
#    option routers rtr-29.example.org;
#  }
#  pool {
#    allow members of "foo";
#    range 10.17.224.10 10.17.224.250;
#  }
#  pool {
#    deny members of "foo";
#    range 10.0.29.10 10.0.29.230;
#  }
#}

I also have a similar script for going back to connecting to your local wifi network. I will post this too. If anyone is interested, leave a comment and I'll post those files.