Virtual Appliance Marketplace

Features

Collegiate:
No

One-line Description:
LBOT Internet Integration Appliance

Filename:
LBOT.zip

Size Compressed:
184

Allocated Memory:
32-256

Username:
root

Password:
nsi

VMware Tools Installed?:
Yes

Operating System:
Custom Linux using Kernel 2.6.15.6

Torrent?:
No

Applications:
Asterisk 1.2.7.1, C-gate 2.3.25, Nagios 2.0b4, Webmin 1.260, Dansguardian 2.9.4, Openvpn 2.0.6, Rsync 2.6.6, Snort 2.4.3, Squid 2.5, Open-iSCSI Initiator 0.3, iSCSI Enterprise Target 0.4.13, Bind 9.0.2

Description:
“Little Box of Tricks” (aka LBOT) is a collection of integration utilities designed to support a home/small office environments. The code base was originally developed to run in a virtual machine as a desktop/Internet firewall replacement. As more users began utilising it, functionality was added at their request, and thus it evolved into solution that now caters for a variety of requirements. The code has also been ported to a hardware appliance for those users wishing to leverage the functionality on low power/maintenance hardware. Utilities are mostly freely distributable GPL Open Source, however there are optional use components that require licensing if used for commercial purposes (e.g. G729 voice codec). LBOT has a purpose built Linux kernel (currently 2.6.15.6) however can be updated as required to exploit future kernel capabilities.
Please describe the following in terms that a typical technical end-user would understand:
1. What does the appliance do, and what are its uses and benefits to the intended audience in the VMware community. The judging panel is interested to know what is unique about this appliance, why users will want to download and run it, and how they will use it.
LBOT provides an set of tools to allow integration into home/small office environments. Key features -
* Home Automation - It provides a C-Gate interface into Clipsal CBUS2 Home Automation systems, allowing users to control CBUS modules via a Webmin Web Interface. This provides users local (and remote) access to control CBUS connected devices (e.g. lights, doors, alarm etc.) in their environment. Although commercial products (e.g. Clipsal Homegate) are available to achieve this capability, they are expensive and complex, thus LBOT represents a simple and no-cost alternative.
* Telephony - LBOT has a full Asterisk PBX implementation, and has been configured specifically to support the integration of existing (analog) telephony equipment via ATA (Analog Telephony Adapter) equipment. This presents a solution that allows both traditional and VoIP based handsets to leverage VoIP benefits. The implementation allows for direct LBOT-LBOT connectivity (over secured VPN links), allowing a multi-site PBX implementation to be configured, free of Telco costs. Further, it can be registered with the NSI datacentre to allow IAX protocol to be used to VSP providers that only support SIP connections. IAX provides a more bandwidth efficient protocol than SIP, thus improving call quality and reducing the bandwidth utilisation of users' local Internet connections.
* Internet - A variety of tools have been incorporated to manage, secure and optimise Internet connections -
- Proxy server to improve Internet browsing performance
- VPN implementations to provide secure remote connections. HTTPS/SSL VPN is supported to allow connectivity from behind proxy/firewall infrastructures.
- Network Time Server to allow time synchronisation of local systems
- ADSL and Cable clients to support logging on to various ISPs
- Dynamic DNS client to register LBOT hostname on Internet to support remote access
- File & Print server capabilities along with file replication
- Terminal and Web based administration (web username: admin, pass: nsi)
- System and service monitoring
- Firewall and Intrusion detection
- IP address management utilities (DNS, DHCP, Ethtool, TCPDump etc.)
- Mail client for alerting/support
- Quality of Service utilities to prioritise data/voice traffic
- Internet Content filtering
- TCP/IP clustering for high availability deployments
- VLAN and Network Interface Bonding
- TFTP/FTP/SFTP/SMB/iSCSI servers for file transfers
* Storage - SMB/CIFS (Microsoft compatible) file server and client capability allows integration into a Microsoft based network. iSCSI server and client support allows Network Attached Storage integration. Entrypted file system support can be enabled to secure local data and configuration files.
iSCSI target device support allows LBOT to be seen as a iSCSI compatible NAS device to ESX3 (tested with RC1), thus providing a means to serve local VMware vmdk disks as ESX3 LUNs. Further it allows LBOT to provide a storage gateway service to ESX3 (and other iSCSI compatible systems) that allows them to utilise SMB based storage systems transparently.
* Maintenance - LBOT includes standard housekeeping tasks to manage logs, Internet name registration, and status reporting. It also provides a maintenance boot option (by typing "maint" at boot: prompt) allowing users to modify any configurations that may have caused LBOT not to boot correctly, thus mitigating the need to access installation .ISO images for recovery purposes. The 'safetynet' service actively monitors selected daemons and automatically starts them in the event they're stopped.
Backup of all configuration files is accomplished by running the 'backup' script.
2. How was the appliance built, summarizing the steps involved. Describe what optimizations were made, for example any changes you made to the underlying operating system to optimize it for size or functionality, or any special application configurations you made that increase the usefulness of the appliance.
LBOT was built entirely from Open Source code, thus no native binaries are used. VMware tools was built from the Linux package included with VMware WS5.5. The kernel has been tailored to run the applications LBOT supports only - all other functions have not been included. Busybox was originally used to provide Linux utilities to mitigate size, however as limitations were found in the Busybox utilities, modules have been replaced with the native versions as required. The build environment includes Scratchbox, however the kernel and some key components have been built on a modified Redhat system before being transferred into LBOT.
3. Detailed instructions to start using the Appliance and the location of any other documentation.
As this is in essence is the code of the LBOT Internet Appliance, relevant documentation can be found on the NSI web site - http://www.nsi.com.au/support.asp?LL=&s=33&CL=,43,49
4. The names of any licensed operating systems, applications, or other components in your appliance, and the licenses (names or URLs) under which you are using them.
G729 codec, not used by default however can be used by purchasing a license from - http://www.digium.com/en/wheretobuy/digiumdirect/products.php?category_i...
Dansguardian content filter - an optional component which appears to be free for non-commercial use, however licensing detail found at - http://sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php?docid=27215&group_id=13175... seems to return 'page not found' errors.
Snort - an optional component operating under GPL - http://www.snort.org/about_snort/licenses/
Cgate - supplied by Clipsal as a free single user license as part of the C-Bus Toolkit - http://www2.clipsal.com/cis/technical/downloads

Technical Specifications

Operating System:

Custom Linux using Kernel 2.6.15.6

VMware Tools installed: No

Size: 184MB

Allocated Memory (RAM): 32

Applications Installed:

Asterisk 1.2.7.1, C-gate 2.3.25, Nagios 2.0b4, Webmin 1.260, Dansguardian 2.9.4, Openvpn 2.0.6, Rsync 2.6.6, Snort 2.4.3, Squid 2.5, Open-iSCSI Initiator 0.3, iSCSI Enterprise Target 0.4.13, Bind 9.0.2

Virtual Appliance Account Information