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1Use the command line
- 1.2Opening streams
- 1.5Other Options
2Advanced use of filters
- 2.1Filters
- 2.2Subpictures Filters
4Other control interfaces
5The Mozilla plugin
- 5.1Install the plugin
  - 5.1.2Windows

Advanced remote support tools are used to fix issues on any of your devices. The service includes support for the following: Desktop and Notebook PCs, Wired and Wireless Routers, Modems, Printers, Scanners, Fax Machines, USB devices and Sound Cards.

Use the command line

Download drivers for NVIDIA products including GeForce graphics cards, nForce motherboards, Quadro workstations, and more. Update your graphics card drivers today.
Re: NetWorker client compatibility information (reverse) for different windows versions? For win2k you will need 7.5.2 build 492 clients - I run those against server which is based on 8.0.4.x code. Rest I run against 8.4.x or 9.1.1.x or 9.2.1 with client versions being either 8.2.2.x or 8.4.4.x where client is older than win2k8.

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Create an account to start editing, and then click here to update this article.

All standard operations of VLC should be available from the GUI. However, some complex operations can only be done from the command line and there are situations in which you don't need or want a GUI. Here is the complete description of VLC's command line and how to use it.

You need to be quite comfortable with command line usage to use this.

Getting help

VLC uses a modular structure. The core mainly manages communication between modules. All the multimedia processing is done by modules. There are input modules, demultiplexers, decoders, video output modules, ...

This chapter will only describe the 'general' options, i.e. the core options. Each module adds new options. For example, the HTTP input module will add options for caching, proxy, authentication, ...

By using vlc --help, you will get the basic core options. vlc --longhelp will give all the basic options (core + modules). Adding --advanced will give the 'advanced options' (for advanced users). So vlc --longhelp --advanced will give you all options. You can also append --help-verbose if you want more detailed help.

Also, you might want to get debug information. To do this, use -v or -vv (this will show lower severity messages). If your console supports it, you can add --color to get messages in color.

Opening streams

The following commands start VLC and start reading the given element(s):

Opening a file

Start VLC with:

VLC should be able to recognize the file type. If it does not, you can force demultiplexer and decoder (see below).

A list of all video and audio codecs supported by VLC check the VLC features list.

Opening a DVD or VCD, or an audio CD

Start VLC with:

For a DVD with menus:

In most cases, vlc dvd:// or vlc dvd://[device] will do. [device] is for example /dev/dvd on GNU/Linux or D: on Windows (complete path to your DVD drive).

(DVD without menus):

(VCD):

(Audio CD):

Receiving a network stream

To receive an unicastRTP/UDP stream (sent by VLC's stream output), start VLC with:

If 5004 is the port to which packets are sent. 1234 is another commonly used port number. you use the default port (1234), vlc rtp:// will do. For more information, look at the Streaming Howto.

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To receive an multicast UDP/RTP stream (sent by VLC's stream output), start VLC with:

To receive a SSM (source specific multicast) stream, you can use:

This only works on Operating systems that support SSM (Windows XP and Linux).

To receive a HTTP stream, start VLC with:

To receive a RTSP stream, start VLC with:</para>

Modules selection

VLC always tries to select the most appropriate interface, input and output modules, among the ones available on the system, according to the stream it is given to read. However, you may wish to force the use of a specific module with the following options.

--intf <module> allows you to select the interface module.
--extraintf <module> allows you to select extra interface modules that will be launched in addition to the main one. This is mainly useful for special control interfaces, like HTTP, RC (Remote Control), ... (see below)
--aout <module> allows you to select the audio output module.
--vout <module> allows you to select the video output module.
--memcpy <module> allows you to choose a memory copy module. You should probably never touch that.

You can get a listing of the available modules by using vlc -l

Stream Output

The Stream output system allows vlc to become a streaming server.

For more details on the stream output system, please have a look at the Streaming HowTo.

Other Options

Audio options

--noaudio disables audio output. Note that if you are streaming (ex: to a file) this has no effect (streaming copies the audio verbatim). Use --sout-xxx instead (ex: --no-sout-audio)
--mono forces VLC to treat the stream in mono audio.
--volume <integer> sets the level of audio output (between 0 and 1024). Also only applies to local playback (like --noaudio).
--aout-rate <integer> sets the audio output frequency (Hz). By default, VLC will try to autodetect this.
--desync <integer> compensates desynchronization of audio (ms). (If audio and video streams are not synchronized, use this setting to delay the audio stream)
--audio-filter <string> adds audio filters to the processing chain. Available filters are visual (visualizer with spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope), headphone (virtual headphone patialization) and normalizer (volume normalizer)

Video options

--no-video disables video output.
--grayscale turns video output into grayscale mode.
--fullscreen ( or -f) sets fullscreen video.
--nooverlay disables hardware acceleration for the video output.
--width, --height <integer> sets the video window dimensions. By default, the video window size will be adjusted to match the video dimensions.
--start-time <integer> starts the video here; the integer is the number of seconds from the beginning (e.g. 1:30 is written as 90)
--stop-time <integer> stops the video here; the integer is the number of seconds from the beginning (e.g. 1:30 is written as 90)
--zoom <float> adds a zoom factor.
--aspect-ratio <mode> forces source aspect ratio. Modes are 4x3, 16x9, ...
--spumargin <integer> forces SPU subtitles position.
--video-filter <string> adds video filters to the processing chain. You can add several filters, separated by commas
--sub-filter <string> adds video subpictures filter to the processing chain.

Desktop/Screen grab options

You can see the various options for 'grabbing the desktop' (VLC's built-in screen grabber capture device) by using the GUI. See https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=46971

Playlist options

--random plays files randomly forever.
--loop loops playlist on end.
--repeat repeats current item until another item is forced
--play-and-stop stops the playlist after each played item.

Network options

--server-port <integer> sets server port.
--iface <string> specifies the network interface to use.
--iface-addr <string> specifies your network interface IP address.
--mtu <integer> specifies the MTU of the network interface.
--ipv6 forces IPv6.
--ipv4 forces IPv4.

CPU options

You should probably not touch these options unless you know what you are doing.

--nommx disables the use of MMX CPU extensions.
--no3dn disables the use of 3D Now! CPU extensions.
--nommxext disables the use of MMX Ext CPU extensions.
--nosse disables the use of SSE CPU extensions.
--noaltivec disables the use of Altivec CPU extensions.

Miscellaneous options

--quiet deactivates all console messages.
--color displays color messages.
--search-path <string> specifies interface default search path.
--plugin-path <string> specifies plugin search path.
--no-plugins-cache disables the plugin cache (plugins cache speeds up startup)
--dvd <string> specifies the default DVD device.
--vcd <string> specifies the default VCD device.
--program <integer> specifies program (SID) (for streams with several programs, like satellite ones).
--audio-type <integer> specifies the default audio type to use with dvds.
--audio-channel <integer> specifies the default audio channel to use with dvds.
--spu-channel <integer> specifies the default subtitle channel to use with dvds.
--version gives you information about the current VLC version.
--module <module> displays help about specified module. (Shortcut: -p)

Item-specific options

There are many options that are related to items (like --novideo, --codec, --fullscreen).

For all of these, you have the possibility to make them item-specific, using ':' instead of '--' and putting the option just after the concerned item.

Examples:

will play file1.mpg in fullscreen mode and file2.mpg in the default mode (which is generally no fullscreen), whereas

will play both files in fullscreen mode

will play file1.mpg in windowed (no-fullscreen) mode with the subtitles file file1.srt and will play file2.mpg with video filter distort enabled in fullscreen mode (item-specific options override global options).

Advanced use of filters

Filters

These are the old style VLC filters. They only apply to on screen display and thus cannot be streamed. However, on version 1.1.11 you are still able to apply these filters in transcode module using parameter vfilter. More information can be found on Documentation:Streaming HowTo/Advanced Streaming Using the Command Line#vfilter.

Deinterlacing video filter

Module name: deinterlace

--deinterlace-mode {discard,blend,mean,bob,linear,x,yadif,yadif (2x),phosophor,ivtc} choose a deinterlacing mode.

Invert video filter

Module name: invert

Image properties filter

Module name: adjust

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/adjust

contrast <float [0.0 .. 2.0]> : Contrast default value: 1.0
brightness <float [0.0 .. 2.0]> : Brightness default value: 1.0
hue <float [-180 .. 180]> : Hue default value: 0
saturation <float [0.0 .. 3.0]> : Saturation default value: 1.0
gamma <float [0.01 .. 10.0]> : Gamma default value: 1.0
brightness-threshold <boolean> : When this mode is enabled, pixels will be shown as black or white. Also may invert the brightness value. The threshold value will be the brightness defined below default value: disabled

Wall video filter

Module name: wall This filter splits the output in several windows.

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/wall

wall-cols <integer [1 .. 15]> : Number of horizontal windows in which to split the video default value: 3
wall-rows <integer [1 .. 15]> : Number of vertical windows in which to split the video default value: 3
wall-active <string> : Comma-separated list of active windows, defaults to all default value: NULL
wall-element-aspect <string> : Aspect ratio of the individual displays building the wall default value: 4:3

Video transformation filter

Module name: transform

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/transform

transform-type <string> { '90', '180', '270', 'hflip', 'vflip', 'transpose', 'antitranspose' }: Transformation type default value: '90'

Distort video filter

Module name: distort

See Documentation:Modules/distort

Clone video filter

This filter clones the output window.

Module name: clone

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/clone

clone-count <integer> : Number of video windows in which to clone the video. default value: 2
clone-vout-list <string> : You can use specific video output modules for the clones. Use a comma-separated list of modules. default value: '

Croppadd video filter

Module name: croppadd

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/croppadd

croppadd-croptop <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to crop from top
croppadd-cropbottom <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to crop from bottom
croppadd-cropleft <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to crop from left
croppadd-cropright <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to crop from right
croppadd-paddtop <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to add to top
croppadd-paddbottom <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to add to bottom
croppadd-paddleft <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to add to left
croppadd-paddright <integer [0 .. INT_MAX]> : Pixels to add to right

Motion blur filter

Module name: motionblur

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/motionblur

motionblur-factor <integer [1 .. 127]> : The bluring factor (1 to 127). Higher values mean more blurring default value: 80

Video pictures blending

Module name: blend

Video scaling filter

Module name: scale

Subpictures Filters

These are the new VLC filters. They can be streamed.

Marquee display sub filter

Module name: marq

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/marq

marq-marquee <string> : Marquee text to display. default value: VLC
marq-file <string> : File to read the marquee text from. default value: NULL
marq-x <integer> : X offset, from the left screen edge. default value: 0
marq-y <integer> : Y offset, down from the top. default value: 0
marq-position <integer> : Marquee position: 0=center, 1=left, 2=right, 4=top, 8=bottom, you can also use combinations of these values, eg 6 = top-right. default value: -1
marq-opacity <integer [0 .. 255]> : Opacity (inverse of transparency) of overlaid text. 0 = transparent, 255 = totally opaque. default value: 255
marq-color <integer> { 0x000000, 0x808080, 0xC0C0C0, 0xFFFFFF, 0x800000, 0xFF0000, 0xFF00FF, 0xFFFF00, 0x808000, 0x008000, 0x008080, 0x00FF00, 0x800080, 0x000080, 0x0000FF, 0x00FFFF }: Color of the text that will be rendered on the video. This must be an hexadecimal (like HTML colors). The first two chars are for red, then green, then blue. default value: 0xFFFFFF
marq-size <integer [0 .. 4096]> : Font size, in pixels. 0 uses the default font size. default value: 0
marq-timeout <integer> : Number of milliseconds the marquee must remain displayed. 0 means forever. default value: 0
marq-refresh <integer> : Number of milliseconds between string updates. This is mainly useful when using meta data or time format string sequences. default value: 1000

Logo video filter

Module name: logo

Transcluded from Documentation:Modules/logo

logo-file <string> : Image to display. The full format is <image>[,<delay in ms>[,<alpha>]][;<image>[,<delay>[,<alpha>]]][;...].
logo-x <integer> : X offset from upper left corner. default value: 0
logo-y <integer> : Y offset from upper left corner. default value: 0
logo-position <integer> { 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 5, 6, 9, 10 }: Logo position. default value: 5
logo-opacity <integer [0 .. 255]> : Logo opacity. 0 is transparent, 255 is fully opaque. default value: 255
logo-delay <integer> : Global delay in ms. Sets the duration each image will be displayed for in a loop iteration unless specified otherwise in the --logo-file option. default value: 1000
logo-repeat <integer> : Number of loops for the logo animation. -1 for continuous, 0 to disable. default value: -1

This filter can be used both as an old style filter or a subpictures filter.

Note: You can move the logo by left-clicking on it.

The HTTP interface

VLC ships with a little HTTP server integrated. It is used both to stream using HTTP, and for the HTTP remote control interface.

To start VLC with the HTTP interface, use:

If you want to have both the 'normal' interface and the HTTP interface, use vlc --extraintf http.

The HTTP interface will start listening at host:port (<all interfaces>:8080 if omitted), and will reproduce the structure of /directory at http://host:port/ ( vlc_source_path/share/http if omitted ).

Use a browser to go to http://your_host_machine:port. You should be taken to the main page.

VLC is shipped with a set of files that should be enough for generic needs. It is also possible to customize pages. See Documentation:Play HowTo/Building Pages for the HTTP Interface.

Available pages for 1.0.3 :

http://host:port - Main Interface
http://host:port/vlm.html - VLM Interface
http://host:port/mosaic.html - Mosaic Wizard
http://host:port/flash.html - Flash based remote playback

Other control interfaces

VLC includes a number of so-called interfaces that are not really interfaces, but means of. Nevertheless, they are enabled by setting them as interface or extra interface, either in the Preferences, in General/Interface, or using -I or --extraintf on the command line.

Hotkeys

This module allows you to control VLC and playback via hotkeys. It is always enabled by default. You can use hotkeys in the video output window, you can't in the audio dummy interface.

Hotkeys can be hacked by:

Code is composed by modifiers keys (Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Meta,Command) separated by a dash (-) and terminated by a key (a...z, +, =, -, ',', +, <, >, `, /, ;, ', , [, ], *, Left, Right, Up, Down, Space, Enter, F1...F12, Home, End, Menu, Esc, Page Up, Page Down, Tab, Backspace, Mouse Wheel Up and Mouse Wheel Down). Main controls are available from hotkeys, such as : fullscreen, play-pause, faster, slower, next, prev, stop, quit, vol-up, etc. (use the --longhelp option for full list of functions). For example, for binding fullscreen to Ctrl-f, run:

The list of the default hotkeys is available here.

RC and RTCI

These two interfaces allow you to control VLC from a command shell (possibly using a remote connexion or a Unix socket).

Start VLC with -I rc or --extraintf rc. When you get the Remote control interface initialized, `h' for help message, press h and Enter to get help about available commands.

To be able to remote connect to your VLC using a TCP socket (telnet-like connexion), use --rc-host your_host:port. Then, by connecting (using telnet or netcat) to the host on the given port, you will get the command shell.

To use a UNIX socket (local socket, this does not work for Windows), use --rc-unix /path/to/socket. Commands can then be passed using this UNIX socket.

The RTCI interface gives you more advanced options, such as marquee control for the marquee subpicture filter (See filter section).

Ncurses

This is a text interface, using ncurses library.

Start VLC with -I ncurses or --extraintf ncurses.

The ncurses interface

Press h to get the list of all available commands, with a short description.

There is also a filebrowser available for the ncurses interface in order to add playlist items. Press 'B' to use it.

The ncurses filebrowser

You can set the filebrowser starting point by launching vlc with the --browse-dir option:

Gestures

Gestures provide a simple mouse gestures control. TODO

The Mozilla plugin

VLC can also be embedded in a web browser! The following browsers are supported: Firefox and Safari.

Install the plugin

GNU/Linux Debian, Ubuntu, etc.

Install the mozilla-plugin-vlc package using your preferred package manager. For example, at the command line enter:

Windows

Quit Firefox or Mozilla.

Select the Mozilla Plugin option when installing VLC Media Player. The installer will then automatically detect your browser and install the plugin.

Restart Firefox or Mozilla.

Manual Install

In 'Mozilla Firefoxplugins'

Create the directory if it doesn't exist.

Folders to copy:

osdmenu
plugins

Files to copy:

vlc.exe
vlc.exe.manifest
vlc-cache-gen.exe
npvlc.dll.manifest
npvlc.dll
libvlccore.dll
libvlc.dll
libvlc.dll.manifest
axvlc.dll
axvlc.dll.manifest

macOS

The Mozilla/Safari plugin for macOS is only available from vlc version 0.8.5.1 and onwards.

Quit Safari browser.

Download the Mozilla/safari plugin package from macOS download page.

Run the installer from the dmg image.

Compile the sources yourself

Please look at the developers page for information on how to do this.

Use the Mozilla plugin

If in the browser you open a link to an audio or video URL handled by the VLC plugin, or if a web page has HTML code that embeds audio or video handled by the VLC plugin, then the plugin should start and play the audio/video.Note the plugin (as of version 1.1.9) does not present any user interface — it has no default control panel and no keyboard shortcuts.

To get the list of the media types handled by the VLC plugin, browse to about:plugins.Conflicts will arise if you have more than one plugin installed that supports the same media type.

See the Web plugin documentation to create HTML pages that use JavaScript to control the plugin.

Snapshot Tool

Did you know you can use special codes to automatically generate filenames in the Snapshot Tool?

Specifying Streaming Options

Further information: Documentation:Streaming HowTo New

Audio Bar Graph over Video

This section specifies how to enable the audiobargraph audio filter and video overlay, (mostly) via the GUI. This displays an audio meter overlaid on the video.

There are three parts - an audio filter, which sends it's output via TCP to the Remote Control (RC) Interface. This information is then picked up and displayed by the Audio Bar Graph video subpicture filter (OSD).

To enable this, VLC needs to be started with the --rc-host command-line switch - e.g.

In the GUI, set the following (this example from VLC v1.1.9 on Windows 7):

Preferences:Show settings:All
Audio/Filters > Enable 'Audio part of the BarGraph function'
Audio/Filters/audiobargraph > use defaults, change 'Sends the barGraph information every n audio packets' to 1 to enable see a more accurate display
Interface/Main interfaces > Enable 'Remote control interface'
Interface/Main interfaces/RC > Enable 'Do not open a DOS command box interface'
Video/Subtitles-OSD > Enable 'Audio Bar Graph Video sub filter'
Video/Subtitles-OSD/Audio Bar Graph > Set the following settings:
- 'Value of the audio channels levels' = 0 (setting this to 0:1 crashes VLC v1.1.9)
- 'X coordinate' = 0
- 'Y coordinate' = 0 (this doesn't seem to affect anything)
- 'Transparency of the bargraph' = 128 for 50% transparency which looks ok
- 'Bargraph position' = Left (seems to only work Left,Center,Right - can't go top or bottom)
- 'Alarm' = 1 (enables the silence alarm - puts a red border around the bargraph if silent for too long)
- 'Bar width in pixel' = 10 (20 if you want it to be really visible)

This page is part of official VLC media player Documentation (User Guide • Streaming HowTo • Hacker Guide • Modules)
Please read the Documentation Editing Guidelines before you edit the documentation

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

Retrieved from 'https://wiki.videolan.org/index.php?title=Documentation:Advanced_Use_of_VLC&oldid=60680'

An open source router built for security

Article from Issue 196/2017

Home routers are known for weak security. Turris Omnia is an attempt to build a better router through the power of open source.

Hundreds of Internet routers inhabit the IT consumer marketplace. However, the little boxes that connect our home or work offices to the Internet are continually causing a stir. At the end of November 2016, 900,000 customers of a German telecom company were cut off from the Internet for hours – and even for days – because the Speedport router supplied by the company fell victim to a denial of service attack.

Strangely enough, the attack was not even intended for the routers. Instead, the attackers wanted to penetrate the vulnerable remote maintenance interface of a completely different device type. In order to exploit an existing vulnerability of the targeted routers, and thus integrate them into a botnet, the attackers indiscriminately flooded the Internet with port-knocking packets to open a communication channel to the affected systems.

An investigation revealed that the company had left port 7547/TCP wide open on the devices; customers had warned the company as early as 2014 of this potential and completely unnecessary vulnerability, but for whatever reason, many devices were still vulnerable.

The reward for this incredible sloppiness was the attack: The many incoming request packets to the remote interface maintenance that had needlessly been left open were unable to open the affected port and certainly unable to infect the basically immune systems. But the sheer mass of the packets caused the routers so much confusion that they entirely quit working.

This kind of negligence is, unfortunately, all too common with network device providers: Unneeded ports are left open, default passwords are active for far too long, and vulnerable system software remains unpatched. Users often don't even receive a warning, or if they do – as they did with the German telecom – they often ignore potential security problems until the disaster hits home.

As several studies have revealed, many home routers are incredibly insecure, with out-of-date firmware, open ports, and unpatched operating systems. Most business networks have an IT professional – or sometimes a whole team of professionals – overseeing the security system and interpreting event logs to look for signs of intrusion. On home networks, the only 'admin' is the router owner, who is typically an amateur with neither the time nor the inclination to become an expert in the home router appliance.

The need for better security, and for ongoing monitoring of home router traffic to look for possible attacks, has led to an innovative program sponsored by CZ.NIC, the non-profit company that manages the Czech Republic's top-level domain. CZ.NIC designed its own router for users on its network. The Turris Omnia router [1], which was financed through a crowd-funding campaign, incorporates some best practices missing from many router designs and is intended to be very secure.

One of the more interesting features of the Turris Omnia is that it can collect data on incoming traffic to look for signs of an attack in progress. The data is forwarded back to CZ.NIC and can be used to warn other users and, ideally, develop a remedy for the attack.

The Turris Omnia, which uses open source software and open hardware wherever possible, is a good example of a real-world device built to harness the power of the OpenWrt Linux project [2] for residential gateways and other embedded devices. The Omnia is available now in Europe. FCC approval for use in the US is still pending (see the interview with head developer Bedrich Kosata at the end of this article). We decided to investigate the Turris Omnia because it seemed like an interesting approach for how to address the persistent problem of home router security.

High Tech in Plain Wrappings

The Turris Omnia router comes in two variants that only differ in terms of memory. Just EUR289 (a little over $300) will buy you the router with 1GB of RAM, and EUR329 (around $350) gets you twice the capacity. The Turris Omnia impresses with powerful hardware under the hood. A two-core 1.6GHz ARM CPU is at the heart of the machine, with 8GB of permanent SSD storage.

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Thanks to the three mini-PCI Express slots, of which one supports the SATA protocol, hard disk storage can be extended with SSD blades. On delivery, two of the three slots are occupied with WiFi 802.11b/g/n and ac modules (Figure 1). You can also use the LTE modem or other WiFi modules in addition to the storage media. The router is prepared for use with cellular modules and features a SIM card slot on the motherboard.

Figure 1: High-performance hardware with a simple look: Turris Omnia is equipped with three mini-PCI Express interfaces, plenty of RAM, a fast ARM processor, and 8GB of non-volatile storage. (Source: CZ.NIC)

The entire hardware of the Turris Omnia is fully supported by the current Linux kernel. With one exception, free drivers and documentation are available for all components; only the WiFi interface requires a binary from the manufacturer.

Visually the Turris Omnia is quite unobtrusive. The technology is encased in the kind of unadorned metal housing typical of (semi-)professional network technology. The 12 LEDs on the front deliver information on the current status; you can control the brightness and even color by using a switch on the right side. In addition to the LEDs, the unit has two ready-for-use USB 3.0 ports on the left front.

The back of the router is dominated by three WiFi antennas, which can easily be replaced depending on how you plan to use the device. When you look at the connections, the SFP port is quite a surprise: It can house various networking modules and is rarely found in devices in this price range (see the box titled 'SFP').

The acronym SFP stands for Small Form-factor Pluggable. The SFP specification defines modular, hot-swappable optical or electrical transceivers for Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and SONET. The original specification envisages a 5Gbps data rate, although SFP+ interfaces now exist with up to 10Gbps.

You can use the SFP interface (Figure 2) to integrate the router with the LAN or on the Internet with a high-end network medium such as glass fiber. Alternatively, the port will accommodate a modem for VDSL or other connection technologies. If you are already using a broadband modem, you can connect it with the Turris Omnia via the GbE-capable WAN interface and a network cable. Five Gigabit network sockets and a second USB 3.0 port complete the range of interfaces.

Figure 2: Exotic specimen on the router market: The Turris Omnia offers five Ethernet interfaces, as well as one Gigabit Ethernet interface, WiFi, and an SFP port. (Source: CZ.NIC)

Open in the Positive Sense

The software of the system is based on the OpenWrt router's open source operating system; the hardware is almost completely documented and described. This open policy regarding information on the device means a user with sufficient skill could check the source code or even build a completely new router.

Even if you do not want to go that far, you could still expand and rebuild the installed system or replace the software with a different distribution.

The built-in distributed firewall is one of the outstanding and unique features of the router. The firewall is designed to protect the user against zero-day exploits. CZ.NIC wants to detect and analyze these attacks and evolve counter-strategies from the findings as soon as possible, transmitting the necessary fix directly to the consumer equipment.

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To monitor the network for a possible attack, the manufacturer collects the data traffic between the client and the Internet. Turris Development Director Bedrich Kosata explains: 'The fact that we are familiar with the traffic of many customers, who are anonymous for us, means that we have a large database; this large collection of data will ultimately benefit customers.' CZ.NIC analyzes the data for unusual patterns. In case of conspicuous or even suspicious behavior in the traffic, it warns customers. In its delivered state, the firewall is disabled; the customer first needs to enable it. That is, CZ.NIC lets the users decide, said Kosata, whether they want to have their data traffic analyzed. CZ.NIC only uses the acquired data for traffic analysis, and this information is subject to very strict rules on data protection.

The auto-update feature is one of the additional security measures. During setup, the router asks whether you want to use the function. If you prefer mature software, you can do without the auto-updater. In view of recent IT security incidents, however, you are better off installing updates as soon as they are available.

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Another indicator of the Turris Omnia's sophisticated security is that no Internet-facing ports are open in the factory defaults. Functions such as UPnP are disabled; you need to enable WiFi only during the initial setup, and you need to set all the access credentials yourself during guided commissioning.

Simple or Complex?

Installing the Turris Omnia is quick and easy. First, connect the device to the power supply and then connect the WAN port to a modem using a cable. Use a network cable to connect one of your own computers to one of the five Ethernet ports on the router for the initial setup. Then, call the router's web interface on the computer to access the homepage of a simple, but quite effectively designed, installation dialog. The installer guides you through the start-up in 10 steps.

You'll create the necessary access credentials and enable the well-secured WiFi network, among other things. The whole device is up and running within a few minutes. If the software needs to download many updates, this can take a little longer, depending on the bandwidth of your Internet connection. You can then access the simple web interface of Turris Omnia, where you can perform rudimentary settings. Although these are sufficient for general operation, they omit important functions, such as network-attached storage (NAS). All the options are described well.

Things look quite different in the advanced section: Regardless of the visually appealing design and good structure, the options offered here require in-depth expertise. The interface offers you the possibility to influence virtually every aspect of the router and the software – far beyond what even a demanding home user or small office will need (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Knowledge needed: The advanced Turris Omnia web interface requires in-depth Linux expertise on the part of the user, as shown here for sharing network drives.