Node Remote app with latest Raspberry Pi Version

Third-Party Apps
1

HI-

I’m trying to get the Node Remote for IOS to work correctly on the latest build of the Raspberry Pi appliance with Trixie. It works on the previous build (bookworm version), but I can not get the astdb.txt to be available to the app following the procedures from the developer and from folks here.

Any suggestions?

2

Same problem here. Hopefully someone has the solution

3

Did you follow the instructions @ Node Remote – M0DQW ?

4

Yes, and that works great for the Bookworm version of ASL, but the newest appliance is running trixie.

5

Just to say that I never tried using NodeRemote on Bookworm, tried these instructions for Trixie, and it didn’t work. The file is definitely being served by the http server in /allmon2 (it’s the only file there). I don’t know what changed between Bookworm and Trixie. It’s too bad NodeRemote isn’t getting updates anymore.

6

My understanding is that the Node Remote app fetches a copy of the astdb.txt file by issuing an HTTP request to the web server running on the node you are trying to connect with. To compare the Bookworm vs. Trixie behavior I exec'd the following command :

wget 'http://<node-ip-address>/allmon2/astdb.txt'

The command downloads the file just fine from node running Bookworm. From a Trixie system, thehttp:// request is being rewritten as an https:// request and the self-signed certificate is getting in the way :sad_but_relieved_face:

7

Well, the node remote client doesn’t need access to the http server running on the node, so I guess manager is calling that to localhost. Maybe a job for certbot or something, unless there is a way to never force https for calls to localhost.

8

ASL3 Appliance has always redirected HTTP to HTTPS for both Debian 12 and Debian 13. So that isn't new behavior. If there's no way to accept the self-signed certificate or fetch it from the localfilesystem (which seems more reasonable if both apps are on the same device), then it's just going to be broken.

Certbot doesn't fix the problem because you'd have to have a stable DNS name or IP address. IIRC, NodeRemote is about managing a mobile node.

9

The Node Remote app runs on your phone ... and it's looking for a copy of the astdb.txt file from the device.

10

This is getting way into niche territory, but I think it would work in the way that I’m using it over Tailscale. But yeah, there is nothing ideal about this situation with the lack of new updates for this app.

11

But, just to be clear, the Node Remote app itself isn’t making the http request. It’s telling manager to do that, which then sends the contents of the text file over that already open TCP socket. At least, that’s what I am pretty sure is happening.

12

Yes, it does use AMI to interact with the node. But, no, to get the astdb.txt file it really issues an HTTP request.

13

Allan pointed out that I didn't add HTTPS redirection on by default until Trixie's asl3-appliance (as opposed to asl3-pi-appliance for Bookworm).

14

Until the NodeRemote app is updated, here's "a" Trixie workaround :

  1. Edit the /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf file and add the "RewriteRule" line :
        ...
        RewriteEngine On
 add--> RewriteRule ^/allmon2/astdb\.txt$ - [L]
        RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
        RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
  1. Restart the apache2 server!