Wake your PC via a web page

This is a simple way that you can use the FSG to boot up your PCs remotely via a web page. This can be useful for occasions such as needing remote access to a PC when it is switched off.

Requirements

The FSG will need to be on the same LAN as the PC, and the PC will need to be configured with WakeOnLan capability enabled. The FSG web server will also need to be enabled and accesable from the outside world if required. You will need to have the custom installer on your FSG.

Procedure

• Login as root using SSH
• Install perl and wakelan

ipkg install perl
ipkg install wakelan

• Create a file in /var/www/cgi-bin/ and call it wakelan.pl or any other filename of your choice.

vi /var/www/cgi-bin/wakelan.pl

• Add the following text to the file, substituting the 00:12:34:56:78:90 for the MAC address of the target PC. You may also change the displayed text if you wish. Remember to save the file.

#!/opt/bin/perl
print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print "<H1>Starting up PC, please wait</H1>\n";
exec("/opt/bin/wakelan -m 00:12:34:56:78:90");

• repeat the last 2 steps, creating a different file for every machine that you are wanting to be able to remotely switch on.

• set the file permissions on the file(s)

chmod 744 /var/www/cgi-bin/wakelan.pl

• Execute the script by browsing to http://yourserver/cgi-bin/wakelan.pl. What I have done with mine is create a menu page with hyperlinks to each of the scripts for my 2 PCs. Depending on your HTML knowledge you could do all sorts of fancy things here.

The end result is that you can switch on your PC from anywhere in the world, simply by clicking a link or button on a web page!