XRPi Home

The XRPi software program is an AX25/NetRom/TCPIP router, intended mainly for use in packet switched data-over-radio networks by radio hobbyists.

It is essentially the most recent version of XR32, ported from Windows to Linux. Although intended for use on the Raspberry Pi, it has also been compiled for some desktop Linux platforms as "XRLin".

XRPi runs in a Linux terminal. There is no GUI.

The program is free of charge for non-commercial use by radio hobbyists.

XRPi is distributed as an executable program. There are no plans to release source at this stage.

Features:

XRPi packs a lot of functionality into a small program. This is just a sample...

• Single executable file - no need for complex "installation".
• Compact program, using very few resources.
• Modern AX25 implementation, with Modulo-128, resequencing & selective reject.
• AX25 digipeating, selective digipeating, frame piping
• APRS generic digipeating, IGATE and APRS server.
• IP over AX25/NetRom, with ARP, RIP98, IP router, DNS etc.
• Integral FTP server for remote maintenance.
• Integral HTTP server, with proxy, tunnel, rewrite, SSI.
• Password protected TELNET server.
• Telnet, PING, FINGER and TraceRoute clients.
• NetRom protocol with PING, record route, RSET
• AXIP / AXUDP / AXTCP for AX25 linking via Internet.
• IPIP, IPENCAP and IPUDP for IP tunnelling.
• SLIP / KISS (normal and polled) / PPP / DHCP / TTY
• Reed-Solomon Forward Error Correction.
• L3RTT and INP3 for time-based NetRom routing metrics.
• Comprehensive tracing / capture at all protocol layers.
• Multiple concurrent console sessions.
• Chat Server, compatible with XRChat, Ping Pong and RoundTable systems.
• Integral Personal Mail Server (PMS).
• Cross-protocol bridging.
• NAT (Network Address Translation)
• PZTDOS with line editor for remote file maintenance.
• Application support via TNC2, WA8DED, AGWTCP and KISS TNC emulation.
• Comprehensive HELP and MAN (sysop manual) pages, available from command line.

(The above may look daunting, but you can configure an XRPi system to be as simple or as complex as you like, from a simple 1 port digipeater to a multi-protocol monster with hundreds of ports).

System Requirements

XRPi requires any model of Raspberry Pi, running Debian Wheezy, Jessie or Stretch. It has not (yet) been tested on other flavours of Linux that might be used on Raspberry PI.

The program does not require formal "installation" and its root directory can be located anywhere, even on a USB pen drive. You may run multiple instances of XRPi concurrently on the same machine.

Less than a megabyte of disk space is required for the program and its ancilliary files.

You may also need some form of physical interface to connect XRPi with the outside world. So either a USB to RS232 adaptor or a USB "sound fob" may be required. In the case of the Raspberry Pi "Zero", you may need an Ethernet adaptor.

Interfacing

The following interconnections are possible:

• Physical COM Ports support:
  
  
  • TNC's in KISS and "NetRom Backend" modes.
  • KISS / SLIP / PPP links with "external" systems located on another PC.
  • External application / user support via TTY, or via TNC2, WA8DED and KISS TNC emulators.
  • YAM Modem.
  
  
• "Virtual" COM Ports support:
  
  
  • KISS / SLIP / PPP links with systems located on the same machine.
  • Sound card packet using "Linux Soundmodem".
  • Application / User support via TTY, or via TNC2, WA8DED and KISS TNC emulators.
  
  
• Ethernet and internal loopback support:
  
  
  • IP-based links, using TCP/IP, AXIP, AXUDP, AXTCP, IPIP, IPUDP, IPENCAP, KISSTCP.
  • Direct AX25 over Ethernet.
  • External applications via AGW emulation and Remote Host Protocol.
  • Remote RF ports, using AGWTCP.
  • Soundcard packet, using AGW Packet Engine
  
  

XRPi emulates the following:

• TNC2-type TNC
• KISS TNC
• WA8DED TNC
• AGW Packet Engine (AGWTCP interface)

As this is the official XRPi site, you may download the most up to date copy of XRPi as a .zip archive from our XRPi Downloads page.

The program may be available from other sites, but please exercise caution when using them, as we have no control over the authenticity, completeness or freshness of any files purporting to be XRPi, other than from this site.

Installing XRPi

As mentioned above, XRPi does not require formal "installation", and has no dependencies. Here's a brief overview of the installation process:

Make a directory in a convenient location, and unzip the archive into it, preserving the sub-directory structure.

Open XROUTER.CFG with a text editor, substitute your own callsigns, IP adresses and hardware configuration, then save it.

Open a root terminal, navigate to XRPi's root directory and type "./xrpi". You may edit the ancilliary config files at your leisure.

Full details of how to install, configure and operate XRPi are provided in the documentation section of this site.