picsi 0.0.4

CSI collection on Raspberry Pi

picsi

Nexmon CSI utilities for Raspberry Pi

In development • Not ready for testing yet.

Features

• Superfast installs with pre-compiled binaries
• Fallback to compiling from source when binaries are not available
• Easy Start/Stop CSI collection with picsi up or picsi down
• Restore original firmware and connect to WiFi after picsi down
• Save CSI to .pcap files
• Forward CSI packets to other devices for faster collection
• Manage your CSI collection configuration with Profiles

Install

On a Raspberry Pi 3B+ or 4B, run:

sudo python3 -m pip install picsi

sudo picsi install

picsi will download the appropriate firmware and binaries for your system and install them, or compile from source if they are not available pre-compiled.

Do Not run this yet. Picsi is not ready for testing.

Docs

I'm gonna add more documentation, and probably create a github pages site for documentation later (3rd week of February maybe), but for now, here is an overview.

Picsi (pronounced pixie?) is a Python tool to install Nexmon CSI on Raspberry Pis. It needs Python version >= 3.7, although using the latest version is recommended.

The best features of picsi, in my opinion, are:

Installing Nexmon CSI from pre-compiled binaries.

Compiling Nexmon_CSI on the Pi takes about an hour, and downloads about 1.5 GB of data. And it needs your attention for the entire duration because you need to reboot the Pi multiple times, and keep a look out for errors.

Picsi downloads appropriate pre-compiled nexmon_csi firmware and binaries (nexutil, makecsiparams) for your kernel from https://github.com/nexmonster/nexcsi-bin.git (repository not available yet), and installs them. If binaries are not available, it installs from source, including automatic unattended reboots, and logs errors and progress.

Forwards CSI packets to an IP

Picsi can forward CSI packets to a different computer on your network, which is potentially faster than the Pi, and can collect more packets than tcpdump on the Pi can.

But additionally, an app on your phone/laptop can listen to the packets, and plot the CSI in realtime or process it.

Profiles!

Manage your csi collection configuration in profiles!

write

[profiles.CustomProfileName]
    channel = 36
    bandwidth = 80

    coremask = 1
    ssmask = 1

    forward = false
    forward_ip = '192.168.1.25'

    duration = 30

    macids = ['ab:cd:ef:12:34']

in profiles.toml, and you can start csi collection with

picsi up CustomProfileName.

This collects CSI on channel 36, bandwidth 80 from macids for 30 seconds, and forwards that CSI to 192.168.1.25. After 30 seconds, CSI collection is stopped and original wifi firmware is restored.

You can also create a set of profiles, and make picsi loop CSI collection over them.

Only basic CSI collection via profiles will be added first, and other profile features will be added later.

Help page

Usage: picsi {{ COMMAND | help }} [--option] [--option argument]
       COMMAND := {{ install | uninstall | up | down | save | forward | rebuild | help }}
       OPTION  := {{ --url | --branch | --nexmon-url | --nexmon-branch | --apt-upgrade |
                    --no-source | --no-binaries | --binary-url }}

Examples: picsi help
          picsi install
          picsi install --url \"$NEX_REPO_URL\" --no-source

COMMAND

    i | install
        Installs Nexmon_CSI.
    U | uninstall
        Uninstalls Nexmon_CSI. Note: Upppercase U.
    u | up
        Enables CSI collection. WiFi will be disabled.
    d | down
        Disables CSI collection and enables WiFi.
    s | save
        Save CSI to pcap file
    f | forward | fw
        Forward CSI packets to another IP
    r | rebuild
        Rebuilds the Nexmon_CSI from source.
    h | help
        Shows this help page.

OPTION

    --url
        URL for the Nexmon_CSI repository to git clone.
        The default value is 'https://github.com/nexmonster/nexmon_csi.git'
    
    --branch
        The git branch name in the cloned repository to
        use. The default value is 'master'.
        A commit hash or git object hash would work too.

    --nexmon-url
        URL for the Nexmon base repository to git clone.
        The default value is 'https://github.com/seemoo-lab/nexmon.git',

    --nexmon-branch
        The git branch in the cloned repository to
        use. The default is value 'master'.
        A commit hash, or git object hash would work too.
    
    --apt-upgrade
        Runs apt upgrade before installing. Not recommended.
        Running apt upgrade might upgrade your kernel.

    --no-source
        Prevent Nex from compiling Nexmon_CSI from source. If this flag
        is not present, Nex will fall back to compiling Nexmon_CSI from
        source when pre-compiled binaries are not available.

    --no-binaries
        Nex tries to use pre-compiled binaries when available,
        and will fall back to compiling Nexmon_CSI from source when not.
        Supply this flag to prevent use of pre-compiled binaries.

    --binary-url
        URL for the repository with precompiled binaries.
        Default URL is 'https://github.com/nexmonster/nexcsi-bin.git'.

Notes:
    WiFi will be unavailable for use when Nexmon_CSI is being used.
    Use an Ethernet cable or a second WiFi adapter if you're using SSH.