Uplink-Manager/README.md

Uplink Manager

🚀 Install

🎯 Target

📰 Description

Uplink Manager is a Windows utility that configures WinNAT to provide internet access to downstream devices via a dedicated NAT Uplink adapter. It’s designed for engineers who need to quickly set up network address translation on a Windows 11 Pro VM (e.g., VMware, Hyper‑V) with a few clicks. The tool also supports a DNS proxy that forwards DNS requests from clients to external resolvers (like 8.8.8.8).

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📋 Features

• One‑click NAT provisioning – assign a gateway IP and subnet to the NAT Uplink adapter.
• Teardown – remove all NAT rules and restore the adapter to a clean state.
• DNS Proxy – optionally enable DNS forwarding on the NAT Uplink interface.
• Persistent settings – saved builds are stored in %APPDATA%\Uplink Manager and restored on launch.
• Real‑time activity log – see all PowerShell commands and their results in a scrollable log.
• 64‑bit MSI installer – installs the application and a post‑installation configuration wizard.
• No admin required for config storage – user data is saved in AppData, not Program Files.

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⚡ Quick Install

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samjage/Uplink-Manager/main/uplink_manager_installer.ps1 | iex

🚀 MSI Installation

1. Download the MSI installer

Grab the latest Uplink Manager.msi from the Releases page.

2. Run the installer

• Right‑click the MSI file and choose Run as Administrator (required to install to Program Files).

• Follow the installer wizard:

  1. Welcome – read the overview.
  2. Pre‑Installation Requirements – the installer checks for two active vmxnet3 adapters and hardware virtualization.
  3. VM Prerequisites Check – verifies admin rights, Windows version, adapter count, and virtualization.
  4. Configure Network Adapters – choose which adapter will be the WAN (Internet VLAN) and which will be the NAT Uplink.
  5. Confirm – review changes.
  6. Install – the installer renames the selected adapters, enables Hyper‑V Services, registers the WMI NAT provider, and creates a desktop shortcut.

• After installation, a desktop shortcut to Uplink Manager is created. Double‑click it to launch the TUI.

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🖥️ Usage

Running Uplink Manager

• Launch the application from the desktop shortcut or Start Menu folder.
• If you are not running as Administrator, a warning will appear – NAT commands require elevation.

The Main Screen

• Left panel – configuration form.
• Right panel – status cards (active NAT, subnet, uplink IP, DNS IPs) and an activity log.

Provision a Site

1. Fill in:
   • Site Name (used only for logging)
   • Site Gateway IP (e.g., 10.10.1.1) – this will be assigned to the NAT Uplink adapter
   • Site Subnet (CIDR) (e.g., 10.10.1.0/24) – must include the gateway IP
2. (Optional) Toggle Enable DNS Proxy and enter one or two DNS server IPs (e.g., 10.4.100.1). These will be added as /32 addresses on the NAT Uplink, and the WAN adapter’s DNS will be set to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4.
3. Click Provision. Confirm the action.
4. The log will show the progress in real time. When complete, the status cards update.

Teardown

• Click Teardown Uplink. Confirm to remove all NAT rules and clear all IP addresses from the NAT Uplink adapter.

Settings

• Press Ctrl+S (or use the footer bar) to open the Settings modal. Here you can:
  • Enable verbose logs (show full PowerShell output)
  • Toggle auto refresh and set the refresh interval for the status cards
• Settings are saved in %APPDATA%\Uplink Manager\nat_settings.json.

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🔨 Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11 or later
• Textual – pip install textual
• PyInstaller – pip install pyinstaller
• Windows 10/11 (the application uses Windows‑specific APIs)

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/Uplink-Manager.git
   cd Uplink-Manager