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[gsoc26] Added idea page (not final yet!)
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‎developer/gsoc-ideas-2026.rst‎

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GSoC Project Ideas 2026
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=======================
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.. tip::
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Do you want to apply with us?
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We have a page that describes how to increase your chances of success.
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**Please read it carefully.**
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:doc:`Read our Google Summer of Code guidelines
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<../developer/google-summer-of-code>`.
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.. contents:: **Table of Contents**:
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:backlinks: none
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:depth: 3
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General suggestions and warnings
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--------------------------------
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- **Project ideas describe the goals we want to achieve but may miss
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details that have to be defined during the project**: we expect
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applicants to do their own research, propose solutions and be ready to
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deal with uncertainty and solve challenges that will come up during the
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project
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- **Code and prototypes are preferred over detailed documents and
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unreliable estimates**: rather than using your time to write a very long
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application document, we suggest to invest in writing a prototype (which
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means the code may be thrown out entirely) which will help you
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understand the challenges of the project you want to work on; your
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application should refer to the prototype or other Github contributions
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you made to OpenWISP that show you have the capability to succeed in the
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project idea you are applying for.
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- **Applicants who have either shown to have or have shown to be fast
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learners for the required hard and soft skills by contributing to
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OpenWISP have a lot more chances of being accepted**: in order to get
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started contributing refer to the :doc:`OpenWISP Contributing Guidelines
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<../developer/contributing>`
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- **Get trained in the projects you want to apply for**: once applicants
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have completed some basic training by :doc:`contributing to OpenWISP
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<../developer/contributing>` we highly suggest to start working on some
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aspects of the project they are interested in applying: all projects
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listed this year are improvements of existing modules so these modules
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already have a list of open issues which can be solved as part of your
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advanced training. It will also be possible to complete some of the
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tasks listed in the project idea right now before GSoC starts. We will
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list some easy tasks in the project idea for this purpose.
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Project Ideas
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-------------
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Mass Commands
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.. image:: ../images/gsoc/ideas/2025/mass-commands.png
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.. important::
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Languages and technologies used: **Python**, **Django**,
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**JavaScript**, **WebSockets**, **REST API**.
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**Mentors**: *Gagan Deep*, *Purhan Kaushik*, *Kapil Bansal*.
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**Project size**: 350 hours.
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**Difficulty rate**: medium.
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This project idea aims to extend OpenWISP's remote device management
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capabilities by enabling users to execute shell commands on multiple
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devices simultaneously. Currently, OpenWISP supports executing commands on
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a single device at a time. This project will introduce a bulk execution
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feature while maintaining the existing security, rules, and limitations of
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the single-device command execution feature.
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The mass command operation will be accessible from two main entry points:
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- An admin action on the device list page, allowing users to select
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multiple devices and send a shell command in bulk.
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- A dedicated mass command admin section, where users can initiate bulk
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command execution with various targeting options:
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- All devices in the system (restricted to superusers).
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- All devices within a specific organization.
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- All devices within a specific device group.
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- All devices within a specific geographic location.
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- Specific selected devices.
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The UI will guide users step-by-step, dynamically displaying relevant
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fields based on the selected target scope. For example, if a user selects
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"All devices in a specific organization", an auto-complete list of
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organizations will be displayed next.
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The system will provide real-time tracking of command execution results.
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Inspired by OpenWISP Firmware Upgrader's mass upgrade feature, the UI will
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receive live updates via WebSockets, displaying command output as soon as
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it is received from the devices. Additionally:
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- The device detail page will show executed commands under the "Recent
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Commands" tab.
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- Commands that were part of a mass operation will be clearly marked, with
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a link to the corresponding mass command operation page.
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To support API-based management, the REST API will be extended with the
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following capabilities:
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- Create new mass command operations.
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- Retrieve mass command operations and their results (with pagination).
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- Delete mass command operations.
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- Modify the single-shell command API to reference the mass command
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operation ID if applicable.
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Prerequisites to work on this project
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Applicants must demonstrate a solid understanding of Python, Django, HTML,
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CSS, JavaScript, WebSockets, and `OpenWISP Controller
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-controller>`__.
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Expected outcomes
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+++++++++++++++++
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- Implementation of mass shell command execution in OpenWISP, replicating
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the rules and limitations of single-device execution.
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- Development of an intuitive UI with the Django admin for selecting
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devices and tracking command results in real-time.
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- Admin action for device list page.
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- Enhancement of the device detail page to reflect mass command history
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for individual devices.
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- Extension of the REST API to support mass command operations.
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- Comprehensive automated tests covering the new feature.
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- Updated documentation, including:
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- Feature description with usage instructions.
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- A short example usage video for YouTube that we can showcase on the
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website.
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X.509 Certificate Generator Templates
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.. image:: ../images/gsoc/ideas/2025/x509-templates.webp
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.. important::
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Languages and technologies used: **Python**, **Django**,
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**JavaScript**.
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**Mentors**: *Federico Capoano*, *Aryaman*, *Nitesh Sinha*.
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**Project size**: 90 hours.
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**Difficulty rate**: medium.
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This GSoC project aims to enhance OpenWISP's certificate management
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capabilities by enabling the generation of x509 certificates for general
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use, beyond OpenVPN.
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Currently, OpenWISP supports generating x509 certificates exclusively for
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OpenVPN clients, where each VPN client template produces a certificate
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signed by the CA linked to the corresponding VPN server. However, many
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users have requested support for generating certificates for other
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purposes, such as securing web servers.
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The proposed solution involves introducing a new template type that allows
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users to generate certificates using a selected CA. This template should
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provide configurable options, including:
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- Certificate duration
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- Key length
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- Digest algorithm
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If left unspecified, these options should default to the CA's standard
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settings.
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Prerequisites to work on this project
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Applicants must demonstrate a solid understanding of Python, Django,
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JavaScript, and `OpenWISP Controller
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-controller>`__.
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Expected outcomes
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+++++++++++++++++
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- Implement a new certificate template type in OpenWISP to support
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general-purpose x509 certificate generation.
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- Allow users to select a CA and configure certificate properties.
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- Integrate with OpenWISP's configuration management to expose certificate
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details (public key, private key, and UUID) as variables for automated
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deployment.
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- Write automated tests to ensure the correctness and reliability of the
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new functionality.
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- Updated documentation, including:
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- Feature overview in a dedicated page with step-by-step usage
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instructions.
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- Short Video demonstration.
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Add more timeseries database clients to OpenWISP Monitoring
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.. image:: ../images/gsoc/ideas/tsdb.png
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.. important::
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Languages and technologies used: **Python**, **Django**, **InfluxDB**,
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**Elasticsearch**.
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**Mentors**: *Gagan Deep*, *Aryaman*, *Sankalp*.
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**Project size**: 350 hours.
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**Difficulty rate**: medium.
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The goal of this project is to add more Time Series DB options to OpenWISP
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while keeping good maintainability.
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Prerequisites to work on this project
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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The applicant must demonstrate good understanding of `OpenWISP Monitoring
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-monitoring#openwisp-monitoring>`__,
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and demonstrate basic knowledge of `NetJSON format
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<https://netjson.org/>`_, **InfluxDB** and **Elasticsearch**.
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Expected outcomes
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+++++++++++++++++
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- Complete the support to `Elasticsearch
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<https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch>`_. `Support to Elasticsearch
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was added in 2020
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-monitoring/pull/164>`_ but was not
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completed.
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- The old pull request has to be updated on the current code base
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- The merge conflicts have to be resolved
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- All the tests must pass, new tests for new charts and metrics added to
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*InfluxDB* must be added (see `[feature] Chart mobile
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(LTE/5G/UMTS/GSM) signal strength #270
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-monitoring/pull/294>`_)
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- The usage shall be documented, we must make sure there's at least one
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dedicated CI build for **Elasticsearch**
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- We must allow to install and use **Elasticsearch** instead of
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**InfluxDB** from `ansible-openwisp2
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<https://github.com/openwisp/ansible-openwisp2>`_ and `docker-openwisp
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<https://github.com/openwisp/docker-openwisp/>`_
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- The requests to Elasticsearch shall be optimized as described in
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`[timeseries] Optimize elasticsearch #168
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-monitoring/issues/168>`_.
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- `Add support for InfluxDB 2.0
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-monitoring/issues/274>`_ as a new
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timeseries backend, this way we can support both ``InfluxDB <= 1.8`` and
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``InfluxDB >= 2.0``.
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- All the automated tests for **InfluxDB 1.8** must be replicated and
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must pass
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- The usage and setup shall be documented
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- We must make sure there's at least one dedicated CI build for
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Elasticsearch
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- We must allow choosing between **InfluxDB 1.8** and **InfluxDB 2.0**
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from `ansible-openwisp2
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<https://github.com/openwisp/ansible-openwisp2>`_ and `docker-openwisp
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<https://github.com/openwisp/docker-openwisp/>`_.
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OpenWISP VPN Deployer Linux Package
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.. image:: ../images/gsoc/ideas/2025/vpn-sync.webp
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.. important::
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Languages and technologies used: **Linux**, **Python**, **Django**,
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**WebSockets**, **OpenVPN**, **WireGuard**, **WireGuard over VXLAN**,
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**ZeroTier**.
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**Mentors:** *Federico Capoano*, *Gagan Deep*, *Oliver Kraitschy*.
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**Project size:** 350 hours.
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**Difficulty level:** medium/hard.
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This GSoC project aims to simplify the deployment and management of VPN
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servers integrated with OpenWISP.
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The goal is to develop an easy-to-install program that automates the
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deployment of VPN servers synchronized with OpenWISP in real time. This
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reduces manual intervention and ensures configuration consistency between
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the VPN server objects in the OpenWISP database and the deployed VPN
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instances.
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Key Features
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++++++++++++
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The program will run on Linux-based servers and will:
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- Be implemented in **Python** to ensure maintainability and
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extensibility.
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- Use a **Makefile** to generate installation packages for major Linux
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distributions:
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- **DEB** (for Debian, Ubuntu, and related distributions)
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- **RPM** (for Red Hat, Fedora, and similar systems)
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- **Snap** (for broader Linux compatibility)
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- Establish a **WebSocket connection** with OpenWISP to listen for changes
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in VPN server configurations and synchronize local settings accordingly.
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- Keep the local list of peers and the **certificate revocation list
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(CRL)** updated whenever VPN clients are added, removed, or modified.
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- Support the following VPN tunneling technologies:
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- **OpenVPN**
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- **WireGuard**
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- **WireGuard over VXLAN**
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- **ZeroTier**
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- Provide a **command-line utility** to simplify the initial setup. This
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utility will:
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- Guide users step by step, making it accessible even to those with
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limited experience.
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- Allow users to select the VPN technology to be deployed.
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- Verify that the necessary system packages are installed and provide
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clear warnings if dependencies are missing.
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- Assist in securely connecting and synchronizing with OpenWISP.
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.. note::
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The command-line utility must apply all necessary changes in the
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OpenWISP database via the **REST API**. If any required
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modifications cannot be performed with the current API, the
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contributor will be responsible for implementing the missing
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functionality.
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- To facilitate authentication, the utility will `guide users in
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retrieving their OpenWISP REST API token
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<https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-users/issues/240>`_. A
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proposed approach is to provide a link to the OpenWISP admin
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interface, where users can generate and copy their API token easily.
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- Support running **multiple instances**, where each instance manages a
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separate VPN server independently.
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- Implement **structured logging** with dedicated log files for each
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instance, adhering to Linux logging best practices and supporting log
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rotation.
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- Provide **comprehensive documentation** in ReStructuredText format,
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following OpenWISP conventions:
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- Documentation will be stored in a ``/docs`` directory, with a clear
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separation between user guides and developer documentation.
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- A **video demonstration** will be included, which can be published on
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YouTube to increase project visibility.
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- Update the **OpenWISP documentation** to cover installation,
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configuration, and best practices.
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- To support this project, **OpenWISP Controller** will need to be updated
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to expose a **WebSocket endpoint**. This will allow the VPN
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synchronization program to receive real-time configuration updates.
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Prerequisites to work on this project
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Applicants should have a solid understanding of:
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- **Python** and **Django**.
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- **WebSockets**.
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- At least one of the supported VPN technologies (**OpenVPN, WireGuard,
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WireGuard over VXLAN, ZeroTier**).
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- **System administration and Linux packaging** (preferred but not
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required).
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Expected Outcomes
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+++++++++++++++++
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- A Python-based VPN synchronization tool.
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- A command-line setup utility for easy first-time configuration.
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- WebSocket-based synchronization between VPN servers and OpenWISP.
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- Automated packaging for major Linux distributions.
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- Structured logging with proper log rotation.
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- Enhancements to **OpenWISP Controller** to support WebSocket-based
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synchronization and any required REST API modifications.
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- Automated tests to ensure reliability and stability.
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- Comprehensive **documentation**, including setup guides and best
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practices.
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- A **short tutorial video** demonstrating installation and usage.

‎developer/index.rst‎

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contributing
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hacking-openwisp-python-django
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google-summer-of-code
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gsoc-ideas-2025
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gsoc-ideas-2026

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