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(DRAFT) Converting Gemtek TTN Gateways to myDevices Azure

(DRAFT) Converting Gemtek TTN Gateways to myDevices Azure

These instructions will cover converting existing TTN Gemtek/Browan IoT Femto gateways to the myDevices Azure Chirpstack Network Server.


You will need a Terminal Emulator application in order to enter command-line commands while following this document. Examples will be provided here for Powershell (Windows).

Gather necessary files and information

The following items will be needed to complete the rest of this document:

Gateway certificate files

  • TLS Certificate with naming abcd0000fffff0001.cert.pem

  • TLS Key with naming abcd0000fffff0001.key.pem

where abcd0000fffff0001 is the 16-digit gateway EUI. These files are generated on the myDevices Azure server and will be provided by myDevices Support. Let us know the Gateway EUI for any TTN gateways you want to convert in the ticket you open.

Determine Gateway local IP address and connect via WiFi

For Gemtek model:

While the gateway must be plugged into Ethernet for internet connectivity, you’ll need to connect to this gateway via WiFi as well to remotely access it. Steps 1-4 in this article show how to do that. You don’t need to login, just make sure you can connect to it’s WiFi and make sure that page 192.168.55.1 loads in a browser. That IP, 192.168.55.1, will be used for SSH connection whenever needed in this document.

SSH login credentials for your gateway

Gateway Model

SSH Username

SSH Password

Gateway Model

SSH Username

SSH Password

Gemtek

root

mydevices@WXYZ where WXYZ is the last 4 characters of the MAC. The MAC is printed on the gateway and uppercase should be used for any letters.

example:
For a gateway with MAC 5814D31BE7E9 the password would be mydevices@E7E9

Connect to Gateway via SSH:

  1. Open Windows Powershell to get a command prompt

  2. Type ssh root@192.168.55.1 and press [Enter]. You may get an warning message like this:


    If you do, type yes then press [Enter]

  3. When prompted, enter the SSH password and press [Enter]. With a correct password, you should see this screen indicating you’re logged in:

Update the Packet Forwarder configuration

  1. Enter the command vim /app/cfg/global_conf.json and press [Enter] to open the configuration file for editing

  2. With the arrow keys, locate the line (near the bottom of the file) that shows
    "server_address": "mydevices.thethings.industries",

  3. Press the [i] key to switch to editing mode

  4. Change that line so it reads "server_address": "localhost",

  5. Press [esc] to enter command mode

  6. Type :wq to save changes and exit

Install DPS Client and Chirpstack Bridge

Hint: you can right-click to paste text into Windows PowerShell

  1. First, enter the following command on the command prompt to download the DPS Client/Chirpstack Bridge combined package:

    wget --no-check-certificate https://hwdartifacts.blob.core.windows.net/hwdassets/gateway-bridge-dps_1.3.8-r0_ramips_24kec.ipk and press [Enter]

  2. When the download completes, enter the following command to install the combined package:

    opkg install gateway-bridge-dps_1.3.8-r0_ramips_24kec.ipk and press [Enter]

    When the installation is finished it will return you to a command prompt:

Copy Certificate files to gateway

 

  1. Create the folders for the cert files to live in with the commands:

    mkdir /mnt/data/app/azureiot/
    mkdir /mnt/data/app/azureiot/certs/
    mkdir /mnt/data/app/azureiot/private/

    Press [Enter] after inputting each command.

  2. Type exit and press [Enter] to disconnect from the Gemtek gateway and return to your local PC’s command prompt:

     

  3. If necessary, use the cd command to navigate to the directory where you downloaded the .pem files provided from myDevices Support. For example, cd Downloads to switch to your Downloads folder.

  4. Enter the following commands, one at a time. You’ll need to know your SSH password from above to enter it when prompted.

    scp abcd0000fffff0001.cert.pem root@192.168.55.1:/mnt/data/app/azureiot/certs/ (then press [Enter])

    scp abcd0000fffff0001.key.pem root@192.168.55.1:/mnt/data/app/azureiot/private/ (then press [Enter])

Set Certificate Folder Permissions

  1. Connect to the gateway via SSH again following the Connect to Gateway via SSH section above

  2. Once connected, enter chmod -R 444 /mnt/data/app/azureiot/ and press [Enter] to set the correct folder permissions. If it was successful there will be no messages, just a return to the command prompt:

     

 

  1. Finally, enter reboot and press [Enter] to reboot the gateway. This will end your SSH session automatically

Verify things are working

After the gateway is rebooted and back online in the myDevices web dashboard (look for a current timestamp), you can verify it is on Azure by either:

Connecting a known Azure-only sensor to it and seeing data on the dashboard
-or-
Contact myDevices Support and we can verify that the gateway is communicating on Azure OK.

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