Connecting Kona Gateways to 3rd-party Network Servers

Connecting Kona Gateways to 3rd-party Network Servers


This article applies to ALL Kona Gateways except for Micro-Lite/Pico. You can find gateway specific FAQs here:
  1. Kona Micro / Micro PoE
  2. Kona Enterprise
  3. Kona Macro
  4. Kona Mega
  5. General FAQ
  6. Cellular Backhaul FAQ
  7. Network Monitoring FAQ
  8. Connecting Kona Gateways to 3rd-party Network Server (you are here)
  9. KonaFT FAQ

Introduction

All Kona gateways that come out of the factory are configured to connect to TEKTELIC CORE Network Server (NS) by default. Customers can configure Kona gateways to connect to other network servers.
This article will outline the following:
  1. Preparing the gateway before onboarding it onto another NS.
  2. Reinstalling pieces of software that other NS may require you to remove.
  3. Instructions to connect to other network servers.
NOTE: This article WILL NOT list all compatible NS with Kona Gateways, only those that have instructions provided by TEKTELIC.
NOTE: Excluding Basic Station and Chirpstack, support for onboarding gateways onto 3rd-party network servers will be limited.
The instructions will assume that you have the TEKTELIC MQTT Bridge disabled. We highly recommend you read the "Gateway Preparation" section before proceeding with ANY of the sections mentioned below.

Gateway Preparation

Kona gateways have two components it uses to connect to TEKTELIC CORE NS.
  1. Kona Packet Forwarder, our implementation of the Semtech packet forwarder.
  2. TEKTELIC MQTT Bridge, used to connect to TEKTELIC CORE NS.
When connecting to a 3rd-party NS, we recommend disabling the TEKTELIC MQTT Bridge to avoid potential network conflicts.
If you have no intentions of using TEKTELIC OA&M server as an additional vector to manage your gateway, please SSH into the gateway enter the following command: opkg remove tektelic-mqtt-bridge
If you intend on using TEKTELIC OA&M server, please follow the instructions below to download and modify the requisite files.
Advanced users can also SSH into the gateway and directly edit the files seen below using vi.
To download the files, use FileZilla to access the gateway with the following credentials:
  1. Host: Gateway IP
  2. Username: root OR admin
  3. Password: 9-digit SN (i.e. 1212A3434) OR randomized password found on the test report.
  4. Port: 22

Once you are logged in, navigate to the following remote site: /etc/default

Download the following files:
  1. mqtt-bridge.conf
  2. tektelic-bridge.ns.toml
  3. tektelic-bridge.oam.toml
On older versions of Kona gateways, the MQTT-bridge uses mqtt-bridge.conf for configuration. On newer versions, this is split into tektelic-bridge.ns.toml and tektelic-bridge.oam.toml
  1. If you only have mqtt-bridge.conf, follow the guidelines for that file alone.
  2. If you have both tektelic-bridge.ns.toml and tektelic-bridge.oam.toml, follow the guidelines for BOTH files.

mqtt-bridge.conf

  1. To comment out a line, insert a "#" without quotes in front of the line.
  2. To remove the comment, simply delete the "#" without quotes in front of the line.
Ensure that the following lines HAVE A "#" in front of the line and are configured as follows:
  1. #ns_host         lorawan-ns-na.tektelic.com
  2. #ns_type         tektelic
  3. #gw_user       TEK0XXYYZ (where XXYYZ is the last 5 digits of the GWID) 
  4. #gw_password        1212A3434 (This is an example SN. The SN can be found on the back of your gateway)
Ensure that the following lines DO NOT have "#" in front of the line and appears as follows:
  1. oam_host
  2. gw_oam_user
  3. gw_oam_password

tektelic-bridge.ns.toml

Ensure that the following lines HAVE A "#" in front of the line and are configured as follows:
  1. #url = "lorawan-ns-na.tektelic.com"
  2. #type = "tektelic"
  3. #gw_user = "TEK0XXYYZ" (where XXYYZ is the last 5 digits of the GWID) 
  4. #gw_password = "1212A3434" (This is an example SN. The SN can be found on the back of your gateway)

tektelic-bridge.oam.toml

Ensure that the following lines DO NOT have "#" in front of the line and appears as follows:
  1. oam_host
  2. gw_oam_user
  3. gw_oam_password
Once all files have been reconfigured, reinsert the files through FileZilla and overwrite the existing ones. Then finalize by power-cycling the gateway.

Kona Software reinstallation

In the event you wish to reinstall the TEKTELIC MQTT bridge or the Kona Packet Forwarder, please follow the high level steps below:
1. Determine BSP version of the gateway.
2. Download the BSP package.
3. Upload the package(s) onto the gateway.
4. Reinstall package(s).

Software required:
  1. FTP software such as FileZilla
  2. SSH software such as PuTTY or TeraTerm

Determine BSP version of the gateway

There are two methods to check the BSP version of the gateway.
  1. Through KonaFT
  2. Through SSH

KonaFT

Ensure that the computer and gateway are on the same computer network. Then follow the steps below:
1. Connect to the gateway.
2. Look for the BSP version of your gateway at the bottom right of the application.

SSH

To determine the BSP version of the gateway, follow the below steps:
1.  SSH into the gateway IP.
2. Enter the following command: system_version
The gateway IP can be found by matching the IP to the gateway's MAC address. All Kona gateways will have a MAC address beginning with 64:7F:DA

Download BSP package

BSP packages can be found and downloaded from the TEKTELIC FTP server.
To download the files, use FileZilla (or similar) to access the FTP server with the following credentials:
  1. Host: 74.3.134.34
  2. Username: customer
  3. Password: vU6_ATR3
Additional configuration is required as the TEKTELIC FTP server uses encryption. As such, when using FileZilla, navigate to the site manager (Top left of the screen, File -> Site Manager) to configure the site as seen below.

Once connected, navigate to the BSP version corresponding to your gateway. Download it to a location you can keep track of, and extract the contents of the BSP package.

The packages for the Kona Packet forwarder and the TEKTELIC MQTT bridge can be found in the "bsp" folder. The filenames are as follows:
  1. kona-pkt-forwarder_X.X.X-rXXX_kona.ipk
  2. tektelic-mqtt-bridge_Y.Y.Y_rYY_kona.ipk
Note: The letters XY are placeholders for version numbers appropriate for the BSP.

Upload package(s) onto the gateway

To upload the files to the gateway, use FileZilla (or similar) to access the gateway with the following credentials:
  1. Host: Gateway IP
  2. Username: root OR admin
  3. Password: 9-digit SN (i.e. 1212A3434) OR randomized password found on the test report.
  4. Port: 22
Once connected, place the files in the initial remote site.

Pictured above is the initial site for gateways that use root as the username. The initial remote site for gateways that use admin as the username have a slightly different path: /home/admin

Reinstall package(s)

To reinstall packages through SSH, login to the gateway IP and enter the following commands as required:
  1. opkg install kona-pkt-forwarder
  2. opkg install tektelic-mqtt-bridge
To reinstall packages through KonaFT, connect to the gateway and follow the steps below:
1. Navigate to Board Details → SW Management.
2. In the top right corner, click Read Installable to see a list of packages available on your gateway.
3. Under the column Component, click on the package you wish to install and select Install Selected in the top right.
  1. For Kona packet forwarder, select kona-pkt-forwarder
  2. For MQTT bridge, select tektelic-mqtt-bridge

AWS IoT Core

NOTE: Customers with NA Micro/Enterprise will have to configure their gateways to use the 2nd US915 sub-band. Additional instructions are provided in the guide.
AWS IoT Core primarily uses our implementation of Basic Station for NS connections.
  1. Guide to connect to AWS IoT Core

The Things Network V3 (TTNv3)

NOTE: Customers with NA Micro/Enterprise will have to configure their gateways to use the 2nd US915 sub-band. Additional instructions are provided in the guide.
TTN can be connected through two methods:
  1. Using the Kona Packet Forwarder (UDP)
  2. Using Basic Station
This section will only cover Kona Packet Forwarder, as the Basic Station guide is linked above. Using the Kona Packet Forwarder is the simplest way to connect to TTN. It is broken up into 2 steps:
1. Create gateway object on TTN.
2. Configure gateway.

Create gateway object on TTN

On your TTN instance, create a new gateway and assign the settings depicted below:

Please fill out the fields in accordance with the label on the gateway. The blank Gateway EUI, Gateway ID (GWID), and Gateway name in the picture are only used for reference.
Ensure that none of the following checkboxes are ticked:
  1. Require authenticated connection
  2. Share status within network
  3. Share location within network
For users with a NORTH AMERICAN Kona Micro/Enterprise, select United States 902-928 MHz, FSB 2 (used by TTN) as the frequency plan.

Once created, note the gateway server address for when you configure the gateway.

Configure Gateway

The simplest way of configuring the gateway is through KonaFT. Ensure that the computer and gateway are on the same computer network. Then follow the steps below:
2. Select the configuration tab at the top.
3. In the field, enter /etc/default/config.json and then click Read to see the contents of the configuration file.
4. Configure the server address to reflect the Gateway Server address seen above.
For users with a NORTH AMERICAN Kona Micro/Enterprise, the gateway will need to be configured to use the 2nd US915 sub-band in addition to changing the server address. In this case, please follow the steps below:
  1. Download the config.json found here.
  2. Open the newly downloaded config.json file and copy everything in the file (Ctrl+C)
  3. Replace all contents of the config.json in KonaFT (Ctrl+A -> Ctrl+V)
  4. Configure the server address to reflect the Gateway Server address seen above.
  5. Continue with steps 5 and 6 below.
5. Finalize by selecting Write.
6. Reboot the gateway by clicking Reboot.

ChirpStack

Kona gateways can connect to Chirpstack through two methods:
  1. Using the Kona Packet Forwarder (UDP)
  2. Using ChirpStack's Gateway Bridge

Using Kona Packet Forwarder

Using ChirpStack's Gateway Bridge (ADVANCED USERS ONLY)

Customers can use ChirpStack's Gateway Bridge on Kona Gateways to connect to their instance of ChirpStack.
Please follow the steps below:
  1. Follow the instructions on ChirpStack's website to install the GW bridge.
  2. Use vi to edit the following file: /etc/chirpstack-mqtt-forwarder/chirpstack-mqtt-forwarder.toml
  3. Under MQTT settings, change the server field to the URL of your ChirpStack instance.
NOTE: Outside of these instructions, TEKTELIC does not provide support for additional methods of connecting to ChirpStack.

Loriot

Loriot offers a unique packet forwarder that requires the removal of the Kona Packet Forwarder.
Please follow the steps below:
The gateway IP can be found by matching the IP to the gateway's MAC address. All Kona gateways will have a MAC address beginning with 64:7F:DA
  1. SSH into the gateway IP.
  2. Remove the Kona Packet Forwarder with the following command: opkg remove kona-pkt-forwarder
  3. Remove or reconfigure the TEKTELIC MQTT bridge as required.
  4. Provision the gateway on Loriot.
  5. On the left side of the gateway page, select Software and you will find the instructions for installing Loriot software.

Other

NOTE: When connecting to unlisted 3rd-party Network Servers, support from TEKTELIC will be limited.
Some network servers have instructions to configure the Semtech packet forwarder on 3rd-party gateways. As the Kona Packet Forwarder is TEKTELIC's implementation of the Semtech packet forwarder, configuring the Kona Packet forwarder will be similar to how you configure the Semtech packet forwarder.
The Kona Packet Forwarder uses the following file for configuration: /etc/default/config.json
There are two ways to configure the above file:
  1. Through KonaFT
  2. Through SSH (ADVANCED USERS ONLY)

KonaFT

Ensure that the computer and gateway are on the same computer network. Then follow the steps below:
1. Connect to the gateway.
2. Select the configuration tab at the top.
3. In the field, enter /etc/default/config.json and then click Read to see the contents of the configuration file.
4. Configure the server address and the ports used to connect to the server as required.
5. Finalize by selecting Write.
6. Reboot the gateway by clicking Reboot.

SSH (ADVANCED USERS ONLY)

The steps to edit the file manually are as follows:
  1. SSH into the gateway.
  2. Use vi to edit the following file: /etc/default/config.json
  3. Reboot the packet forwarder with the following command: /etc/init.d/pkt_fwd restart

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