Multitech

Multitech Conduit

After completing these steps, you will have a Multitech Conduit running both the packet-forwarder and ChirpStack Gateway Bridge. The packet-forwarder will forward the UDP data to localhost:1700 and the ChirpStack Gateway Bridge will forward this data over MQTT to a MQTT broker.

There are two different Multitech Conduit firmware versions: mLinux and AEP. The AEP version comes with a web-interface and IBM Node-RED pre-installed. The mLinux version provides an open Linux development environment and is recommended when complete (firmware) control is preferred.

Please refer to http://www.multitech.net/developer/products/multiconnect-conduit-platform/ for more documentation on on the Multitech Conduit.

Note: It is possible to install mLinux on an AEP Conduit version following the steps below. This is recommended when you don't rely on any software provided by the AEP firmware.

Getting the IP address

Before continuing, you'll want to obtain the IP address of the Conduit. This can be done using a serial connection from a computer using a USB-to-microUSB cable, connecting to the plug behind the Multitech logo placard. Plug the device into your network, provide power, and let it boot until the "STATUS" light is blinking in a heartbeat pattern. Connect to the device via a serial terminal program. Example (where /dev/ttyACM0 should equal to the serial interface):

screen /dev/ttyACM0 115200

Once logged in, issue the command "ifconfig" to get the IP address of the eth0 connection. Note that if the IP address is 192.168.2.1, the device is likely configured with a static IP. In this case, edit the file /etc/network/interfaces, change the line that says, iface eth0 inet static to iface eth0 inet dhcp, and comment out the lines specifying the IP address and netmask by adding a # at the beginning of each line:

# address 192.168.2.1
# netmask 255.255.255.0

Then execute /etc/init.d/networking restart, and obtain the issued IP address as outlined above.

Upgrading / migrating from AEP to the latest mLinux

The suggested way to setup the packet-forwarder and ChirpStack Gateway Bridge on a Multitech Conduit is by using the base mLinux firmware image (mlinux-base-*.jffs2). This firmware image installs the minimal amount of software needed to boot the Conduit, but does not contain any other software which could conflict with your setup. The latest firmware version can be downloaded from: http://www.multitech.net/mlinux/images/mtcdt/.

The Flashing mLinux Firmware instructions cover both upgrading mLinux to a newer version and converting an AEP model into a mLinux model. In both the AEP migrate and mLinux upgrade you can use the Using Auto-Flash During Reboot steps. Again, make sure to use the mlinux-base*.jffs2 image!

Important: after flashing the device, you need to update the opkg cache which can be done with the command: opkg update.

Example commands for upgrading / migrating:

mkdir /var/volatile/flash-upgrade
cd /var/volatile/flash-upgrade
wget -O uImage.bin http://www.multitech.net/mlinux/images/mtcdt/5.0.0/uImage--4.9.87-r9.2-mtcdt-20190618233259.bin
wget -O rootfs.jffs2 http://www.multitech.net/mlinux/images/mtcdt/5.0.0/mlinux-base-image-mtcdt-20190618233259.rootfs.jffs2
touch /var/volatile/do_flash_upgrade
reboot

Then after the reboot update the opkg cache:

opkg update

Setting up the ChirpStack Gateway Bridge

Log in using SSH or use the USB to serial interface.
Download the latest chirpstack-gateway-bridge .ipk package from: https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/vendor/multitech/conduit/. Example (assuming you want to install chirpstack-gateway-bridge_3.14.0-r1_arm926ejste.ipk):
```
 wget https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/vendor/multitech/conduit/chirpstack-gateway-bridge_3.14.0-r1_arm926ejste.ipk
```
Now that the .ipk package is stored on the Conduit, you can install it using the opkg package-manager utility. Example (assuming the same .ipk file):
```
 opkg install chirpstack-gateway-bridge_3.14.0-r1_arm926ejste.ipk
```
Update the MQTT connection details so that ChirpStack Gateway Bridge is able to connect to your MQTT broker. You will find the configuration file in the /var/config/chirpstack-gateway-bridge directory.
Start ChirpStack Gateway Bridge and ensure it will be started on boot. Example:
```
 /etc/init.d/chirpstack-gateway-bridge start
```

Setting up the packet-forwarder

The packages installed with the commands below will by default choose the US or EU band configuration, based on the used hardware. Please refer to the Multitech documentation for alternative configurations.

To find out if you should follow the MTAC-LORA-H or MTAC-LORA instructions, you could use the following commands:

# mCard in ap1 slot
mts-io-sysfs show ap1/product-id

# mCard in ap2 slot
mts-io-sysfs show ap2/product-id

# detect first mCard
mts-io-sysfs show lora/product-id

mLinux with MTAC-LORA-H-915 or MTAC-LORA-H-868

Important: Follow these steps only when you have a MTAC-LORA-H (v1.5) card which uses the SPI interface.

Log in using SSH or use the USB to serial interface.
Download the latest lora-packet-forwarder *.ipk package from https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/vendor/multitech/conduit/. Example:
```
 wget https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/vendor/multitech/conduit/lora-packet-forwarder_4.0.1-r5.0_mtcdt.ipk
```
Now this .ipk package is stored on the Conduit, you can install it using the opkg package-manager utility. Example (assuming the same .ipk file):
```
 opkg install lora-packet-forwarder_4.0.1-r5.0_mtcdt.ipk
```
As the package has the same name as the default package provided by Multitech you need to 'flag' the package with the status hold to make sure an opkg upgrade does not overwrite it:
```
 opkg flag hold lora-packet-forwarder
```
Start the packet-forwarder and enable it to start on boot. Note that the -ap1 or -ap2 suffix refers to the slot in which your MTAC-LORA-H card is present. In case you have two MTAC-LORA-H cards, this allows you to start two packet-forwarder instances with each using their own configuration. Example:
```
 /etc/init.d/lora-packet-forwarder-ap1 start
 update-rc.d lora-packet-forwarder-ap1 defaults
```
Note: on the first start of the packet-forwarder it will detect for you the version of your MTAC-LORA-H cards (868 or 915) and if your Conduit has an onboard GPS. It will then automatically generate the correct configuration for you.

Configuration is stored in /var/config/lora-packet-forwarder-ap1 and /var/config/lora-packet-forwarder-ap2 directories and can be modified after the first start.

The build recipe of the .ipk package can be found at: https://github.com/brocaar/chirpstack-yocto.

mLinux with MTAC-LORA-915 or MTAC-LORA-868

Important: Follow these steps only when you have a MTAC-LORA (v1.0 card which uses the FTDI interface.

Log in using SSH or use the USB to serial interface.
Download the latest lora-packet-forwarder-usb *.ipk package from https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/vendor/multitech/conduit/. Example:
```
 wget https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/vendor/multitech/conduit/lora-packet-forwarder-usb_1.4.1-r2.0_arm926ejste.ipk
```
Now this .ipk package is stored on the Conduit, you can install it using the opkg package-manager utility. Example (assuming the same .ipk file):
```
 opkg install lora-packet-forwarder-usb_1.4.1-r2.0_arm926ejste.ipk
```
As the package has the same name as the default package provided by Multitech you need to 'flag' the package with the status hold to make sure an opkg upgrade does not overwrite it:
```
 opkg flag hold lora-packet-forwarder-usb
```
Start the packet-forwarder and enable it to start on boot. Example:
```
 /etc/init.d/lora-packet-forwarder-usb start
 update-rc.d lora-packet-forwarder-usb defaults
```
Note: on the first start of the packet-forwarder it will detect for you the version of your MTAC-LORA cards (868 or 915). It will then automatically generate the correct configuration for you.

Configuration is stored in /var/config/lora-packet-forwarder-usb directory and can be modified after the first start.

The build recipe of the .ipk package can be found at: https://github.com/brocaar/chirpstack-yocto.

AEP: Setting up the packet-forwarder

Use the web interface to set up the Conduit's packet forwarder. By default, the connection will not be “secure” over https because the device uses a self- signed certificate. Accept the certificate to proceed.

Log in to the web-interface.
On the home screen, you should be able to see information about the version of the LoRa card. Find the corresponding section on the web page:
http://www.multitech.net/developer/software/lora/aep-lora-packet-forwarder/
This page has links to basic configuration for each card version which you will need below.
You should see the “First-Time Setup Wizard” welcome screen. If not, you can access it using the menu on the left side of the screen. Once started, Click “Next”.
Set your password on the device for the admin account and click “Next”.
Set the date and time and click “Next”.
For the “Cellular PPP Configuration,” leave all fields blank and click “Next”.
For the “Cellular PPP Authentication”, leave the Type as NONE, and click “Next”.
For the “IP Setup - eth0”, set up as appropriate for your network and click “Next”.
For the “Access Configuration”, set up as appropriate for your network and click “Done”.
On the left menu, select “Setup”, and then “LoRa Network Server” from the submenu.
In the “LoRa Configuration” window:
At the top of the left column, check “Enabled”.
At the top of the right column, set “Mode” to be “PACKET FORWARDER”.
In the “Config” text box, copy and paste the configuration data for your MTAC LoRa card and region. In addition, you will want to modify/add the following configuration details in the gateway_conf section. Leave any other settings in this section as they are. The ref_* fields should be set for the gateway. (Altitude is specified in meters.):
```
{
	...
	"gateway_conf": {
		...
		"server_address": "localhost",
		"serv_port_up": 1700,
		"serv_port_down": 1700,
		"fake_gps": true,
		"ref_latitude": 39.9570133,
		"ref_longitude": -105.1603241,
		"ref_altitude": 1664
	}
}
```
Note that the serv_port_up and serv_port_down represent the ports used to communicate with the chirpstack-gateway-bridge, usually on localhost (the server_address parameter). See the image above.
Select “Submit”.
Select the “Save and Restart” option on the left menu.
Be sure to add the gateway to the ChirpStack Application Server. See here.
Finally, restart the system to get everything running.