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Armbian-Based Devices OS Advanced Guide

1. Overview​

This is a general instruction for the use of Armbian-based OS of Dragino devices. Current models include:

  • HP0A
  • HP0C
  • LPS8v2
  • MS20

2. Development Guide​

For advanced users to develop Driver/ Linux etc.

2.1 How to recompile LoRaWAN Concentrator Driver ( dragino-fwd package).​

Step 1. Clone dragino-fwd package Requirements: sudo apt install -y libsqlite3-dev sudo apt install -y libftdi1-dev Run command clone dragino-fwd package: git clone https://github.com/dragino/dragino\_fwd\_src.git​

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Step 2. Compile dragino_fwd After cloning is complete, Run the command starts compiling: Compile HP0C/HP0A fwd: ./hp0z-make-deb.sh c​

The following example compilers HP0C fwd.

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When the compilation is complete a draginofwd-*.deb package is generated.

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Step 3. Install the dragino_fwd Run command: dpkg -i draginofwd-*.deb​

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Step 4. Test Check the dragino_fwd log: journalctl -u draginofwd -f​

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Start/stop dragino_fwd via systemctl: systemctl start draginofwd systemctl stop draginofwd

2.2 How to clone Complete OS on the EMMC to SD card​

2.2.1 Prepare a USB flash drive/SD card and plug it into the USB port of the gateway. 2.2.2 Mounting a USB Flash Drive/SD Card in the Linux CLI

mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/

2.2.3 Using the dd command, copy Emmc as an img file

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dd if=/dev/mmcblk2 of=/mnt/custom.img bs=1M count=3686 status=progress

2.2.4 Export the img file and follow the steps in 2.3 for burning

2.3 How to flash a new image(OS) to the gateway(LPS8V2)​

Since the gateway has a large system, you need to use the sd card to reflash the system for the gateway

2.3.1: Prepare the SD Card with the New Image

2.3.2: Install the SD card in the gateway(LPS8v2)

2.3.3: Flash the image to the gateway's built memory from the SD card

Preparations:​
  1. Prepare an SD card
  2. Prepare a card reader device
  3. Download the OS image from the release.image: draginolps8v2-release-v1.7
  4. A Flash software tool ( Such as v1.7.9 from balenaEtcher )
  5. SD Card format tool

2.3.1 Prepare the SD Card with the New Image​

Step 1. Format the SD Card:​

Use your formatting tool to prepare the SD card.

Step 2. Select the OS image​

Open your flashing tool (like balenaEtcher) and select the downloaded OS image file.

Step 3. Select the target​

Choose the SD card as the target drive.

Step 4. Flash start​

Begin the flashing process. Wait for it to complete successfully.

2.3.2 Install the SD card in the gateway(LPS8v2)​

  1. Power Off: Ensure the gateway is powered off and disconnected from its power supply.
  2. Insert SD Card: Open the device enclosure and insert the prepared SD card into the dedicated SD card slot.

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2.3.3 Flash the Gateway​

  1. Power On: Connect the power supply (5V/2A) to the gateway. The system will automatically detect the SD card and begin the flashing process.
  2. Observe Indicators: The LED behavior indicates the process status:

  • During Flashing:

    • PWR LED: Solid Red

    • WiFi LED: Blinking

    • LAN LED: Blinking

    • SYS LED: Blinking

        ![1773223246947-246.gif](./image/1773223246947-246.gif)

  • Flashing Complete:

    • PWR LED: Solid Red

    • WiFi LED: Solid Red

    • LAN LED: Solid Green

    • SYS LED: Solid Blue

      1773223234453-501.gif

3.2.3 Flash the image to the gateway's built memory from the SD card(LPS8v2)​

Access the gateway Linux CLI to flash the image to the gateway's built memory

  • Use the IP address to access the gateway CLI

Users can access the gateway CLI via the SSH protocol. Make sure your PC and the gateway are connected to the same network, then use a SSH tool (such as putty in Windows) to access it.

IP address: IP address of gateway or Fallback IP(172.31.255.254)

Port: 22

User Name: root

Password: dragino (default)

After logging in, you will be in the gateway CLI and can enter commands as shown below.

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Run command:

draginolps8v2-release-chirpsrtack-v1.7-240725 image :

flash_emmc /usr/local/image/dragino-LPS8V2-ChirpStack-240725-1.img

draginolps8v2-release-ttnstack-v1.7-240712 image :

flash_emmc /usr/local/image/dragino-LPS8V2-TTN-231124.img

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Note: After the flash is completed, please power off the device (run the command halt) and disconnect the power supply, and then unplug the SD card.

3.2.4 Flash the image to the gateway's built memory from the SD card(MS48-LR/LG01v2)​

Download the OS image from the release.image: MS48-LR-image LG01v2-image

Access the gateway Linux CLI to flash the image to the gateway's built memory

  • Use the IP address to access the gateway CLI

Users can access the gateway CLI via the SSH protocol. Make sure your PC and the gateway are connected to the same network, then use a SSH tool (such as putty in Windows) to access it.

IP address: IP address of gateway or Fallback IP(172.31.255.254)

Port: 22

User Name: root

Password: dragino (default)

After logging in, you will be in the gateway CLI and can enter commands as shown below.

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Run command: nand-sata-install

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Select the "Boot from eMMC - system on eMMC".

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Select the "1 ext4"

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It takes 4-5 minutes to burn from SD card to eMMC

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Note: After the flash is complete, power off the device and then remove the SD card.

3.2.5 Trouble Shooting​

Why is no space displayed after flash LPS8V2 built-in TTN image​

Because the space that emmc can burn is only 3.6G memory, it displays the "No space" error,

The error does not affect the flash image and gateway work.

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2.4 How to extend the gateway size of memory with SD card​

Users can use the SD card slot to expand the gateway memory size by following the steps below

2.4.1 Install the SD card​

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When installing the SD card, the power supply of the gateway needs to be disconnected

2.4.2 View SD card information​

After the SD card is installed, access the Linux console of the gateway via SSH and run the following command:

fdisk -l

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2.4.3 Displays the current file system disk usage statistics on Linux systems​

df -h

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2.4.3 Mount SD card​

mkdir /mnt/sd

mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/sd

After the mount is successful to check the file system disk usage on the Linux system again:

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If the mount fails, you can format the file system and try the mount again

mkfs.ext4 /dev/mmcblk0p1

2.5 Default Built Version​

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2.6 How to upgrade the nodejs version to the latest.​

By default, the nodejs uses the pre-install version v12 which is due to Debian the ultra-stable via ultra-old.

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If you want to upgrade the nodejs to the latest, please follow to use these commands on the gateway CIL.

#install n, which is an Interactively Manage Your Node.js Versions

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npm install -g n

#Install the latest LTS Node.js release (downloading if necessary)

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n lts

#Remove all downloaded versions except the installed version

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n prune apt remove nodejs -y && apt autoremove -y && reboot

Check the current version

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node -v

2.7 How to install Grafana and influxdb​

Grafana:​

curl https://packages.grafana.com/gpg.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/grafana-archive-keyrings.gpg >/dev/null
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/grafana-archive-keyrings.gpg] https://packages.grafana.com/oss/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grafana.list
apt update && apt install grafana

Check the running status:

systemctl status grafana-server

configuration path:

/etc/grafana/grafana.ini

Influxdb:​

curl https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive\_compat.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/influxdb-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/influxdb-archive-keyring.gpg] https://repos.influxdata.com/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/influxdb.list
apt update && apt install influxdb

Check the running status:

systemctl status influxdb

configuration path:

/etc/influxdb/influxdb.conf

3. Package Management​

3.1 Default Package Maintain System​

3.1.1 How Package-Auto-Update works?​

By default, LPS8v2 / MS20 series products have an auto-update feature for main packages. The device will connect to Dragino's auto-update server and check for updates.

When devices will check for updates?

  • Devices will check for updates for every boot.
  • Devices will check for updates on every day midnight.

What packages will be checked for updates?

dragino-httpd -- Main Web UI http configuration

dragino-sid -- SN write and read tool

dragino-ui -- Gateway Web UI package

draginofwd -- UDP packet forwarder, LoRa Base Station

draginoups -- Miscellaneous between different versions

Location and changelog for packages:

How to view auto-updated log

You can view the log on the page of System --> Package Management.

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Can I disable package-auto-update?

You can check the checkbox and click the ‘SAVE’ button to enable or disable the auto-update.

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3.1.2 How to manually update core packages?​

You can click the ‘Manual Update’ to update the dragino's packages.

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3.1.3 How to manually update other packages?​

For the other packages, you have to access the device's CLI to do it via the apt command.

Example:

dpkg -i draginofwd-*.deb

3.2 Set up a 3rd party package maintain server​

3.2.1 Overview​

Customers can use their own package maintenance system instead of using the default one from Dragino. They need to set up a package maintenance system for Debian. Lots of instructions are available in Internet, below is a reference instruction.

3.2.2 Install Apache2 HTTP server​

apt install apache2

3.2.3 Creating Package Directories​

cd /var/www/html/ mkdir debian/release/dists/stable/main/binary-armhf/ -p mkdir debian/release/pool/main/d/dragino/ -p Tree Structure: Note: If you are not familiar with updating servers, most directory names are not recommended to be changed.

└── debian

└── release

    ├── dists

    │   └── stable

    │       └── main

    │           └── binary-armhf

    └── pool

        └── main

            └── d

                └── dragino   -->  **This is the directory to store the packages. User can change it to other name.**

3.2.4 Get deb packages​

The deb packages for auto-update can be placed in /var/www/html/debian/release/pool/main/d/dragino/

Below is an example package(testing-0808.deb) for test purpose:

wget http://repo.dragino.com/release/tool/unimportant/testing-0808.deb cp ./testing-0808.deb /var/www/html/debian/release/pool/main/d/dragino/

3.2.5 Generate Package Index file​

cd /var/www/html/debian/release/ dpkg-scanpackages pool/ > dists/stable/main/binary-armhf/Packages cat dists/stable/main/binary-armhf/Packages | gzip -9 > dists/stable/main/binary-armhf/Packages.gz Note: Every time a package has been update, above comments need to be executed in the server to get the up-to-date package list.

3.2.6 Generate Release file​

Create the generated script: cd /var/www/html/debian/release/dists/stable wget http://repo.dragino.com/release/tool/unimportant/generate-release.sh chmod + x ./generate-release.sh ./generate-release.sh > Release​

3.2.7 Sign the Release file with gpg and generating Inrelease file​

Make sure auto-update server has gnupg apt install gnupg​
generate gpg key gpg -gen-key Note: Fill in the content as required and remember the name and email address.​
Check the gen-key gen -list-key​
Generate the release.gpg cd /var/www/html/debian/release/dists/stable gpg --armor --detach-sign -o Release.gpg Release gpg --clearsign -o InRelease Release​
Generate the public key gpg --armor --output .asc --export example: gpg --armor --output xiao.asc --export xiaoye@dragino.cc​

3.2.8 Add url as apt source in LPS8v2 / MS20​

Add the public key cp xiao.asc /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/ Note: First need to transfer the public key from auto-update server to device.​
Add the apt source list​

Add the apt source list url and name this as test_server.list

echo "deb http://<IP_address or hostname>/debian/release stable main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/test_server.list

Validate the apt repository​

Get and install the testing package (download testing-0808.deb and test)

apt update && apt install testing

Example output:

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3.2.9 Configure the gateway's auto-upgrade rules​

Remove dragino apt source /etc/apt/sources.list​

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Set up automatic updates Path : /usr/lib/dragino/dragino-apt-updates​

The device performs automatic updates from this script,

But it will now only look for dragino as a keyword, so you need to replace the keyword dragino with your own keyword.

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Toggle the left panel column.