IP configuration on linux robots

Prerequisites

• 1 USB keyboard
• 1 screen
• 1 video cable from the robot to the screen
• 1 RJ45 cable from the switch to the robot
• All the network prerequisites for the network setup:
  • Static IP
  • Mask
  • Gateway IP
  • Dns IP list

Configuration

There are different ways of performing the network configuration on a robot:

• Using kipconfig (for console mode)
• Editing the network configuration file (if kipconfig is not available)
  
  

Robots in console mode

The kipconfig method is the easiest, but might not be available if your robot has not been updated recently.

To know if kipconfig is available:

• Connect a keyboard and a screen to the video connector (DVI or VGA) of the robot
• Turn on the robot
• Login to the robot using the credentials provided by kapptivate
• Enter the following command:

sudo kipconfig generate --apply

• If the robot displays the following information, kipconfig is available.
• If the robot does not display the following information, kipconfig is not available.

Use the arrow keys to navigate: ↓ ↑ → ←
? Select the network interface to configure:

Configuration with kipconfig

sudo kipconfig generate --apply

Use the arrow keys to navigate: ↓ ↑ → ←
? Select the network interface to configure:
    enp2s0
  ▸ eno1

The interface depends on the kind of robot you are using:

Robot type	Picture	Interface
Cellular robot (2 sims)		enp1s0
Cellular robot (4/8 sims)		enp1s0
Edge robot (web / smartphone)		eno1
Web robot		enp8s0
Smartphone robot		enp1s0

Select the relevant network interface. 

? Select which type of ip configuration you wish to apply to eno1:
    dhcp
  ▸ static

Configuring interface using "static"
✗ Enter the static ip you wish to assign for this robot alongside it's mask (ex: 10.10.100.7/24): █

10.11.12.13/24

✗ Enter the gateway ip (ex: 10.10.100.1): █

✔ Enter a dns server ip (ex: 1.1.1.1): 8.8.8.8█
Use the arrow keys to navigate: ↓ ↑ → ←
? Current dns list [8.8.8.8] | Select one of the options below. Cancelling will skip the dns configuration:
  ▸ add
    reset
    continue
    cancel

validating and generating the netplan configuration ...
network:
  ethernets:
    eno1:
      accept-ra: true
      addresses:
      - 10.11.12.13/24
      dhcp6: true
      gateway4: 10.11.12.1
      nameservers:
        addresses:
        - 8.8.8.8
      optional: true
  renderer: networkd
  version: 2
✗ Do you want to save this configuration and apply it to this robot ? (This operation is not reversible and will overwrite any netplan configuration in the destination path): █ 

validating and generating the netplan configuration ...
network:
  ethernets:
    eno1:
      accept-ra: true
      addresses:
      - 10.11.12.13/24
      dhcp6: true
      gateway4: 10.11.12.1
      optional: true
  renderer: networkd
  version: 2
✗ Do you want to save this configuration and apply it to this robot ? (This operation is not reversible and will overwrite any netplan configuration in the destination path): █

netplan configuration will be saved and applied in /etc/netplan
creating a backup file in /tmp
netplan backup file successfully created: /tmp/netplan-backup.yaml.2022-0x-xx-xx-xx-xx
✗ Are you sure you want to apply this new config ? data will saved to /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml:

cat /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

• eno1 should be the first ethernet port from the left when viewed from behind (ONLY FOR EDGE ROBOTS (web / smartphone))
• enp1s0 should be the first port from the right when viewed from behind (ONLY FOR CELLULAR ROBOTS)
• enp8s0 should be the first port from the left (LAN8) when facing the robot (ONLY FOR WEB ROBOTS)

Configuration without kipconfig

$ ls /etc/netplan

$ sudo nano /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

GNU nano 4.8 /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

# This is the network config written by 'subiquity'

network:

  version: 2

  renderer: networkd

  ethernets:

    enp1s0:

      dhcp4: no

      gateway4: 192.168.1.1

      addresses:

      - 192.168.1.50/24

      nameservers:

        addresses:

        - 8.8.8.8

        - 8.8.4.4

      optional: true

    enp3s0:

      dhcp4: yes

      dhcp6: yes

      optional: true

Once the data is modified, press “control + X” to exit and press Y to save the modifications.

 

Web / smartphone robot (edge robot)

Move the cursor with the arrows and modify the items in italic (under eno1) according to your IT department instructions.

Everything should be aligned as follows. Be careful to always use the space key - no tab key - to insert spaces in the file:

# This is the network config written by 'subiquity'

network:

  ethernets:

    eno1:

      dhcp4: no

      gateway4: 192.168.1.1

      addresses:

      - 192.168.1.50/24

      nameservers:

        addresses:

        - 8.8.8.8

        - 8.8.4.4

      optional: true

    enp10s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp11s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp9s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

version: 2

Once the data is modified, press “control + X” to exit and press Y to save the modifications.

Web robot

Move the cursor with the arrows and modify the items in italic (under enp8s0) according to your IT department instructions.

Everything should be aligned as follows. Be careful to always use the space key - no tab key - to insert spaces in the file:

# This is the network config written by 'subiquity'

network:

  ethernets:

    enp0s31f6:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp2s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp3s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp4s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp5s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp6s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

    enp8s0:

      dhcp4: no

      gateway4: 192.168.1.1

      addresses:

      - 192.168.1.50/24

      nameservers:

        addresses:

        - 8.8.8.8

        - 8.8.4.4

      optional: true

    enp7s0:

      dhcp4: true

      optional: true

version: 2

 Once the data is modified, press “control + X” to exit and press Y to save the modifications.

GNU nano 4.8 /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

# This is the network config written by 'subiquity'

network:

  version: 2

  renderer: networkd

  ethernets:

    enp1s0:

      dhcp4: no

      gateway4: 192.168.1.1

      addresses:

      - 192.168.1.50/24

      nameservers:

        addresses:

        - 8.8.8.8

        - 8.8.4.4

      optional: true

    enp3s0:

      dhcp4: yes

      dhcp6: yes

      optional: true

$ sudo netplan apply

$ sudo reboot

Network configuration validation

Open the Kapptivate interface and check that the corresponding agent is available (if not, try the troubleshooting steps):

Cellular robot:

Web robot:

Smartphone robot: