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How To Use Amazon Web Services with LoRaWAN

Table of Contents

Amazon Web Services

This document walks through the details on the steps on how to configure the free cloud services of Amazon to work with your RAK7249 Macro Outdoor Gateway. Follow each and every step discussed in this document to have a fully functional system. If you encounter errors, kindly contact us through the email provided in the Product Overview.

Creating an Account

To enjoy the free cloud services of Amazon, make an account through their Amazon Web Services page.

Considerations:
  1. Limited to 750 hours per month for a period of 12 months
  2. A debit card must be linked to verify your identity in order to use the service.

Configuring the Instance

After you have logged into your account, you need to select what instance you are going to be running.

📝 NOTE: For the purpose of this tutorial, we are going to be using "EC2". Select it in the AWS Management Console.

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In the following screen you can see your running instances, key pairs, security groups, etc. Press the blue “Launch instance” button.

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There is a ton of choices for the operating system, however Ubuntu will be used for tutorial. Scroll down and choose Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS (latest at the time of this document). Click the “Select” button.

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In the next window, you can configure your Instance. However, leave it as it is. Just select the t2.Micro for the instance type as in Figure 4 shown below and click “Review and Launch”.

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Confirm your choice and Launch. Security groups will be edited in the next section so you can go ahead and confirm your choice by pressing the “Launch” button as shown in Figure 5 below.

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Accessing Instance via SSH

To have an SSH session to the Instance, you nee to create the appropriate access keys. Thus, after Launching, you will see window the same as Figure 6 below.

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We will choose to "Create a new key pair" from the drop-down menu and give it an appropriate name. Finally, click the “Download Key Pair” button shown in Figure 7.

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After saving the Keys to your chosen location, you can Launch the instance via the blue button "Launch Instances".

In Figure 8, you can see the parameters of your instance. Note the fields in the highlighted with the red rectangle. These are you real URL and IP Address for accessing this instance.

📝 NOTE: The URL and IP Address shown in Figure 8 are just examples. You will have a different set of information on your setup.

KHM-059-08.png

In order to have SSH access to the Instance we will use PuTTY. Download and install it.

In the AWS Instance page, mark your instance and click “Connect”. This will bring the instructions page out. Follow the procedure as well.

📝 NOTE: Convert first the keys from .pem format to .ppk format as this is what PuTTY is used for. This is done with PuTTYgen, which comes standard with the PuTTY package.

Run PuTTYgen (if you are using Windows, just type it in the start menu after installing PuTTY and you will find it).

In the main window, select the Type of key to generate as RSA (should be the default choice). In older versions, it is named SSH-2 RSA.

KHM-059-09.png

Press “Load” in order to select the key files generated by AWS (make sure to select All Files (.) from the drop down menu as by default only .ppk files are shown

After successfully loading the keys, you can save them in .ppk with the “Save private key” button. Use the same name as the original .pem file. The ppk extension will be added automatically. PuTTYgen displays a warning about saving the keys without a passphrase. Ignore it an choose Yes.

📝 NOTE: A passphrase on a private key is an extra layer of protection. Even if your private key is discovered, it cannot be used without the passphrase. The downside to using a passphrase is that it makes automation harder because human intervention is needed to log on to an instance, or to copy files to an instance.

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As your Private Key is now in the correct format, now you can create an SSH session with PuTTY. Open the client and select SSH.

KHM-059-011.png

You need the correct Host Name. Take note of the Host Name syntax provided below together with an example for a better understanding:

user_name@public_dns_name
  • After which, fill-in the corresponding Host Name as shown in Figure 13 below.
    KHM-059-013.png

Now, you need to tell PuTTY to use the keys. In the Category panel, expand Connections>SSH>Auth. Click the “Browse” button and look for you .ppk file

📝 NOTE: If you want to save this configuration for future use, go back to the Session tab and enter a name in the Saved Session text box and click Save.

KHM-059-014.png

Click the “Open” button to initiate the session. If this is your first time connecting, PuTTY will ask for confirmation (click Yes). You should see the command line window to your instance now.

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Installing Chirpstack

It is always a good idea to make an update and upgrade of your packages. In order to do so run the following commands in the terminal:

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

After the procedure is completed, install ChirpStack and its dependencies. To do this, first we need to install Git with the command:

sudo apt install git

Next, we clone the RAKwireless Ubuntu ChirpStack repository:

git clone https://github.com/RAKWireless/ChirpStack_on_Ubuntu

After the cloning is complete, open the newly created folder with the command:

cd ChirpStack_on_Ubuntu

Run the installation script:

sudo ./install.sh

After the installation is completed, check if all went well by executing these commands:

journalctl -u chirpstack-network-server -f -n 50

journalctl -u chirpstack-application-server -f -n 50

You should see no errors as in Figure 16. Make sure you interrupt the output of the commands above with the key combination “Ctrl+z” so you can continue with the configuration process.

KHM-059-016.png

In case you want to use the Semtech Packet Forwarder to connect your Gateway to the LoRa Network Server proceed here. If you are going to use the MQTT Bridge instead proceed directly here

  • Below is the text form of the logs shown in Figure 16:
ubuntu@ip-172-31-33-125:~$ journalctl -u chirpstack-network-server -f -n 50
-- Logs begin at Wed 2020-06-17 11:59:21 UTC. --
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 systemd[1]: Started ChirpStack Network Server.
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="starting ChirpStack Network Server" band=EU_863_870 docs="https://www.chirpstack.io/" net_id=000000 version=3.9.0
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: setting up storage module"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: setting up Redis client"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: connecting to PostgreSQL"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: applying PostgreSQL data migrations"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: PostgreSQL data migrations applied" count=0
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="gateway/mqtt: connecting to mqtt broker" server="tcp://localhost:1883"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="no geolocation-server configured"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="configuring join-server client" ca_cert= server="http://localhost:8003" tls_cert= tls_key=
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="backend/gateway: connected to mqtt server"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="gateway/mqtt: subscribing to gateway event topic" qos=0 topic=gateway/+/event/+
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="api: starting network-server api server" bind="0.0.0.0:8000" ca-cert= tls-cert= tls-key=
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="starting downlink device-queue scheduler"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-network-server[5588]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="starting multicast scheduler"
^Z
[4]+  Stopped                 journalctl -u chirpstack-network-server -f -n 50
ubuntu@ip-172-31-33-125:~$ journalctl -u chirpstack-application-server -f -n 50
-- Logs begin at Wed 2020-06-17 11:59:21 UTC. --
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 systemd[1]: Started ChirpStack Application Server.
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="starting ChirpStack Application Server" docs="https://www.chirpstack.io/" version=3.10.0
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: setting up storage package"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: setup metrics"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: setting up Redis client"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: connecting to PostgreSQL database"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: applying PostgreSQL data migrations"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="storage: PostgreSQL data migrations applied" count=1
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="integration/mqtt: TLS config is empty"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="integration/mqtt: connecting to mqtt broker" server="tcp://localhost:1883"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-application-server[5591]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="api/as: starting application-server api" bind="0.0.0.0:8001" ca_cert= tls_cert= tls_key=

Installing the Gateway Bridge

In this section, an outline is provided on how to perform the installation. For detailed information, you can visit Chirpstack.io.

Run the following commands provided below to update the Ubuntu Repositories.

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 1CE2AFD36DBCCA00

sudo echo "deb https://artifacts.loraserver.io/packages/3.x/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/loraserver.list

sudo apt-get update

  • This updates the Ubuntu Repositories.

  • Proceed with installing the Bridge itself:

sudo apt-get install lora-gateway-bridge

Start the Bridge service:

sudo systemctl start lora-gateway-bridge

Check if it is working as it should using the command as shown same with the snippet below:

journalctl -u lora-gateway-bridge -f -n 50

KHM-059-017.png

ubuntu@ip-172-31-33-125:~$ journalctl -u chirpstack-gateway-bridge -f -n 50
-- Logs begin at Wed 2020-06-17 11:59:21 UTC. --
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 systemd[1]: Started ChirpStack Gateway Bridge.
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-gateway-bridge[5596]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="starting ChirpStack Gateway Bridge" docs="https://www.chirpstack.io/gateway-bridge/" version=3.8.0
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-gateway-bridge[5596]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="backend/semtechudp: starting gateway udp listener" addr="0.0.0.0:1700"
Jun 18 10:20:29 ip-172-31-33-125 chirpstack-gateway-bridge[5596]: time="2020-06-18T10:20:29Z" level=info msg="integration/mqtt: connected to mqtt broker"

Amazon Web Services Security

By default, all inbound traffic to an AWS Instance is blocked, only port 22 (SSH) is open. You need to add a set of rules in order for the Gateway and LoRa Network Server to be able to communicate:

  • The Semtech Packet Forwarder needs UDP port 1700;
  • MQTT Bridge (unsecured) needs TCP port 1883;
  • MQTT Bridge (secured) needs TCP port 8883;

  • Chirpstack Web Ui needs TCP port 8080.

Open the Security Groups tab in the AWS Dashboard:

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Select your desired Security Group (Ubuntu Instance). If you have multiple instances you can use the date and time of creation of the group as a guide to which is the one you want. Click the “Action” button and from the drop-down menu select Edit Inbound Rules:

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In the opened window, press the “Add Rule” button and add all the 4 rules mentioned before.

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📝 NOTE: It is a good practice to name them in accordance with what each of them represents.

Make sure to Save with the button in the lower right corner.

Finally, check if the rules you created are working by entering your instance Public IP address using port 8080 in a browser window. You should see the Login page of the Chirpstack Web UI (for example 3.120.237.38:8080 as in the image below).

KHM-059-021.jpg

📝 NOTE: The log-in credentials are provided below. Also, there are profiles created in the RAKwireless Chirpstack installation, so you do not need to make those yourself and you can directly proceed to adding your Gateway.
  • Username: admin
  • Password: admin

Configuring the Gateway

Packet Forwarder Set-up

In the Web Management Platform, navigate through LoRa Network > Network Settings > Packet Forwarder Settings > General Setup, and set the Protocol in the drop-down list to Semtech UDP GWMP Protocol. You only need to change the Server Address to forward the traffic to your ChirpStack running on the Ubuntu Instance (AWS). Enter your Instance Public IP Address in the field marked with the red rectangle in the image below:

📝 NOTE: Read the LoRa Network section in the Web Management Platform to know more about the other modes aside from the Packet Forwarder Setup.

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Click "Save and Apply" and go to your ChirpStack Web UI running on the AWS Instance (IP Address:8080). Go to the Gateway tab. Press the “Create” button.

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In the next window, input the Gateway Name, EUI and Description. Select a network server and Service Profile from the drop-down menu (remember those are pre-configured with the RAKwireless image). Then, click the “Create Gateway” button.

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Assuming you entered the parameters correctly you should see your Gateway status as seen is a few second in the Gateway Details tab. You can also monitor Live LoRa Frames in the tab with the same name to see incoming traffic.

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MQTT Bridge Set-up

If you want to use the MQTT Bridge to forward your LoRa Traffic to your LoRa Network Server, you need to configure your Gateway use the Bridge instead of the Packet Forwarder.

Navigating through LoRa Network-> Network Settings-> Packet Forwarder Settings-> General Setup, set the Protocol in the drop-down list to LoRa Gateway MQTT Bridge. Then, click "Save and Apply".

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Next, choose the type of LoRa Network Server you are going to be using.

Set the address to the address of the AWS Instance and the port to 1883, Save and Apply.

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Lastly, register your Gateway to Chirpstack if you have not done so. You can follow the steps undergone in the Packet Forwarder Set-up section of the Web Management Platform document.

Updated