Linux Network Configuration

note

The clearpath_computer_setup package offers a terminal menu tool for configuring a robot computer. The main feature of this tool is the ability to generate netplan configurations. The clearpath_computer_setup package is available on the Clearpath package server.

It should be installed on the robot's computer:

sudo apt install python3-clearpath-computer-setup

To run the tool, call:

sudo clearpath-computer-setup

Connecting to an Existing Wi-Fi Network

Using clearpath-computer-setup

Use the sudo clearpath-computer-setup command to connect your robot to an existing wireless network.

 ___     _         _      ___                     _             ___      _
| _ \___| |__  ___| |_   / __|___ _ __  _ __ _  _| |_ ___ _ _  / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
|   / _ \ '_ \/ _ \  _| | (__/ _ \ '  \| '_ \ || |  _/ -_) '_| \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
|_|_\___/_.__/\___/\__|  \___\___/_|_|_| .__/\_,_|\__\___|_|   |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
                                      |_|                                       |_|
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Netplan Setup

  About
  Exit

Select Netplan Setup and press the ENTER key.

 _  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Bridge Setup
  Ethernet Setup
> Wifi Setup

  Pre-set Configurations

  Read Configuration YAML
  Write Configuration YAML
  Apply Configuration Changes
  View Netplan Configurations

Use the arrow keys to select Wifi Setup and press ENTER.

If you have multiple wifi interfaces, use the arrow keys to select the one you wish to configure. If you only have one interface, it will be seleced automatically.

__      ___ ___ _   ___      _
\ \    / (_) __(_) / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
 \ \/\/ /| | _|| | \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
  \_/\_/ |_|_| |_| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
                                    |_|
Interface Menu
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
--------------------------------------------
> Wi-Fi 'wlp59s0' Setup

Press ENTER once you have selected the interface to configure.

__      ___ ___ _   ___      _
\ \    / (_) __(_) / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
 \ \/\/ /| | _|| | \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
  \_/\_/ |_|_| |_| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
                                    |_|
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
--------------------------------------------
> SSID: ssid
  Password: password

  Save Settings
  Reset Settings

Select SSID and press ENTER. You will be prompted to enter the SSID of your wireless network.

Wi-Fi Network SSID
------------------
SSID (ssid):

Then select Password and press ENTER

__      ___ ___ _   ___      _
\ \    / (_) __(_) / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
 \ \/\/ /| | _|| | \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
  \_/\_/ |_|_| |_| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
                                    |_|
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
--------------------------------------------
> SSID: ssid
  Password: password

  Save Settings
  Reset Settings

Type in the password for your wireless network and press ENTER. The password is case-sensitive. Note that only wpa family encryption is supported using this tool. If your network requires certificates you must manually configure Netplan.

Wi-Fi Network Password
----------------------
Password (password):

Type the SSID of your network and press ENTER. Note that the SSID is case-sensitive.

Finally, select Save Settings and press the ENTER key.

__      ___ ___ _   ___      _
\ \    / (_) __(_) / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
 \ \/\/ /| | _|| | \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
  \_/\_/ |_|_| |_| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
                                    |_|
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
--------------------------------------------
  SSID: ssid
  Password: password

> Save Settings
  Reset Settings

Once you have configured the wireless interfaces, press Esc until you return to the main menu. Select Write Configuration YAML and press ENTER

 _  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Bridge Setup
  Ethernet Setup
  Wifi Setup

  Pre-set Configurations

  Read Configuration YAML
> Write Configuration YAML
  Apply Configuration Changes
  View Netplan Configurations

Enter the path /etc/netplan/60-wifi.yaml and press ENTER.

After saving, run `Apply` to update Netplan.
--------------------------------------------
_  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Save YAML:
Enter path to Netplan Configuration YAML
>

Finally, select Apply Configuration changes and press ENTER.

 _  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Apply Netplan Configuration:
  - changes will not take effect until you
      apply the configuration.
  - applying changes may take a 15-30 seconds
      depending on the system.
  - depending on the new changes,
      you may be disconnected from the system.

Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Apply Changes
  Cancel

Select Apply Changes and press ENTER. If you are logged into the robot via SSH you may lose your connection when applying the changes. If this happens, simply open a new terminal and log in again.

Manual netplan configuration

First, determine the name of your wireless interface by running iwconfig you should see an entry similar to this:

wlp59s0   IEEE 802.11  ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=off
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on

The interface name is in the left column, starting with w.

Once you have identified your interface, edit or create a file called /etc/netplan/60-wifi.yaml containing the following:

network:
  wifis:
    MY_WIFI_INTERFACE:
      optional: true
      access-points:
        MY_WIFI_SSID:
          password: MY_WIFI_PASSWORD
      dhcp4: true

with the following substitutions:

1. Replace MY_WIFI_INTERFACE with the name of the interface you identified in the first step, e.g. wlp59s0
2. Replace MY_WIFI_SSID with the SSID of your network.
3. Replace MY_WIFI_PASSWORD with your network's password.

For example:

network:
  wifis:
    wlp59s0:
      optional: true
      access-points:
        BabCom:
          password: peekaboo
      dhcp4: true

This configuration will connect your robot via DHCP to your WPA2/3 wireless network. If you need to use a static IP address, modify the file to contain the following:

network:
  wifis:
    MY_WIFI_INTERFACE:
      optional: true
      access-points:
        MY_WIFI_SSID:
          password: MY_WIFI_PASSWORD
      dhcp4: false
      dhcp4-overrides:
        send-hostname: true
      addresses:
        - MY_STATIC_IP/MY_SUBNET
      nameservers:
        addresses:
          - MY_NAMESERVER

with the same substitutions noted earlier, plus

1. Replace MY_STATIC_IP with the desired static IP address.
2. Replace MY_SUBNET with the length of your network's subnet mask (typically 24 or 16)
3. Replace MY_NAMESERVER with the IP address of your DNS server You may add multiple DNS servers with each one on its own line.

For example:

network:
  wifis:
    wlp59s0:
      optional: true
      access-points:
        BabCom:
          password: peekaboo
      dhcp4: false
      dhcp4-overrides:
        send-hostname: true
      addresses:
        - 10.25.0.134/16
      nameservers:
        addresses:
          - 10.25.0.10
          - 8.8.8.8
          - 8.8.4.4

Once you have edited the netplan configuration file, run the following two commands:

1. sudo netplan --debug generate -- this will verify that the netplan configuration files can be read properly. Correct any errors before proceeding.
2. sudo netplan try -- this will try running the new configuration, but will automatically roll back if it doesn't work correctly.
3. sudo netplan apply -- this will apply the new configuration to your network interfaces.

note

By convention, all Netplan configuration files should be prefixed with two numbers indicating the order in which the file should be read. Files are read in alphanumeric order, with 00- prefixes first and 99- prefixes last.

If multiple files define the same configuration, the last-read file will override the earlier definitions.

Once all files have been processed the result is amalgamated to create the system's Netplan confguration.

Standard Clearpath Bridge

Using clearpath-computer-setup

Use the sudo clearpath-computer-setup command to connect your robot to an existing wireless network.

 ___     _         _      ___                     _             ___      _
| _ \___| |__  ___| |_   / __|___ _ __  _ __ _  _| |_ ___ _ _  / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
|   / _ \ '_ \/ _ \  _| | (__/ _ \ '  \| '_ \ || |  _/ -_) '_| \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
|_|_\___/_.__/\___/\__|  \___\___/_|_|_| .__/\_,_|\__\___|_|   |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
                                      |_|                                       |_|
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Netplan Setup

  About
  Exit

Select Netplan Setup and press the ENTER key.

 _  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Bridge Setup
  Ethernet Setup
  Wifi Setup

  Pre-set Configurations

  Read Configuration YAML
  Write Configuration YAML
  Apply Configuration Changes
  View Netplan Configurations

If you do not have a bridge defined, use the arrow keys to select Bridge Setup and press ENTER.

 ___     _    _            ___      _
| _ )_ _(_)__| |__ _ ___  / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
| _ \ '_| / _` / _` / -_) \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
|___/_| |_\__,_\__, \___| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
              |___/                        |_|
Interface Menu
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
---------------------------------------------------
> Add Bridge
  Remove Bridge

Use the arrow keys to select Add Bridge and press ENTER.

Enter the name of the bridge you want to create. By default the first bridge should be called br0. Press ENTER to continue.

Bridge interface name must start with 'br'
------------------------------------------
Enter name of bridge to add.
>

Select the bridge to edit (br0 by default) and press ENTER.

 ___     _    _            ___      _
| _ )_ _(_)__| |__ _ ___  / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
| _ \ '_| / _` / _` / -_) \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
|___/_| |_\__,_\__, \___| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
              |___/                        |_|
Interface Menu
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
---------------------------------------------------
> Bridge 'br0' Setup

  Add Bridge
  Remove Bridge

Enable or disable DHCP for IPv4 and IPv6 as desired.

 ___     _    _            ___      _
| _ )_ _(_)__| |__ _ ___  / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
| _ \ '_| / _` / _` / -_) \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
|___/_| |_\__,_\__, \___| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
              |___/                        |_|
Bridge 'br0' Configuration
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
---------------------------------------------------
> dhcp4               : [yes]
  dhcp6               : [no]
  bridged             : [[]]
  addresses           : [[]]

To select what interfaces to bridge together, select bridged and press ENTER. Use the arrow keys to select each interface you want to add to the bridge and press the spacebar to check/uncheck it.

br0 bridged
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to reset.
Press Enter to accept changes and exit.
---------------------------------------
> [ ] enp3s0
  [ ] enp4s0
  [ ] wlp59s0

Press <space>, <tab> for multi-selection and <enter> to accept

Press ENTER once you have selected all of the desired interfaces to bridge.

To add static IP addresses to the bridge, select addresses and press ENTER.

 ___     _    _            ___      _
| _ )_ _(_)__| |__ _ ___  / __| ___| |_ _  _ _ __
| _ \ '_| / _` / _` / -_) \__ \/ -_)  _| || | '_ \
|___/_| |_\__,_\__, \___| |___/\___|\__|\_,_| .__/
              |___/                        |_|
Bridge 'br0' Configuration
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
---------------------------------------------------
  dhcp4               : [yes]
  dhcp6               : [no]
  bridged             : [['enp3s0', 'enp4s0']]
> addresses           : [[]]

Select Add IP Address and enter 192.168.131.1/24 to create the robot's internal network.

Select option to edit, add, or remove bridge IP addresses:
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------
> Add IP Address
  Remove IP Address

Once you have added all desired static IP addresses to the bridge, press Esc until you return to the main menu. Select Write Configuration YAML and press ENTER

 _  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Bridge Setup
  Ethernet Setup
  Wifi Setup

  Pre-set Configurations

  Read Configuration YAML
> Write Configuration YAML
  Apply Configuration Changes
  View Netplan Configurations

Enter the path /etc/netplan/50-clearpath-bridge.yaml and press ENTER.

After saving, run `Apply` to update Netplan.
--------------------------------------------
_  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Save YAML:
Enter path to Netplan Configuration YAML
>

Finally, select Apply Configuration changes and press ENTER.

 _  _     _        _              ___           __ _                    _   _
| \| |___| |_ _ __| |__ _ _ _    / __|___ _ _  / _(_)__ _ _  _ _ _ __ _| |_(_)___ _ _
| .` / -_)  _| '_ \ / _` | ' \  | (__/ _ \ ' \|  _| / _` | || | '_/ _` |  _| / _ \ ' \
|_|\_\___|\__| .__/_\__,_|_||_|  \___\___/_||_|_| |_\__, |\_,_|_| \__,_|\__|_\___/_||_|
            |_|                                    |___/
Apply Netplan Configuration:
  - changes will not take effect until you
      apply the configuration.
  - applying changes may take a 15-30 seconds
      depending on the system.
  - depending on the new changes,
      you may be disconnected from the system.

Press Q, Esc, or CTRL+C to go back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Apply Changes
  Cancel

Select Apply Changes and press ENTER. If you are logged into the robot via SSH you may lose your connection when applying the changes. If this happens, simply open a new terminal and log in again.

Manual netplan configuration

The default networking configuration for a robot's computer is to bridge all Ethernet interfaces and assign the computer the IP address 192.168.131.1. See Reserved IP Addresses for a detailed list of IP ranges.

warning

Changing or removing the default bridge configuration may result in your robot no longer working properly. Certain components inside the robot rely on static IP addresses in the 192.168.131.0/24 subnet.

To configure the default bridge, create or edit /etc/netplan/50-clearpath-standard.yaml to contain the following:

network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    bridge_enp:
      match:
        name: "enp*"
      dhcp4: false
      dhcp6: false
    bridge_enx:
      match:
        name: "enx*"
      dhcp4: false
      dhcp6: false
    bridge_eth:
      match:
        name: "eth*"
      dhcp4: false
      dhcp6: false
  bridges:
    br0:
      addresses:
      - "192.168.131.1/24"
      dhcp4: true
      dhcp6: false
      interfaces:
      - bridge_eth
      - bridge_enx
      - bridge_enp

This will bridge all physical ethernet ports together into the br0 bridge, which is assigned the static address 192.168.131.1. The bridge can also be used to connect to a wired DHCP server to provide internet access to the robot.

After editing the file, run the following commands to apply the changes:

1. sudo netplan --debug generate -- this will verify your netplan configuration files and notify you if there are errors. Correct any errors before proceeding.
2. sudo netplan try -- this will try running the new configuration, but will automatically roll back if it doesn't work correctly.
3. sudo netplan apply -- this will apply the new configuration. Note that if you are logged in over SSH from a remote computer you may lose your SSH connection if the active interface was modified.

Determining the robot's IP address

The robot's main computer can have several IP addresses for different connections. The robot will always have a static address on its internal network of 192.168.131.1 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0 (24 bits).

note

If your robot has a wireless base-station or long-range wireless radio integrated into it, these are considered part of the robot's internal network. When connected to the base-station you can log into the robot via its 192.168.131.1 IP address.

The robot's wired interface may also be connected to an external DHCP source to provide wired internet access, and the robot can be connected over Wi-Fi. To determine the robot's DHCP address, you must either

1. Log into your router and look up the current DCHP assignments. This process will vary from vendor-to-vendor, so refer to your router's manual for instructions on how to do this.
2. Log into the robot via its static 192.168.131.1 address and run the command ip a

Interpreting ip a output

The ip a command produces a lot of output, and can be difficult to understand if you aren't familiar with it.

Sample Output

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp3s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq master br0 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 12:23:34:45:56:67 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: enp4s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq master br0 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 12:34:56:78:90:ab brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: br0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:11:22:33:44:55 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.131.1/24 brd 192.168.131.255 scope global br0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet 10.0.100.42/16 metric 100 brd 10.0.255.255 scope global dynamic br0
       valid_lft 79814sec preferred_lft 79814sec
    inet6 1234::1234:5678:90ab:cdef/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
5: wlp2s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 70:1a:b8:2b:0b:b0 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 10.0.200.101/16 brd 10.0.255.255 scope global wlp2s0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 1234::1122:3344:5566:7788/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
6: vcan0: <NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 100
    link/can
7: vcan1: <NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/can

Note: MAC addresses have been redacted in the sample above

Each numbered item (1 to 7 in the example above) corresponds to a network interface. Each interface that has an active connection will have an entry of the form inet aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd/ee indicating its IP address. Some interfaces, such as the bridge interface described above, may have more than one address.

The items of note are:

• br0: The Clearpath bridge interface. It will always have the inet 192.168.131.1/24 address, denoting its static address on the internal network. In this example it is also connected to a wireless DHCP source, giving it the address 10.0.100.42/16.
• wlp2s0: the robot's wireless interface (the wireless interface will always start with w). In in this example the robot is connected to a wireless network with the address 10.0.200.101/16.