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Advantech ArdexaLinux Installation

Ardexa has developed a version of Linux for ARM (Raspbian) and x86 that is extremely reliable for IoT environments. It is known as ArdexaLinux. This guide will take you through the steps to load the ArdexaLinux image onto your machine device and installation of the Ardexa agent.

This guide is to install ArdexaLinux on the following Advantech devices: UNO-2271G, UNO-2272G and UNO-2362G. If you haven't configured the BIOS on these devices, you MUST do so. See the following pages. If your Advantech device is not one of the ones listed below, contact Ardexa.

Note: Ardexa Devices provided to our enterprise customers come pre-installed with the ArdexaLinux Image.

Preparation

The pre-requisites for these instructions are the following:

  1. An IoT device and power supply

  2. A micro SD Card adaptor (for the micro SD card)

  3. An Ethernet network with Internet connectivity and a DHCP Server

  4. A compatible mouse/keyboard

  5. The ArdexaLinux Image, supplied by Ardexa.

  6. The password for the ArdexaLinux image, also provided by Ardexa

  7. Access to the Ardexa Cloud, and permissions that enable you to create a new Device

If you don't have these, contact Ardexa.

Install Ardexa Linux Image

Ensure a keyboard (and optional mouse) is connected to the edge device. Some industrial computers (such as the UNO-2271G) only have 1 USB port - in this case, an adapter is required to use the boot USB and keyboard/mouse concurrently.

  • Copy the ArdexaLinux ISO image to a USB device as a bootable image, and plug it into any USB socket.

  • Boot the machine. Make sure the BIOS setting is selected to boot off the USB (see above).

  • On some devices, a benign error may appear when booting - press any key to continue with the install.

  • A boot loader will appear. Select Install Ardexa to automatically install Ardexa.

  • System will automatically reboot. If it does not boot to login screen, then change the BIOS boot order by selecting the ‘non Ubuntu’ option. For installation of the Ardexa agent, see this page

Create Ardexa Agent

  • Login into your Ardexa App Workgroup.

  • Select [DEVICES] menu.

  • Select [MANAGE] option

  • Select SELECT NEW DEVICE

  • Input name of device in format XXXXX Company Name.

    • XXXXX is the 5-digit number given to you in the order.

    • Company Name is the name of the destination company noted in the order.

  • Select Linux 64 bit (x86_64)

  • A newly created agent will be then available for download.

Install Ardexa Agent

  • Copy deb files or executable onto your machine. For Linux: sudo dpkg -i ardexa-<version>.deb

<version> = name of Debian package file you downloaded.

Detailed instructions on agent installation are provided here.

Label your Machine

  • We suggest labelling the machine with the 5-digit number provided in the order.

  • Place the label alongside the serial number on the outside of the machine.

Machine Password

Please contact Ardexa

Timezone

It is important that the device has the correct time zone. This can be set before shipping or after installation, but it's important to make sure that the time zone is correct before you start collecting data.

To set the time zone, log into the console using a screen and keyboard, or simply open the REMOTE SHELL if the agent is already installed. If you are using the console, run sudo -i to get a root prompt.

In the shell, run the command:

timedatectl

This will show the current date, time and time zone. If the time zone is correct, there is nothing else to do in this section. If the time zone is incorrect, please go to the next step.

To see a list of available time zones, run the following command 

timedatectl list-timezones

For users on the console, use the space bar to scroll down the list. Make note of the desired time zone for the device and Ctrl-C to exit. For REMOTE SHELL users, you will be able to see the entire list in your browser, simply copy the desired time zone to paste into the next command.

In the shell run the command

timedatectl set-timezone <new_time_zone>

This will change the time zone on the device. For example:

timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Berlin

To confirm that the timezone has been set:

timedatectl

And the final step is to synchronise the timezone with the cloud. Browse to DEVICES -> <target device> -> Manual Config -> General. The time zone listed here will still be the old time zone. Trigger a refresh by clicking the three dots next to the device name and selecting "Refresh metadata". Within about 10s, you should get a message that the device config has been updated and the time zone listed in the General tab should now reflect the new time zone on the device.

Do not skip this final step! If you do not refresh the metadata, the cloud will not know about the time zone change and the data will be logged with a skewed event_time. If the time zone in the cloud does not match the timezone on the machine, then run "Refresh metadata" to force the device to re-synchronise.

Record Important Details

We suggest you keep an inventory of your devices and record the following details by taking photographs of:

  • Windows license (if installed).

  • Serial number of the machine.

  • Label of machine.

Final Testing

  1. Connect the machine to the Internet using a network with DHCP.

  2. Check the machine has come online using the Ardexa App.

  3. Check that agent is working by typing a simple command in: DEVICES > {DEVICE} > REMOTE SHELL.

    • Eg: ls (list directory).

    • If machine returns a list of folders, then agent is operating correctly.

  • Remove AC power to the machine and then reconnect power

    • Check that machine has come online again (step 2/ above)

    • Check that agent is working again (step 3/ above)

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