Wanted, alpha tester for the "remote admin / multi-channel" feature

geeksville · August 1, 2021, 7:00am

update: I’ve moved this doc into github:

meshtastic/Meshtastic-device/blob/master/docs/software/remote-admin.md

# Remote node administration

This is the first documentation for how to use the [multiple channels](channels.md) feature to enable remote adminstration of meshtastic nodes.  i.e. let you talk through the mesh to some far away node and change that nodes settings.  This is an advanced feature that (currently) few users would need.  Also, keep in mind it is possible (if you are not careful) to assign settings to that remote node that cause it to completely drop off of your mesh.

Btw: I promised to document how multi-channel is now used to secure remote GPIO/serial access.  But probably best to debug these instructions first, so I'll wait on that.  If you **do** need to use remote GPIO/serial now, just follow these instructions but name your new channel "gpio" or "serial".

## Creating the "admin" channel

Okay - now that we've summarized what multiple-channel support is, we can move on to using it to provide remote administrative access to a node.

By default, nodes will **only** respond to adminstrative commands via the local USB/bluetooth/TCP interface.  This provides basic security to prevent unauthorized access.  This is actually how 'normal' administration and settings changes work.  The only difference for the remote case is that we are sending those commands over the mesh.

Before a node will allow remote admin access, it must find a channel 
```
meshtastic --info
Connected to radio
...
Channels:
  PRIMARY psk=default { "modemConfig": "Bw125Cr48Sf4096", "psk": "AQ==" }

This file has been truncated. show original

Chiumanfu · August 1, 2021, 1:23pm

Works as expected.

FYI. I needed to do a reboot after setting up the secondary channel before it would allow me to do the set-owner.

Also a --info does not show the primary only channel URL for distribution to normal users. It does show the Complete URL.

zebus · August 1, 2021, 4:10pm

cant wait to test I have 5 nodes for testing with and I will test with sending commands over multiple hops

geeksville · August 1, 2021, 9:49pm

ooh thanks @Chiumanfu for the super quick test. I’m glad it mostly worked for you. I’ve (confirmed and) opened a bug for what you found:

geeksville · August 1, 2021, 9:59pm

Hi ya’ll, I’ve ‘finished’ the the first draft of this document and updated the original post based on @Chiumanfu 's great feedback. If others want to try it I think it is ready. But note the bug above - after you add the new channel (temporarily until this bug is fixed) you’ll need to press the reset button to reboot the node.

Also, if you want to use gpio or serial remote APIs, the process is identical. Just create a “gpio” or “serial” channel.

Chiumanfu · August 2, 2021, 12:59am

GPIO works too! with one little bug. When I send the command it changes the state of the output on the remote node but the shell hangs and I have to ctlr-c to get back to prompt.
meshtastic --dest !xxxxxxxx --gpio-wrb 0 0

20210321_213309

Chiumanfu · August 2, 2021, 1:09am

Also, sending a
meshtastic --dest !xxxxxxxx --info
as eluded to in your ls_secs example always results in a timeout for me.

Sending a
meshtastic --dest !xxxxxxxx --nodes
displays the node list as if I’m connected to the local node, not the remote one.

geeksville · August 2, 2021, 1:29am

Hmm based on your output can you update the python client and try again? It is a little stale.

Mike · August 2, 2021, 11:45am

Thanks for the update.

I’m using 3 nodes, one local and the other 2 remote. set-owner worked with one but timed out on the other. I then rebooted the one that timed out when I needed to check that it’s Complete URL was set - it was. Then the timed out remote node worked…? Can’t quite pin it down. Seemed OK when I tried to change it again …
I notice that you are using !28979058 for the dest, but some text is leaving out the "" - might be confusing for some people…
Now will go back and test GPIO and the SerialPlugin.

Mike · August 2, 2021, 12:15pm

Just a comment that could clarify your documentation:
It seems that when each additional Secondary channel is added, eg gpio and serial, the Complete URL is incrementally extended by appending an additional text string.
Thus it helps to plan on installing all the additional secondary channels at once so that the nodes do not have to be repeatedly connected via USB to set up the updated Complete URL on each of them.

Chiumanfu · August 2, 2021, 1:07pm

Once you set up the admin channel on all nodes, you can add more secondary channels on remote nodes using
meshtastic --dest !xxxxxxxx --seturl the-complete-url
I’ve tried it and it does work.
Note: you could orphan a remote node easily if you’re not careful.

Chiumanfu · August 2, 2021, 9:36pm

Lol. Couple days and it’s already stale.
Updated from 1.2.12 to 1.2.13. Same result.

meshtastic --dest !12345678 --nodes
display node list from the local connected node, not the remote.

meshtastic --dest !12345678 --info
Gives me a time out

meshtastic --dest !12345678 --gpio-wrb 0 0
Works but needs a ctrl-c break

geeksville · August 2, 2021, 10:35pm

thanks for the report! I’ll debug.

geeksville · August 2, 2021, 10:36pm

good point and true - will do. Though once a node has an admin key channels can also be added remotely.

mc-hamster · August 3, 2021, 2:01am

Ah ha! This is what I was running into today. This is why I wasn’t getting all the mesh packets I was expecting.

Love it when two people are running a race together.

I should check the forum (even) more often.

Making sure, the channel bindings are set with " pi.boundChannel " ?

geeksville · August 3, 2021, 2:04am

yep - that’s how a plugin says “I only want to receive/see packets sent on this channel name”

geeksville · August 3, 2021, 2:05am

(also to make this clearer, I just pushed a change so that if plugins have been bound to a channel, the system will automatically fire back an error packet towards any client that requests operations but isn’t using the right channel “NOT_AUTHORIZED”)

mc-hamster · August 3, 2021, 2:11am

Hahaha! There’s no winning a race when @geeksville is in the next ~~channel~~ lane.

Mike · August 3, 2021, 4:49am

Yes, now you have said it - obvious - as it should be.

Mike · August 3, 2021, 6:41am

I can’t find reference to this anywhere - ref or example please?
I’ve created an additional Secondary channel: serial
as was suggested.

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Wanted, alpha tester for the "remote admin / multi-channel" feature

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