automation

How to automate AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN tasks

Prerequisites

The guidelines below require the following software:

• AWS CLI
• jq

MacOS installation instructions

# Install homebrew (skip this step if already installed)
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
# Install jq
brew install jq
# Install AWS CLI (skip this step if AWS CLI is already instsall)
brew instsall awscli@2

How to create a gateway

The example below includes steps for creation of new gateway, creation and association of the related IoT Certificates, retrieval of CUPS/LNS server certificates and identification of CUPS/LNS endpoints. The example below use region us-east-1. If you use other region (e.g. eu-west-1), please adjust the command accordingly.

1. Create a gateway

In the example below, please replace the examples values:

• GATEWAY_EUI with the Eui of your gateway you will find in gateway documentation or printed on the gateway
• RF_REGION with either EU868 or US915 depending on the local regulations

GATEWAY_EUI=1122334455667788
RF_REGION=EU868
GATEWAY_ID=$(aws iotwireless create-wireless-gateway --name MyGateway \
                                                     --description "My Gateway description" \
                                                     --lorawan GatewayEui=$GATEWAY_EUI,RfRegion=$RF_REGION \
                                                     --region us-east-1 | jq -r .Id
            )
echo "Created gateway with id $GATEWAY_ID"

The output of this command will be the gateway id that you will need in step 3.

2. Create AWS IoT Certificate and keypair

CERTIFICATE_ID=$(aws iot create-keys-and-certificate \
                --set-as-active \
                --certificate-pem-outfile gateway.certificate.pem \
                --public-key-outfile gateway.public_key.pem \
                --private-key-outfile gateway.private_key.pem \
                --region us-east-1 | jq -r .certificateId)
echo "Created certificate with id $CERTIFICATE_ID"                                              

The output of this command will be the certificateId that you will need in step 3

3. Associate gateway with the certificate

aws iotwireless  associate-wireless-gateway-with-certificate --id $GATEWAY_ID \
                                                             --iot-certificate-id $CERTIFICATE_ID \
                                                             --region us-east-1

The expected output should be:

{
    "IotCertificateId": "<Certificate Id from Step 2>"
}

3. Retrieve server certificates for CUPS or LNS endpoints

The server certificates are used by Basics Station software that runs on a LoRaWAN gateway. Basics Station uses the server certificatews to verify the identify of the AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN endpoints. Please note that if your LoRaWAN gateway supports the CUPS protocol, it should be sufficient to only configure the CUPS endpoint and your gateway will retrieve the LNS endpoint via the CUPS protocol. If your LoRaWAN does not support the CUPS protocol, you should retrieve and configure the LNS endpoint certificate.

To retrieve the CUPS endpoint certificate please run the following command:

aws iotwireless get-service-endpoint --service-type CUPS --region us-east-1 | jq -r .ServerTrust > cups_server_trust.pem

To retrieve the LNS endpoint certificate please run the following command.

aws iotwireless get-service-endpoint --service-type LNS --region us-east-1 | jq -r .ServerTrust > lns_server_trust.pem

4. Retrieve URIs of CUPS or LNS endpoint

Please note that if your LoRaWAN gateway supports the CUPS protocol, it should be sufficient to only configure the CUPS endpoint and your gateway will retrieve the LNS endpoint using the CUPS protocol. If your LoRaWAN does not support the CUPS protocol, you should configure the LNS endpoint.

To retrieve the CUPS endpoint certificate please run the following command:

aws iotwireless get-service-endpoint --service-type CUPS --region us-east-1 | jq -r .ServiceEndpoint 

To retrieve the LNS endpoint certificate please run the following command.

aws iotwireless get-service-endpoint --service-type LNS --region us-east-1 | jq -r .ServiceEndpoint 

4. Perform gateway configuration

After a successful completion of the steps above, please use the following information to configure your LoRaWAN gateway according to the gateway's user manual:

• Gateway certificate: gateway.certificate.pem
• Gateway private key: gateway.private_key.pem
• Serer trust certificates: cups_server_trust.pem or lns_server_trust.pem
• Endpoints for CUPS or LNS