Kontron KBox A-250

Based on a pITX-2.5“ SBC with Intel Atom processors of the E3900 family, the fanless KBox A-250 has been designed as a gateway for IoT-Edge applications. Its fields of application are primarily found in industrial automation.

For more information refer to the information materials provided by the manufacturer:

• Product page
• User manual

Device specifications

The table below contains the key specifications of the specific hardware model that has been certified for Nerve Blue usage. Use the article number listed here when ordering the device from the manufacturer only. Note that other device variants are not supported as Nerve Devices.

If required, contact sales@tttech-industrial.com for help with ordering Nerve Devices.

Setting up the device for Nerve Blue usage

Requirements for the instructions below:

Refer to the user manual of the manufacturer to set up the hardware. Connect a keyboard and a monitor to the device and make sure that the device is ready to be powered on. Also, prepare a USB drive in case the BIOS version of the device needs to be updated.

BIOS update

To avoid possible issues and complications, update the BIOS on the KBox A-250 to the latest version. Refer to the user manual of the manufacturer for information on how to update the BIOS version.

Required BIOS settings for Nerve Blue

Certain BIOS settings need to be changed to ensure the desired performance of the Nerve Blue system.

1. Power on the device.
2. Press Del while the device is booting to enter the BIOS menu.

3. Change the following settings:

   Path	Setting
   Advanced > ACPI Settings > Enable ACPI Auto Configuration	Disabled
   Advanced > ACPI Settings > Enable Hibernation	Disabled
   Advanced > ACPI Settings > ACPI Sleep State	Suspend Disabled
   Advanced > CPU Configuration > Turbo Mode	Disabled
   Advanced > CPU Configuration > Intel Virtualization Technology	Enabled
   Advanced > CPU Configuration > VT-d	Enabled
   Advanced > Network Stack Configuration > Network Stack	Enabled
   Advanced > CSM Configuration > CSM Support	Disabled
   Advanced > System Component > DDR SSC	Disable
   Advanced > System Component > HighSpeed SerialIO SSC	Disable
   Chipset > South Bridge > OS Selection	Intel Linux
   Chipset > South Bridge > Real Time Option	RT Enabled, Agent Disabled
   Security > Secure Boot > Attempt Secure Boot	Disabled

4. Save the changes and exit BIOS.

Installing Nerve Blue

Requirements for installing Nerve Blue on the device:

In addition, a workstation is required to prepare the bootable USB drive. Connect the monitor and the keyboard to the KBox A-250.

Before beginning with the installation, make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive. Press Del when the device is booting to enter BIOS and change the boot device settings.

On Windows

1. Download the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img.tar.gz from the Nerve Software Center to a workstation.
2. Extract the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img.tar.gz file to retrieve the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img file. Depending on the program used, the file might need to be extracted more than once.
3. Transfer the extracted Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img file to the USB drive using Rufus.
4. Plug the USB drive into a USB port of the Nerve Device.
5. Make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive and power on the device.

The setup will start automatically and take a few minutes to complete. Select OK when the installation is complete and remove the USB drive. The device will reboot and reach a log in screen, asking for host access log in credentials. Make sure that the device will boot from the hard disk before rebooting the device.

On Linux

1. Download the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img.tar.gz file from the Nerve Software Center.

2. Enter the following commands to extract the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img.tar.gz file and transfer the extracted file to the USB drive:

   tar xf Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img.tar.gz
   sudo dd if=Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.2.1_for_kontron-kbox-a-250.img bs=4M of=/dev/sd<drivename> status=progress
   sync
   

   Note

   Make sure to replace <drivename> with the system name of the USB drive.

3. Plug the USB drive into a USB port of the Nerve Device.

4. Make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive and power on the device.

The setup will start automatically and take a few minutes to complete. Select OK when the installation is complete and remove the USB drive. The device will reboot and reach a log in screen, asking for host access log in credentials. Make sure that the device will boot from the hard disk before rebooting the device.

Finding out the IP address of the device

Due to the limited availability of ethernet ports, Nerve Blue does not offer a designated port and interface for host access and management purposes on the Kontron KBox A-250. The IP address of the wan interface that is mapped to physical port ETH 2 is required to start using Nerve Blue. Depending on the network access the node has, this needs to be done differently.

The node has network access

If the node has network access, an IP address will be assigned to the wan interface by a DHCP server. Follow the instructions below to find out the IP address of the wan interface.

1. Connect a keyboard and a monitor to the device.
2. Power up the device once Nerve Blue is installed.
3. Enter the login credentials for host access once the system asks for host login. The login credentials can be found in the customer profile.

4. Enter the following command to display the IP address of the wan interface:

   ip a s wan
   

The IP address is displayed next to inet in the output the system gives. This IP address is required to access the license activation UI and the Local UI in the instructions below.

The node does not have network access

In case of the node not having network access, the IP address of the wan interface has to be set manually. For simplicity, the IP address of the wan interface will be set to 172.20.2.1 — the IP address of the host.

1. Connect a keyboard and a monitor to the device.
2. Power up the device once Nerve Blue is installed.
3. Enter the login credentials for host access once the system asks for host login. The login credentials can be found in the customer profile.

4. Enter the following commands to open the wan interface configuration:

   cd /etc/network/interfaces.d
   sudo nano wan
   

5. Enter the host access password if prompted.

6. Edit the configuration the following way:

   auto wan
   iface wan inet static
     bridge_ports eth0
     address 172.20.2.1
     netmask 255.255.255.0
   

7. Enter Ctrl+S to save the configuration.

8. Enter Ctrl+X to exit the Nano editor.

9. Enter the following command to apply the changes to the wan interface by restarting the networking services:

   /etc/init.d/networking restart
   

10. Enter the host access password if prompted.

With the wan interface IP address set to 172.20.2.1 the license activation UI can be reached at http://172.20.2.1:3333/.

Activating the Nerve Blue license

After the installation, the product license needs to be activated so that Nerve Blue can be used on the device. Connect a workstation to port ETH 2 and configure the network adapter of the workstation. The IP address has to be in the same range as the IP address of the wan interface with a 255.255.255.0 subnet mask. Refer to the chapter above on how to find out this IP address.

Access the license activation UI at <wanip>:3333 in a web browser and refer to License activation in the user guide for more information.

Accessing the Local UI and registering the device

With the license activated, the node needs to be registered for use in the Management System through the Local UI. To access the Local UI, first connect a workstation to port ETH 2 and configure the network adapter of the workstation. The IP address has to be in the same range as the IP address of the wan interface with a 255.255.255.0 subnet mask. Refer to the chapter above on how to find out this IP address. The credentials for the Local UI found in the customer profile are also required.

1. Access the Local UI at <wanip>:3333 in a web browser.

2. Log in with the credentials from the customer profile.

   

Continue with Node configuration for information on how to start registering the device in the Management System.

Physical ports and network interfaces

Below is a depiction of the node internal networking adapted to the KBox A-250 hardware. Refer to Node internal networking for more information. The table offers a quick overview of the network interfaces that can be reached through the physical ports of the KBox A-250.