MFN 100

The MFN 100 is a qualified Nerve Device that is optimized and tested for use with Nerve software. The device is designed for use in harsh industrial environments (-40°C to +70°C). It is based on an Intel Atom x5-E3940/50 CPU and offers 4 GB/8 GB RAM and up to 512 GB SSD storage. The MFN 100 offers one I/O port for Ethernet-based fieldbus connectivity, four GbE switch ports and one SFP port. Additional interfaces include two USB 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort.

Hardware information

Find information about the hardware like technical data and physical ports below.

Technical data

Identifying the MFN 100

The label of the MFN 100 can be found on the back of the device, close to the DIN rail clip. Exact identification is possible through the combination of product number (P/N), serial number (S/N) and version number (V/N) that are printed on the label. The model number of the MFN 100 details the variant of the MFN 100:

Front panel controls and indicators

Below is an overview of the front panel of the MFN 100, describing physical interfaces, indicators and their labels.

Power connectors overview

The power connectors are located at the bottom of the MFN 100 next to the label. There are two separate 24 V inputs, two GND inputs and one Functional Earth (FE) input. The inputs are fused internally. The fuse cannot be replaced by the user. The power supply inputs are protected against reverse polarity.

Power supply details

Setting up the MFN 100 for Nerve usage

When delivered, Nerve is already installed on the MFN 100. Two network cables and a +24 V DC power supply are required to finish the setup and use Nerve on the MFN 100. This includes connecting the power supply to the mating connector which is delivered with the MFN 100.

1. Connect pin 1 of the mating connector to +24 V DC.
2. Connect pin 2 of the mating connector to GND.
3. Plug the mating connector into the bottom side of the MFN 100.

4. Connect port 2 of the MFN 100 to the internet.

   Note

   Note that connecting the device to the internet is the best use case, as it enables the easiest way to activate the Nerve license and easy communication with a Management System hosted in the cloud. In general, physical port 2 is used for communication with the Management System over port 443 (HTTPS).
   If the MFN 100 does not have internet access and the Management System is hosted on premise, make sure to connect the device to the same network as the Management System.
   If neither can be guaranteed, ignore this step until after the node is configured for Management System connection in the Local UI. Also, contact the IT administrator for help on how to allow external devices to connect to the internet or internal network.

5. Plug in the power supply.

The MFN 100 will start after a few minutes and light up blue when all necessary services are initiated.

Installation and removal on a DIN rail

The MFN 100 is intended for mounting on a DIN rail inside a closed cabinet. Due to its weight it should be installed on a strong DIN rail. No tool is required to install or remove the MFN 100.

Follow these steps to install the MFN 100 on a DIN rail:

1. Engage the DIN rail mounting clip of the MFN 100 with the upper edge of the DIN rail.
2. Push the MFN 100 down into the DIN rail.
3. Place the MFN 100 in a vertical position so that the mounting clip engages the lower edge of the DIN rail.

Follow these steps to remove the MFN 100 from a DIN rail:

1. Push the MFN 100 down.
2. Rotate the MFN 100 upwards so that the lower edge of the DIN rail disengages.
3. Lift the MFN 100 slightly to remove it.

Accessing the Local UI

As Nerve comes pre-installed on the MFN 100, the device can be powered on after setup for product license activation. For that, a connection to the Local UI needs to be established.

1. Connect a workstation to port P1.

2. Configure the network adapter of the workstation. The IP address has to be in the range from 172.20.2.5 to 172.20.2.254 with a 255.255.255.0 subnet mask.

   Note

   Do not use 172.20.2.27 for the network adapter IP address. This IP address is used internally by the Nerve system.

3. Open a browser window or tab.

4. Enter http://172.20.2.1:3333/ to access the Local UI.

At first, only the required elements to activate the Nerve product license are shown in the Local UI. The full extent of the Local UI is unlocked after product license activation and requires a login. For first time log in use the credentials from the customer profile.

Activating the Nerve license

After logging in to the Local UI, the product license can be activated so that Nerve can be used on the device. Make sure that the Local UI can be accessed as described above. License activation can be done either online or offline.

• Online activation
  When the node has internet access, the node will automatically connect to the licensing server. This is the most straightforward way of activating licenses.

• Offline activation
  In case of the node not having internet access, the license can be activated with a file-based method. However, note that a workstation with an internet connection is required for connecting to the licensing server in order to upload and download files. This might be the way to activate the license if the Management System is hosted on premise.

Refer to License activation in the user guide for more information and step by step instructions.

Registering the device in the Management System

With the license activated, the node needs to be configured for use in the Management System through the Local UI. Afterwards the node needs to be registered in the Management System.

1. Make sure that the Local UI can be accessed as described above.
2. Follow this link to connect to the Local UI: http://172.20.2.1:3333/

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

   

4. Refer to Node configuration for information on how to configure the device for use in the Management System.

5. Refer to Adding a node for information on how to register the node in the Management System.

Additional device specific information

The following information below is device specific information for use with Nerve.

CODESYS related information

For working with the CODESYS Development System, a device description for Nerve Devices is required. The device description can be downloaded from the Nerve Software Center.

The MFN 100 has an Ethernet port that is reserved for machine data acquisition. Connect a network cable to the I/O port of the MFN 100 and to a fieldbus interface to acquire machine data. The CODESYS runtime can be reached at 172.20.2.2.

Physical ports and network interfaces

Below is a depiction of the node internal networking for the MFN 100. 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 MFN 100.

Below is a graphic that details the available interfaces of the MFN 100 for use with Nerve. Pictured is how the physical interfaces translate to the Host and the CODESYS runtime.

The image shows an example node and how the physical interfaces translate to the Host and the CODESYS runtime. The node consists of the host/domain-0 and the real-time VM running the CODESYS runtime (labeled rtvm). It also has one Virtual Machine workload and two Docker workloads deployed. The virtual machine is located outside of the host and the Docker containers are located in the Docker network inside of the host. However, the workloads are not yet connected.

Refer to Node internal networking for more information on networking in the Nerve system.

Network configuration

The Ethernet ports of the Nerve Devices can be configured from the Local UI. For the MFN 100, the interfaces in the Local UI represent the physical ports 2, 3, 4 and 5. The console port P1 and the I/O port of the MFN 100 are reserved and cannot be modified. The console port is used solely for configuration purposes. The I/O port is connected to the CODESYS runtime and used for fieldbus communication. Select Network configuration in the navigation on the left to reach this menu.

Manual image installation

In some cases Nerve images need to be installed or updated from a USB drive directly at the Nerve Device. Refer to the instructions below. First, here are the requirements for manually installing the Nerve image on the MFN 100:

In addition, a workstation is required to prepare the bootable USB drive. Connect the monitor and the keyboard to the MFN 100.

Before beginning with the installation, make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive. Press F7 when the device is booting to enter the boot menu.

On Windows

1. Download the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.img.tar.gz from the Nerve Software Center to a workstation.
2. Extract the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.img.tar.gz file to retrieve the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.img. Depending on the program used, the file might need to be extracted more than once.
3. Transfer the extracted Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.img file to the USB drive using Rufus.
4. Plug the USB drive into a USB port of the Nerve Device.
5. Power on the device.
6. Press F7 to enter the boot menu. Make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive.

The setup will start automatically and take a few minutes to complete part 1 of the installation. After a reboot, part 2 of the installation will continue. Once the installation is finished, follow the on screen instructions to either close the installation window or reboot the device. The device will then reach a log in screen, asking for host access log in credentials. Make sure that the device will boot from the hard disk if rebooting the device again.

On Linux

1. Download the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.img.tar.gz file from the Nerve Software Center.

2. Enter the following commands to extract the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.img.tar.gz file and transfer the extracted file to the USB drive:

   tar xf Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.img.tar.gz
   sudo dd if=Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.8.0_for_generic.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 part 1 of the installation. After a reboot, part 2 of the installation will continue. Once the installation is finished, follow the on screen instructions to either close the installation window or reboot the device. The device will then reach a log in screen, asking for host access log in credentials. Make sure that the device will boot from the hard disk if rebooting the device again.