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Kona Gateways General FAQ

This article applies to ALL Kona Gateways except Kona Micro-Lite/Pico.

Gateway Identification

When contacting TEKTELIC support, you may be asked to provide the T-code and Serial number of the gateway.

#1 What is the password of my gateway?

Due to security hardening on newly manufactured gateways, root access is locked and the passwords used to access the gateways have been randomized. To determine your login credentials, please see the following table:
Test reports will come with the gateway packaging. If it is not included ,  please raise a ticket on the support portal and provide the T-code and Serial number of the gateway.
Below you can find a sample test report with a clear indication of where the password is:

NOTE: Test reports uses Consolas as the font. While each character is easily distinguishable, it can be easy to mistake characters in the password. For instance, confusing the number 1 with a lowercase L. If you are still confused with your password,  please raise a ticket on the support portal and provide the T-code, Serial Number, and credentials used to login.

To remove this restriction, log into the gateway as admin and run the following command: sudo opkg remove disable-root-login
Then log out. You may then log back in as root with the serial number as the password or the one found on the test report for admin.

#2 How can I connect to my Kona Gateway via USB?

  1. You may connect to the serial port of the Kona Micro/PoE, Kona Enterprise, and Kona Macro.

  2. It is NOT possible to connect to the USB port of the Kona Mega as the Mega does not feature an accessible USB port.

Accessing Kona Gateway via Serial USB
NOTE: These instructions are for WINDOWS only. Unfortunately, TEKTELIC support will not be able to provide instructions for Mac/Linux users.
A Kona gateway's USB port acts as a serial COM port. You may access it through any program that connects through serial, like PuTTY or TeraTerm. For ease of use, TeraTerm will be the program of choice.

Required software:

  1. TeraTerm
  2. Virtual COM port drivers (You may already have these installed)

Connecting to the gateway

To connect to the USB port on the gateway, please follow the steps below:
1. Power the gateway and connect it to your computer using USB (methods can be found below).
2. Install TeraTerm and open it after installation.
3. In the top left, select File -> New Connection.
4. If the Serial section is greyed out, please download the Virtual COM port drivers seen above and install the drivers. Then close and reopen the New connection window in step 3.
 
5. Select Serial, with the port being "USB Serial Port" as depicted below. Then select OK to connect.
 
6. In the top row of tabs, select Setup -> Serial Port...
 
7. For the Speed Setting, select 115200 and finalize by clicking New setting
To set this speed as the default setting, please edit the "Baud Rate" line to 115200 in the file C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraTerm\Teraterm.ini
 
8. Press enter a few times and you will be connected to the gateway's USB port!
 
Methods for finding and connecting to the USB port can be found below:

Kona Micro Gen1

The Kona Micro Gen1 uses a MINI-USB serial port. It can be found by taking out the cover and battery on the back of the gateway.

Kona Micro Gen2

The Kona Micro Gen2 uses a MICRO-USB serial port.  It can be found by taking out the cover and battery on the back of the gateway.

Kona Macro Gen1

The Kona Macro Gen1 uses a MINI-USB serial port that can be found below the SIM holder. However, you are required to remove the cover before accessing the port.
Opening the gateway in ANY CASE will void any existing warranty for the device.

Kona Macro Gen1.5

The Kona Macro Gen1.5 uses a MICRO-USB serial port that can be found above the SIM holder.

Kona Enterprise

The Kona Enterprise uses a  MICRO-USB serial port that can be found below the dual SIM holder.

#3 Is it possible to downgrade the Kona Gateway to a previous BSP version?

It is not possible to directly downgrade to a previous BSP nor is it possible to transfer restore points between gateways.
You can only downgrade to a previous version through two methods: 
  1. Restoring to a previous backup.
  2. Factory resetting the gateway.
When you factory reset the gateway, you downgrade to the BSP version the gateway had when it left the factory. It is not possible to downgrade it any further.
For example, if your Kona Micro gateway came with BSP v3.0.4 out of the factory, you may only revert back to BSP v3.0.4.
If you wish to factory reset your Kona Gateways, please raise a ticket on the support portal.

#4 On TEKTELIC CORE/OA&M, my gateway still shows offline despite being commissioned with the correct information! How can I troubleshoot this issue?

There are two common cases for why your gateway is not connecting to TEKTELIC CORE/OA&M.
  1. Your gateway was commissioned incorrectly.
  2. Your gateway is configured incorrectly.
Gateway commissioned incorrectly:
Please ensure that the GWID is entered correctly and the following checkboxes are ticked appropriately:
  1. Allow UDP connection - For gateways that DO NOT use TEKTELIC MQTT Bridge to connect to TEKTELIC CORE/OA&M. This option is typically for 3rd party gateways and Kona Micro-Lite/Pico.
  2. Allow not TLS MQTT connection - For older Kona gateways that do not connect via MQTTS by default.
  3. "Old gateways" in this context refers to when the gateway was manufactured. You can determine its age through the serial number below the T-code.
Gateway credentials may have also been inputted incorrectly.
 
By default, the credentials are:
  1. Username: TEK0XXYYZ - XXYYZ is the last 5 digits of the gateway ID
  2. Password: Serial Number found on the label of the gateway.
Gateways made in April 2023 (SNs starting with 2314) and onwards will have randomized strings of characters for both username and password. You may find these credentials on the test report included with each gateway. If they are not there, please contact TEKTELIC support.
If your gateway has randomized credentials, they will be found on the test report. Please see below for an example of a test report with the NS credentials clearly highlighted:
Gateway configured incorrectly:
By default, all gateways shipped will connect to TEKTELIC CORE NS. Gateways with custom customer configurations prior to shipment do not.
Requirements:
  1. SSH access to the gateway
  2. Text editor of your choice
The simplest way to configure the gateway is to download files and edit it with a notepad editor of your choice.
Advanced users may directly edit the files on the gateway through vi
To download the files, use FileZilla to access the gateway with the following credentials:
  1. Host: Gateway IP
  2. Username: root OR admin
  3. Password: 9-digit SN (i.e. 1212A3434) OR randomized password found on the test report.
  4. Port: 22
Once you are logged in, navigate to the following remote site: /etc/default
Download the following files:
  1. config.json
  2. mqtt-bridge.conf
  3. tektelic-bridge.ns.toml
  4. tektelic-bridge.oam.toml
  5. On older versions of Kona gateways, the MQTT-bridge uses mqtt-bridge.conf for configuration. On newer versions, this is split into tektelic-bridge.ns.toml and tektelic-bridge.oam.toml
  1. If you only have mqtt-bridge.conf, follow the guidelines for that file alone.
  2. If you have both tektelic-bridge.ns.toml and tektelic-bridge.oam.toml, follow the guidelines for BOTH files.
Once the files have been downloaded, edit the files appropriately as seen below:
Connect to TEKTELIC CORE NS

config.json

Ensure that the following setting reflects the line seen below:
"server_address": "127.0.0.1",

mqtt-bridge.conf

  1. To comment out a line, insert a "#" without quotes in front of the line.
  2. To remove the comment, simply delete the "#" without quotes in front of the line.
Ensure that the following lines DO NOT have "#" in front of the line and are configured as follows:
  1. ns_host         lorawan-ns-na.tektelic.com
  2. ns_type         tektelic
  3. gw_user       TEK0XXYYZ (where XXYYZ is the last 5 digits of the GWID) 
  4. gw_password        1212A3434 (This is an example SN. The SN can be found on the back of your gateway)
  5.  For EU customers, the url would be "lorawan-ns- eu.tektelic.com"
Ensure that the following lines HAVE A   "#" in front of the line and appears as follows:
  1. #oam_host
  2. #gw_oam_user
  3. #gw_oam_password

tektelic-bridge.ns.toml

Ensure that the following lines  DO NOT  have  "#" in front of the line and are configured as follows:
  1. url = "lorawan-ns-na.tektelic.com"
  2. type = "tektelic"
  3. gw_user = "<TEK0XXYYZ or Random string of characters found on the test report under Network Server User>" (where XXYYZ is the last 5 digits of the GWID) 
  4. gw_password = "<1212A3434 or Random string of characters found on the test report under Network Server Pass>" (This is an example serial number. The serial number can be found on the back of your gateway)
  5. For EU customers, the url would be  "lorawan-ns-eu.tektelic.com"

tektelic-bridge.oam.toml

Ensure that the following lines  HAVE A   "#" in front of the line and appears as follows:
  1. #oam_host
  2. #gw_oam_user
  3. #gw_oam_password
Once all files have been reconfigured, reinsert the files through FileZilla and overwrite the existing ones. Then finalize by power-cycling the gateway.
If you are still experiencing issues, please raise a ticket on the support portal for further support.
Connect to TEKTELIC OA&M

mqtt-bridge.conf

  1. To comment out a line, insert a "#" without quotes in front of the line.
  2. To remove the comment, simply delete the "#" without quotes in front of the line.
Ensure that the following lines  HAVE A  "#" in front of the line and are configured as follows:
  1. #ns_host
  2. #ns_type
  3. #gw_user
  4. #gw_password
Ensure that the following lines  DO NOT  have  "#" in front of the line and appears as follows:
  1. oam_host
  2. gw_oam_user
  3. gw_oam_password

tektelic-bridge.ns.toml

Ensure that the following lines  HAVE A   "#" in front of the line and are configured as follows:
  1. #url = "lorawan-ns-na.tektelic.com"
  2. #type = "tektelic"
  3. #gw_user = "<TEK0XXYYZ or Random string of characters found on the test report under Network Server User>" (where XXYYZ is the last 5 digits of the GWID) 
  4. #gw_password = "<1212A3434 or Random string of characters found on the test report under Network Server Pass>" (This is an example serial number. The serial number can be found on the back of your gateway)

tektelic-bridge.oam.toml

Ensure that the following lines  DO NOT  have  "#" in front of the line and appears as follows:
  1. oam_host
  2. gw_oam_user
  3. gw_oam_password
Once all files have been reconfigured, reinsert the files through FileZilla and overwrite the existing ones. Then finalize by power-cycling the gateway.
If you are still experiencing issues,  please raise a ticket on the support portal for further support.

#5 Which ports/addresses are required to be opened for Kona Gateways on any network protected by firewalls?

Ports:

 

Port#

Purpose

161

SNMP

22

SSH

1700

 UDP

1883

MQTT
8883
MQTTS
NOTE: These ports are for a Kona Gateway connecting to TEKTELIC CORE Network Server. Other network servers and protocols may require different ports opened.
Addresses:

Address:

Purpose

8.8.8.8

Default Ping address for internet connectivity check

lorawan-ns-na.tektelic.com

Connection to the North American TEKTELIC CORE NS

lorawan-ns-eu.tektelic.com

Connection to the European TEKTELIC CORE NS

gateway-oam.tektelic.com

Connection to the TEKTELIC Gateway Operations Administration & Maintenance Server

NOTE: These addresses are for a Kona Gateway connecting to TEKTELIC CORE/OA&M. When connecting to a third-party Network Server, only 8.8.8.8 is required. If you wish to change the default ping address, please see the following article.

#6 Do the Kona Gateways support encryption?

Gateways that were made in  January 2023 (SN beginning with 2301) and onwards will connect through TLS MQTT by default.  Encryption support for other network servers vary based on the protocols used to connect to it.

#7 Does the Kona Gateway support the transmission of static information about LoRaWAN channel data?

The Kona gateways supports RSSI, SNR, and quantity of transmitted and received packets.

#8 Does the Kona Gateway support the transmission of alarms?

Alarm information is retrieved by the SNMP agent. The alarm information is accessible on the TEKTELIC CORE Network server under the gateway details of your selected gateway.

#9 How can I install OpenVPN on my Kona Gateway?

On Gen2 and newer, Kona Gateways have OpenVPN installed by default. You can check if it is installed with the following command:
  1. opkg status openvpn
If OpenVPN is is not installed, you can find the OpenVPN package from our BSP upgrade packages.
  1. Instructions for accessing and downloading BSP packages can be found here: KonaFT Application
  2. The OpenVPN package is in the bsp folder.

#10 Is there an EU declaration of conformity document for the Kona Gateways?

Please see  https://www.tektelic.com/declaration-of-conformity-batteries-test-summaries/ for the declaration of conformity documents on applicable TEKTELIC products.