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Tektelic base stations

The Tektelic base station models supported are:

  • Kona Macro16

  • Kona Mega64

  • Kona Micro8 (Gen1 and Gen2)

  • Kona Enterprise (Gen1 and Gen2)

  • Kona Photon

Each Tektelic base station model has its own firmware version. Nevertheless, the LRR installation procedure is generic for all the Tektelic models.

Software pre-requisites and compatibility matrix​

Base Station ModelLRR VersionFirmware VersionFPGA Version
Tektelic Micro82.8.67_77.1.2, 7.1.9, 7.1.12.1Part of firmware
Tektelic Macro162.8.67_77.1.12.1Part of firmware
Tektelic Mega642.8.67_77.1.2, 7.1.9, 7.1.12.1Part of firmware
Tektelic Enterprise2.8.67_77.1.9, 7.1.12.1Part of firmware
Tektelic Photon2.8.67_47.1.9, 7.1.12.1Part of firmware

If your base station's firmware (BSP) version is not as stated above, refer to Tektelic support portal to download the firmware and for details on how to flash the Tektelic firmware.

Checking the firmware version​

To check the current Tektelic firmware version of your base station, execute the following command:

system_version | grep Release

LRR installation​

After downloading the base station image as described in Retrieving the base station image, follow the steps provided below to flash your base station with the new image.

  1. Connect to the base station via SSH. See Connecting to the base station via SSH for more details.

  2. Transfer to the base station the ThingPark image file you downloaded previously using a wget command, or with a tool like WinSCP. Destination directory should be /tmp.

  3. Move to this directory under your SSH connection:

    cd /tmp

  4. Extract all documents in the package:

    tar -xf [TEKTELIC image file name]

    where [TEKTELIC image file name]is the file name of the image (.tar.gz file) you previously downloaded and transferred in /tmp.

  5. Install LRR package using the following command:

    ./postinstall.sh

    After running the command, the base station will be flashed with the ThingPark image. This process will take a couple of minutes.

  6. Reboot the base station.

    safe_reset
    Important note

    Avoid rebooting the base station with "reboot" command as you might not be able to connect back to the base station for the next hour due to a known issue at firmware level.

  7. Once the base station has rebooted, and is up and running, verify that the LRR version installed on the base station is the expected one (refer to the compatibility matrix above). The LRR version can be verified via the SUPLOG menu (see Connecting to SUPLOG). You may also verify on the base station with the following command:

    cat $ROOTACT/usr/etc/lrr/versions.ini

BSP and LRR upgrade​

The BSP and LRR upgrade is only applicable to the following upgrade paths:

Supported upgrade paths​

The following table summarizes the supported upgrade paths for Tektelic base stations, and the associated BSP and LRR versions.

Base Station ModelExisting Firmware / LRR VersionTarget Firmware / LRR Version
Tektelic Micro8BSP 4.0.2 / LRR 2.6.81BSP 7.1.12.1 / LRR 2.8.67_7
Tektelic Macro16BSP 5.1.x / LRR 2.6.xBSP 7.1.12.1 / LRR 2.8.67_7
Tektelic Mega64BSP 5.0.2 to 5.0.6 / LRR 2.6.79BSP 7.1.12.1 / LRR 2.8.67_7
Tektelic EnterpriseBSP 2.1.4 / LRR 2.6.79BSP 7.1.12.1 / LRR 2.8.67_7

Required software packages​

The following software packages and scripts are required to perform the BSP and LRR upgrade:

  • Tektelic BSP and LRR Upgrade Script: tektelic-bsp-upgrade-lrr-2.8.67_7-1.7.tar.gz

    • This package contains the upgrade script and LRR software package required for BSP and LRR upgrade on the base station. Click here to download the script.

  • BSP Firmware Package : BSP_7.1.12.1.zip

    • This archive contains the BSP firmware required for the base station upgrade. Refer to Tektelic support portal to download the Tektelic firmware.

Upgrade procedures​

This BSP and LRR upgrade procedure requires direct SSH or reverse SSH to the base station. Access to the base station as required. Then, follow the steps provided below to perform the upgrade.

  1. Pre-upgrade checks:
    Before initiating the upgrade, perform the following checks to ensure the base station is ready for the upgrade process.

    • Verify base station backhaul connectivity: Ensure the base station has a stable backhaul connection to the network server to avoid interruptions during upgrade.
    • Perform base station backup: For all Tektelic base station models except Tektelic Micro8, you may want to create a backup for the base station via the “BACKUP” option on the GUI.
    • Verify disk space requirements: To ensure smooth BSP & LRR upgrade, you need to make sure there is sufficient free space on the base station. Here are the checks to perform:

      • Ensure the root filesystem (rootfs) has at least 30% free space (approximately 75 MB).
        If the free disk space is below the requirement , you may remove leftover files from previous BSP installations from the /lib/firmware directory using the following command:

        rm -rf /lib/firmware/[b-z]*

      • Ensure /var/volatile has at least 40 MB of free space. If the free disk space is below the requirement, perform a reboot to clean-up the temporary files.

  2. Upload and extract upgrade script:
    Upload the BSP_LRR_Upgrade_script (.tar.gz file) to the base station and place it under the /tmp/ directory. Then extract the archive using the following commands:

    cd /tmp
    tar -zxvf <BSP_LRR_Upgrade_script>

  3. Upload BSP image:
    Upload the Target_BSP_Firmware file to the base station. Place it under the /lib/firmware/ directory if sufficient disk space is available. Otherwise, you may upload the file to the /backup directory.

  4. Execute BSP + LRR upgrade:
    The BSP and LRR upgrade is initiated using the provided upgrade script. The script supports two execution options: performing the upgrade with a system backup or without a system backup.

    With system backup option, the script creates a backup of the current system before proceeding with the upgrade. This requires additional disk space on the base station.

    For gateways with limited storage capacity, particularly the Tektelic Micro8, it is recommended to execute the upgrade without the system backup to avoid potential disk space issue during the upgrade process. To start the BSP and LRR upgrade, follow the commands provided below to navigate to the upgrade script directory and to execute the install command:

    cd /tmp/upgrade
    ./install.sh <backup_option> <full path to  Target_BSP_Firmware>
    note

    <backup_option> is optional. By default (without specifying the backup option), a system backup is always performed before upgrade is started.

    To force upgrade without a system backup, specify -f as the backup option.

    The BSP and LRR upgrade will take about 70 to 90 mins. You will be disconnected from the base station during the upgrade process, but the base station shall reconnect to network server using existing IPSEC certificate when the upgrade is successfully completed. You could confirm upgrade is completed by verifying the base station versions in GUI are at the desired BSP and LRR versions.

  5. Regenerate new security certificate:
    It is recommended to generate new security certificate from the GUI (this automatically revokes existing certificate). This is to ensure the new certificate installed on the base station is compatible between IPSEC and TLS. Thus, allow switching the security method used by the base station from IPSEC to TLS and vice versa.

    Important note

    Before generating a new security certificate, verify that the Public Key configured in the GUI matches the current public key on the base station. This is to ensure the new certificate generated could be smoothly downloaded by the base station.
    After the new certificate generated via GUI, the base station will automatically download new certificate when it detects that the current certificate has been revoked.

  6. Perform post-upgrade LRR backup:
    Once base station has been verified in working order, perform LRR backup again via the “BACKUP” option on the GUI to backup the base station with the latest LRR software version. This is to ensure the backup performed in step 1 will be replaced with the new backup which is compatible with the new BSP version installed on the base station.

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