Install and run IoT View on a target station

Install and run the IoT View software on a target station, and then use the Remote Management tool to connect to it.

If the IoT View software is pre-installed on the target station, you may skip this entire procedure. Many device manufacturers pre-install the software on their devices, as part of a larger AVEVA Edge package.

Before you begin this procedure, you need to have already installed the full software on your computer, either from the installation drive or from the downloadable installer, because the redistributable IoT View software is included in the program folder. For more information, see Install the full software.

Requirements to install and run IoT View:

• A computer or device (referred to as target station) running Linux. (kernel 4.4 or higher) IoT View has been compiled for and validated on the following architectures:

  Processor(s)	Minimum Versions of Required Libraries	Location of Redistributable Software
  aarch64 arm64	libc: 2.23 libstdc++: 6.0.21	<program folder>\Redist\IoTView\Linux\aarch64-2.23-6.0.21\
  armv7l armhf	libc: 2.23 libstdc++: 6.0.21	<program folder>\Redist\IoTView\Linux\armv7l-2.23-6.0.21\
  x86_64 amd64	libc: 2.23 libstdc++: 6.0.21	<program folder>\Redist\IoTView\Linux\x86_64-2.23-6.0.21\

  Note: In Linux, you can type the command $ arch to return the architecture of your device. The arch command will return aarch64 on an ARM64 device, armv7l on an ARM32 device, or x86_64 on an AMD64 device.

If your architecture is not covered by the table above, contact your software distributor. IoT View can be compiled for most modern operating systems.

• To use Mobile Access to visualize runtime data and open project screens, the target station requires a properly configured web server that supports CGI. Apache is the preferred web server in most cases, and it is required if you plan to use Custom Widgets in your project screens. Otherwise, NGINX and Lighttpd are good alternatives to Apache. (The web server is pre-installed in some operating systems. In others, you will need to install and configure it yourself. The exact procedure for doing so varies by web server and operating system, and it is beyond the scope of this documentation. Please consult the documentation for the target station.) If the web server on your target station does not support CGI, or if you want a solution that is more integrated with the web server, contact your software distributor.

• 140 MB of free storage (hard drive or non-volatile) for the runtime software. More storage might be required, depending on your project size.

• 10 MB of free memory (RAM) minimum, but 32 MB recommended (or more). More memory might be required, depending on your project size.

• An Ethernet or Wi-Fi network adapter, for TCP/IP networking.

• A USB flash drive or a network connection, to facilitate copying files to the target station from the computer with the full installation of AVEVA Edge.

• Familiarity with basic shell or console commands for the operating system that you are using. For example, how to navigate directories, copy files from one directory to another, change permissions on a file, and run binaries or executables.

• The necessary user privileges to run the commands on the target station. Typically, you need to be either an administrator or a so-called superuser.

Default Authentication

When you run the Remote Agent the first time on the Linux target station, it will create a self-signed certificate pair placed in the ~/.iotview/private_key directory for the user running Remote Agent. There may be a delay of seconds or minutes for the key to be generated. If you want to create your own certificates, please contact your software provider.

Default User Account

When Remote Agent starts, a default user is created with all Authorizations. The default Log On To Target dialog User Name and Password are both admin. We recommend changing the password to a more secure password. After adding other users, you can change logged in users by disconnecting, and then reconnecting with the new user credentials.

Please note that regardless of the device, operating system, or web server that you are using, the basic procedure to install and run the IoT View software is always the same. The specific commands and options can vary somewhat, however. Supplemental examples are provided for some devices, but in most cases, you should be familiar enough with your target station that you can perform these steps without additional guidance. If you are not, contact your software distributor.

To install and run IoT View on a target station:

1. Copy the IoT View Remote Agent program file from your computer to the target station:

   1. Locate the redistributable software in your program folder, and then select the correct version for your target station's operating system and processor.

      The default location on your computer is: C:\Program Files (x86)\AVEVA\AVEVA Edge 2026\ Redist\IoTView\<operating system>\<processor>\

      Note:

      For Linux distributions, the processor name is followed by the the versions of GNU C Library (glibc) and GNU Standard C++ Library (libstdc++) that are required to run the IoT View software. For example, if <processor> is x86-2.12.2-6.0.14, the software has been compiled for Linux running on x86 processors with glibc-2.12.2 and libstdc++.so.6.0.14 installed.

      If the versions installed in your distribution are newer than the versions shown in the name, IoT View should run without issues. If the versions installed are older than the versions shown, try to update the libraries. If your distribution does not have the libraries installed at all, or if it is not compatible with the libraries, contact your software distributor.

   2. Copy the Remote Agent program file (<processor>\RemoteAgent) to your USB flash drive.

   3. Move the USB flash drive to the target station, and then copy the Remote Agent program file to that device.

      You can copy the file to any location on the target station, but we recommend that you create a new folder or directory for it in your own user directory. Hereafter, that directory will be referred to as <runtime directory>.

      Note: For Linux distributions, you should create the new directory at: /home/<user name>/iotview. After you do this, you will be able to find the Remote Agent program file at: ~/iotview/RemoteAgent

   You only need to copy the Remote Agent program to the target station because in the following steps, you will use it and the Remote Management tool (in the project development environment) to install and configure the rest of the IoT View software.

2. Change the permissions on the Remote Agent program file to make it executable.

   This step applies only to operating systems like Linux that have such permissions on files. In Windows, the file extension determines whether the file is an executable program.

3. Run the Remote Agent program.

   This program enables communication between the Remote Management tool and the actual IoT View software on the target station.

4. Use the Remote Management tool to connect to the Remote Agent program on the target station and then install the rest of the IoT View software:

   1. On your computer, run AVEVA Edge.

      The project development environment is displayed.

   2. On the Home tab of the ribbon, in the Remote Management group, click Connect.

      The Remote Management dialog box is displayed.

      

      

   3. Select Host, and then in the box, type the host name or IP address of the target station.

   4. If connecting to a target station with a Remote Agent from a version of AVEVA Edge before v23.0, disable Use TLS. After upgrading the Remote Agent, enable Use TLS for future operations.

   5. Click Connect.

      If you are successfully connected to the target station, the connection status is shown in the Status box and the device's specifications are shown in the Platform box.

      If you are not connected, check both the connection settings and the physical connections. In particular, make sure that port 4322 is open on any firewalls between your computer and the target station, including on the target station itself.

      Note: The default Log On To Target dialog User Name and Password are both admin.

   6. Click Install runtime files.

      The necessary files are copied to the target station.

   You should repeat this step whenever you update or upgrade the full AVEVA Edge software, or if you receive a hotfix for IoT View.

   The Only newer files option is selected by default in order to minimize the time needed to install the files. If you want to reinstall all of the files — in other words, if you want to do a "clean install" on the target station — then clear the Only newer files option before you click Install runtime files.

5. If you are using a Debian-based distribution of Linux (for example, Ubuntu, Raspbian) on the target station, do the following:

   1. Press Ctrl+C in the shell or console.

      The Remote Agent program is stopped.

   2. Run the installation script (install.sh) in order to finish the installation and configuration.

      You may be prompted for your password.

      $ sudo <runtime directory>/install.sh -a -i

      The -a option installs and configures the Apache web server, if it is not already installed.

      Alternatively, you can install either the Lighttpd web server or the NGINX web server with the FastCGI Wrapper (also called a fcgiwrap). Both are lightweight web servers that you can run instead of Apache. Lighttpd and NGINX do not support custom widgets, however, so you will be asked to confirm that you want to install either of them.

      To install Lighttpd instead of Apache, run the installation script with the -l option instead of the -a option:

      $ sudo <runtime directory>/install.sh -l -i

      To install NGINX instead of Apache, run the installation script with the -n option instead of the -a option:

      $ sudo <runtime directory>/install.sh -n -i

      The -i option configures the Remote Agent program to start automatically as a service (daemon) when the target station is turned on. By default, the service runs as the user who ran the installation script. To change that user after installation, edit the shell variables USER and GROUP in the Remote Agent configuration file located at:

      /etc/init.d/remote-agent

   3. Restart the target station.

      Restarting the device should automatically start both Apache and Remote Agent as services.

   If the installation script ran successfully, you do not need to do anything more and you may skip the rest of this procedure; all of the IoT View software should be installed, configured, and waiting for you to use the Remote Management tool to download and run your project on the target station.

   Otherwise, if you are not using a Debian-based distribution of Linux or if the shell script did not run successfully, you need to continue with the following steps in order to manually finish the installation.

6. Change the permissions on the IoT View program file and the CGI process file to make them executable.

   The IoT View program file is located at: <runtime directory>/bin/iotview

   The CGI process file is located at: <runtime directory>/webaddon/CGI/WebCGIProc

   This step applies only to operating systems like Linux that have such permissions on files. In Windows, the file extension determines whether the file is an executable program.

7. Copy the CGI process file from the IoT View directory to the web server's cgi-bin directory.

   The exact location of the web server's cgi-bin directory varies by web server and operating system. For more information about how to find the location in Apache, go to: https://wiki.apache.org/httpd/DistrosDefaultLayout

8. Do one of the following:

   • Create a symbolic link from the web server's DocumentRoot directory to the Mobile Access web files at: <runtime directory>/MA

     This is recommended so that when you update the IoT View software in the future, the web server will automatically find the updated files.

   • Copy the Mobile Access web files (that is, the entire MA directory) from the IoT View directory to the web server's DocumentRoot directory.

   The exact location of the web server's DocumentRoot directory varies by web server and operating system. For more information about how to find the location in Apache, go to: https://wiki.apache.org/httpd/DistrosDefaultLayout

9. Restart the web server to make sure that it loads the new files.

10. Edit the Mobile Access configuration file (config.js) to point to the CGI process:

    1. Open the configuration file in a text editor.

       The configuration file is located at: <DocumentRoot>/MA/sma/config.js

    2. In the file, find the servicesUrl setting:

       window.sma.configSettings = {

       "servicesUrl": "service"

       };

    3. Replace "service" with the URL of the CGI process that you previously copied to the cgi-bin directory.

       For example:

       window.sma.configSettings = {

       "servicesUrl": "/cgi-bin/WebCGIProc"

       };

    4. Save and close the configuration file.

11. Configure the Remote Agent program to start automatically as a service (daemon) when the target station is turned on.

    The procedure for doing this varies by device and operating system, so it is beyond the scope of this documentation to cover all possible procedures. For more information, either consult the documentation for your target station or see the supplemental examples.

    This step is optional. However, if you do not configure the Remote Agent program to run automatically, it will need to be run manually whenever the target station is restarted.

All of the IoT View software should be installed, configured, and waiting for you to use the Remote Management tool to download and run your project on the target station.

Keep in mind that the Remote Agent program only enables communication between the Remote Management tool and the actual IoT View software. When you use the Remote Management tool to run a project, it tells the Remote Agent program to start the project runtime, and then the project runtime actually loads and runs the project.

As long as the project runtime continues to run, it will generate a runtime log according to your project's log settings. For more information, see About the runtime log for IoT View.

There are two ways to start the project runtime without using the Remote Management tool:

• Run the Remote Agent program with an additional, command-line parameter that tells it start the runtime:

  RemoteAgent -start_runtime

• Run the IoT View program itself, instead of the Remote Agent program. If you do this, however, you will not be able to use the Remote Management tool to manage the target station.

  As mentioned in the steps above, the IoT View program is located at: <runtime directory>/bin/iotview

In both cases, the project runtime will automatically load and run the same project that it last ran.

To stop Remote Agent and IoT View at any time, do one of the following:

• If the Remote Agent program was started as a service — either automatically, when the device was turned on, or manually, when you typed the command — stop it. This will stop both the project runtime and the Remote Agent program.

• Otherwise, if you used the command line interface to manually run the Remote Agent program, press Ctrl+C. You might need to do it twice, first to stop the project runtime and then to stop the Remote Agent program.

Stopping the project runtime will also stop any project that is loaded and running at the time.