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Operation Guide

This guide covers the day-to-day operation of your DIY Thread Border Router, including starting and stopping services, creating and managing Thread networks, and basic maintenance tasks.

Starting and Stopping Services

Starting All Services

To start the entire Thread Border Router stack:

task start

This command will start all services defined in the docker-compose.yml file.

Success Criteria: All services should start without errors, and you should be able to access the web interfaces. Check the status with docker-compose ps to verify all containers are in the "Up" state.

Stopping All Services

To stop all services:

task stop

Restarting Services

To restart all services (useful after configuration changes):

task restart

Checking Service Status

To check the status of all services:

docker-compose ps

Viewing Logs

To view logs from all services:

docker-compose logs

Or for a specific service:

docker-compose logs otbr

Add -f to follow logs in real-time:

docker-compose logs -f otbr

Thread Network Management

Accessing the Web Interface

The OpenThread Border Router web interface is available at:

http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:80

Replace <raspberry-pi-ip> with your Raspberry Pi's IP address or hostname.

Testing Device Connectivity

To check connectivity with all Thread devices on your network:

task ping-thread-devices

This will automatically discover all Thread devices, determine their IPv6 addresses, and ping each one to verify connectivity.

Creating a Thread Network

  1. Access the OTBR web interface
  2. Click on "Form" to create a new Thread network
  3. Configure network settings if desired (or use defaults)
  4. Click "Form" to create the network
  5. Save the network credentials for backup purposes

Joining an Existing Thread Network

  1. Access the OTBR web interface
  2. Click on "Join"
  3. Enter the network credentials
  4. Click "Join" to connect to the network

Managing Thread Network via CLI

For advanced management, you can use the OpenThread CLI:

docker-compose exec otbr ot-ctl

Common commands include:

ifconfig           # View interface status
state              # View Thread state
networkname        # View/set network name
networkkey         # View network key
ipaddr             # View IP addresses
ping <ip-address>  # Ping a Thread device
exit              # Exit the CLI

System Maintenance

Updating the System

To update the underlying Raspberry Pi OS:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Updating Docker Images

To update the Docker images used by the project:

task update

Backing Up Thread Network Credentials

Backup your Thread network credentials for recovery purposes:

docker-compose exec otbr ot-ctl dataset active -x > thread-network-backup.txt

Restoring Thread Network Credentials

To restore from a backup:

# Stop services
task stop

# Start only OTBR service
docker-compose up -d otbr

# Restore network
cat thread-network-backup.txt | docker-compose exec -T otbr bash -c 'ot-ctl dataset set active -x -'
docker-compose exec otbr ot-ctl thread start

# Start remaining services
task start

Security Maintenance

Changing Default Passwords

Change the default Grafana admin password (admin/admin) by accessing:

http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:3000

Upon first login, you'll be prompted to change the password.

Enabling Firewall

For improved security, configure a basic firewall:

sudo apt install ufw
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp   # OTBR web interface
sudo ufw allow 3000/tcp # Grafana
sudo ufw allow 8081/tcp # Thread visualizer
sudo ufw enable

Next Steps