Embedded Board Farm User Guide

Table of Contents

Embedded Board Farm (EBF): EBF is a tool for Embedded Hardware and/or Software Engineering teams for sharing hardware devices during a product development, maintenance or support cycle.

Basic Architecture

The main components of the Timesys EBF are a centrally located EBF SERVER with the necessary software that forms the core of EBF connected to various Zombies that are placed at various locations around the corporation, as long as the Zombie has network connectivity to the EBF Server.

A EBF SERVER supports multiple Zombies and each Zombie can support up to four independent Devices (under development/test).

EBF SERVER: EBF Server presents a web interface to corporate users for connecting to the remote device of their choice, presenting a device console locally on the users machine giving them full access and an experience as if the device is right next to them.

Zombie: This is Timesys supplied hardware. It is placed in remote locations and comes to life when addressed by the EBF Server. Normally, the Zombie normally will execute commands from the EBF Server.

-Each Zombie can support four devices (DUT) that can be allocated to users for a particular duration of use.

IO-CX - The IO Controller and Expander is hardware supplied by Timesys. It connects the DUT to the Zombie for providing SDMux, Hotplug Ethernet and USB, user controlled GPIO pins and I2C bus.

Device (DUT): It is any physical hardware board, a device or system that a user needs to work on or test.

Device Boot:
The following boot methods are supported:
  • Netboot: This feature, when enabled, allows a device to boot itself from an image stored at a network location. The kernel, rfs and dtb files are files are downloaded to Zombie’s DUT folder by the user and DUT will boot using NFS mount. The kernel and DTB files are loaded using tftp and rfs is loaded using NFS mount.
    Please Note: For network boot , the root file system (rfs) must be on the network which is accessible from the device.
  • SD Card: To boot a board remotely thru SD Card to test new images without human intervention, Timesys has developed an IO Controller and Expander (IOCX) with SDMux capability. It allows the user to switch the SD Card between Zombie and device through a toggle button available for SDMux. This allows the operation of uploading the images from the user to Zombie when sd card is connected to Zombie side through SDMux.
  • eMMC boot: Many devices support on board NAND and MMC interface. Either interface can be used for booting a system. NAND boot is raw boot, as it reads raw data and manipulate it. MMC boot is FAT boot, as it reads file from mmc sector and manipulated it. eMMC boot can be FAT boot or raw boot.

Quick Start Guide

Device allocation

To access the device’s web console, the device must be allocated to the user first.

Follow this link for details

Port Forwarding

Follow this link for details

Power control features

There are three power control features to change the power state of the device.

Follow this link for details

Access web console

After device allocation to user, web console session must be accessed.

Follow this link for details

Download console Logs

Follow this link for details

Console Sharing

Follow this link for details

Follow this link for details

Hotplugs

Follow this link for details

Netboot

Once web console session is accessed, the device needs to be booted up for testing and other processes.

Follow this link for details

SD card boot

Follow this link for details

USB boot

Follow this link for details

Video Streaming

Follow this link for details

Capture Screenshot

Follow this link for details

Device release

The user must release the device after use.

Follow this link for details

How to allocate Device available on EBF server

Following are the steps to allocate board to the user available on the EBF server:

  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. EBF Dashboard will appear on the screen. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. ‘All Devices’ page will appear on the screen with the list of all devices on the EBF server. Here both devices are available and could be allocated to any user for use.
  4. Click on the assign button corresponding to the device that the user wants to allocate for work. Once clicked, the device is allocated to the user for use.
    Example: Here 'User1' is the user to whom device rpi-demo is allocated for use.
  5. Also, the logged in user can view the list of all devices that are allocated to him/her by clicking on 'My Devices' option under the 'Devices' link on the EBF Homepage as shown in the image below:

How to add Golden Images(User Controlled)

Many a time EBF Users may leave board in a state where it is no longer in usable state for a new user who assigns the board. In order to avoid it, EBF software should bring the board back to a pristine state before a new user can access it.

Following are the steps to add Golden Images on EBF Server:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through the web browser with your credentials
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. This would open up EBF Dashboard.
  3. First Allocate the device to yourself. Please refer to this section.
  4. Go to Devices -> Golden Images Select Golden Image option from the menu.
  5. After selecting golden image option, you will see golden image dashboard.
  6. Click on the option Click here.
    1. From Select device drop-down and choose device on which you want to add the golden image.
    2. Select the boot-media, SD-Card/USB Boot or Network Boot.
    3. Add the flash instructions which is optional.
    4. Click on +Add Image files which you want to add for the device.After selecting the image, click on Upload option to upload the file.
    5. After uploading the file,click on save button.
    6. After successfully uploading the golden image, details regarding image and the name of the user will appear under Device Golden Images(user) Dashboard.
  7. If the golden image is successfully uploaded for the respective device then Yes will be visible under (User)Golden Image column on All Devices and MyDevices pages.
    1. Go to Devices -> All Devices
    2. Go to Devices -> My Devices

How to edit Golden Images(User Controlled)

Following are the steps to edit Golden Images on EBF Server:

  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through the web browser with your credentials
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. This would open up EBF Dashboard.
  3. Select 'Golden Images' option from the Devices drop-down.
  4. Golden Image Dashboard would open up.
  5. Click on the edit option, of the respective device of which you have uploaded the golden image.
  6. Enter the details you want to change regarding the golden image.
    1. Select the device if you want to change the device
    2. Select the boot-media, SD-Card/USB Boot or Network Boot.
    3. Add/Edit the flash instructions.
    4. If you want to remove the Previously uploaded files, click on the 'cross sign' and then Click on +Add Image to upload the new image.
    5. After selecting the image, click on Upload button to upload the file.
    6. After successfully uploading the file, click on the update option.
    7. Following message will appear on the screen on successful updation of the golden image.

How to use port forwarding

EBF is providing the port forwarding feature in which you can forward any port of your DUT to your Zombie(Connected to the corporate network). By this feature, you can access any port of your DUT from a corporate network .e.g. ssh, telnet, etc.
Please follow the below steps for port forwarding.
  1. Go to Devices -> All Devices and you will see the list of all available devices.
  2. Select the >> Port Forwarding button of the device whose port you want to forward or you can see the Port Forwarding feature on the device configuration page.

    OR
    1. Go to Devices -> All Devices and you will see the list of all available devices.
    2. Now click on the device name whose port you want to forward.
    3. Now click on the port forward button.
  3. After clicking on any of the above-given options, you will see the Device Port Forwarding screen. You can forward the port at User level, At group level and for All.
  4. In this, you have to provide details about your port forwarding rule i.e. device IP address, the port number of DUT that you want to forward on to Zombie, protocol,a free Zombie port to forward to and choose at which level you want to forward the port at user level, group level and for All. After this, click on the Forward button.
    • Forward port at User Level: Choose option User
    • Forward port at Group Level: Choose option Group
    • Forward port for All: Choose option All
  5. If the port of Zombie is free, then your port of DUT will forward to that port. Also, the ports will get non-editable, followed by the 'Remove' button as shown in the image below.
  6. Whenever you access the Device Port Forwarding screen, you will see the status of the current port forwarded details of that DUT and you can also remove the already forwarded port as well.

Power Control Feature

Through EBF Server, users can control the power state of the device connected to any Zombie.

There are three power switch options available:
  • Power On
  • Power Off
  • Reboot

These options are available on the device’s web console screen:
Once the user clicks on the Power On/Power Off/Reboot button, the power state of the board changes, and the color symbol is displayed on the screen.

Power On Confirmation:

When the color adjacent to the 'Power' label is Green, it means the Power is ON.


Power Off Confirmation:

When the color adjacent to the 'Power' label is Red, it means the Power is OFF.


Reboot Confirmation:

When the color of the 'Power' label switches from Red to Green, irrespective of the current color, it means the reboot is successful.

How to access a device's Web Console

Serial Console.

Following are the steps to access a serial web console:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. Click on the assign button corresponding to the device selected (rpi-demo is taken as a reference here) to allocate the device to the user.
  4. Click on the 'Launch Console' button to go to Device's console page.
  5. The following window will appear after selecting the Launch Console option.
    NOTE: The following screen is visible with the IO-CX control panel when the IO-CX control panel is connected.

    OR
    Click on hostname (rpi-demo is taken as reference),

    and on the next page, select the Launch Console option.

    The following window will appear after selecting the Launch Console option.

SSH Console

Following are the steps to access the SSH web console:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. After login, first you have to forward your DUT ssh port to any port of Zombie. Please refer to this section for more details on port forwarding.
  3. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  4. You can launch the console of the target device.
  5. The following window will appear after selecting the Launch Console option.
    NOTE: The following screen is visible with the IO-CX control panel when the IO-CX control panel is connected.
  6. Now you need to click on the SSH option.
  7. Then you can add the SSH username and SSH Password on the popup as highlighted in the image below. After that click on the Start SSH session button.
  8. Now you can access the ssh console.

ADB Console

Following are the steps to access ADB Console:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. Now You can launch the console of the target device.
  4. The following window will appear after selecting the Launch Console option.
    NOTE: The following screen is visible with the IO-CX control panel when the IO-CX control panel is connected.
  5. Find the device IP address connected to the zombie network.
  6. Now click on the ADB option available in the left panel.
  7. The following popup appears on the screen enter the device IP connected to the zombie network.
  8. After a successful connection you can access adb console.

Side by Side Console of two devices

Following are the steps to launch the console of two devices simultaneously:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select ‘All Devices’ option from ‘Devices’ drop down list.
  3. Click on 'assign' icon corresponding to the devices selected (rpi-demo and SSH-DUT-CTL_ssh-zombie is taken as reference here) to allocate devices to the user.
  4. Click on Launch Side By Side Console button.
  5. Select Device_1 and Device_2 from the drop down list of assigned devices.
  6. The following window will appear after selecting the Device_2.

How to view Device information

Following are the steps to view the device information:
  1. Launch the console of the target device, by clicking on the 'Launch Console' button.
  2. Click on the 'Info' option from the left panel to view the device information.
  3. Device information is visible on the screen.

Download Console Logs

Following are the steps to access download Console Logs:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. Launch the console of the target device, by clicking on the 'Launch Console' button.
  4. The following window will appear after selecting the Launch Console option.
    NOTE: The following screen is visible with the IO-CX control panel when the IO-CX control panel is connected.
  5. In order to capture console logs you can perform some command or you can reboot the device to capture fresh logs.
  6. Now you need to click on the Download Logs option.
  7. You will be able to see the Download Logs file in the downloaded folder.

Download Console Logs for SSH Device

Following are the steps to Download the Console Logs for the SSH Device
Go to Devices -> 'My Devices'
  1. Launch the Console of the SSH Device.
  2. Console page would open up.
  3. Click on the 'Download Logs' button to download the logs.
  4. Console logs will start download on your system.

Download Console Logs for Test server device

  1. Launch the console of the Test Server Device.
  2. Console page would open up.
  3. Click on the Download logs button from the left panel.
  4. Console logs will start downloading on your system.

Download Golden Image from Console page

Following are the steps to access download Console Logs:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. First you have to add the golden image of the device. Please refer to this section to add the golden image of the device.
  3. Select the ‘My Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  4. You can launch the console of the target device.
  5. The following window will appear after selecting the Launch Console option.
    NOTE: The following screen is visible with the IO-CX control panel when the IO-CX control panel is connected.
  6. Select the Golden Image option from the console page.
  7. After selecting the Golden image option from the console page, following dashboard will appear on the screen.
  8. Select the golden image you want to download from the dashboard. After clicking on the image, it will start downloading on your system.

EBF File Manager On Console Page

Following are the steps to access EBF File Manager on Console Page:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. You can launch the console of the target device.
  4. The following window will appear after selecting the Launch Console option.
    NOTE: The following screen is visible with the IO-CX control panel when the IO-CX control panel is connected.
  5. On the device console page click on EBF file manager from the left panel.
  6. EBF file manager page will appear on the screen. you can upload and download files on EBF server also you can create a new folder.

How to perform Console Sharing

To perform console sharing both users who are sharing the device console and users with whom the console is shared must belong to the same group. EBF Server admin users can assign/revoke groups of EBF users.

In this example, there are two different users' names as "user1" and "user2".

Following are the steps to share the Device console.
  1. Login to EBF server through a web browser using user1 credentials.
    Username: <Username>
    Password: <Password>
  2. Go to Devices -> All Devices.
  3. All Devices page will appear on the screen.
  4. Now click on 'share console icon' from an action column of the device.
  5. On the next popup, select a user with whom you want to share the device console and save.

Login with shared user

  1. Login to EBF server through a web browser using user2 credentials.
    Username: <Username>
    Password: <Password>
  2. on the next page, you can find the login user name on the top of the screen also you are able to see the shared device name on the screen.
  3. Launch device console for User2.
  4. On the next screen you can see the shared console.

How to perform Console Sharing From Device Console Page

Following are the steps to access EBF File Manager on Console Page:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. You can launch the console of the target device.

To perform console sharing both users who are sharing the device console and users with whom the console is shared must belong to the same group. EBF Server admin users can assign/revoke groups of EBF users.

In this example, there are two different users' names as "user1" and "user2".

Following are the steps to share the Device console.
  1. Login to EBF server through a web browser using Demo user credentials.
    Username: <Username>
    Password: <Password>
  2. Go to Devices -> All Devices.
  3. All Devices page will appear on the screen.
  4. Now click on 'Launch console icon' from an action column of the device.
  5. Console page should be appear on the screen click on share console option.
  6. On the next popup, select a user with whom you want to share the device console and save.

Login with shared user

  1. Login to EBF server through a web browser using Demo user1 credentials.
    Username: <Username>
    Password: <Password>
  2. on the next page, you can find the login user name on the top of the screen also you are able to see the shared device name on the screen.
  3. Launch device console for Demo user1.
  4. On the next screen you can see the shared console.

How to Power Control IOCX from the Console Page.

Following are the steps to access EBF File Manager on Console Page:
  1. Login to EBF homepage/dashboard (find the URL from the administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. You can launch the console of the target device.
  4. On the device console page, IO-CX Power Control button is visible on the console.
  5. Click on the IO-CX button to power OFF the IO-CX
  6. Click on the IO-CX button to power ON the IO-CX

How to View Device information

Following are the steps to View the device information:

  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard through the web browser with your credentials
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. This would open up EBF Dashboard.
  3. First Allocate the device to yourself. Please refer to this section.
  4. Go to 'My Devices'.
  5. Launch the Console of the device by clicking on the 'Launch Console button'.
  6. Click on the 'Info' option from the left panel to view the device information.
  7. Device information is visible on the screen.

How to use Hotplugs

Refer to Hotplugs Guide

How to boot the device using Network Boot

Using this feature, a user can boot the DUT from a network rather than an SD card connected on SDMux.

Procedure to​​ copy​ BSP Files​ on to Zombie

Go to the concerned device's console and follow the steps given below to copy BSP Files. Follow these steps to Launch Console of the concerned device

  1. Select 'Network Boot' option shown on the console screen.
  2. Close the power off recommendation.
  3. Power off the device.
  4. Re-launch network boot from the console screen.
  5. Network boot page will be shown on the screen.

Transfer desired file need for booting DUT.

  1. Transfer a DTB file from local computer by selecting through select file drop down after that select transferring tool and give command argument if needed, then click on the check box "Delete file from EBF server after transfer" if you want to delete the file from ebf server otherwise unchecked it finally click on transfer file.
  2. Transfer status should appear on the screen after clicking over the transfer file.
  3. After successful image transfer, a success notification message will be shown on the screen.
  1. Transfer a rootfs file from local computer by selecting through select file drop down after that select transferring tool and give command argument if needed, then click on the check box "Delete file from EBF server after transfer" if you want to delete the file from ebf server otherwise unchecked and give extraction directory if you want to change extraction directory otherwise it will be extracted into fsroot directory finally click on transfer file.
  2. Transfer status should appear on the screen after clicking over the transfer file.
  3. After successful image transfer, a success notification message will be shown on the screen.
  1. Transfer a uImage file from local computer by selecting through select file drop down after that select transferring tool and give command argument if needed, then click on the check box "Delete file from EBF server after transfer" if you want to delete the file from ebf server otherwise unchecked it finally click on transfer file.
  2. Transfer status should appear on the screen after clicking over the transfer file.
  3. After successful image transfer, a success notification message will be shown on the screen.

View transferred image in network boot file manager.

  1. Select Network boot file manager from left panel to view the transferred file in network boot file manager list.
  2. File manger should have all transferred image

Procedure to​​ copy​ golden image​ on to Zombie

Please follow the below steps for adding golden images for the device.
Following are the steps to add Golden Images on EBF Server:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through the web browser with your credentials
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. This would open up EBF Dashboard.
  3. First Allocate the device to yourself. Please refer to this section.
  4. Go to Devices -> Golden Images Select Golden Image option from the menu.
  5. After selecting golden image option, you will see golden image dashboard.
  6. Click on the option Click here.
    1. From Select device drop-down and choose device on which you want to add the golden image.
    2. Select the boot-media: Network Boot.
    3. Add the flash instructions which is optional.
    4. Click on +Add Image files which you want to add for the device.After selecting the image, click on Upload option to upload the file.
    5. After uploading the file,click on save button.
    6. After successfully uploading the golden image, details regarding image and Network boot will come under the Boot Media column.
    7. Launch the console of the device. Select 'Network Boot' option shown on the console screen.
  7. Close the power off recommendation.
  8. Power off the device.
  9. Re-launch network boot from the console screen.
  10. Network boot page will be shown on the screen.

Transfer golden image for booting DUT.

  1. Transfer a golden image by selecting EBF server from the drop down. A pop-up will appear on the screen, select the golden image you want to transfer.
  2. After that select transferring tool, give command argument if needed and click on Transfer file button to transfer the file.
  3. Transfer status should appear on the screen after clicking over the transfer file.
  4. After successful image transfer, a success notification message will be shown on the screen.

Booting DUT with New BSP

Once​ BSP​ files​​ are​ copied,​ follow​ steps​ mentioned below​ to​ boot DUT​ with​ new​ BSP​ files.

  1. Access​ ​device ​web console​ ​via​ EBF Server​.​ ​Go to​ ​U-boot​ prompt​ of​ DUT​ as​ shown​ ​below.

    Configure​ boot arguments in​​ u-boot​ prompt​ ​to​ boot​​ DUT​ from​​ NFS​ rootfs​ of​ Zombie.
    Execute​ following​ commands​ in​ u-boot​ prompt​ to​ perform​ this​ action
    => setenv serverip <Zombie IP>
    => setenv bootargs​ ​ console=<serial console>,<baud rate> ​ root=/dev/nfs​ ​ rw nfsroot=<Zombie IP>:<exact rootfs location>,tcp,hard,intr​ ​ip=dhcp
    Example:
    => ​ ​ setenv​ ​ serverip​ 192.168.111.1
    => ​ ​ setenv​ ​ bootargs​ ​ console=ttyS0,115200n8​ ​root=/dev/nfs​ ​rw nfsroot=192.168.111.1:/var/lib/lava/dispatcher/tmp/nfs/DUT4/fsroot,tcp,hard,intr​ ​ip=dhcp
    NOTE:Here​ replace​ DUT4​ with​​ your​ DUT​​ directory​ where​ you​ have​ copied​ BSP​ files and replace the directory name for extracted rootfs with your directory name.
  2. Now​ ​assign​ automatic​ IP​ address​ to​ DUT.​ By​​ executing​​ ‘dhcp’​ command on U-boot, ​DUT​ will​ be assigned a new​ IP address.
    => ​ ​ dhcp
  3. Once​​ DUT​​ is​ bound with​ IP​ address, load​​ kernel​ file​ from zombie TFTP​ to DUT by executing the following command:
    ​ = > ​ ​ tftp​ ​ 0x82000000​ ​ ​ 192.168.111.1:upload/DUT4/<kernel_binary_file> = > ​ ​ tftp​ ​ 0x88000000 192.168.111.1:upload/DUT4/<dtb_file>
    Note-​ ​ Replace <kernel_binary_file> with your​ kernel​​ binary file name and Kernel address could​ ​ be​ different for your board. DUT4 should also be changed to your DUT directory where BSP files were uploaded.
  4. Once​ kernel​ file is loaded, then similarly​ load​ DTB​​ file​ . After loading DTB execute following command to boot DUT​ with​ new​​ BSP. = >booti​ <kerneladdr>​ ​- <dtbaddr>
    Example: =​ ​> booti​​ 0x82000000​​ - ​0x88000000
    Depending on Kernel image types, there are various boot options available:
    Example1: If kernel image type is Image
    => booti​​ 0x82000000​ - ​0x88000000
    Example2: If kernel image type is uImage = > bootm 0x82000000 - 0x88000000
    Example3: If kernel image type is zImage = > bootz 0x82000000 - 0x88000000
    The device is booted through network boot and is ready for testing and for performing other processes on the device. Monitor​ to see​ Login​ prompt​ of​ DUT​ to​ verify​ that​ DUT​ successfully​ booted​​ with new BSP. Verify​ to​ ​see​​ changes​ ​of​ ​New​ ​BSP​ ​and​ perform​ ​further​ ​test​ ​functionality.

How to flash a new image to Boot Media-SD card.

Following are the steps to flash a new image with the help of a boot media-SD card:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. After login successfully refer this section to perform console launch.
  3. The following Web Console session will appear on the screen if the IO-CX board is connected.

    NOTE: For SDCard Flash it's mandatory to have IOCX connected to the Device. If IOCX is not connected then the following Console screen appears on the screen and the user cannot access Boot Media-SDCard functionality.
  4. To upload an image on an SD card, first, turn off the power of the device(board) by clicking on the 'OFF' option. The 'SDMUX: Zombie' option will turn red as shown in the image below. Then click on the 'boot media-SDCard' option.
  5. Now the user will be redirected to the SDCard-boot page to Flash an Image.

    There are two ways to Flash an Image.
    1. Select image from local Computer.
    2. Select image from EBF server.
  6. Now flash an image Selecting Image from Local Computer.
    1. From Select file drop-down and choose "select from local computer".
    2. Now choose the desired file to flash into the SD card.
    3. From the SD card drop-down menu choose the target partition.
    4. Select flashing tool as per requirement(zcat + dd/gunzip + dd/dd/bmaptool/tar/unzip/cp). If you don't select, it will be auto-selected according to the file extension of the chosen file.
    5. Give command-line argument if needed.
    6. Check the "pre-format(mkfs)" check the box if want to format the partition before flashing an image otherwise unchecked.
    7. Check the "Delete file from EBF server after flash" check box if want to delete the file after flashing from ebf server otherwise unchecked.
    8. Now click on the flash file button to flash the image into the SD card.
    9. During flash the flash status of the image should be visible on the screen.
  7. After successful image upload, select the Launch console button to start the Console session.
  8. Now Go to SD card file manager and see the target partition where the file was flashed.
  9. Now flash an image Selecting Image from EBF Server.
    1. From Select file drop-down and choose "select from EBF Server".
    2. Now select the desired file to flash into the SD card.
    3. From the SD card drop-down menu choose the target partition.
    4. Select flashing tool as per requirement(zcat + dd/gunzip + dd/dd/bmaptool/tar/unzip/cp). If you don't select, it will be auto-selected according to the file extension of the chosen file.
    5. Give command-line argument if needed.
    6. Check the "pre-format(mkfs)" check the box if want to format the partition before flashing an image otherwise unchecked.
    7. Check the "Delete file from EBF server after flash" check box if want to delete the file after flashing from EBF server otherwise unchecked.
    8. Now click on the flash file button to flash the image into the SD card.
    9. During flash the flash status of the image should be visible on the screen.
  10. After successful image upload, select the Launch console button to start the Console session.
  11. Now Go to the SD card file manager and see the target partition where the file was flashed.

How to Switch the SD-MUX side

Following are the steps to Switch the SD-MUX side EBF Server:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through the web browser with your credentials
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. This would open up EBF Dashboard.
  3. First Allocate the device to yourself. Please refer to this section.
  4. Launch the console of the target device.
  5. Click on the SDMUX:Device button to switch to the Zombie side.
  6. Click on the SDMUX:Device button to switch to the SD-MUX Device side.

How to flash a golden image to Boot Media-SD card.

Following are the steps to flash a golden image with the help of a boot media-SD card:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. After login successfully refer this section to add golden image to the device.
  3. After successfully adding the golden image of the device refer this section to perform console launch.
  4. The following Web Console session will appear on the screen if the IO-CX board is connected.

    NOTE: For SDCard Flash it's mandatory to have IOCX connected to the Device. If IOCX is not connected then the following Console screen appears on the screen and the user cannot access Boot Media-SDCard functionality.
  5. To upload an image on an SD card, first, turn off the power of the device(board) by clicking on the 'OFF' option. The 'SDMUX: Zombie' option will turn red as shown in the image below. Then click on the 'boot media-SDCard' option.
  6. Now the user will be redirected to the SDCard-boot page to Flash an Image.
  7. Now flash an image Selecting Image from EBF Server.
    1. From Select file drop-down and choose "select from EBF Server".
    2. Now choose the desired file under golden boot images to flash into the SD card.
    3. From the SD card drop-down menu choose the target partition.
    4. Select flashing tool as per requirement(zcat + dd/gunzip + dd/dd/bmaptool/tar/unzip/cp). If you don't select, it will be auto-selected according to the file extension of the chosen file.
    5. Give command-line argument if needed.
    6. Now click on the flash file button to flash the image into the SD card.
    7. During flash the flash status of the image should be visible on the screen.
  8. After successful image upload, select the Launch console button to start the Console session.
  9. Now Go to SD card file manager and see the target partition where the file was flashed.

How to flash a new image to a USB

Following are the steps to flash a new image to USB with the help of USBMux:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop down list.
  3. Go to the 'All Devices' page and verify the MUX mode of the device.
  4. Go to the Console page of the device. 'USBMux' option present on the page.
  5. To Switch USBMux to the Zombie side, click on the “USBMux” option in the control panel and on the respective Hotplug port. (As shown in the image below, USBMux and Hotplug1 will turn RED, meaning they are now connected to the Zombie side.)
  6. On the Console screen, click on the “Boot Media-USB” control in the control panel.
  7. USB Boot page will appear on the screen showing details of the memory card connected to the target device.
  8. There are two ways to Flash Image.
    1. Now flash an image from EBF Server.
      1. From Select file drop-down and choose "select from EBF Server".
      2. Now select the desired file to flash into the USB.
      3. From the USB drop-down menu choose the target partition.
      4. Select flashing tool as per requirement(zcat + dd/gunzip + dd/dd/bmaptool/tar/unzip/cp). If you don't select, it will be auto-selected according to the file extension of the chosen file.
      5. Give command-line argument if needed.
      6. Check the "pre-format(mkfs)" checkbox if want to format the partition before flashing an image otherwise unchecked.
      7. Check the "Delete file from EBF server after flash" check box if want to delete the file after flashing from the EBF server otherwise unchecked.
      8. Now click on the flash file button to flash the image into USB.
      9. During flash the flash status of the image should be visible on the screen.
      10. After successful image upload, select the Launch console button to start the Console session.
    2. Now flash an image Selecting Image from Local Computer.
      1. From Select file drop-down and choose "select from local computer".
      2. Now choose the desired file to flash into the USB.
      3. From the USB drop-down menu choose the target partition.
      4. Select flashing tool as per requirement(zcat + dd/gunzip + dd/dd/bmaptool/tar/unzip/cp). If you don't select, it will be auto-selected according to the file extension of the chosen file.
      5. Give command-line argument if needed.
      6. Check the "pre-format(mkfs)" checkbox if want to format the partition before flashing an image otherwise unchecked.
      7. Check the "Delete file from EBF server after flash" checkbox if want to delete the file after flashing from ebf server otherwise unchecked.
      8. Now click on the flash file button to flash the image into USB.
      9. During flash the flash status of the image should be visible on the screen.
      10. After successful image upload, select the Launch console button to start the Console session.
      11. Now Go to USB file manager and see the target partition where the file was flashed.

How to flash a golden image to a USB

Following are the steps to flash a golden image to USB with the help of USBMux:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘My Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop down list.
  3. Go to the 'My Devices' page and verify the MUX mode of the device.
  4. Go to the Console page of the device. 'USBMux' option present on the page.
  5. To Switch USBMux to the Zombie side, click on the “USBMux” option in the control panel and on the respective Hotplug port. (As shown in the image below, USBMux and Hotplug1 will turn RED, meaning they are now connected to the Zombie side.)
  6. On the Console screen, click on the “Boot Media-USB” control in the control panel.
  7. USB Boot page will appear on the screen showing details of the memory card connected to the target device.
    1. Now flash an image from EBF Server.
      1. From Select file drop-down and choose "select from EBF Server".
      2. Now select the desired golden image from the golden boot images to flash into the USB.
      3. From the USB drop-down menu choose the target partition.
      4. Select flashing tool as per requirement(zcat + dd/gunzip + dd/dd/bmaptool/tar/unzip/cp). If you don't select, it will be auto-selected according to the file extension of the chosen file.
      5. Give command-line argument if needed.
      6. Now click on the flash file button to flash the image into USB.
      7. During flash the flash status of the image should be visible on the screen.
      8. After successful image upload, select the Launch console button to start the Console session.

Image flashing using UUU

Following are the steps to flash Image using Uuu:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find your URL from the administrator) through the web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. Go to the 'All Devices' page and launch the console of the target device.
  4. Device console page should be visible on the screen with the UUU Flash option.
  5. Now click on the UUU flash option to redirect to the UUU flash page.
  6. Select the files to flash.
  7. Click on Flash File button to start flashing.

How To Access webcam Live Streaming

How to view Live Streaming

  1. Download and install VLC player on your local system if not already installed.
  2. Launch VLC player and open Media > Open Network Stream... Menu
  3. On opened Media VLC popup window, go to Network tab
  4. Copy Streaming URL from APP-Zombie Status page and paste into the network URL text box of VLC.

  5. Select and click Play from the drop-down adjacent to the Cancel button.

USB Web Camera Streaming

  1. Launch the console of the target device. Follow these steps to Launch Console of the concerned device
  2. Click on 'Video Streaming' option.
  3. After selecting the option, Live Streaming will start on the same page.
  4. Sometimes webcam couldn't stream the video; in that case, access the APP Zombie Config and select Re-connect Web Camera option.

How to Access Video Streaming(IP Camera)

  1. In order to access (IP Camera)Video Streaming you need to configure IP Camera on EBF Server.
    Refer:How to Configure Video Streaming for IP Camera
  1. Launch the console of the target device. Follow these steps to Launch Console of the concerned device
  2. Click on the 'Video Streaming(IP Camera)' button.
  3. On Clicking the Video Streaming(IP Camera) button, a pop-up will come on the screen. Copy the link which is displayed on the pop-up.

How To Capture Image from webcam

  1. Launch the console of the target device. Follow these steps to Launch Console of the concerned device
  2. Click on the 'Capture Screenshot' button.
  3. Details of the captured image will be shown on the screen. Click on the 'here' link to view the last captured image.
  4. To view the list of all captured images, click on the 'Image Browser' option.

How to release Device available on EBF server

Following are the steps to release device access on the EBF server:
  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find the URL from administrator) through a web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. EBF Dashboard will appear on the screen. Select the ‘All Devices’ option from the ‘Devices’ drop-down list.
  3. ‘All Devices’ page will appear on the screen with a list of all devices on the EBF server. Here both the devices are allocated to user admin and are unavailable for use.
  4. Click on the 'Release' icon corresponding to the device which you want to release.
  5. Once clicked, the device is released from the last assigned user.

    Example: Here admin is the user to whom device rpi-demo was initially allocated for use. Once the Actions tag was selected, the device was released from the admin.
  6. Click on the device which was released from the use by the user and on the next page, the user is prohibited from the device’s web console access.

    The above steps release the device from use.
    OR
    If the user is present on the Console page and the device is free from use, the user can release the device with the help of the “Release Device” button available on the Console page.

    The device is released and free for use for any user. The user can verify for the released device on Devices -> All Devices

Advance Features

EBF File Manager

User can list all the files that are present on the EBF Server using this interface. Follow the steps below to view this page.

  1. Login to EBF home page/dashboard (find the URL from administrator) through web browser with your credentials.
    Username : <username>
    Password : <password>
  2. EBF Dashboard will appear on the screen. Select ‘EBF File Manager’ from main menu.
  3. EBF File Manager page will be shown on the screen. All the files uploaded on to EBF Server will also be visible on this page.

EBF Chat Demo

User can chat with the other users on the EBF, provided that the user belongs to the same group and atleast two different users added to the EBF Server.

  1. Click on the Chat option from the right side of the EBF Dashboard.
  2. Select the user you want to chat with.

How to Access Multiple Console Access

Multiple Console Access Setup on Zombie.

  1. Identify the IP address of the Zombie with your device is connected. <Zombie Corporate IP>
  2. Access the Zombie-EZ-config through Zombie IP on any browser.
    <Zombie_IP>
  3. Login to the Zombie-EZ-Config with the following credentials.
    UserName: <admin>
    Password: <admin123>
  4. Identify the Zombie port number where your board is connected. For example, we have connected a device on port number 3.
  5. Now click on the 'Advance Settings' option from the left panel.
  6. From the advanced Settings page Select the Edit button. It will enable the fields for modification.
  7. click on the "scan" button adjacent to the port where your board is connected.
  8. If your board has multiple consoles then you will see it after clicking on the "scan" button.
  9. Select any consoles and save the changes.
  10. Then go to the Zombie status page and restart the ser2net service.

EBF APIs

Refer EBF-API Guide

EBF-CLI

Refer EBF-CLI Guide

QNX OS Support

Refer EBF-QNX Guide

Appendix

How to change your login password

Following are the steps to change the password of the logged-in user:
  1. Sign in to EBF homepage/dashboard using valid credentials.
  2. Click on your username on the top and click on the 'Profile' link.
  3. User's profile details will be shown on the screen. Now click on the 'update' link.
  4. Enter the details and click on the 'Change' button to apply changes.
  5. A confirmation message is shown on the screen regarding a successful password update.

Troubleshooting

Unable to Network Boot the device

Go to device's console and perform below steps to troubleshoot the Network boot issue.
  1. Check if device's u-boot supports Network mount (nfs-mount).
    If yes, proceed to next step.
    If not, upgrade u-boot.
  2. Check if nfs-utils is installed on the device. Run the following command and observe its output:
    $ mount -t nfs ZombieIP:/directory /mnt
  3. Follow the steps below for the observed outputs.
  • nfs-utils: command not found: It means that nfs-utils is not installed on the device.
    There are 2 ways to install nfs-utils on the device:
    1. If the device supports apt-get, go to device's console and run the following command:
      $ apt-get install nfs-common
      OR
    2. Build a new BSP for the device containing nfs-utils.
  • No route to host: This can be caused by the RPC messages being filtered by either the host firewall, the client firewall, or a network switch. Verify if a firewall is active and if NFS traffic is allowed. As a quick test one can switch the firewall off by:
    $ service iptables stop
    on both the client and the server. Try mounting the NFS directory again. Do not forget to switch it back on and configure it correctly to allow NFS traffic/
  • mount clntudp_create: RPC: Port mapper failure – RPC: Unable to receive: Make sure that both the NFS service and the portmapper (RPC) service be running on both the client and the server. Check it like this:
    $ rpcinfo -p
    $ service portmap status
    $ portmap (pid 7428) is running... [portmap service is started.]
    If not, start it with the commands give below.
    $ chkconfig portmap on
    $ service portmap start