Command Line Interfaces RutOS

Introduction

A command line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with a computer program or system where the user (or client) issues commands to the program in the form of successive lines of text (command lines). A program that handles the interface is called a command language interpreter, or shell.

Teltonika-Networks devices support a variety of different command line interfaces, all of which will be described in this article. Only the methods of reaching and logging in via a specified CLI will be described here, not any specific command usage.

In all cases, the CLI login information for Teltonika-Networks devices is:

• User name: root
• Password: router's admin password

CLI (WebUI)

Teltonika Networks routers and gateways have a command-line interface built-in to their Web User Interfaces (WebUI). This is the most accessible method because all you need is a web browser.

To access the WebUI CLI, log in to the WebUI by typing the router's LAN IP address into the URL field of your web browser. After this, you will be greeted with the login window. Type in the user name "admin" and the router's admin password, and click Login.

Then locate the CLI section under the System tab. Type in the login name "root" and the router's admin password. You should be greeted with a message such as this:

SSH

Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. The best-known example application is for remote login to computer systems by users. The login process is different for different operating systems. Therefore, this section is split into two parts: Linux and Windows.

Linux

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Linux operating systems support many applications that can be used to log in to a router or a gateway via SSH, but the most common is Terminal, which we'll be using for this example.

Open a new Terminal window, type ssh [email protected]. If this is your first time logging in, you might be asked to clarify whether you really want to log in. In that case, just type yes. Then type in the router's admin password to finish the login process.

RSA key

There is a possibility to use an RSA key instead of a password when logging in via SSH. This process is described here in detail.

Windows

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To access SSH on the Windows OS, you will need an SSH client application. The most common is PuTTY - free, open source SSH and Telnet client, which we'll be using for this example. You can download PuTTY from here.

Launch PuTTY and select the SSH option. Type in the router's LAN IP address into the "Host Name (or IP address)" field, specify the SSH port into the "Port" field (22 by default), and click "Open":

In the next window, type in the login name root and the router's admin password. You should be greeted with a message such as this:

Note: Newer Windows 10 editions already have a built-in SSH client. see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/tutorials/ssh

RSA key

There is a possibility to use an RSA key instead of a password when logging in via SSH. This process is described here in detail.

RS232/RS485 console (only with RUT955)

It is also possible to control routers or gateways via RS232 or RS485 consoles if they have those serial ports. For this, you will need the adequate cables:

Straight-through Female/Male RS232 cable

Null-modem (crossed) Male/Male RS232 cable

USB to RS232 (Male) cable

You can log in to the RS485 console with a 2-wire cable or you can use the RS485 jack that comes with the router for one end; the other end of the cable basically depends on your end device's capabilities (it can be USB, RS232, etc.)

Router configuration

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The configuration on the device side is fairly simple. Just log in to the device WebUI, go to Services → Serial Utilities → Console, enable the instance, and configure the rest according to your serial device settings. In the example below, default values were used.

Linux

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To login from a Linux PC, you'll need an application for serial communication like minicom or gtkterm. For this example, we'll be using minicom. You can download it by typing these lines into the Terminal:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install minicom

update downloads a list of newest software packages; install minicom downloads and installs minicom.

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• Once you've installed minicom, you can run it with the command sudo minicom from the Linux Terminal. This will open a new console window where you will need to set some things up. Press Ctrl + A at once on your keyboard, then press "Z" which will direct you to the settings menu:

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• Press "O" on your keyboard. This will direct you to the main settings menu. From there you should specify the name of the serial device and the same parameters that you entered in the router's configuration. A picture with corresponding parameters is presented below:

Once done, press "Enter". In the next menu, you can save these settings as defaults by selecting Save setup as dfl so that you wouldn't need to set everything up the next time you use the console.

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• Press "Esc" on your keyboard to return to the console window and type in the login name root, press "Enter", type in the router's admin password, and press "Enter" again. After this, you will be able to use the RS232/RS485 console.

Windows

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To log in from a Windows PC, you'll need an application for serial communication. The most common is PuTTY - a free, open source SSH and Telnet client, which we'll be using for this example. You can download PuTTY from here.

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• First you must find out which Serial line (or COM port) your cable uses. To do so, go to Windows Device Manager (you can find it easily via the search field or in the Control Panel). Find Ports (COM & LPT) in the device list and expand that section. Locate your serial device (depends on the type of cable) and take note of its COM port number (COM3 in our example):

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• Launch PuTTY and select the Serial option under the "Connection type" field. Specify the COM port (COM3 from our example) in the "Serial line" field and the Baud rate from your router's configuration in the "Speed" field (115200 from our example) and click "Open":

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• In the next window type in the login name root, press "Enter", type in the router's admin password, and press "Enter" again. You should be greeted with a message such as this:

See also

• SSH RSA key authentication (Linux)
• SSH RSA key authentication (Windows)

External links

• https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html - PuTTY downloads page