Installing AWS IoT Greengrass V2 in Ubuntu

#aws #ubuntu #ert3plus #raspberrypi

Introduction

This article describes the steps to install the latest version of Greengrass, called Greengrass V2, which was released in December 2020. Greengrass V2 supports new features such as open-source edge runtime, improved modularity, command-line interface, and improved fleet development features. This enables you to develop, deploy, and manage IoT applications locally on your Edge device.

For details about installing Greengrass V1, refer to this article.

Environment

Supported devices (OS)

e-RT3 Plus F3RP70-2L（Ubuntu 18.04 32-bit) Edge controller of Yokogawa.
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B （Ubuntu Server 20.04 32-bit）

The armhf architecture package runs on these devices.

Getting started

To install AWS IoT Greengrass V2 you must complete the fllowing steps:

Install jdk packages on the Edge device
Configure AWS authentication settings
Register IoT Core device on AWS and install core software in Edge device

Installing jdk packages on the Edge device

Run the following commands to install the required packages on the Edge device.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install unzip default-jdk

Note: If the Edge device is in proxy environment, configuring proxy settings is mandatory.

Configuring AWS authentication settings

Configure AWS authentication settings in the environment variables of Edge device. For details, refer to the AWS authentication settings.

Registering IoT Core device on AWS and installing core software in Edge device

Follow these steps to register an IoT Core device on AWS:

On the AWS IoT page, select Greengrass devices, and click Set up one core device.
In the Core device name box, specify the name of the core device.
Under Thing group, select Enter a new group name, and specify the name of the thing group in the Thing group name box.

Note: If you want to add your core device to an existing thing group, select Select an existing group, and specify the name of the thing group in the Thing group name box.
Download and install the core software in Edge device. Run the commands 1 and 2 in order in the Edge device to download and install the core software.

Note: If the Edge device is in proxy environment, refer to Installing core software in proxy environment.
After the installation is complete, click View core devices.
If the core device you created is displayed, registration and installation is successful. (It may take some time for the device to get displayed.)

Appendix

Installing core software in proxy environment

If you want to operate your Edge device in a proxy environment, configuring proxy settings is mandatory. The settings may differ based on the operating environment. You can follow the following steps as a reference to configure proxy settings that are specific to your environment.

Create a core software settings file called config.yaml and configure the proxy settings as follows:

config.yaml
services:
    aws.greengrass.Nucleus:
        configuration:
            mqtt:
                port: 443
            greengrassDataPlanePort: 443
            networkProxy:
                proxy:
                    url: "http://username:password@xxx.com:port/"

In step 4 of the Registering IoT Core device on AWS procedure, in command 2, delete --deploy-dev-tools true and add --init-config (path/to/config.yaml).

Modified command example:
```
sudo -E java \
-Droot="/greengrass/v2" -Dlog.store=FILE -jar ./GreengrassCore/lib/Greengrass.jar --aws-region ap-northeast-1 \
--thing-name SampleCore --thing-group-name SampleCoreGroup --component-default-user ggc_user:ggc_group \
--provision true --setup-system-service true --init-config (path/to/config.yaml)
```
Note: In a proxy environment, the option --deploy-dev-tools true is deleted as it will lead to deployment failure. If you want to deploy the CLI component manually, refer to Deploying Greengrass CLI.

Deploying Greengrass CLI

Greengrass CLI is the command-line interface (CLI) that enables you to develop and debug an application locally in the Edge device. If you have not included the --deploy-dev-tools true option when installing the AWS Core software, the Greengrass CLI (aws.greengrass.Cli) component is not deployed.

To deploy the Greengrass CLI component manually, perform these steps:

On the left pane, select Greengrass devices > Components.
On the Public components tab, select aws.greengrass.cli.

The aws.greengrass.cli page appears.
Click Deploy.
Select Create new deployment and click Next.
On the Specify target page, perform these steps:
1. In the Deployment information section, specify a name to identify the deployment.
2. In the Deployment target section, select Core device as the Target type, and then specify the target name in the Target name box.
3. Click Next.
From the Public components list, select the aws.greengrass.Cli check box and click Next.
Verify the component and advanced deployment configurations, and click Deploy.

The Deployment page appears, displaying the deployment status as "Completed"
Run the following command in the Edge device.
```
username@ubuntu:~$ /greengrass/v2/bin/greengrass-cli --version    
```
If the following output is generated, Greengrass CLI is deployed successfully.
```
Greengrass CLI Version: 2.1.0     
```