Observations on getting v3 Stack running and best route for help

Network and Routing The Things Stack v3
#1

Trying to stay ahead of various queries so I’ve got a couple of machines setup for running the v3 stack from the release version and running the development version. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with internal IP address that has a sub-domain setup.

Using Ubuntu can cause considerable confusion due to many commands needing sudo but then sudo can’t find the path to go. Perhaps a recommendation on OS version/flavour or how to bypass security for beginners.

Release 3.11.1 installs after a couple of runs at it, the console secret should be mentioned BEFORE running anything so you have it in ttn-lw-stack-docker.yml before you run the create-auth-client - couldn’t find the best way to roll it all back so flattened machine and started again.

How do you delete everything and start again? Tried to delete the databases, then tried removing Docker, deleting it’s directory in /var/lib but then couldn’t reinstall back again. What other files do I need to flush out.

It doesn’t install the Storage Db - error code 255.

There is an implication that the install scripts will grab a Let’s Encrypt certificate for you - apparently not - but having changed all the https to http I can get past the Token exchange refused issue. I’ll look at installing a certificate another time.

Development version as at 22 Feb 2021 works with some sudo hiccups and some error messages that appear to be serious but hard to tell.

Mostly I was trying to get the SDK working as that’s actually my main point of interest. I put the admin generated key in to the basics.js, changed the user to ‘admin’ plus the domain but I get back “Stack configuration must be defined” when I node basics.js. Tried to read the stack config validation but it’s going to take some time to get to grips with the code style/density.

How do you want elderly hackers who just want to run a local copy & the SDK so he doesn’t destroy his TTNv3 setup to move this forward? Can put issues in to GitHub for what might actually be errors but suspect it’s lack of knowledge on my part at present.

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#2

Hello @htdvisser - can you ask an appropriate colleague to look at this please.

#3

Also, is there a reference for the CLI?

Plus, I understand why you can’t use Server Side Events due to CORS requirements on the web console but I’m struggling to replicate your implementation - is there an example without the React / Babel overhead, I’m more a vanilla-js sort of guy, mostly as I’ve seen them come & go since Netscape Navigator included LiveScript …

#4

Paging @laurens, @johan, @KrishnaIyerEaswaran2, some direction would be useful please, being pestered to provide client with some budget guidance & timescales on getting SDK, CLI etc to proof of concept stage. Ta

#5

@benolayinka is our expert in installing The Things Stack. He’s the guy in our Install The Things Stack LoRaWAN Network Server in 6 minutes using Docker video on YouTube.

This sounds like we’re mixing up our open source edition and our enterprise edition somewhere. What documentation did you use for your installation?

Other than the --help commands, not yet. I’ll create a TODO.

#6

The main documents: Installing The Things Stack | The Things Stack for LoRaWAN

I have it running, but without https as I thought you grabbed the certificates for us and without Data Storage (which I use a lot with clients as a backup plan just in case MQTT / HTTP has a glitch at either your or more likely, their end.

I will review the video.

Any recommendations for base OS or bypassing sudo?

I’ll stop looking for the CLI reference then! Note, the search on the docs site is somewhat random and mostly doesn’t return hits that you can see it should, so I couldn’t tell.

How about the SDK?

I’ve seen someone else asking about a Go SDK.

I’ve been around for a very long time, so feel free to use & abuse me as a power user / developer / very-thick sysadmin. And if the time isn’t right for a module, please feel free to tell me to go away.

#11

@htdvisser, it would be very useful to know what the anticipated timescales are for the SDK being fleshed out, if only which month or even quarter …

#12

Great point, will update this.

Please let me know after you try the video instructions, if there’s a step you missed or that we missed. Install The Things Stack LoRaWAN Network Server in 6 minutes using Docker - YouTube

#13

Hi Ben,

Good video, watched it at normal speed with a couple of rewinds, number of things I learnt:

  • Anyone intimately familiar with the v3 Stack can indeed install inside 6 minutes
  • You can type really fast and really know your VIM
  • The item about getting a good build of stack from Docker is missing from the docs along with a helpful link to that list you had up on screen
  • The item about automagic ACME certificate creation when you use https isn’t in the docs

As an aside, tenants aren’t a thing for a first install, just getting it done is a win.

I’ll do a re-run of the install and see what I pick up this time round.

I think there is a reality disconnect between showing a 6 minute install and the understanding & care that DevOps would want to apply to setting up a new piece of software as complicated & important as a LoRaWAN stack. Particularly as once it is installed there are is no signposting on backing up the databases and anywhere else the important stuff might be. Or upgrading to a newer better release. So going live with the stack can’t really happen until this is done.

I appreciate that perhaps this isn’t quite the feedback you anticipated. I’m old. Really old. I predate web browsers. I can still remember the excitement of installing my big new thing, I just wish I had an older version of me around at the time to temper it with some reality checks, would have saved some grief in the long run.

But in summary, you guys have created an awesome system and your presentation skills are A++

#14

I really appreciate you saying that. The to-improves are a huge help as well, constructive feedback is the best way for us to learn pain points in the process and try to ease those in the documentation.

Very true about the difference between a 6 minute deploy and something you would actually want to run in production. Finding a balance between explaining all the configuration possibilities and catering to those who just want to get a development stack running is my life’s work at the moment.

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