Configure networking and clustering

Modified on Tue, 26 Sep, 2023 at 8:38 AM

Configure networking and clustering¶

Default smartengine settings¶

The smartengine is configured to detect smartengine endpoints and operate any connected light fixtures with default configuration out of the box. The default configuration provides the following behavior:

The lights are set to light level of 85% when sensors on the engine detect motion. Lights stays on as long as motion is detected.
If no motion is seen for 30 minutes, the lights are turned off.
Wall controllers connected to the smartengine are not enabled.
The default user name and password for managing the system is admin and smartengine respectively.
You may manage the device or change its configuration by connecting to the smartmanager as defined below.

Connecting to smartmanager¶

Every smartengine and smartdirector has two ethernet network ports. The primary ethernet port (labeled LAN) is the main interface for all IP based communication with the system. The default configuration on the port allows for it get its IP address automatically which can vary based on your network setup. The secondary ethernet port (labeled AUX) is configured with a fixed static IP address of 192.168.1.1 on all systems. This port is intended to be used as fallback connection to the system when primary network interface is not accessible for any reason. Therefore you may connect to the secondary ethernet port and begin configuring the network parameters for the smartengine or smartdirector.

Connecting to secondary port on smartengine or smartdirector from your laptop or desktop

Your laptop/desktop must have a wired ethernet connection that you can connect directly to the smartengine/smartdirector using a ethernet cable.
Disable all other network interfaces (such as wifi)
Configure the ethernet port on your laptop or desktop with the following settings
- Set IP address to 192.168.1.100
- Set IP Subnet to 255.255.255.0
- Gateway settings are not required but you may set it to 192.168.1.1
Open a browser window (preferably Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Microsoft Edge) and enter https://192.168.1.1 on the address bar.
smartengine and smartdirector use a self signed certificate by default which is not as secure as a valid certificate recognized by the browser. Follow the browser specific procedures to bypass the certificate warning and access the system. While Firefox allows you to accept the certificate, the procedures for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are not direct and can be found by searching on web. The browsers may be configured to trust the certificates from these systems as well.
Enter the user name and password for the system when prompted
At this point the browser would display a smartmanager dashboard for the system

Setting up clustering¶

A group of smartengines (and optionally a smartdirector) can be configured to operate together as one entity by configuring them to be a part of a cluster. A cluster consists of a master node, which serves as the central point of management. All configuration and operations are initiated at the cluster master. The other smartengines in the cluster (referred to as cluster members) receive the configuration information from the master and coordinate with the other smartengines in the cluster to work together. An example of this behavior is where different fixtures in the same space are connected to different engines, and motion detected on one fixture triggers all lights in the same space to turn on immediately.

The smartengine solution can be set up in one of three ways:

If cluster settings are not configured, the smartengine operates as a standalone system. This system works in the same way as a cluster master.
If the total number of engines serving the installation is eight or less, then a smartdirector is not required, and the smartengines can form a cluster with one of the engines being designated as a master. However, there are some advanced features that are not available (for e.g., third party integration, space utilization, etc.) are not available without a smartdirector in the cluster.
A typical cluster comprises of smartdirector as master, and then smartengines as members of the cluster.

In order to configure smartengines and smartdirector to be part of a cluster, connect to each individual system (as described above) to set the network settings and cluster configuration through the Commission System application ¹

Tip

For large scale deployments, ensure that the network infrastructure is ready and correct ip addresses and subnet information assigned to smartengines is available. Incorrect or duplicate IP addresses or network settings can create connectivity issues which may require help from network infrastructure owners to resolve.

Tip

Your IT/Networking infrastructure owners may provision the IP addresses for each device in the network automatically using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). If DHCP is used, the addresses must be reserved and bound to the device at the DHCP server so that each smartengine and smartdirector always has a fixed IP address. In this case, the device is identified using the ethernet MAC address associated with the smartengine and smartdirector.

Configure networking parameters

Navigate to the Commission System application on the smartmanager by clicking on app grid icon on the top right section of the page.
Under the Device Configuration tab, configure the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway parameters. If the network is using IPv6, enter the corresponding IPv6 parameters.
Configure the hostname with a name that you can use to identify the smartengine.
Under the Date and Time tab, configure the TimeZone and set the clock to correct time.
You will be prompted to reboot when you save the settings, but you elect to do after you have completed the clustering configuration described in the next section

Configure cluster¶

A cluster consists of multiple smartengines and optionally a smartdirector working together. One system is designated as a master and the others are cluster members. The following parameters need to be set up on each system for cluster to function:

Each cluster is identified by a name, which must be configured on every smartengine and smartdirector.
Each system in a cluster must be assigned a unique identifier (a number between 0 and 127). This number is used internally to uniquely identify the system. If smartengine is to be replaced for some reason, the new smartengine can be assigned the same identifier so that it can then take on all the settings and parameters associated with the system.
Each system in the cluster must also be provided parameters that identify the master system in the cluster and how to connect to it (e.g., the IP address of the master system.)

Configure clustering parameters

Under the Device Configuration tab, edit and configure the clustering parameters described above.
The cluster master can be identified by an IP address or fully qualified DNS (Domain Name Service) name, in which case please make sure the DNS parameters are also configured.

Configure cluster members

No further configuration is required on a cluster member.
The rest of the configuration is performed on the cluster master which will then apply them to the cluster members as appropriate.

Tip

Each system in the cluster must be rebooted after the parameters have been updated before the new settings take effect.

Configure cluster master

Any additional services that are used on with the cluster should be configured on the cluster master. These include:

Credentials and profiles for users who can administer and access the system
Advanced Network Services including security features
BACnet and MQTT settings if the deployment involves integration with third party systems

You may configure smartdirector with the clustering and timezone parameters, and then generate configurations for the each cluster member engine. This configuration can be loaded and activated on the respective smartengine. This feature is available only with smartdirector.

Generating smartengine cluster member configuration

Generating cluster member configuration of the individual smartengine is a convenient way to add new smartengine to the cluster.

Under the Device Configuration tab, click on the Add Engine To Cluster button to launch a dialog.
Enter the device specific parameters for the engine such as its hostname and networking configuration
Download the configuration file and then upload it to the smartengine
Reboot the smartengine for it to join the cluster

Configure users and roles¶

The smartengine/smartdirector system has a default user with administrator privileges called admin and default password smartengine. This user cannot be removed and can be used to set up and administer the system.

Tip

Change the default password for the admin user and set it to something more secure. If the password is forgotten, the recovery procedure will require resetting the configuration on the system. Therefore, the new password must be kept safely.

Additional users can be configured on the system and those credentials may be used to access the system. Each user is assigned one of the following roles:

api role provides access to the APIs only. A user id with this role may be used by external application to interface with the smartengine installation. An example could be a mobile application.
user role provides access to end functionality that is useful for occupants of the space. This includes making temporary adjustments to lighting or task tuning specific lights. They cannot change the configuration of the system.
admin role provides full administrative access to the system.

In addition to the above, emergency lighting administration requires specific privileges. This can be configured as an additional capability for an administrative user or as a standalone role for a user who can only administer the emergency lighting configuration.

Configure user management

Navigate to the Users and Roles tab under System Settings in the Commission System application.
You may add, edit or remove users here.
You may set up user specific preferences like language settings for each user.

Configure advanced services¶

The smartengine installation can be configured with features for increased security and also take advantage network services that are provided by the network infrastructure for better scalability. These include the following:

Network Time Protocol servers can used to keep the clocks on the system accurate so that the systems will communicate with the servers and adjust the time accordingly.
Email Notifications of alarms can be set up by configuring SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server information.
Domain Name Service servers should be configured if the external systems (like email server, NTP server above) or cluster master is specified using their fully qualified DNS names instead of IP address.
Firewall can be enabled to restrict the access to the smartengine systems to the limited services that are required. Actions can be configured to block systems upon web server authentication failures (to block any unwanted attempts to gain access to the web server).

These settings can be configured under the Date and Time and Network Services tabs.

Please visit smartmanager reference guide for details of the smartmanager user interface