Getting Started with Vista IoT

This guide will help you deploy the Vista IoT Gateway Platform on your Radxa Single Board Computer in minutes.

Vista IoT Industrial Setup

Prerequisites

Hardware Requirements

  • Radxa SBC with Armbian/Debian-based Linux
  • Minimum 2GB RAM (4GB recommended)
  • 8GB+ microSD card (32GB+ recommended for production)
  • Internet connection for initial setup
  • Root access to the system

Supported Hardware Platforms

  • Radxa Cubie A5E (Primary - Industrial grade)
  • Banana Pi BPI-F3 (RISC-V alternative)
  • Radxa ROCK Series (Development & testing)
  • Other ARM SBCs (Community supported)

📝 Detailed hardware information: See our Supported Hardware page for comprehensive board specifications, performance benchmarks, and selection guidance.

Network Requirements

  • Ethernet connection (WiFi optional)
  • Access to ports: 8080 (Web Dashboard), 1883 (MQTT), 502 (Modbus), 4840 (OPC-UA)

🚀 Quick Deployment

Method 1: One-Command Installation

# Download and run the deployment script
wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Vista-IOT/radxa-iot-gateway/main/deploy.sh | sudo bash

Method 2: Manual Installation

1. Clone the Repository

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Vista-IOT/radxa-iot-gateway.git
cd radxa-iot-gateway

# Make deploy script executable
chmod +x deploy.sh

2. Deploy the Complete System

# Deploy the complete system (run as root)
sudo ./deploy.sh deploy

The deployment script will:

  • Install system dependencies
  • Set up Python virtual environment
  • Install Python packages
  • Build the web dashboard
  • Configure systemd services
  • Set up firewall rules
  • Create configuration directories

3. Access the Web Dashboard

After deployment (takes 5-10 minutes):

# Find your Radxa's IP address
ip addr show

# Or use hostname
hostname -I

Open your browser and navigate to:

  • URL: http://YOUR_RADXA_IP:8080
  • Default Login: No authentication required (configurable later)

🖥️ Initial Configuration

1. Device Information Setup

  1. Open the web dashboard
  2. Navigate to Overview tab
  3. Configure:
    • Device ID: radxa_gateway_001
    • Device Name: Factory Floor Gateway
    • Location: Building A - Floor 1
    • Description: Brief description of the gateway’s purpose

2. Network Configuration

  1. Go to Network tab
  2. Configure Ethernet:
    • Enable DHCP for automatic IP assignment
    • Or set Static IP with your network settings
  3. Configure WiFi (if needed):
    • Enter SSID and Password
    • Select Security Type (WPA2 recommended)
  4. Set DNS Servers (default: 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4)

3. Enable Industrial Protocols

  1. Navigate to Protocols tab
  2. Enable required protocols:
    • MQTT: For IoT messaging
    • Modbus TCP/RTU: For PLC communication
    • OPC-UA: For industrial automation
    • DNP3: For SCADA systems
    • IEC 61850: For power system communication

4. Apply Configuration

  1. Click Save Configuration to store settings
  2. Click Apply & Restart to implement changes
  3. System will automatically configure and reboot

🔧 Verification Steps

Check Service Status

# Check gateway services
sudo systemctl status radxa-gateway
sudo systemctl status radxa-dashboard

# Check MQTT broker
sudo systemctl status mosquitto

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u radxa-gateway -f
sudo journalctl -u radxa-dashboard -f

Test Protocol Connectivity

# Test MQTT
mosquitto_pub -h localhost -t test -m "hello"
mosquitto_sub -h localhost -t test

# Check open ports
sudo ss -tlnp | grep -E ':(8080|1883|502|4840)'

Web Dashboard Health Check

  1. Access dashboard at http://YOUR_IP:8080
  2. Check System Status shows “Online”
  3. Verify Protocol Status shows enabled protocols
  4. Review Network Status for connectivity

🔄 Next Steps

Connect Your First Device

  1. For Modbus Devices:
    • Go to Protocols → Modbus
    • Add device with IP address and unit ID
    • Configure register mappings
  2. For OPC-UA Servers:
    • Go to Protocols → OPC-UA
    • Add server endpoint URL
    • Configure node subscriptions
  3. For MQTT Devices:
    • Use broker at YOUR_IP:1883
    • Subscribe to topics: radxa/{device_id}/telemetry
    • Publish commands to: radxa/{device_id}/commands

Advanced Configuration

  • Security Setup: Configure SSL/TLS, user authentication
  • Data Storage: Set up InfluxDB or PostgreSQL
  • Cloud Integration: Connect to AWS IoT, Azure IoT Hub
  • Custom Protocols: Extend with additional protocol support

Learning Resources

⚙️ Development Setup

For development and customization:

# Set up development environment
cd radxa-iot-gateway
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Start development server
python app.py

# In another terminal, start web dashboard development
cd web-dashboard
npm install
npm run dev

⚠️ Important: This is an industrial-grade IoT platform. Always test configurations in a development environment before deploying to production systems.