ESPRESSObin

/docs/gears/devices/espressobin/

Use of a SATA disk

To use a SATA disk with the ESPRESSObin, please refer to Run UBOS on ESPRESSObin.

Note that more recent (2019) kernels require an upgraded boot loader, otherwise your disk may not be detected. For how to upgrade your boot loader, please refer to Run UBOS on ESPRESSObin.

Networking

Unlike most ARM boards, the ESPRESSObin features three Ethernet ports. This opens possibilities!

For more background on networking on UBOS, see Setting up networking and DNS

  • By default, UBOS on the ESPRESSObin runs the espressobin Network Configuration. This configuration only exists on the ESPRESSObin. It is very similar to the gateway network configuration: it configures the ESPRESSObin’s wan port to connect to an upstream network (such as from an ISP) and the two lan ports to manage two local LANs. Any additional network interfaces, such as a WiFi USB dongle, will be treated like the LAN ports.

  • There is also the public-espressobin network configuration, which relates to the espressobin configuration the same way the public-gateway network configuration relates to the gateway one: it’s the same, but Apps installed on the Device can also be accessed from the public internet.

  • Alternatively, you can run the client network configuration, which makes all of the ESPRESSObin’s interfaces equivalent, expecting to plug into a network that has a DHCP server (such as your typical home network).

NOTE ON SECURITY: if you use your ESPRESSObin as a router (you use one port to connect “upstream” towards the internet and another to connect to other “downstream” devices that route through your ESPRESSObin), DO NOT BOOT OR REBOOT while the ESPRESSObin is connected to an upstream network. In other words: before booting or rebooting, disconnect the upstream Ethernet cable, and only reconnect once the ESPRESSObin has fully booted.

Explanation: it turns out that when the ESPRESSObin board starts, in the minute or two before UBOS (or any other OS) had a chance to configure networking, the ESPRESSObin’s on-board switch is on, and does what an unconfigured switch does: it forwards traffic. This has major unfortunate consequences:

  • Any downstream device (i.e. a device that is connected to one of the “other” two ports of the ESPRESSObin) will obtain, or attempt to obtain, an IP address from the upstream provider, not the ESPRESSObin, as the ESPRESSObin’s switch passes all data on directly. Such an upstream provider may not hand out multiple IP addresses, so this may or may not work. But if it works, it will conflict with the networking setup as soon as the ESPRESSObin is done booting, preventing the downstream device from networking right thereafter.

  • During this time, any attack from the public internet will be forwarded, without change, to the devices on the local area network. There is no firewall or any kind of protection until the operating system is done booting.

This is a problem with the way the ESPRESSObin board has been created, and not something we can fix in software – after all, UBOS does not run yet when the problem occurs! We have reported the problem to Globalscale, ESPRESSObin’s vendor, and hope they come up with a solution.