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USB Install of EVE-OS on RPi 4

Updated

Prerequisites

  • Raspberry Pi 4 (RPi4) with 4 or 8GB RAM
  • 2 microSD cards (1G or larger) - can get by with one if re-use it for fw update and EVE-OS
  • USB stick (0.5G or larger)

Overview of key steps

To install EVE-OS onto a Raspberry Pi 4 (RPi4), you will need 1-2 micro SD cards and one USB memory stick, at a minimum. (These media will be completely overwritten!) It’s also helpful to have your RPi connected to an HDMI monitor. 

This document assumes you will use the standard EVE-OS installation approach that runs an installer from a USB memory stick to initiate the EVE-OS image installation process on a blank micro SD card that will be inserted into the RPi. (Instead of this approach, you can also flash a micro SD card with a pre-built EVE-OS image specific to RPi4.)

Highlights of the approach are described below:

  1. Update the RPi4 bootloader to the latest version and configure the RPi to boot from a USB memory stick (steps 1-14)
  2. Prepare a USB memory stick with the EVE-OS installer image (step 15)
  3. Prepare a blank micro SD card to insert into the RPi (step 16)
  4. Boot the RPi with the blank micro SD card and the prepared USB memory stick (steps 16-17)
  5. Take note of the unique soft serial number assigned to the RPi by EVE-OS (step 18)

Updating and configuring RPi bootloader

Updating to the latest version of the RPi bootloader can also incorporate a configuration change to boot from USB (before SD). The RPi Imager application lets you update and change to USB boot in the same process, which is detailed below.

Additional reference information on RPi boot modes and bootloader configuration is available online. The below instructions describe this method: “Using Raspberry Pi Imager to update the bootloader (recommended)”. This document augments the online document with screenshots and other notes.

Detailed install steps

  1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager and launch the application
  2. Insert a spare SD card into your computer. The contents will get overwritten!
  3. From the RPi Imager application, under Operating System, click CHOOSE OS
  4. From the popup dialog, select Misc utility images
  5. From the next window, select Bootloader
  6. From the next window, select USB Boot as the boot-mode
  7. Under Storage click CHOOSE STORAGE
  8. Select your SD card
  9. Click WRITE
  10. Click Continue and eject the SD card from your computer
  11. If desired, check the README file of the newly imaged SD CARD (rescue disk files)
  12. Boot the Raspberry Pi with the new SD card image and wait for at least 10 seconds, while the green activity LED blinks with a steady pattern
  13. If you have an HDMI display connected, the HDMI display will be all green on success
  14. Power off the Raspberry Pi and remove the SD card
  15. Flash the EVE-OS installer onto a USB stick
  16. Insert a blank SD card and the newly imaged USB stick into the RPi and boot
  17. Allow the USB application to install EVE-OS onto the blank SD card by waiting until the RPi is automatically powered down
  18. Remove the USB from the RPi and insert into your computer to read the newly created and unique soft serial number that is needed by the ZEDEDA Cloud controller for onboarding

Detail for steps 1-18

  1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager and launch the application
    image2.png
  2. Insert a spare SD card into your ucompter. The contents will get overwritten!
    image17.png
  3. From the RPi Imager application, under Operating System, click CHOOSE OSimage15.png
  4. From the popup dialog, select Misc utility imagesimage11.png
  5. From the next window, select Bootloaderimage1.png
  6. From the next window, select USB Boot as the boot-modeimage10.png
  7. Under Storage click CHOOSE STORAGEimage14.png
  8. Select your SD cardimage6.png
  9. Click WRITEimage8.png
  10. Click Continue and eject the SD card from your computerimage12.png
  11. If desired, check the README file of the newly imaged SD CARD (rescue disk files)image7.png
  12. Boot the Raspberry Pi with the new SD card image and wait for at least 10 seconds, while the green activity LED blinks with a steady pattern.
    If you have an HDMI display connected, the HDMI display will be all green on success

  13. After the bootloader update is complete, if connected to the serial console you would also see the following:

    SIG vl805.sig 6246230ecd5b472902e6a49c95e857a5e3190c4fa6c462d6a8867e9a5e523a7c 0
    Read vl805.bin bytes 99224 hnd 0x000000ed
    PCI reset
    PCI reset
    VL805 EEPROM: 74606 diffs
    Updating VL805
    Verify VL805 EEPROM
    SIG pieeprom.sig 1ebca12b90c23fcddfb7b3188e9f4f6807756df64a99b0a2bf584057faa5b222 0
    Read pieeprom.bin bytes   524288 hnd 0x0000009f
    Reading EEPROM: 524288
    Writing EEPROM
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.............................................+
    Verify BOOT EEPROM
    Reading EEPROM: 524288
    BOOT-EEPROM: UPDATED
  14. Power off the Raspberry Pi and remove the SD card
  15. Create an EVE-OS installer image and flash it onto a USB stick.
    For arm64 platforms (such as the Raspberry Pi 4):

    (The first step is optional)

    arm64$ docker pull lfedge/eve:latest-arm64
    arm64$ docker run --rm lfedge/eve:latest-arm64 -f raw installer_raw > installer.raw

    Or can specify an EVE-OS version, e.g., lfedge/eve:8.4.0-kvm-arm64

    To override the default EVE Controller URL or to specify a specific EVE-OS version:

    On macOS or Linux:

    % cd $HOME
    % mkdir eve-overrides
    % echo zedcloud.gmwtus.zededa.net > $HOME/eve-overrides/server
    % docker run -v $HOME/eve-overrides:/in --rm lfedge/eve:8.4.0-kvm-arm64 installer_raw > installer.raw

    On Microsoft Windows OS:

    % cd %HOMEDRIVE%\%HOMEPATH%
    %  mkdir eve-overrides
    % echo zedcloud.gmwtus.zededa.net > %HOMEDRIVE%\%HOMEPATH%\eve-overrides\server
    % docker run -v %HOMEDRIVE%\%HOMEPATH%\eve-overrides:/in --rm lfedge/eve:8.4.0-kvm-arm64 installer_raw > installer.raw

    And just FYI, for Intel x86 or amd64 architecture platforms the command is slightly different, compare the yellow highlight part:

    amd64$ docker run --rm lfedge/eve:latest -f raw installer_raw > installer.raw
    amd64$ docker run --rm lfedge/eve:8.4.0-kvm-amd64 -f raw installer_raw > installer.raw

    You can use any flashing utility of your choice.

  16. Insert both a blank SD card (FAT32 formatted) and the newly imaged USB stick into the RPi and boot

  17. Allow the USB application to install EVE-OS onto the blank SD card by waiting until the RPi is automatically powered down
  18. Remove the USB stick from the RPi and insert it back into your computer temporarily, in order to read the newly created and unique soft serial number. This serial number is needed by the ZEDEDA Cloud controller for onboarding the RPi as an edge node into your enterprise.

    Steps to obtain the soft serial key from the USB:

    • Step 1 > Plug the USB stick into your computer.

    • Step 2 > Navigate to the INVENTORY partition to locate the soft serial key directory (it contains hardwaremodel.txt and other files).

    • Step 3 > Copy the directory name and use it as a soft serial key during onboarding. Or you can download the device.cert.pem file and upload it to your ZEDEDA Cloud enterprise as an alternative method of secure identification of your edge node during onboarding.

      image5.png

Onboard RPi4 with EVE-OS to ZEDEDA Cloud

Obtain a trial account for the ZEDEDA Cloud and log into your enterprise using a cookie-compliant browser.

Go to the ZEDEDA GUI.

Onboarding Data Prerequisites

Before proceeding, make sure you know the unique Onboarding Key and Serial Number.

Onboarding Key – <insert way to find onboarding key>

Serial Number -- saved directory name above. 

After logging in to the ZEDEDA GUI, from the left navigation icons, select the Edge Nodes page (the edge node icon is just under the home icon). In the upper right corner, click the + icon to open the Add Edge Node page.
On the Add Edge Node page, fill in the required fields (e.g., network interfaces) and any other optional details. The example screenshots below can be used as a guide, but be sure to enter your own unique onboarding key and serial number.Do not forget to select (check) the “Activate Edge Node” checkbox in the lower left of the page before submitting the page using the “Add” button.

After about 5 min, your RPi node should show up and be active (green dot “Online”) on the Edge Nodes summary page. Click its name to browse four pages of details regarding your node. An example of the “Status” page is shown below.

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