New setup tools

A new set of installation tools for the Neuro-Ledger® and Neuron® are available. The old setup files have been obsoleted and will not be updated. The old tools were build using the Wix toolset, which deprecated the version that was used, and upgrading to a newer version was not trivial. Instead, a new set of custom installers have been made. These are all simple executable files, but they can do things that traditional setup tools cannot. They are build around a custom installer available in the IoTGateway repository. It is built around *.package and *.manifest files which are easier to manage and distribute. They are already used through for distributing packages, and so there is little additional work required to build a custom installer. It is furthermore an easy task to build new custom installers, as all you need to do is provide the .package files you want to be installed, and change the installation folder and application name, and you’re done.

The new custom installers have an additional new feature that was difficult when using the old installer: You can install multiple instances of the software (or softwares) on the same machine. You can also individually manage, repair or uninstall them, as required. Each individual instance is its own service, with its own service packages, databases, application data, etc. This also means it is easier to test an installation, as you can do it on your development machine, without it interfering with your other instances or development environments. You can also have multiple development environments in parallel.

Other changes:

• The old name of the Neuron® installer was IoTBrokerSetup.exe and IoTBrokerNoJavaSetup.exe. There is now only one setup file called NeuronSetup.exe. It does not install Java. If Java is necessary for integrations with Java-software, it must be installed separately.

• The old installer installed additional software, such as GraphViz and PlantUML for integration with graphs in Markdown. Such integrations are still possible, but you need to install these softwares separately. They are no longer included by default when installing the Neuron® using the new installer.

You can download the new Windows installers following these links:

• NeuronSetup.exe installs the Neuron®, together with the Neuro-Ledger® and IoT Gateway.
• NeuroLedgerSetup.exe installs the Neuro-Ledger® and IoT Gateway.
• IoTGatewaySetup.exe installs only the IoT Gateway.

Note: For historical reasons, the Neuron® package, when being updated, is still called IoTBroker.package when diseminated in the Neuron® network as an update. The Neuron® consists of the IoTGateway.package, the NeuroLedger.package and the Neuron.package files, joined together as the IoTBroker.package file.

#new, #neuron, #neuro-ledger, #install, #features

Optimizing Update performance and Service Restart

When the Neuron® updates itself, it executes the Waher.Utility.Install.exe application that is installed with the Neuron® in a parallel process. When the Neuron® starts, it copies the install utility to a subfolder, to make sure its executable files are not the same as the Neuron’s. When the process has started, the Neuron® stops its execution, releasing the locks on the executable files, and releasing a named semaphore that signals to the install tool the files have been released. The install utility then performs its update instructions. In all neurons prior to build 2024-11-20, the Neuron® got restarted when the operating system restarts the service. This implies a delay from when the install procedure is completed, until Windows decides to restart the service. For some reasons, Windows may choose not to restart the service at all, leaving the service disabled.

Windows Defender

Furthermore, if Windows Defender is executing on the server, it can intercept the updating of each archive, which may take considerable time. This time may interfere with the restarting of the Neuron®, which may lock files, prohibiting the update. To minimize problems during the update, Windows Defender could be temporily disabled, drastically increasing update speed.

Auto-restarting service

To speed up the restarting of the service, and remove the dependency on Windows having to automatically restart the service, the install utility has been updated and can now issue a service restart command when the install procedure is completed. For this to work, the application needs to have sufficient privileges to do this. The service runs using the system Local Service account, with very few privileges. By default, this user cannot start services. The new installer gives the Local Service account access rights to start the Neuron® Windows service (i.e. the IoT Gateway Service). If you are running a Neuron® installed prior to 2024-11-20, or if the configuration was not successful, you can manually give the Local Service account sufficient privileges to enable this feature. Follow these steps:

1. Download the Service Security Editor on the Neuron® machine.

2. Select the “IoT Broker” service (or “IoT Gateway Service” or “Neuron Service”) on the starting screen.

   

3. If LOCAL SERVICE is not available in the user list, add it. Ensure that the user has rights to start the service, and no other rights.

   

4. Press OK and then Done to close the application. The install utility can now start the Neuron® again once it completes an update.

#neuron, #install, #service

Configuring the Neuron® using Environment Variables

The setup and configuration flow of the IoT Gateway has been refactored to support configuration using Environment Variables. Configuring a system using Environment Variables is a popular method, especially when containerizing and automating installation of services, for example, using Docker. These changes are also available in products hosted on the IoT Gateway, such as the TAG Neuron®.

Configuration Steps

Depending on the modules available in the Neuron® installation, different configuration steps will be available during initial configuration of the gateway. Each step has its own collection of enviornment variables that can be used to configure that step. The following sections list the steps available. The sections are ordered by priority. The priority is used to sort the steps, as they are being presented.

Overview

Priority	Module	Category	Class
-100	IoT Gateway	Information	Introduction
0	IoT Gateway	Database	DatabaseConfiguration
100	IoT Gateway	Information	PersonalDataConfiguration
150	IoT Gateway	Database	RestoreConfiguration
175	IoT Gateway	Database	BackupConfiguration
190	IoT Broker	Internet	InternetGatewayConfiguration
200	IoT Gateway	Internet	DomainConfiguration
250	IoT Broker	Internet	DnsConfiguration
300	IoT Gateway	XMPP	XmppConfiguration
320	IoT Gateway	XMPP	LegalIdentityConfiguration
350	Neuro-Ledger	Ledger	LedgerConfiguration
380	IoT Broker	XMPP	PeerReviewConfiguration
400	IoT Gateway	XMPP	RosterConfiguration
450	IoT Broker	Mail	RelayConfiguration
460	IoT Broker	Push	PushConfiguration
500	IoT Gateway	GUI	ThemeConfiguration
600	IoT Gateway	Operation	NotificationConfiguration

Introduction

Configuration step
Priority	-100
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	Information
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.Introduction
Description	Selects between simplified and detailed configuration.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_SIMPLE_SETUP	true or 1 for simplified setup, false or 0 for detailed setup.

Database Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	0
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	Database
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.DatabaseConfiguration
Description	Configures main database provider to use.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_DB_PROVIDER	Fully qualified name of the database provider to use.
FILES_DB_SALT	Available on machines that do not have operating system support to secure cryptographic keys, to ensure encryption in each instance is done using a unique key.

Configuration of the specific provider depends on the type of provider selected, as follows:

Local Internal Encrypted Object Database

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_DB_PROVIDER	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.Databases.InternalDatabase

MongoDB

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_DB_PROVIDER	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.Databases.MongoDBDatabase
MONGO_DB_HOST	Host name of MongoDB database service.
MONGO_DB_NAME	Name of database to connect to.
MONGO_DB_DEFAULT	Optional name of default collection. If not provided, the default collection name will be Default.
MONGO_DB_USER	User name to use when connecting to MongoDB database service.
MONGO_DB_PASSWORD	Password to authenticate user.
MONGO_DB_PORT	Optional port number used in connnection. If not provided, the library default port number will be used.

Personal Data Processing Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	100
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	Information
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.PersonalDataConfiguration
Description	Requests consent for processing of personal information.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_PII_CONSENT	true or 1 to give consent for processing personal inforamtion, false or 0 otherwise.

Restore Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	150
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	Database
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.RestoreConfiguration
Description	Allows a previous backup to be restored on the gateway.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_RESTORE	true or 1 if a restore should be performed, false or 0 if no restore should be performed. (If not, the following variables can be skipped.)
GATEWAY_RESTORE_BAKFILE	File name of backup file to restore.
GATEWAY_RESTORE_KEYFILE	Optional file name of key file corresponding to the backup file, if available.
GATEWAY_RESTORE_OVERWRITE	If restore should overwrite existing information.
GATEWAY_RESTORE_COLLECTIONS	Optional comma-separated list of collections to restore. Empty value represents all collections.
GATEWAY_RESTORE_PARTS	Optional comma-separated list of parts to restore. Empty value represents all parts. Available parts include Database, Ledger and Files.

Note: The list of parts can be extended by modules hosted on the gateway.

Backup Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	175
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	Database
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.BackupConfiguration
Description	Configures when backups are performed, where they are stored, and for how long they are kept.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_BACKUP	true or 1 if automatic backups should be performed, false or 0 if no automatic backups should be performed. (If not, the following variables can be skipped.)
GATEWAY_BACKUP_TIME	A TimeSpan value representing a time of day, determining when automatic backups are performed.
GATEWAY_BACKUP_DAYS	the number of days daily backups are kept.
GATEWAY_BACKUP_MONTHS	the number of months monthly backups are kept.
GATEWAY_BACKUP_YEARS	the number of years yearly backups are kept.
GATEWAY_BACKUP_FOLDER	Optional variable determining the folder backup files are to be stored, if different from the default backup folder.
GATEWAY_KEY_FOLDER	Optional variable determining the folder key files are to be stored, if different from the default key folder.
GATEWAY_BACKUP_HOSTS	A comma-separated list of secondary backup hosts for redundant storage of backup files.
GATEWAY_KEY_HOSTS	A comma-separated list of secondary key hosts for redundant storage of key files.

Internet Gateway Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	190
Module	IoT Broker
Category	Internet
Class	Waher.Service.IoTBroker.Setup.InternetGatewayConfiguration
Description	Configures if the broker should register itself in available Internet Gateways in the LAN.

Environment Variable	Description
BROKER_INET_GATEWAY_REG	true or 1 if the broker should register itself in any Internet Gateway it finds in the Local Area Network, false or 0 if no registration should be made.

Domain Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	200
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	Internet
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.DomainConfiguration
Description	Configures names for the Gateway. This includes domain names, alternative names, dynamic DNS, and human-readable names in different languages.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_DOMAIN_USE	true or 1 if gateway uses a domain name, false or 0 if not.
GATEWAY_HR_NAME	Default Human-readable name for gateway.
GATEWAY_HR_NAME_LANG	Language code (ISO-639-1) of GATEWAY_HR_NAME.
GATEWAY_HR_DESC	Default Human-readable description of gateway.
GATEWAY_HR_DESC_LANG	Language code (ISO-639-1) of GATEWAY_HR_DESC.
GATEWAY_HR_NAME_LOC	Comma-separated list of Language Codes (ISO-639-1) for available localizations of the human-readable name for the gateway.
GATEWAY_HR_NAME_[lang]	Localized Human-readable name for the gateway, where [lang] is replaced by any of the ISO-639-1 language codes available in GATEWAY_HR_NAME_LOC.
GATEWAY_HR_DESC_LOC	Comma-separated list of Language Codes (ISO-639-1) for available localizations of the human-readable description of the gateway.
GATEWAY_HR_DESC_[lang]	Localized Human-readable description of the gateway, where [lang] is replaced by any of the ISO-639-1 language codes available in GATEWAY_HR_DESC_LOC.

If use of a Domain Name is configured (GATEWAY_DOMAIN_USE variable is true or 1), the following variables define its operation:

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_DOMAIN_NAME	Main Domain Name of the gateway.
GATEWAY_DOMAIN_ALT_NAMES	Comma-separated list of alternative domain names for the gateway, if defined.
GATEWAY_DYNDNS	true or 1 if gateway should use a Dynamic DNS-service, false or 0 if IP-address of Gateway is static.
GATEWAY_ENCRYPTION	true or 1 if gateway should use X.509-based encryption (for example TLS over HTTP, HTTPS), false or 0 if encryption is disabled.

If Encryption is configured (GATEWAY_ENCRYPTION variable), the following variables define its operation:

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_CA_CUSTOM	true or 1 if gateway should use a custom Certificate Authority (must support ACME), false or 0 if Let’s Encrypt should be used to generate certificates for the gateway.
GATEWAY_ACME_EMAIL	E-mail address for contact person associated with generated certificates.
GATEWAY_ACME_ACCEPT_TOS	If Certificate Authority Terms of Services are accepted.

If Dynamic DNS is configured (GATEWAY_DYNDNS variable), the following variables define its operation:

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_DYNDNS_TEMPLATE	Name of template to use for reporting IP address changes to the Dynamic DNS-service.
GATEWAY_DYNDNS_CHECK	Script to use to check the current public IP address of the gateway.
GATEWAY_DYNDNS_UPDATE	Script to use to update the current public IP address of the gateway in the Dynamic DNS service.
GATEWAY_DYNDNS_ACCOUNT	Account of the gateway in the Dynamic DNS service.
GATEWAY_DYNDNS_PASSWORD	Password of the Dynamic DNS service account.
GATEWAY_DYNDNS_INTERVAL	Interval (in seconds) for checking if the IP address has changed.

If a Custom Certificate Authority is configured (GATEWAY_CA_CUSTOM variable), the following variables define its operation:

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_ACME_DIRECTORY	URL to the custom ACME directory to use to generate certificates for the gateway if a custom CA has been selected.

DNS Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	250
Module	IoT Broker
Category	Internet
Class	Waher.Service.IoTBroker.Setup.DnsConfiguration
Description	Tests the DNS to see if necessary records are available. No configuration is performed.

Note: No configuration is performed in this step. The configuration step allows the installer to review necessary DNS settings. When configuring the system using environment variables, the test will also be performed. Any errors will be logged to the event log, but configuration will not fail.

XMPP Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	300
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	XMPP
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.XmppConfiguration
Description	Configures communication settings for how the gateway connects to the XMPP network.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_XMPP_HOST	XMPP broker to connect to.
GATEWAY_XMPP_TRANSPORT	XMPP transport method (a.k.a. binding). Can be C2S (default if variable not available), BOSH (Bidirectional HTTP) or WS (Web-socket).
GATEWAY_XMPP_PORT	Optional Port number to use when connecting to host. (If C2S binding has been selected.) If not provided, the default port number will be used.
GATEWAY_XMPP_BOSHURL	URL to use when connecting to host. (If BOSH binding has been selected).
GATEWAY_XMPP_WSURL	URL to use when connecting to host. (If WS binding has been selected).
GATEWAY_XMPP_CREATE	If an account is to be created.
GATEWAY_XMPP_CREATE_KEY	API-Key to use when creating account, if host is not one of the featured hosts.
GATEWAY_XMPP_CREATE_SECRET	API-Key secret to use when creating account, if host is not one of the featured hosts.
GATEWAY_XMPP_ACCOUNT	Name of account.
GATEWAY_XMPP_PASSWORD	Password of account. If creating an account, this variable is optional. If not available, a secure password will be generated.
GATEWAY_XMPP_ACCOUNT_NAME	Optional Human-readable name of account.
GATEWAY_XMPP_LOG	Optional. true or 1 if gateway should log communication to program data folder, false or 0 if communication should not be logged (default).
GATEWAY_XMPP_TRUST	Optional. true or 1 if gateway should trust server certificate, even if it does not validate, false or 0 if server should be distrusted (default).
GATEWAY_XMPP_OBS_AUTH	Optional. true or 1 if gateway should be allowed to use obsolete and insecure authentication mechanisms, false or 0 if only secure mechanisms should be allowed (default).
GATEWAY_XMPP_CLEAR_PWD	Optional. true or 1 if gateway should store password as-is in the database, false or 0 if only the password hash should be stored (default).

Legal Identity Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	320
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	XMPP
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.LegalIdentityConfiguration
Description	Configures an optional legal identity of the gateway, and sends an identity application.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_ID_USE	If a legal identity is to be used by the gateway. If used, the folllowing optional variables can be used to provide information going into the application.
GATEWAY_ID_FIRST	First name of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_MIDDLE	Middle name of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_LAST	Last name of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_PNR	Personal number of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ADDR	Address (line 1) of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ADDR2	Address (line 2) of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ZIP	Postal code of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_AREA	Area of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_CITY	City of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_REGION	Region of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_COUNTRY	Country of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_NATIONALITY	Nationality of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_GENDER	Gender of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_BDATE	Birth Date of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGNAME	Organization name of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGDEPT	Organization department of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGROLE	Organization role of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGNR	Organization number of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGADDR	Organization address (line 1) of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGADDR2	Organization address (line 2) of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGZIP	Organization postal code of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGAREA	Organization area of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGCITY	Organization city of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGREGION	Organization region of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ORGCOUNTRY	Organization country of legal identity.
GATEWAY_ID_ALT	Comma-separated list of alternative fields to send in identity application.
GATEWAY_ID_ALT_[field]	Value for alternative field [field] to send in the identity application.
GATEWAY_ID_PASSWORD	Protect legal identity with this password.

Neuro-Ledger Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	350
Module	Neuro-Ledger
Category	Ledger
Class	Waher.Service.NeuroLedger.Setup.LedgerConfiguration
Description	Configures collection parameter for the Neuro-Ledger.

Environment Variable	Description
NEURO_LEDGER_COLLECTION	Collection time in seconds. If not provided, the default value will be used.
NEURO_LEDGER_MAXSIZE	Maximum size of blocks, in bytes. If not provided, the default value will be used.

Peer Review Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	380
Module	IoT Broker
Category	XMPP
Class	Waher.Service.IoTBroker.Setup.PeerReviewConfiguration
Description	Configures requirements for peer-review of legal identities on the broker.

Environment Variable	Description
BROKER_REVIEW_USE	If peer review is allowed on the broker (true or 1), or not (false or 0). If enabled, the following variables control what parameters must be included:
BROKER_REVIEW_NRPEERS	Number of peers required to review and approve a legal identity application before it can be approved.
BROKER_REVIEW_NRPHOTOS	Number of photos required in a legal identity application for a peer review to be accepted.
BROKER_REVIEW_FIRST	If first-name is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_MIDDLE	If middle-name is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_LAST	If last-name is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_PNR	If personal number is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_COUNTRY	If country is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_REGION	If region is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_CITY	If city is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_AREA	If area is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_ZIP	If postal code is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_ADDR	If address is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_ISO3166	If country codes must comply with ISO 3166 in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_NATIONALITY	If nationality is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_GENDER	If gender is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_REVIEW_BDATE	If birth date is required in a peer review (true or 1), or not (false or 0).

Roster Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	400
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	XMPP
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.RosterConfiguration
Description	Configures contacts that should be added to the XMPP roster.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_ROSTER_ADD	Optional Comma-separated list of Bare JIDs to add to the roster.
GATEWAY_ROSTER_SUBSCRIBE	Optional Comma-separated list of Bare JIDs to send presence subscription requests to.
GATEWAY_ROSTER_ACCEPT	Optional Comma-separated list of Bare JIDs to accept presence subscription requests from.
GATEWAY_ROSTER_GROUPS	Optional Comma-separated list of groups to define.
GATEWAY_ROSTER_GRP_[group]	Optional Comma-separated list of Bare JIDs in the roster to add to the group [group].
GATEWAY_ROSTER_NAME_[jid]	Optional human-readable name of a JID in the roster.

Mail Relay Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	450
Module	Broker
Category	Mail
Class	Waher.Service.IoTBroker.Setup.RelayConfiguration
Description	Configures e-mail Relay settings for the broker.

Environment Variable	Description
BROKER_RELAY_USE	If an SMTP relay server is to be used (true or 1), or if the broker should connect to the recipient mail exchange directly (false or 0).
BROKER_RELAY_DOMAINS	Optional Comma-separated list of domain names for which the broker can act as an SMTP relay.
BROKER_RELAY_SENDER	Default sender of mail messages from broker.

If you choose to use a relay server to send e-mail (NEURO_RELAY_USE is trueor 1), the following variables configure the connection to the relay server:

Environment Variable	Description
BROKER_RELAY_HOST	Host (or domain) or the SMTP Relay server.
BROKER_RELAY_PORT	Port number to use when connecting relay server.
BROKER_RELAY_USER	User account in the relay server.
BROKER_RELAY_PASSWORD	Password of account when authenticating access to the relay server.

Push Notification Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	460
Module	Broker
Category	Push
Class	Waher.Service.IoTBroker.Setup.PushNotificationConfiguration
Description	Configures Push-Notification settings for the broker.

Environment Variable	Description
BROKER_FIREBASE_USE	If Firebase should be used to push notifications to clients when they are not connected (true or 1), or not (false or 0).
BROKER_FIREBASE_SERVICE_JSON	File name of Firebase Service Account JSON file, identifying the service in Firebase.
BROKER_FIREBASE_API_KEY	Firebase API Key (Web Push)
BROKER_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN	Firebase Authentication Domain (Web Push)
BROKER_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID	Firebase Project ID (Web Push)
BROKER_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET	Firebase Storage Bucket (Web Push)
BROKER_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID	Firebase Messaging Sender ID (Web Push)
BROKER_FIREBASE_APP_ID	Firebase App ID (Web Push)

Theme Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	500
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	GUI
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.ThemeConfiguration
Description	Configures contacts that should be added to the XMPP roster.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_THEME_ID	ID of theme to use.

Notification Configuration

Configuration step
Priority	600
Module	IoT Gateway
Category	Operation
Class	Waher.IoTGateway.Setup.NotificationConfiguration
Description	Configures who gets notified of important events, and who can administer the gateway.

Environment Variable	Description
GATEWAY_NOTIFICATION_JIDS	JIDs of operators of gateway.

#new, #features, #neuron, #install, #docker, #container

Fixing keyset errors on the neuron

If you have trouble setting up your neuron and see in the event logs, which you can see in IoT Gateway/Events/ get one of the errors:

• “Unable to get access to cryptographic key for database file C:\ProgramData\IoT Gateway\Data\<FILE_NAME>. (Object already exists.) Was the database created using another user?”
• “Unable to get access to cryptographic key for database file C:\ProgramData\IoT Gateway\Data\<FILE_NAME>. (Keyset does not exist.) Was the database created using another user?”
• “Unable to get access to cryptographic key for database file C:\ProgramData\IoT Gateway\Data\<FILE_NAME>. (Access denied.) Was the database created using another user?”

You installed the neuron in a bad way. What happened to me was that I had run the installer as administrator. This then creates the encryption keys, and then when the neuron starts running, it does not have the privileges to read them.

I recommend reading all the steps once before beginning the restoration. And always be careful, I figured out these steps on a computer that did not have any sensitive or important data so was not worried about breaking anything. Lastly, I would not consider myself deeply knowledgeable about the windows operating system so take everything with a grain of salt and preferably double check that what you are doing is correct.

What to do:

1. Uninstall the neuron
2. Delete everything in IoT Gateway/Data (be careful as this will delete all persistence files/data on the neuron)
3. Go to ProgramData/Microsoft/Crypto/RSA/MachineKeys
4. What we need to do here is to delete all the keys created by the installer, these keys are the persistence encryption keys generated by the installer. There probably are multiple ways of finding the correct files to delete but one way is to find every file containing any file path relating to /Iot Gateway. To do this download and extract the windows utility tools at https\://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/downloads/psexec .
5. Run PowerShell as administrator and navigate to the folder containing the tools.
6. Run “./PsExec.exe -i -s C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe”. This will start a PowerShell instance running as the SYSTEM user (this is neccesary to later read the machine keyset files).
7. Accept the terms and conditions of the external tool. Now you need to be careful since you now have a PowerShell logged in as the SYSTEM.
8. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys
9. Run the command: “findstr /s /m “IoT Gateway” /*” This will list all the files containing the string “IoT Gateway” in its content. You should be good to go to delete all those files (you can do that with the file explorer as a normal administrator) but be careful to not delete any other files. If you are comfortable, you could create a script to delete these files, but it should not take too long to do it manually, especially if you only have the Files.master file in /Data (every file there got its own encryption keyset). A few tips to speed up the process of deleting the keys are:

• The keys are usually concurrent when sorting by Date modified in the windows explorer
• Whenever you see a long time step in date modified, look in both files to see if they are a part of the IoT Gateway keysets, (run Get-Content <filename> in the PowerShell running as SYSTEM) Or check that the files are in the file list outputted by the findstr

10. Then lastly reinstall the neuron as normal.

Now it should work as normal again.

Notes:

• These instructions could also be useful if you manually deleted all the files in /Data and when trying to reinstall the neuron get one of these errors.
• Other ways of finding out which files you should delete if you don’t want to use these external tools, you could find the keys created at the same time as you installed the neuron, and make yourself the owner of the file, give you read permission to see if they are the correct one (do this with the first and the last in the time period when sorting by date modified to find which “block” of keys where created by the installer). Though i would recommend doing the first way explained since it contains fewer risks regarding not potentially delete or changing permissions on unwanted files.

#neuron, #tutorial, #install, #troubleshooting, #error

Design Improvment

• Upon quick analysis, one can notice that an individual who is supposed to install Neuron may perceive the website as outdated. This is because the website currently lacks proper design.

• Assuming that this website is intended for use by individuals outside the TAG team, we are wondering if a user-friendly update can be implemented.

#design, #neuron, #install