Network Configuration

NEMS Linux requires an Internet connection to obtain updates and patches, to tap into NEMS Cloud Services features such as NEMS CheckIn, NEMS Migrator Off-Site Backup, and NEMS Anonymous Stats, and to send notifications.

You cannot use NEMS Linux without an Internet connection.

Security Notice

NEMS Linux is intended to be accessible only to your trusted admin team. Never open ports to the world. Rather, specifically allow your admin IP address(es) access to the needed resources, or use a VPN.

Firewall Ports

To allow you/others to access your NEMS Server from outside your LAN, you will require the following ports be opened to your NEMS Server:

  • SSH Access: 22 TCP In

  • NEMS Dashboard Web Interface / nems-api: 80, 443 TCP In

  • NEMS Tools GPIO Extender: 9595 TCP In

  • Monit Service Monitor Web Access: 2812 TCP In

  • Cockpit Admin Interface: 9090 TCP In

  • AVAHI / mDNS Name Resolution: 548, 5353, 5354 TCP In/Out

Most standard network configurations allow servers to communicate with the outside world without any additional setup. However, if you have a very restrictive firewall configuration, you may need to open additional ports for your NEMS Server to be able to communicate with systems it is monitoring, as well as the NEMS Update servers.

  • NEMS Update: 80, 443, 9418 TCP Out

  • NRPE Check Commands: 5666, 12489 TCP Out

  • WMI Check Commands: 135, 445, 1024-1034 Out

You must also ensure your NEMS Server is allowed to communicate with the following TLDs:

  • *.nemslinux.com

  • *.github.com

How to Configure Networking on NEMS Linux

NEMS Linux includes the Cockpit administrative front-end. With some exceptions (listed below) you will only use this interface to configure your networking on a NEMS Linux server.

Setting up your networking by any other means (E.G., a general Linux networking tutorial, modifying system files, or using third-party tools) may result in your NEMS Server’s network stack being broken, and so is strongly discouraged. Should you ignore this warning and break your NEMS Server, re-flash NEMS Linux and import your NEMS Migrator Backup to recover.

Docker / Amazon Web Services

Network setup for NEMS Linux on Docker and Amazon Web Services is administered from the host, not the appliance. In these environments, Cockpit is not used to configure the network, and you must familiarize yourself with the host platform’s configuration options.

Important Notes

  1. When logging in to Cockpit, make sure you check the box “Reuse my password for privileged tasks” otherwise none of these options will be available to you. See here.

  2. You’ll find Cockpit in the System menu of your NEMS Dashboard. For more details about Cockpit, read the documentation.

  3. Network configuration does not persist from board to board: if you configure NEMS on one device and then move its storage (E.G., SD card) to a different device, the new device will revert to the default setting of DHCP.

Network Interfaces

NEMS Linux will enable any connected Interface it detects on boot.

Ethernet Interface

Recommended. Simply plug in the cable.

Wireless Network Interface

Because of the very nature of NEMS, the possible reliability issues on WiFi, and the fact that a WiFi connection will likely result in false notifications, it is not recommended to run your NEMS server on a WiFi connection. However, this may be the only option in some environments, and so great effort has gone into ensuring it will work as well as possible.

Examples where NEMS Linux will be hindered by a WiFi connection:

  • User has Gigabit Internet. WiFi connection is 54 Mb/sec. User wants a notification if the Internet ever drops below 200 Mb/sec, but this is impossible since the WiFi connection is always below 200 Mb/sec.

  • While perhaps untrue for the average home user, an enterprise WiFi connection, if configured securely, should never have access to particular resources on the network. For example, at the Category5 TV studio, WiFi can access the Internet, but not the server. Therefore a NEMS Server in this environment would not be able to monitor items such as server disk space.

  • User’s WiFi occasionally drops connection, which could result in false notifications that the Internet is down, or cause NEMS CheckIn to lose contact with the NEMS Server, resulting in yet more false notifications.

Warning

Raspberry Pi users: Do not use raspi-config for your WiFi.

Enable the WiFi Radio in NEMS Linux

In order to be able to activate/deactivate your WiFi connection in Cockpit, you must first add the connection information to your NEMS Linux server using the terminal. If you do not, you’ll receive an error “A ‘wireless’ setting is required if no AP path was given.” when trying to activate WiFi.

Determine if your WiFi radio is enabled or disabled:

sudo nmcli radio wifi

If it is disabled, enable it:

sudo nmcli radio wifi on

Scan for available wireless networks:

sudo nmcli device wifi list

Determine which is the one you wish to connect to and enter the following command:

sudo nmcli device wifi connect [SSID] password [password]

Eg., if your network SSID is MyWiFi and your WiFi password is MyPass123, the command would look like this:

sudo nmcli device wifi connect MyWiFi password MyPass123

Now, you can enable or disable your wireless connection within Cockpit→Networking.

IP Address/DNS Settings

DHCP Assigned IP Address

By default, NEMS Linux will obtain its network settings from your DHCP server. For this reason, a quick and easy way to set a static IP on your NEMS server would be to add it as a DHCP reservation within your router/DHCP server. To find out what IP address your NEMS server resides on, either check your DHCP pool, or connect a TV to your NEMS server. You can also try accessing it at https://nems.local from another computer on the same network and then open NEMS Server Overview to see your IP.

Static IP Address

If your NEMS server is already initialized, it is recommended that you copy your backup.nems to a different system prior to setting a static IP address. This gives you an easy way to recover should you accidentally lock yourself out of your NEMS server by breaking the network configuration.

When setting a static IP address, it is important to make sure it is outside your DHCP pool. Otherwise, some routers/DHCP servers may assign the IP to a second device, causing all kinds of unforeseen issues.

Set a static IP Address in NEMS Linux

  1. Open Cockpit.

  2. Login. Use the default credentials if you have not initialized NEMS, or your created credentials if you have. Check the box “Reuse my password for privileged tasks” while signing in.

  3. Click “Networking”.

  4. Click the network interface (E.G., eth0).

  5. Ensure “Connect automatically” is checked.

  6. Click the “Automatic (DHCP)” or IP address currently assigned to this NIC next to IPv4.

  7. Ensure “Manual” is selected in the dropdown.

  8. Add your new IP settings.

  9. Make sure you click the + next to DNS settings and assign at least one DNS server. 8.8.8.8 (Google) or 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) will do.

  10. Press “Apply” and wait for it to test the connection.

  11. Click “Change the setting” after the test is complete.

  12. You should now open your NEMS Dasboard at the new IP address. Within a few moments, the old one will stop working.