Pre-requisites - Setting up the applications

This section will guide the setup of your application so that is can be used by the automated Namespaces manager within the WLAN Pi. The Orb application will be used as a working example but you can replace this with any other applications

To setup with Orb, these are the pre-requisite steps.

1. Install the Application

Note. These steps can be repeated for any application. Orb is used as an example of the process. Try applying it to other applications

Install you application using the application provider's recommended setup

To install Orb, follow the installation instructions here https://orb.net/docs/setup-sensor/wlan-pi

The quick guide to this is as follows:

Install the application

curl -fsSL https://pkgs.orb.net/install.sh | sh

Open the required ports

sudo ufw allow 7443/tcp

2. Remove any auto started services

In the case or Orb, the installation process sets up a service which will always run. This can be very useful but seeing as the approach taken here is to run the Orb application within a Namespace of our choice, we need to disable the auto starting service.

In the case of Orb, the following command should be run

sudo systemctl disable orb

Enter the password if asked

3. Setup a Key by which the Namespaces functionality can run the application

To automate the execution of applications in your namespaces, there is a file called apps.json which maps a key to the application. this is a security measure to keep you in control of the applications which can automatically be run by the Namespace manager.

Using a map prevents the unwanted running of applications on your WLAN Pi.

The file needs to be created by editing the apps file in the correct location. This file can only be manually edited by the user on the device, to ensure it remains secure. It can be done in the following way.

sudo nano /home/wlanpi/.local/share/wlanpi-core/netcfg/apps.json

The file uses a json definition as follows —> key:execution path

For example, to run the Orb application, place the following into your file:

{"orb": "/usr/bin/orb sensor"}

Do this now if you intend to follow the tutorial later to setup an automated Orb application

Now your application is setup and can be accessed by the key you just created. Remember this as you will use it later in the Namespace configuration.