pSSID Daemon Provisioning Documentation

pssid-daemon.py reads the pssid-config.json file, generates schedules based on cron expressions in the batch, and runs batches with pscheduler from perfSONAR. The daemon can be run manually or daemonized

Contents

File Structure
Materials Needed
Initial Setup
Ansible Bootstrapping

• Example EduRoam WPA_Supplicant configuration file

See Also: Troubleshooting and Manual Bootstrapping

File Structure

This shows the comprehensive file structure on a RPi after configuration.

/usr/bin/pssid/
├── pssid-daemon.py                   
├── batch_processor_format_template.j2
└── README.md

/etc/pssid/
├── pssid_config.json       

/etc/wpa_supplicant/
├── wpa_supplicant_{ssid_profile}.conf

/usr/lib/exec/pssid/
├── pssid-80211
├── pssid-dhcp
├── libpssid.sh
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Materials Needed

• Raspberry Pi 4
• 64gb SD Card
• Additional SD Card (optional, for updating eeprom)
• Power Over Ethernet Cable (optional, varies by setup)

Initial Setup

Preparing the pi for ansible bootstrapping, configuring ssh

1. Download Ubuntu 22.04 or 24 LTS (server edition) for the Raspberry Pi 4. This can be acquired through the official Raspberry Pi Imaging Software
2. Allow the pi to boot and log in with the default credentials ubuntu ubuntu
3. To access the pi over ssh, go to /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/ and make sure the files in this directory has password authentication enabled

PasswordAuth yes

4. Create a root password (by typing passwd as the root user) and reboot the pi, this time logging in as root (ensures there are no problems with the next steps)
5. Create a new user account, which will be used with ansible bootstrapping, and set a password

useradd -m usernamehere
passwd usernamehere

6. Disable the ubuntu user by modifying /etc/passwd and changing the shell to /usr/bin/false
7. Change the hostname to be the IP of the pi (helps with avoiding errors with the daemon later)

hostnamectl set-hostname <IP>

Ansible Bootstrapping

Refer to Refer to Manual Bootstrapping if you would like to provision the probes by hand

Setting up the daemon on the probes

1. Create a working directory that will hold the ansible repos and cd into that working directory
2. Clone the daemon repo

git clone https://github.com/UMNET-perfSONAR/ansible-playbook-pssid-daemon.git

3. Edit the hosts files located at ansible-playbook-pssid-daemon/inventory/hosts to contain the IPs of your probes
4. Install roles:

ansible-galaxy install -f -r requirements.yml --ignore-errors

5. cd into the root of the ansible-playbook-pssid-daemon directory and run the following command to ensure the host is reachable by ansible

ansible <host-pattern> -m ping

6. set up the daemon on each of the probes (NOTE: pscheduler will take a VERY long time to install, also sometimes cloning fails for no reason, just run it again)

ansible-playbook --ask-vault-pass --ask-pass --ask-become-pass --user usernamehere --become --become-user root --become-method su --inventory inventory/ playbook.yml

7. The configuration file is located on the pi at /etc/pssid/pssid_config.json needs to be sourced from the web server after being generated in the web interface. This file is located at /var/lib/pssid/output/pssid_config.json
8. The wpa_supplicant configuration file will likely have to be modified or created to customize. An example of an eduroam configuration is below:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

network={
 ssid="eduroam"
 key_mgmt=WPA-EAP
 eap=PEAP
 proto=RSN
 pairwise=CCMP
 group=CCMP
 phase2="autheap=MSCHAPV2"
 identity="you_user"
 password="your_pass"
}