Change Network Address of Embedded Linux PC

Changing the IP address of the embedded Linux PC is highly discouraged, as it is very easy to lock oneself out of the system. Once that happens, only serial terminal access may remain, which requires additional hardware.

Nevertheless this article shows how to do it.

Note: Setting an IP address in the range 169.254.x.x may not work since this is the link local adress range.

Embedded control

The configuration depends on the type of embedded control module:

• Phytec: Slim module with 2 Ethernet ports
• Raspberry-Pi: Wide module with only 1 Ethernet port / igus ReBel

Phytec-based controls

1. Log into the Embedded Linux Computer via SSH.

2. Check what robot Type is referenced in /home/root/TinyCtrl/Data/Projects/EmbeddedCtrl.prj

[...]
<Robot Name="igus Gantry" Type="drylin-gantry\DLE-RG-0001" Homepos="100.0 100.0 20.0 0.0 0.0 0.0"
[...]

3. Edit the IP in the file /home/root/TinyCtrl/Data/Robots/<CATEGORY>/<ROBOT_TYPE>/<ROBOT_TYPE>.xml

<RemoteConfiguration IP="192.168.3.11" CycleTimeMS="50" Protocol="CRI_V01" />

4. Edit the file /lib/systemd/network/eth0.network or /lib/systemd/network/10-eth0.network

[Match]
Name=eth0

[Network]
DHCP=ipv4
Address=192.168.3.11/24

[DHCP]
#When CriticalConnection is applied to networkd, the IP address will not
#change after this service was reloaded. Just reboot the system.
CriticalConnection=true

5. Reboot the Embedded Linux Computer.

6. Make any changes required to your network settings on the Windows PC and/or Router.

Raspberry Pi-based controls

1. Log into the Embedded Linux Computer via SSH.

2. Check what robot Type is referenced in /home/robot/TinyCtrl/Data/Projects/EmbeddedCtrl.prj

[...]
<Robot Name="igus Gantry" Type="drylin-gantry\DLE-RG-0001" Homepos="100.0 100.0 20.0 0.0 0.0 0.0"
[...]

3. Edit the IP in the file /home/robot/TinyCtrl/Data/Robots/<CATEGORY>/<ROBOT_TYPE>/<ROBOT_TYPE>.xml

<RemoteConfiguration IP="192.168.3.11" CycleTimeMS="50" Protocol="CRI_V01" />

4. Find and edit the following section in file /etc/dhcpcd.conf

interface eth0
static ip_address=192.168.3.11/24
#static ip6_address=fd51:42f8:caae:d92e::ff/64
static routers=192.168.3.1

5. Reboot the Embedded Linux Computer.

6. Make any changes required to your network settings on the Windows PC and/or Router.

CPRog / iRC

CPRog/iRC needs to be configured to connect to the new IP address:

7. Start CPRog/iRC. Do not maximise the Window and check which Project (.prj) file is loaded by looking at the title bar.

8. Close CProg/iRC and open the project file (C:\CProg\Data\Projects\<CATEGORY>\<PROJECTFILE>.prj). Check what robot file is referenced (same as in step 2).

9. Edit the robot file C:\CProg\Data\Robots\<CATEGORY>\<ROBOT_TYPE>\<ROBOT_TYPE>.xml

10. Change the IP address as shown in step 3.