roNetworkConfiguration

This object provides various methods for configuring the network interfaces on a BrightSign player. The JavaScript equivalent is networkconfiguration (see BrightScript-JavaScript Migration Guide for the method equivalents).

Object Creation: The roNetworkConfiguration object is created with a single parameter.

The network_interface parameter can be any of the following: 

• 0 or "eth0": The Ethernet port on the BrightSign player

• 1 or "wlan0": The internal WiFi

• 2 or "ppp0": A connected modem

• "usb0", "usb1", etc: USB ethernet interfaces

If the network_interface is specified as an integer, the interface must currently exist on the player; otherwise, the object-creation function will return Invalid. Conversely, specifying the network_interface as a string allows you to create a roNetworkConfiguration instance for an interface that is not currently present on the player.

The network interface can be configured as a VLAN using the following string format: "[parent_interface].[vlan_id]" (e.g "eth0.42"). Once the VLAN interface(s) are configured, they must be enabled on the parent network interface (e.g. "eth0") using the SetVlanIds() method. VLAN interfaces use DHCP by default. They are supported on Series 4 (XTx44, XDx34, HDx24, LS424) and Series 3 (XTx43, XDx33, HDx23, LS423, HO523) players only. Also see Notes on Default Routing Metrics.

Example:

Some of the settings below are specific to the network interface, while others are used by the BrightSign host for all network interfaces.

ifNetworkConfiguration

Apply() As Boolean

Applies the requested changes to the network interface. This method returns false if the changes could not be applied to the network interface, though changes made using "Set" and "Reset" methods will be preserved through future reboots even if Apply() fails. Configuration may take several seconds to complete.

SetupDWS(settings As roAssociativeArray) As Boolean

Configures the Diagnostic Web Server (DWS). This method returns true if a restart is required for the changes to take effect. It will return false if a restart is not required or if the method failed–the GetFailureReason() method returns a non-empty string in event of failure.

By default, the Diagnostic Web Server is enabled on port 80, with the player serial number as password. Settings for the DWS are specified in an associative array. These properties are written to the registry and persist after reboot:

• port: The port number of the Diagnostic Web Server, located at the IP address of the player. Setting this value to 0 will disable the DWS, while setting it to "default" will make the DWS accessible on the default port (80). 

• password: An obfuscated password for the DWS. This method uses digest access authentication. Specifying this parameter without setting a port number will make the DWS accessible on the default port.

• open: An unobfuscated password for the DWS. This method uses digest access authentication. Specifying this parameter without setting a port number will make the DWS accessible on the default port. Specifying this parameter in the associative array with an empty string is equivalent to enabling the DWS without password protection.

• basic: A flag indicating whether basic authentication should be used or not. Setting this parameter to true allows the password set with the open parameter to be validated using basic authentication, rather than digest access authentication. This option allows for backwards compatibility with older platforms; most, if not all, modern browsers require basic authentication to be disabled in order to communicate with the DWS.

The user name is "admin" for all authentication configurations.

EnableLEDs(enable As Boolean) As Boolean

Enables or disables the Ethernet activity LED (i.e. flashing during link and activity behavior). The Ethernet LED is enabled by default. Changes to this setting do not persist across reboots. This method returns true upon success and false upon failure. Note that this method is not available on HDx10, HDx20, and LSx22 models.

SetClientIdentifier(a As String) As Boolean

Sets the DHCP client identifier. 

GetClientIdentifier() As String

Returns the DHCP client identifier.

SetLoginPassword(password As String) As Boolean

Specifies a login password for the SSH connection (if SSH has been enabled in the registry). This method accepts a plain-text password.

SetObfuscatedLoginPassword(password As String) As Boolean

Specifies a login password for the SSH connection (if SSH has been enabled in the registry). This method accepts a password that has been obfuscated using a shared secret.

FlushDNSCache()

Flushes the player's DNS cache. This method is available in BrightSign OS 8.3.32 and later releases. Note that certain objects (such as roUrlTransfer) may continue to use the old results for a short period of time after the OS 8.3.32 release.

To use this method:

SetInboundShaperRate(rate As Integer) As Boolean

Sets the bandwidth limit for inbound traffic in bits per second. For the default bandwidth limit, pass -1 to the method; for no bandwidth limit, pass 0 (though these two settings are functionally the same). You will need to call Apply() for this setting to take effect, and changing this setting at any time will cause the network interface to be taken down and reinitialized.

SetMTU(mtu As Integer) As Boolean

Sets the maximum transmission unit (MTU) for the network interface in bytes. Currently, the MTU setting is not returned when the GetCurrentConfig() method is called.

SetRoutingMetric(a As Integer) As Boolean 

Configures the metric for the default gateway on the current network interface. Routes with lower metrics are preferred over routes with higher metrics. This function returns true upon success.

SetDHCP() As Boolean (interface)

Enables DHCP and disables all other settings. This function returns true if successful.

SetEnabledProtocols(protocols as roArray) As Boolean

Enables or disables IPv4/IPv6 support on a network interface. By default, both protocol versions are supported, and the local-network configuration determines which version the interface uses. This method allows you to restrict support to one IP version.

The array passed to this method can have the following string values: "IPv4" or "IPv6". If the array contains both values, both protocols are supported; if it contains neither, the network interface will come up but not provide connectivity.

This method returns true on success and false on failure; use the GetFailureReason() method to return more information in case of failure.

Example

GetEnabledProtocols() As roArray

Returns enabled IP versions on the interface. The array can contain the "IPv4" and "IPv6" string values.

SetIP4Address(ip As String) As Boolean (interface)
 

SetIP4Netmask(netmask As String) As Boolean (interface)
 

SetIP4Broadcast(broadcast As String) As Boolean (interface)
 

SetIP4Gateway(gateway As String) As Boolean (interface)

Sets the IPv4 interface configuration. All values must be specified explicitly. Unlike the ifconfig shell command, there is no automatic inference. The parameter is a string dotted decimal quad (i.e. "192.168.1.2" or similar). It returns true upon success.

Example

SetVlanIds(vlan_ids As roArray) As Boolean

Enables the specified VLAN IDs (and only those IDs) on the network interface (the VLAN interfaces must be configured first). This method accepts an array of integers. 

The physical interface (eth0 in the example) is disabled by default when VLANs are enabled. To use both the physical interface (that is, without VLAN tags) and VLANs, users should specify a VLAN ID of zero in the array when calling SetVlanIds.

Example

SetWiFiESSID(essid as String) As Boolean

Configures the WiFi ESSID of the wireless network that the player will connect to. This method returns true on success.

GetWiFiESSID() As String

Retrieves the configured WiFi ESSID, even if the player is not currently connected to that wireless network. Use the GetCurrentConfig().wifi_essid value to retrieve the ESSID of the wireless network that the player is currently connected to.

SetWiFiPassphrase(passphrase as String) As Boolean

Configures the passphrase or key for the wireless network. This method accepts a plain-text passphrase. It returns true if the passphrase is successfully set.

SetWiFiPassphraseAndObfuscate(a As String) As String

Configures the passphrase or key for the wireless network. This method accepts a plain-text passphrase and returns the obfuscated result. If the passphrase is not set, an empty string is returned instead.

SetObfuscatedWiFiPassphrase(password As String) As Boolean

Configures the passphrase or key for the wireless network. This method accepts a passphrase that has been obfuscated using a shared secret. It returns true if the password is successfully set.

SetWiFiFrequencies(frequencies As String) As Boolean

Sets valid WiFi frequencies to specified range. Supports 2GHz, 5GHz, or list of frequencies written in MHz("2412 2417"). It returns true if the frequency is successfully set.

SetWiFiAccessPointMode(enable as Boolean) As Boolean

Enables or disables WiFi access-point mode: Passing true to this method instructs the player to act as a wireless access point, which uses the ESSID and passphrase set with the SetWiFiESSID() and SetWiFiPassphrase() (or SetObfuscatedWiFiPassphrase()) methods. If a passphrase has been set, the wireless access point will use WPA2 authentication–otherwise, it will use no authentication. This method returns true on success and false on failure; use the GetFailureReason() method to return more information in case of failure.

WiFi access-point mode should be used for configuration only. It offers a minimal DHCP server, but does not provide DNS servers or routing to the Ethernet. We recommend assigning a static IP address to the wireless interface, though this is not enforced by the firmware.

SetWiFiAccessPointHidden(BOOL hidden)

If hidden is true, the SSID is hidden, if false then it is visible. The default is non-hidden, which was the previous behavior.

SetWiFiAccessPointFrequencyMHz(frequency As Integer) As Boolean

Sets the frequency of the wireless access point (in MHz). This method returns true on success and false on failure; use the GetFailureReason() method to return more information in case of failure.

SetWiFiIdentity(identity As String) As Boolean

Sets the RADIUS identity. In EAP-TLS mode, the identity will be taken from the client certificate if this method is not called ("subjectAltName" will be used if present; otherwise, the "commonName" is used). In EAP-PEAP/MSCHAP mode, this method must be called to set the identity.

SetWiFiEapTlsOptions(options As String) As Boolean

Sets EAP-specific options. Currently, this method can be used to enable or disable MD5 support ("md5=enable" or "md5=disable") and to set an anonymous identity for EAP-PEAP/MSCHAP configurations ("anonymous_identity=anon@brightsign.biz"). Multiple parameters can be set with a space-separated list. To clear previous settings, pass an empty string to this method.

SetWiFiCACertificates(certificates As Dynamic) As Boolean

Sets the CA certificate file for EAP-TLS (certificates can also be sent from an EAP peer). The certificate data can be specified as an roByteArray of Base64 data (for .cer, .pfx, or .p12 file formats) or an roString (for the .pem file format ). The supported binary formats are ASN.1 DER (for seperate certificates and keys) and PKCS#12 (for a single file that may contain both certificates and keys). The supported text format is PEM. 

SetWiFiClientCertificate(certificate As Dynamic) As Boolean

Sets the client certificate for EAP-TLS. The certificate data can be specified as an roByteArray of Base64 data or an roString.

SetWiFiPrivateKey(key As Dynamic) As Boolean

Sets the private key for authentication. The certificate data can be specified as an roByteArray of Base64 data or an roString. If the private key is password protected, use the SetWiFiPassphrase() method to set the password.

SetWiFiSecurityMode(mode As String) As Boolean

Sets the WiFi encryption method. By default, both WPA (TKIP) and WPA2 (CCMP) encryption are permitted. This method accepts a space-separated, case-insensitive list that can include either "tkip" or "ccmp" values. Passing an empty string sets the default mode. If both CCMP and TKIP are allowed, CCMP always has priority.

ConfigureDHCPServer(config As roAssociativeArray) As Boolean

Configures a DHCP server on the Ethernet port or wireless access point. This method accepts an associative array with the following parameters:

• ip4_start string required: The beginning of the range of offered IP addresses

• ip4_endstring required: The end of the range of offered IP addresses

• name_servers roArray: An array of strings containing the IPv4 addresses of name servers (IPv6 addresses are not currently supported)

• domain string: The domain suffix to be used by clients

• ip4_gateway string: The IPv4 address of the gateway to be used by clients

To disable the DHCP server, pass an empty associative array ({}) to this method. This method returns true on success and false on failure; use the GetFailureReason() method to return information in case of failure.

SetForwardingPolicy(parameters As roAssociativeArray) As Boolean

Configures the host-wide forwarding policy (this method applies to all network interfaces, no matter which roNetworkConfiguration instance it is called on). The return value is true on success or false on failure. This method accepts an associative array with the following parameters: 

• forwarding_enabled boolean: (Required) A flag that enables or disables IP forwarding. Forwarding_enabled must be specified as either true or false. If forwarding_enabled is false, no IP forwarding takes place. This is the default and matches previous behavior.  

• nat_enabled boolean: (Required) A flag that enables or disables address translation with IP forwarding. If forwarding_enabled is true, nat_enabled must be specified as true or false. 

  • If forwarding_enabled is true and nat_enabled is false, IP datagrams are forwarded between all interfaces and no address translation is done. 

  • If forwarding_enabled is true and nat_enabled is true, IP datagrams are forwarded between all interfaces but SNAT is applied to any datagrams which are sent out of an "upstream" interface. For this purpose, an "upstream" interface is any one on which a default route is set. Note that there can be more than one such interface. Datagrams which are destined for an interface that has no default route are forwarded without NAT. 

  Note that the forwarding policy is a host-wide setting and it makes no difference which interface was selected when the roNetworkConfiguration object was created. 

SetDomain(domain As String) As Boolean (host)

Sets the device domain name. This will be appended to names to fully qualify them, though it is not necessary to call this. This method returns true on success.

Example

SetDNSServers(servers As roArray) As Boolean (host)

Sets the list of DNS servers if there were no DNS servers when the object was created. This method accepts an array of strings, each containing the dotted-quad IP address of a DNS server, and it returns true on success. There is currently a maximum of three servers; the method will return false if you attempt to add more than three servers.

AddDNSServer(server As String) As Boolean (host)

Adds another DNS server to the list if there were no DNS servers when the object was created. This method accepts the dotted-quad IP address of a DNS server as a string, and it returns true on success. There is currently a maximum of three servers; the method will return false if you attempt to add more than three servers. 

SetTimeServer(time_server As String) As Boolean (host)

Sets the default time server, which is "time.brightsignnetwork.com". You can disable the use of NTP by calling SetTimeServer(""). You can use URL syntax to specify that the player use an HTTP or HTTPS server to synchronize the clock. The following are valid time server addresses:

• http://time.brightsignnetwork.com/

• https://time.brightsignnetwork.com/

• ntp://time.brightsignnetwork.com/

• time.brightsignnetwork.com

GetTimeServer() As String

Retrieves the (host) time server currently in use.

SetTimeServerIntervalSeconds(interval_in_seconds As Integer) As Boolean

Specifies how often the player should communicate with the time server and adjust its clock. The default interval is 12 hours; passing a value of 0 specifies the default interval. The minimum interval allowed is 120 seconds.

GetTimeServerIntervalSeconds() As Integer

Returns the current interval for time-server renewal (in seconds).

SetHostName(name as String) As Boolean (host)

Sets the device host name. If no host name has been explicitly set, then a host name is automatically generated based on the device serial number. Passing an empty string to this method resets the device host name to its automatically generated value.

GetHostName() As String (host)

Retrieves the host name currently in use.

SetProxy(proxy as String) As Boolean (host)

Sets the name or address of the proxy server used for HTTP and FTP requests. The proxy string should be formatted as "http://user:password@hostname:port". The hostname can contain up to four "*" characters; each "*" character can be used to replace one octet from the current IP address. For example, if the IP address is currently 192.168.1.2, and the proxy is set to "proxy-*-*", then the player will attempt to use a proxy named "proxy-192.168".

The following characters must be percent-encoded for the user name and password:

GetProxy() As String (host)

Returns the name or address of the proxy server.

SetProxyBypass(hostnames As Array) As Boolean

Exempts the specified hosts from the proxy setting. The passed array should consist of one or more hostnames. The player will attempt to reach the specified hosts directly rather than using the proxy that has been specified with the SetProxy() method. For example, the hostname "http://example.com " would exempt "http://example.com ", "http://example.com:80 ", and "http://www.example.com " from the proxy setting.

GetProxyBypass() As roArray

Returns an array of hostnames that have been exempted from the proxy setting using the SetProxyBypass() method.

GetRecoveryUrl() As String

Returns the current recovery URL, which is stored in the "ru" entry of the "networking" registry section. If the recovery URL is set via DHCP Option 43, it will take precedence over the "ru" registry entry.

ResetInterfaceSettings() As Boolean

Clears all interface-specific settings (e.g. IP address, default gateway). This method is ideal for resetting an interface to a known, empty state before configuring specific settings.

ResetHostSettings() As Boolean

Clears all host settings (i.e. settings that don't take the interface number into account and that don't affect the specified network interface; e.g. the time server). 

GetFailureReason() As String

Returns additional information when a member function returns false.

GetCurrentConfig() As Object

Retrieves the entire current configuration as an associative array containing the following members: