Reliability is a Siemens standard but now they have added Simplicity thanks to the SIMATIC IOT2000 series. This industrial gateway is ideal in factories and institutions looking to harmonizes, analyzes, and forwards data efficiently with common protocols like MQTT and Modbus. Based on a Yocto Linux, the SIMATIC IOT2000 series includes the IoT2020 and IoT2040 models and is designed to handle 1,000s of IoT and Automation applications, even managing its own automation systems when needed. This incredible gateway harmonizes the communication between various data sources effectively over long distances. Then the Simatic device analyzes the incoming data, even in electrically noisy environments, and forwards data to a corresponding recipients – offering a data gateway and data forwarding solution that can be easily implemented and perfect for retrofitting.

Available in two versions, the IoT 2020 is designed for educational institutions and public spaces, meanwhile the IoT 2040 is optimized for Industrial environments like factories and mines. If you'd like to learn more, check out the SIMATIC IOT 2000 support and forums page.

Requirements

Siemens SIMATIC IOT2000
Ubidots account
24V power supply
Ethernet cable
SD Card

Step-by-Step

Setting up OS in the Siemens IoT Gateway
Accessing the Siemens IoT Gateway & Network configurations
Siemens IoT gateway configurations

1. Setting up OS in the Siemens IoT Gateway

To begin you must register with or have access to the Siemens Support Portal to download all the initial configurations. All devices within the IOT2000 series are setup the same way, please follow this tutorial for any devices within the Simatic IOT2000 series.

1. Begin by burning the SD-Card with the image provided by the Siemens Industry Online Support page. Please, download and save "Example_Image_V2.1.3" for later.

2. Insert the microSD-Card into the SD-Card slot of your computer (an adaptor may be needed).

3. Unzip the downloaded image and burn it to the SD-Card. Linux users please continue reading.
Microsoft users click here for how to burn images to your SD-Card and continue you setup with this guide at Step 2: Accessing the IoT Gateway & Network Configurations.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure the SD-Card is formatted before burning the image onto it.

Linux OS Setup:

1. Open your computer's terminal and go to the folder where the zip file was downloaded using the cd command. e.i: I downloaded the file into the "Downloads" file so my command is:

cd Downloads

2. Unzip the downloaded file by running the command below:

sudo unzip 109741799_Example_Image_V2.1.3.zip

Once the zip file is properly unzipped you will see a file named example-V2.1.3.wic as is shown above.

NOTE: If you get an error running the command above verify the name of the file downloaded is the same one in the command, update and execute the command again.

3. Verify the location of the SD-card to umount it and burn the image. Run the command below to verify the location:

df -h

The SD-card should be located it the file /dev/... ; in my case the sd card is located in the file /dev/mmcblk0

4. Unmount the SD-Card by running the command below:

umount /dev/mmcblk0

5. To burn the image, replace the name of the unzipped file and the location of the SD-Card using the command structure below:

sudo dd bs=1M if={name_of_the_image} of={SD_location}

Once the parameters are replaced with the correct identifies, the command will look similar to...

sudo dd bs=1M if=example-V2.1.3.wic of=/dev/mmcblk0

NOTE: Running this command may take a couple minutes, please be patient :)

6. Connect your SD-Card into the gateway/hardware. Below we have installed the SD-Card into the SIMATIC 2000 device where indicated in red.

2. Accessing the Siemens IoT Gateway & Network Configurations

The following steps show how to access the SIMATIC IOT2000 using the Static IP Address to setup the gateway's network.

IMPORTANT NOTE: At this point is important to mention that the SIMATIC IOT2040 brings DHCP Address by default in the Ethernet Port - X2P1. Using the IP address assigned you can access directly to the device if desired.

1. Power off and Connect one end of the ethernet cable to your computer and the other to the Ethernet Port- X1P1 of the SIMATIC IOT2000 device.

CAUTION: Only use a DC 9-36V power supply!

2. Power on the SIMATIC IOT2000 Device

3. Once the SIMATIC IOT2000 is powered on, you will see the following behavior on the LEDs of the gateway:

PWR: Solid; device turned ON
SD: Intermittent.... then Solid turned OFF
USB: Solid; device turned ON

PRO TIP: The SD LED will be intermittent because it is resizing the SD card with the image, wait until the SD LED changes it status to Solid turned OFF before accessing to the gateway.

4. The SIMATIC IOT2000 lets you access and program the device using Serial, SSH, or Telnet; this guide uses the SSH connections in its example.

The SIMATIC IOT2000 has a static IP address by default -> 192.168.200.1. To establish a SSH connection, your computer must have the same subnet as the SIMATIC IOT2000. To know if your computer and the hardware are on the same subnet you need only run the command below in your computer's terminal.

ifconfig

The response command will be the IP Address assigned to your PC, which will also be the address from 192.168.200.1 to 192.168.200.255

If you are working with Microsoft, please reference this getting started guide for how to access the gateway. Linux users can continue reading.

5. Once your computer is configured on the same subnet of the SIMATIC IOT2000, verify its connectivity with a ping to the IP address:

ping 192.168.200.1
expected result: 
PING 192.168.200.1 (192.168.200.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.200.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.04 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.200.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.03 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.200.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=1.00 ms

If you receive the expected result, the SIMATIC IOT2000 is properly connected.

6. Access to the gateway running the command below:

ssh root@192.168.200.1

Upon first accessing the Gateway you will be prompted to approve the security message. Send the command "yes" and press "enter" to approve and continue. Once access is properly established you will see the following root in your terminal:

root@iot2000:~#

7. As mentioned above, the static IP address of the SIMATIC IOT2000 is set to 192.168.200.1 . Thus, if another static IP address or DHCP address is required, this can be set in the "interfaces" file in the "/etc/network" file.

To do this, enter to the file specified with the command below:

cd /etc/network/

Open the interfaces file using the nano editor running the following command:

nano interfaces

The content of the network interfaces file by default will be the same as below based on the model used:

SIMATIC IOT2020 Network Interfaces:

To setup DHCP Address in the SIMATIC IOT2020 you must modify the network interfaces file as shown below, then reboot the gateway:

/etc/network/interfaces -- configuration file for ifup(8), ifdown(8)
The loopback interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

Wired interfaces
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

SIMATIC IOT2040 Network Interfaces:

To setup DHCP Address in the SIMATIC IOT2040 you must modify the network interfaces file as shown below, then reboot the gateway:

/etc/network/interfaces -- configuration file for ifup(8), ifdown(8)
The loopback interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
wired
interfaces
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.168.200.1
        netmask 255.255.255.0

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

As you can see above, the SIMATIC IOT2040 has the DHCP Address configured by default on the second port (X2 P1LAN). IF you desire to use DHCP you must ensure that the Ethernet cable is connected to the second Ethernet port and reboot the gateway if needed.

8. Once the DHCP Address is configured, use a network scanner app to know the new IP address that has been assigned to the SIMATIC 2000. We highly recommend using Fing which can be easily found in the Google Play Store or Apple's App Store. Fing is a great tool to easily locate a device’s IP address.

3. Siemens IoT gateway Configurations

If additional configurations related to OS, networking, software, or peripherals are required, in you computers terminal after accessing the IOT2000 via SSH, execute the command below:

iot2000setup

At this point the following window will appear:

Here you can start tinkering with the configurations needed for your Application's success.