Native Install

View source on GitHub

Get OTBR code

On Raspberry Pi:

1. Install git:

   sudo apt install git
   

2. Clone ot-br-posix from GitHub:

   git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/openthread/ot-br-posix
   

Build and install OTBR

OTBR has two scripts that bootstrap and set up the Thread Border Router:

cd ot-br-posix
./script/bootstrap
INFRA_IF_NAME=wlan0 ./script/setup

OTBR works on both a Thread interface and infrastructure network interface (e.g. Wi-Fi/Ethernet) which is specified with INFRA_IF_NAME. The Thread interface is created by OTBR itself and named wpan0 by default and the infrastructure interface has a default value of wlan0 if INFRA_IF_NAME is not explicitly specified. If your Raspberry Pi is connected by an Ethernet cable, specify the Ethernet interface name (e.g. eth0):

INFRA_IF_NAME=eth0 ./script/setup

The otbr-agent service is now enabled and will start upon reboot. To instead start the service immediately without rebooting, use the server script:

./script/server

Verify that the otbr-agent service is active:

sudo service otbr-agent status
● otbr-agent.service - Border Router Agent
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/otbr-agent.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Mon 2021-03-01 05:46:26 GMT; 2s ago
 Main PID: 2997 (otbr-agent)
    Tasks: 1 (limit: 4915)
   CGroup: /system.slice/otbr-agent.service
           └─2997 /usr/sbin/otbr-agent -I wpan0 -B wlan0 spinel+hdlc+uart:///dev/ttyACM0

Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: Stop publishing service
Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: [adproxy] Stopped
Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: PSKc is not initialized
Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: Check if PSKc is initialized: OK
Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: Initialize OpenThread Border Router Agent: OK
Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: Border router agent started.
Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: [INFO]-CORE----: Notifier: StateChanged (0x00038200) [NetData PanId NetName ExtPanId]
Mar 01 05:46:26 raspberrypi otbr-agent[2997]: [INFO]-PLAT----: Host netif is down

Edit the Radio URL path

The OTBR agent uses the /etc/default/otbr-agent configuration file for its startup parameters. This file contains the OTBR_AGENT_OPTS variable, which defines settings like the Radio URL. For example, spinel+hdlc+uart:///dev/ttyACM0.

This configuration file is generated by CMake from the otbr-agent.default.in source file. It is then fed into the system service as the service start parameters.

To change the Radio URL path on your target system:

1. Open the OTBR agent configuration file in a text editor:

   sudoedit /etc/default/otbr-agent
   

2. Locate the OTBR_AGENT_OPTS variable.

3. Locate the Radio URL portion of the string. For example, spinel+hdlc+uart:///dev/ttyACM0.

4. Change that string to your new path.

5. Save the file and exit the editor.

6. Restart the otbr-agent service to apply the changes:

   sudo systemctl restart otbr-agent