ChirpStack Packet Multiplexer

The ChirpStack Packet Multiplexer utility forwards the Semtech packet-forwarder UDP data to multiple endpoints. It makes it possible to connect a single LoRa gateway to multiple networks. It is part of ChirpStack.

Install

Debian / Ubuntu

ChirpStack provides a repository that is compatible with the Debian / Ubuntu apt package system. First make sure that both dirmngr and apt-transport-https are installed:

sudo apt install apt-transport-https dirmngr

Set up the key for this new repository:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 1CE2AFD36DBCCA00

Add the repository to the repository list by creating a new file:

sudo echo "deb https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/packages/3.x/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/chirpstack.list

Update the apt package cache and install chirpstack-packet-multiplexer:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install chirpstack-packet-multiplexer

To complete the installation, update the configuration file which is located at /etc/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml and (re)start the service:

sudo systemctl restart chirpstack-packet-multiplexer

Building from source

Binary

It is recommended to run the commands below inside a Docker Compose environment.

docker-compose run --rm chirpstack-packet-multiplexer bash

# build binary
make

# create snapshot release
make snapshot

# run tests
make test

Docker image

docker build -t IMAGENAME .

Usage

Run chirpstack-packet-multiplexer --help for usage information.

Example configuration

Executing chirpstack-packet-multiplexer configfile returns the following configuration template:

[general]
# Log level
#
# debug=5, info=4, warning=3, error=2, fatal=1, panic=0
log_level=4


[packet_multiplexer]
# Bind
#
# The interface:port on which the packet-multiplexer will bind for receiving
# data from the packet-forwarder (UDP data).
bind="0.0.0.0:1700"


# Backends
#
# The backends to which the packet-multiplexer will forward the
# packet-forwarder UDP data.
#
# Example:
# [[packet_multiplexer.backend]]
# # Host
# #
# # The host:IP of the backend.
# host="192.16.1.5:1700"
#
# # Uplink only
#
# # This backend is for uplink only. It is not able to send data
# # back to the gateways.
# uplink_only=false
#
# # Gateway IDs
# #
# # The Gateway IDs to forward data for.
# gateway_ids = [
#   "0101010101010101",
#   "0202020202020202",
# ]

Example docker compose setup

If you built the docker image for the packet multiplexer as above and wish to run it through docker compose create a suitable location for volumes and configfile to reside.

mkdir chirpstack-packet_multiplexer/config
touch chirpstack-packet_multiplexer/config/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml

Save your template in the following just created location below. Edit as required for multiplexer and backends. chirpstack-packet_multiplexer/config/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml

Example docker-compose

version: "3"
services:
  chirpstack-packet-multiplexer:
    image: chirpstack-packet-multiplexer:latest
    ports:
      - 1700:1700/udp
    volumes:
      - ./:/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer
      - ./config/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml:/etc/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml:ro

To run... docker-compose up

Changelog

v3.1.0

This release renames LoRa Packet Multiplexer to ChirpStack Packet Multiplexer. See the Rename Announcement for more information.

v3.0.2

• Fix setting of configuration variable (used to resolve if backend allows downlink).

v3.0.1

• Auto-lowercase configured gateway IDs.

v3.0.0

• Initial release (part of LoRa Server v3 repository).