Default the ByteBlower Endpoint provides a graphical interface. For automation there's another more useful mode: using the App in the command-line only mode. In this text we take one step further and explain how to start the ByteBlower Endpoint app automatically at boot. This makes having the Endpoint part of your automation even easier.

We'll focus on Linux and Windows. For each we'll provide an example solution

In many of the approaches below you will have little feedback from device itself, the Endpoint is started in the background without no visual indication. It helps first to have sufficient confidence in your test-setup: is the MeetingPoint reachable? Does the device register easily? Are there connectivity problems?

Secondly, you will need to have the Wireless Endpoint installed and an active MeetingPoint add-on for your ByteBlower server.

On Linux we'll use systemd. This service manager is default for many Linux distributions; its purpose is to orchestrate which programs to start at which moment. The steps below are applicable for Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora.

The first item is adding new services to Systemd. This step requires root-access, we begin with the following command:

sudo su

Up next is creating the configuration file with all necessary info for the starting the Wireless Endpoint. Systemd calls this the unit file for the services. We've named our service 'wireless-endpoint', this name will return in the following steps.

systemctl edit --force --full wireless-endpoint

The above command opens an empty text-editor. The information to enter is shown in screenshot below. This file is also attached to the article. Do note, there are two items specific to your setup:

• User=
  This is the user run the ByteBlower Wireless Endpoint application. On Linux no special permissions are required, and you can use any user-account on the system. The attached example file uses the name 'pieterv'
• The MeetingPoint address: 10 8.254.105
  In our example the MeetingPoint is reachable by IP. This line is essentially the same as starting the WEP from the command-line.

To leave this editor, press simultaneously the keys CTRL and 'X'. At exit the program asks you to save the contents, chose Y' for Yes to do so. Do keep the name proposed by the editor.

This completes the editing part. Linux has now a background service for the Wireless Endpoint. This service isnt' started yet, the final step is configuring to launch the service at boot. To this end use the following command

systemctl enable wireless-endpoint

Reboot Linux to test the configuration. The status command below should give you the following output:

systemctl status wireless-endpoint

On windows the easiest way to start the Wireless Endpoint app is using the Task Scheduler. Just like Systemd, this tool is builtin in Windows and is responsible for starting the services at boot.

For this tutorial you will also need Administrator rights. Secondly, we assume you've saved the client executable (ByteBlowerWirelessEndpoint.exe) on your system. In this tutorial we assume the program is found in following folder:

• C:\test_tools

To begin, open the Task Scheduler. As the screenshot below shows, one easy way to find this program is by searching for 'Task Scheduler' in the Task bar.

Even freshly started, a number of items are visible. As shown in following screenshot, pick 'Create Basic Task..' from the Actions on the right-hand side of the window. This will open the configuration Wizard.

The Configuration Wizard helps with 3 items. The are described below but don't close the wizard after filling in the values.

• First element: Name & description.
  Any name will do.
• Second item: Trigger
  Select here 'When the computer starts'.
• Third item: Action
  This item will have two screens. First pick the option to start a program.
  The next screen, also shown below, asks to configure this program. Following values are used:
  • C:\test_tools\ByteBlowerWirelessEndpoint.exe
    This is the folder mentioned in the introduction of this section. The client executable is stored here.
  • 10.8.254.105
    This is the address for the MeetingPoint in our setup. Using this address our client is able to register.
    
    
    

With the configuration wizard still open, select now the option to go to the properties in the overview screen.

One more property is required for the Endpoint to start: the app also requires the highest privileges. This checkbox is shown in the screenshot below.

Reboot the computer, all configuration has finished. On startup the Wireless Endpoint is started in the background, no screen will be shown.

This article enabled starting the Wireless Endpoint automatically at boot for both Linux and Windows. This made our testing setup easier to use: the systems are come online as soon as they are started and have network access.

They can be used now for testing. The screenshot below shows them the ServerView of the ByteBlower GUI.