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The System menu includes sub-menus for:
Setup - Includes "friendly" fields for the Hostname, system location, and system contact.
Network - Displays and configures settings for the various LAN interfaces.
Certificate - System cetificate for Transport Layer Security by using SSL based communication
Update - Facilitates system updates.
Logging - Displays a variety of system and event logs.
Licensing - Lists the currently installed licenses and facilitates downloading and uploading license files.
Info - Displays a variety of system statuses of hardware, software, system load and GNU licenses
Users - User management, password and SSH key settings
Storage - Display of the usage of the storage devices of the system
Terminal - Systm terminal via the UI
Backup / Restore - Used to create a backup file or restore a unit from an existing backup.
Power - Provides a means of shutting down or power cycling the unit from the remote interface.
Select Setup (A) from the System menu. Setup fields include:
Hostname - The hostname for this particular AIXpressor unit.
System Location - A "friendly" field for identifying the physical location of the unit within the facility.
System Contact - A "friendly" field for listing an administrator's name.
If your flexAI system is connected to an open network, secure communication is a must.
In flexAI version 2023-12r1 secure client /server communication via HTTPS has been introduced. This requires a SSL/TLS protocol implementation. I.e. the server (flexAI) must provide a certificate that will be used by the client (web browser or other client software), to encrypt the communication. You may refere to the various sources in the internet if you need more detailed information about the matter.
Click on Certificates (A) to open the page
The certificate (B) you initially find on a flexAI system is a so called self signed certificate. If you have a CA (certificate authority) in our network you can register this certificate by generating a CRS (D) (Certificate Signing Request) file that is used for that process. But you can also import (C) a certificate that includes the IP address and/or the DNS name of the flexAI system. If it is registered with your browser as well, this will avoid error messages when you start a new HTTPS session (if your browser automatically deletes cookies and the history). You are able to dowload this certificate (E) or simply display it (F) FYI.
The flexAI engine within AIXpressor and all audio processing blocks are license-bound. Stand-alone units will handle licensing through a USB dongle, while larger installations use a WiBU license server.
Select Licensing (A) from the System menu to view the license page.
The Product Name and Product Code are listed in the License section (B). Quantity indicates the number of installed licenses for a given product. Available indicates the number of available licenses not currently in use.
Should you purchase additional licenses in the future, you may be asked to provide a license context file by clicking the Download License Context File (C). New licenses can be uploaded using the Update License Update File button (D).
Since flexAI is a Linux based system, the firmware consists of multiple packages. So one my either update individual packages (meant for experienced users, developers and service) or all relevant packegaes for a complete release.
flexAI firmware can be updated in three ways:
From a firmware image on a USB stick plugged into a USB port
From a local image on a computer that is connected to the same network the flexAI hardware is part of.
From our online server - This is currently not available in the field.
The default view of the Update Page allows for the three steps of an update to a new flexAI release. From here you can select an update source (A) and start the update (B) and finally Reboot (C) the device to restart all processes.
Clicking the Setup icon (C) opens a window with options to:
Automatically update packages when a new release is installed (default = on)
Show advanced package management (meant for experienced users, development and service - default = off)
Only show Junger packages (default = on)
When Show advanced packet management is turned on it shows the installed packages (B) in detail. Use the Display column (A) to select whether All available packages are displayed at once or just the content from a specific section.
To begin an update, click on the Change Update Source button (A). A Choose Package Source window (B) will open. Click on the desired source. When the pop-up window appears, follow the on-screen instructions, which will vary slightly depending on the selected update source.
When pressing the EXECUTE UPDATE buton a "Refreshing Repository" progress window will appear:
After all files are copied to the internal memory of te flexAI device a "CAUTION" message appears:
Press PROCEED and be patient. Once the update is complete and the "Update Successful" window appears, reboot the hardware:
When selecting USB DEVICE you must burn the *.iso file as an image to an USB stick. Don't simply copy that file to a stick! You may use the balena Etcher tool: https://etcher.balena.io/ or similar tools for macOS.
Important - Be sure to remove the processor from the on-air path before updating, as the unit will disconnect from the network, and audio will be interrupted during the update.
The Info menu provides a comprehensive list of various statuses. It is broken into five categories: SYSTEM, HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM LOAD and ABOUT.
Select Info (A) from the System menu to view the SYSTEM STATUS, which displays by default.
The Overall Status indicator (B) provides an overall indication of the system. A green "OK" doesn't necessarily mean that there are no abnormal statuses anywhere in the system, but rather that AIXpressor is functioning well overall.
Use the Type buttons (C) to view or filter specific types of statuses, including All, OK, Warning, Error, Info, and Inactive. Multiple buttons may be enabled simultaneously.
The Component dropdown (D) allows you to select which components are included in the detailed status report. Options include All, Service, System, Hardware, Audio Processing, Routing, Sync, Network, and Interfaces.
Clicking the Edit button (E) allows you to exclude certain groups of components from the system status page.
The HARDWARE STATUS page (A) is primarily meant for diagnostic and service purposes. It lists the current firmware version along with various temperature, fan, and power supply statuses. Example from an AIXpressor.
The SOFTWARE STATUS page (A) provides details about the software versions currently installed on a flexAI system.
The SYSTEM LOAD (A) page provides an aggregated view of the variuous system components that may have influence on the performance. When <Show Expert View> (B) is enabled it will provide a time weighted (integrated) display. In the bottom of the moving sections you see the legend of the various colors.
The flexAI systen is based on a Debian Linux distribution. It contains various software packages which are bound to GNU GPL (Genral Purpose Licenses). This page (A) lists all common and Debian package relevant license information. You may click on one of the <DETAILS> buttons (B) to download and read the respective license information.
When connecting to a flexAI device by a browser you must now log in to it. A Sign In po-up appears:
Since flexAI version 2023-12r1 some features of the Open Source Project Cockpit:
have been introduced. It provides a comprehensive system to manage the underlaying OS by a graphical user interface. flexAI employs it for user management but also to provide detailed information about the built in storage capacity as well as offering a terminal dricetly from the UI.
When connecting to a flexAI device by a browser you must log in to it. A Sign In po-up appears:
The default credentials are User name: "admin" and Password: "admin".
After signing in, the initial page of the UI appears and the overall status of the system enters the ERROR sate. Clicking on the System Status icon in the upper right corner (A) :
It says that the password for the user admin is not set so you should do it as the very next step!
Cockpit shows all users of the system on this page. For the moment, only user admin (B) is relevant.
Click on the <Users> button (A) in the navigation bar at the left side:
For now only the password for the user admin (B) can be changed via the Users pane:
The other users are simply presented here FYI. They are generic system users meant for service and development applications and will used in a wider security concept by your IT team.
If you have forgotten your admin password you may reset it on the AIXpressor via the front panel menu. For a flexAIserver you must use the server adminstration tool (iDRAC for DELL) or you connect via SSH and start the system-menu as sudo.
This is a display provided by Cockpit to show the storage usage in the system:
The Network menu includes setup and status information for DNS, NTP, PTP, Livewire Clock, SNMP, and each of the available LAN interfaces.
Select Network (A) from the System > Network menu to begin, then choose DNS (B) to open the DNS page. Displayed information (C) includes:
DNS State - Displays the IP address of the actual DNS server(s).
mDNS Node Name - Shows the name used for mDNS (Bonjour, Avahi)
DNS - Field for manually entering the IP address of a DNS server.
Select NTP (A) from the Network menu to open the NTP page. Displayed information (B) includes:
NTP State - Displays the current NTP server.
Enable NTP - Enables and disables NTP.
Use Fallback NTP - When enabled, uses the internet NTP servers at debian.pool.ntp.org if the unit cannot connect to the specified NTP servers.
NTP Server - Fields for entering up to four local NTP server addresses.
Select PTP (A) from the Network menu to open the PTP page. Displayed information (B) includes:
PTP Clock Domain - The field for entering the proper PTP clock domain.
PTP DSCP Class - Options include 0, 8 CS1, 10 AF11, 16 CS2, 18 AF21, 24 CS3, 26 AF31, 32 CS4, 34 AF41, 40 CS5, 46 EF (AES67), 48 CS6 (Ravenna), and 56 CS7. 48 CS6 (Ravenna) is the default setting.
Select Livewire (A) from the Network menu to open the PTP page. Displayed information (B) includes:
Mode - Choose "Follower" or "Disabled," as Livewire cannot act as a Leader.
Network Interface - Selects the network interface used for Livewire.
Locked to Leader - Indicates when Livewire is locked to the Leader clock.
Leader ID - The IP address of the Leader clock.
Offset - Displays the difference (delay) between the local clock and the Leader in microseconds.
Jitter - Displays the variations in delay between the local clock and the Leader in microseconds.
Select SNMP (A) from the Network menu to open the SNMP page. Displayed information (B) includes:
Enable - Enables and disables SNMP.
Community - Identifies the SNMP Community string.
Host Name, System Location, and System Contact - Populated fields from the System Setup menu.
Trap Sink IP Address - The IP Address of the SNMP trap receiver.
Trap Sink Port - The port of the SNMP trap receiver.
A total of four LAN interfaces are available. The LAN 1 CTRL and LAN 2 interfaces operate in a similar fashion to one another, so the information below applies to both.
LAN 3/4 differs from LAN 1 and LAN 2 in that they are internally connected by a switch to the network chip which is in turn connected to the SoM via a PCIe link. Therefore, they share the same IP Address, Gateway, MAC Address, and PTP settings.
Choose the individual Interface (A) for each LAN under the Network menu. In the example below, we've chosen the LAN 1 CTRL interface. Displayed information (B) includes:
Link Up - Indicates the presence of an active, working link (True or False).
Speed - The current link speed and type (100Mb/s, Full Duplex).
RX Bytes - Indicates the number of bytes received since the link was made active.
TX Bytes - Indicates the number of bytes transmitted since the link was made active.
RX Throughput Bps - The actual measured receive throughput.
TX Throughput Bps - The actual measured transmit throughput.
MAC Address - The MAC address of the interface.
Select IP (A) for the selected LAN under the Network menu.
The Current IP Addresses section (C) displays the current dynamic and static IP addresses.
When Use Dynamic Addresses (B) is enabled, the unit will automatically retrieve an IP address from the network's DHCP server. When disabled, the specified static IP address is used instead.
Static IP Addresses are listed in the Static Addresses window section (D). Clicking the Edit button (E) will open a pop-up window where the address type (IPv4 or IPv6) and subnet mask may be defined. Clicking the Delete button (F) removes the selected static IP address.
To add a new static IP address, click on the Add IP Address button (G), which will open a pop-up window where the address type, IP address, and subnet mask information can be entered.
Clicking the Restore Factory Defaults button (H) will set the LAN to DHCP and remove all static IP addresses.
Select Gateway (A) for the selected LAN under the Network menu.
The Current Gateways section (B) lists the current gateways.
The Static Gateways section (C) lists the IP addresses of any manually-added gateways along with any specific actions. To add a new gateway, click on the Add Gateway button (D) which will open a pop-up window to enter the new address.
Select PTP (A) for the selected LAN under the Network menu.
The Status section (B) contains the following information:
Hardware PTP Capable - Indicates when the Ethernet hardware is capable of extracting a PTP sync.
PTP Status - Options include None, Initializing, Faulty, Disabled, Listening, Pre-Leader, Leader, Passive, Uncalibrated, and Follower.
Locked to Leader - Indicates when PTP is synced to a Leader clock on the network.
Leader ID - Displays the MAC address of the PTP Leader.
Distance to Leader - Shows the number of hops between the Leader and flexAI unit.
Offset from Leader (us)
Mean Path Delay (us)
The Configuration section (C) contains the PTP Mode control. Options include Disabled and Follower, as flexAI cannot be used as a PTP Leader device.
AIXpressor provides a comprehensive logging system based on information available in the Linux operating system. Logged information from the Kernel, running daemons, I/O operations, and user applications are stored in internal flash memory for future analysis.
Select Logging (A) from the System menu to view the log files.
Although the log files may be viewed by the end-user, the information is primarily meant for troubleshooting with customer support. Additional access to the log information may be included in future versions.
You can sort the logs by Severity and view All or just applications specific logs selected by the App: pull down (B).
This is a graphical emulation of a SSH (Secure Shell) terminal. When you click on Terminal in the navigatin column (A) it opens in your (admin) home directory (B):
Select Backup / Restore (A) from the System menu to view the backup and restore page.
To create a backup file containing all audio processing-related settings, click on the Download a Backup File button (B).
Important - The backup file is intended to restore a particular AIXpressor unit to its current state if unwanted changes are made, or if the unit had to be restored to its factory default settings. It is not possible to clone another AIXpressor using this backup file.
To restore the unit from a previously saved file, click on the Select a Backup File button (C), choose the appropriate file from your computer or network, then click the Restore button (D).
