Shell

Contiki-NG provides a shell that enables interactive IPv6 host inspection and maintenance.

To enable the shell in your project, simply add it to the module list in your Makefile:

MODULES += os/services/shell

As you have modified the Makefile, you need to clean:

$ make distclean

Now compile the firmware, flash a node, and connect to its serial interface (see tutorial:hello-world). Press enter to get a prompt:

0012.4b00.0616.0fcc>

If the shell is not responding to keystrokes, make sure your terminal emulator is sending the correct EOL character (Contiki-NG expects 0x0A (\n), whereas some terminal programs send 0x0D \r).

help will show you the list of available commands:

> help
Available commands:
'> help': Shows this help
'> reboot': Reboot the board by watchdog_reboot()
'> ip-addr': Shows all IPv6 addresses
'> ip-nbr': Shows all IPv6 neighbors
'> log module level': Sets log level (0--4) for a given module (or "all"). For module "mac", level 4 also enables per-slot logging.
'> ping addr': Pings the IPv6 address 'addr'
'> rpl-set-root 0/1 [prefix]': Sets node as root (1) or not (0). A /64 prefix can be optionally specified.
'> rpl-local-repair': Triggers a RPL local repair
'> rpl-refresh-routes': Refreshes all routes through a DTSN increment
'> rpl-global-repair': Triggers a RPL global repair
'> rpl-status': Shows a summary of the current RPL state
'> rpl-nbr': Shows the RPL neighbor table
'> routes': Shows the route entries
'> radio help': Shows radio command usage.
'> leds [on/off led]': Controls the leds.

Note that depending on your compile-time configuration, different commands might show. For instance, 6TiSCH will come with its own shell commands. With the log command, if you enable logging for some modules (see tutorial:logging), you will have the ability to change the log level at run-time on a per-module basis, with e.g. >log rpl 2.

Try ip-addr:

> ip-addr
Node IPv6 addresses:
-- fe80::212:4b00:616:fcc

Awesome, our node already has an IPv6 address! This is a link-local address (prefix fe80), auto-configured from the node’s MAC address through EUI-64. We will get started with IPv6 communication in tutorial:ipv6-ping.

Troubleshooting: it doesn’t work!!!

If you can see device output, but nothing happens after hitting the return key, the problem is most likely related to the End-of-Line character sent by your terminal emulator when you hit return. Contiki-NG’s serial line code only interprets the LF char (0x0A / \n) as an EOL. Some terminal emulators send CR instead (0x0D / \r) and Contiki-NG’s serial line code does not interpret this character as an EOL. This is a well-known problem with PuTTY.

  • Windows:

    • PuTTY sends the CR char (0x0D / \r) when hitting the return key. At the time of writing this, there is no easy workaround.

    • Tera Term is an alternative FLOSS that is known to work at the time of writing this page.

  • Linux:

    • GNU screen: This is untested at the time or writing this section, but stty onlcr should do the trick.

    • PuTTY’s behaviour is the same as above.

  • OSX: Coolterm sends CR+LF by default when hitting the return key (this is configurable), so the Contiki-NG shell should just work if you have done everything else correctly.

Troubleshooting: it works, but I can’t see what I’m typing

The Contiki-NG shell does not echo received keystrokes back. If you want to see what you are typing, as you are typing it, then enable the “local echo” option in your terminal emulator software. This is something that most (all?) terminal emulators support.