nRF9160: Modem Shell

The Modem Shell (MoSh) sample application enables you to test various device connectivity features, including data throughput.

Requirements 

The sample supports the following development kits:

Hardware platforms	PCA	Board name	Build target
nRF9160 DK	PCA10090	nrf9160dk_nrf9160	`nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns`

MoSh enables testing of different connectivity features such as LTE link handling, TCP/IP connections, data throughput (iperf3 and curl), SMS, GNSS, FOTA updates and PPP. Hence, this sample is not only code sample, which it also is in many aspects, but also a test application for aforementioned features. MoSh uses the LTE link control driver to establish an LTE connection and initializes the Zephyr shell to provide a shell command-line interface for users.

The subsections list the MoSh features and show shell command examples for their usage.

LTE link control 

MoSh command: link

LTE link control changes and queries the state of the LTE connection. Many of the changes are applied when going to online mode for the next time. You can store some link subcommand parameters into settings, which are persistent between sessions.

Examples

Change the system mode to NB-IoT and query the connection status:
```
link funmode -4
link sysmode -n
link funmode -1
link status
```

Open another PDP context and close it:

link connect -a internet.operator.com
link status
link disconnect -I 1

Enable and configure eDRX:

link edrx -e -m --edrx_value 0010 --ptw 0010

Subscribe for modem TAU and sleep notifications, enable and configure PSM:

link tau --subscribe
link msleep --subscribe
link psm -e --rptau 01100100 --rat 00100010

Disable autoconnect when the DK starts (modem will remain in pwroff functional mode and the link is not connected):
```
link nmodeauto --disable
```
Set the custom AT commands that are run when switching to normal mode (locking device to band #3):
```
link funmode --poweroff
link nmodeat --mem1 "at%xbandlock=2,\"100\""
link funmode --normal
```

AT commands 

MoSh command: at

You can use the AT command module to send AT commands to the modem.

Examples

Send AT command to query network status:
```
at at+cereg?
```
Send AT command to query neighbor cells:
```
at at%NBRGRSRP
```
Enable AT command events:
```
at events_enable
```
Disable AT command events:
```
at events_disable
```

Ping 

MoSh command: ping

Ping is a tool for testing the reachability of a host on an IP network.

Examples

Ping a URL:
```
ping -d ping.server.url
```
Ping an IPv6 address with length of 500 bytes and 1 s intervals (the used PDN needs to support IPv6):
```
ping -d 1a2b:1a2b:1a2b:1a2b::1 -6 -l 500 -i 1000
```

Iperf3 

MoSh command: iperf

Iperf3 is a tool for measuring data transfer performance both in uplink and downlink direction.

Note

Some features, for example file operations and TCP option tuning, are not supported.

Examples

Download data over TCP for 30 seconds with a buffer size of 3540 bytes and use detailed output:
```
iperf3 --client 111.222.111.222 --port 10000 -l 3540 --time 30 -V -R
```
Upload data over TCP for 30 seconds with the payload size of 708 bytes using a PDN with ID #2 (use the link status command to see the active PDNs and their IDs):
```
iperf3 -c 111.222.111.222 -p 10000 -l 708 -t 30 --pdn_id 2
```
Upload data over UDP for 60 seconds with the payload size of 1240 bytes and use the detailed output as well as debug output:
```
iperf3 --client 111.222.111.222 --port 10000 -l 1240 --time 60 -u -V -d
```
Download data over TCP/IPv6 for 10 seconds (the used PDN needs to support IPv6, use the link status command to see PDP type support for active contexts):
```
iperf3 --client 1a2b:1a2b:1a2b:1a2b::1 --port 20000 --time 10 -R -6
```

Curl 

MoSh command: curl

Curl is a command-line tool for transferring data specified with URL syntax. It is a part of MoSh and enables you to test the data download with a “standard” tool.

Note

File operations are not supported.

Examples

HTTP download:

curl http://curl.server.url/small.txt
curl http://curl.server.url/bigger_file.zip --output /dev/null

HTTP upload for given data:

curl http://curl.server.url/data -d "foo=bar"

HTTP upload for given number of bytes sent in a POST body:
```
curl http://curl.server.url/data -d #500000
```
HTTP upload for given number of bytes sent in a POST body using a PDN with ID #1 (use the link status command to see active PDNs and their IDs):
```
curl http://curl.server.url/data -d #500000 --pdn_id 1
```

Socket tool 

MoSh command: sock

You can use the socket tool to:

Create and manage socket connections.
Send and receive data.

Examples

Open and connect to an IP address and port (IPv4 TCP socket):
```
sock connect -a 111.222.111.222 -p 20000
```
Open and connect to hostname and port (IPv4 TCP socket):
```
sock connect -a google.com -p 20000
```

Open and connect an IPv6 TCP socket and bind to a port:

sock connect -a 1a2b:1a2b:1a2b:1a2b::1 -p 20000 -f inet6 -t stream -b 40000

Open an IPv6 UDP socket:

sock connect -a 1a2b:1a2b:1a2b:1a2b::1 -p 20000 -f inet6 -t dgram

Open a raw socket:
```
sock connect -f packet -t raw
```

Open a socket to a non-default PDP context:

link connect -a nondefault.context.com
sock connect -f packet -t raw -I 1

Send a string through the socket:
```
sock send -i 0 -d testing
```
Send 100 kB of data and show throughput statistics:
```
sock send -i 0 -l 100000
```
Send data periodically with 10 s interval:
```
sock send -i 0 -e 10 -d test_periodic
```

Calculate the receive throughput:

<do whatever is needed to make device receive data after some time>
sock recv -i 0 -r -l 1000000
sock recv -i 0
sock recv -i 0

Close a socket:
```
sock close -i 0
```

Use RAI settings:

link funmode -4
link rai -e
link funmode -1
sock connect -a 111.222.111.222 -p 20000
sock rai -i 0 --rai_last
sock send -i 0 -d testing

List open sockets:
```
sock list
```

SMS tool 

MoSh command: sms

You can use the SMS tool for sending and receiving SMS messages.

Examples

Register the SMS service so that messages can be received if SIM subscription supports it:
```
sms reg
```
Send an SMS message (registration is done automatically if not already done):
```
sms send -n +987654321 -m testing
```

Location tool 

MoSh command: location

You can use the Location tool for retrieving device’s location with different methods. See Location library for information on the configuration of different location methods and services. Some default configurations are available to facilitate trials.

Examples

Retrieve location with default configuration:
```
location get
```
Retrieve location with Wi-Fi positioning. You need to have a Wi-Fi-enabled device and build the sample with Wi-Fi support. If the location is not found, use cellular positioning:
```
location get --method wifi --wifi_timeout 60 --method cellular --cellular_service nrf
```
Retrieve location periodically every hour with GNSS and if not found, use cellular positioning:
```
location get --interval 3600 --method gnss --gnss_timeout 300 --method cellular
```
Cancel ongoing location request or periodic location request:
```
location cancel
```

GNSS 

MoSh command: gnss

GNSS provides commands for searching the location of the device.

Examples

Start GNSS tracking and stop it:
```
gnss start
gnss stop
```

Disable LTE, enable all GNSS output and start continuous tracking with power saving enabled:

link funmode --lteoff
gnss output 2 1 1
gnss mode cont
gnss config powersave perf
gnss start

Enable LTE PSM, only NMEA output, automatic A-GPS data fetching and start periodic fixes with 5 minute interval and 120 second timeout:
```
link psm -e
gnss output 0 1 0
gnss agps automatic enable
gnss mode periodic 300 120
gnss start
```

FOTA 

MoSh command: fota

You can use FOTA to perform software updates over-the-air for both modem and application side. However, to use this feature, you need to know which updates are available in the servers. This feature is intended to be used only by selected users and customers to whom available image names are communicated separately.

Examples

Perform a FOTA update:

fota download eu fw_update_package_filename.hex

PPP 

MoSh command: ppp

You can use the PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) to enable dial-up access to the Internet. The MoSh command is simple but you need to have a normal dial-up setup in your PC to be able to use the development kit’s PPP interface.

Note

On Windows, dial-up connection is not functional when using Segger virtual UART ports. PPP has been used successfully with FTDI UART port though. Refer to nRF9160 Hardware Verification Guidelines - UART interface.

PPP has been successfully used running Ubuntu Linux in a virtualization environment hosted by Windows. In the hosted virtual Linux environment, using PPP is possible also with plain Segger UART ports.

Examples

PPP network interface is brought up/down automatically when LTE connection is up/down. Set the PPP network interface up manually:
```
ppp up
```
Set the PPP network interface down manually:
```
ppp down
```
Set the custom baudrate configuration for PPP UART (default: 115200):
```
ppp uartconf --baudrate 921600
```
Set the rts_cts hardware flow control configuration for PPP UART (default: none):
```
ppp uartconf --flowctrl rts_cts
```

REST client 

MoSh command: rest

You can use the REST client for sending simple REST requests and receiving responses to them.

Examples

Sending a HEAD request with custom dummy headers:

rest -d example.com -l 1024 -m head -H "X-foo1: bar1\x0D\x0A" -H "X-foo2: bar2\x0D\x0A"

Cloud 

MoSh command: cloud

nRF Cloud is a platform for providing, among other things, various location services. Modem Shell enables you to establish an MQTT connection to nRF Cloud using the nRF Cloud library. Currently, the cloud command is useful mostly when using the location services and MQTT is the desired transport protocol. However, you can use any nRF Cloud services once the MQTT connection is established.

Examples

Establish the connection to nRF Cloud, request the cell-based location of the device, and disconnect when ready:
```
cloud connect
location get --method cellular
cloud disconnect
```

Configuration 

See Configuring your application for information about how to permanently or temporarily change the configuration.

Configuration options 

Check and configure the following configuration options for the sample:

CONFIG_MOSH_LINK: Enable LTE link control feature in modem shell.

CONFIG_MOSH_PING: Enable ping feature in modem shell.

CONFIG_MOSH_IPERF3: Enable iperf3 feature in modem shell.

CONFIG_MOSH_CURL: Enable curl feature in modem shell.

CONFIG_MOSH_SOCK: Enable socket tool feature in modem shell.

CONFIG_MOSH_SMS: Enable SMS feature in modem shell

CONFIG_MOSH_LOCATION: Enable Location tool in modem shell.

CONFIG_MOSH_GNSS: Enable GNSS feature in modem shell

CONFIG_MOSH_FOTA: Enable FOTA feature in modem shell

CONFIG_MOSH_PPP: Enable PPP feature in modem shell

CONFIG_MOSH_REST: Enable REST feature in modem shell

Note

You may not be able to use all features at the same time due to memory restrictions. To see which features are enabled simultaneously, check the configuration files and overlays.

Building and running 

This sample can be found under samples/nrf9160/modem_shell in the nRF Connect SDK folder structure.

The sample is built as a non-secure firmware image for the nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns build target. Because of this, it automatically includes the Secure Partition Manager. You can also configure it to use TF-M instead of SPM.

See Building and programming an application for information about how to build and program the application.

See Providing CMake options for instructions on how to provide CMake options, for example to use a configuration overlay.

DK buttons 

The buttons have the following functions:

Button 1:: Raises a kill or abort signal. A long press of the button will kill or abort all supported running commands. You can abort commands iperf3 (also with th), curl, ping and sock send.
Button 2:: Enables or disables the UARTs for power consumption measurements. Toggles between UARTs enabled and disabled.

LED indications 

The LEDs have the following functions:

LED 1:: Indicates the LTE registration status.

Testing 

After programming the application and all prerequisites to your development kit, test it by performing the following steps:

Connect the development kit to the computer using a USB cable. The development kit is assigned a COM port (Windows) or ttyACM device (Linux), which is visible in the Device Manager.
Create a serial connection to the development kit (J-Link COM port) with a terminal using the following settings:
- Hardware flow control: disabled
- Baud rate: 115200
- Parity bit: no
Reset the development kit.

Observe in the terminal window that the application starts. This is indicated by output similar to the following (there is also a lot of additional information about the LTE connection):

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v2.4.99-ncs1-3525-g4d068de3f50f  ***

MOSH version:       v1.5.0-649-g7e657c2fab02
MOSH build id:      152
MOSH build variant: normal

Initializing modemlib...

Initialized modemlib
Network registration status: searching
Network registration status: Connected - home network
mosh:~$

Type any of the commands listed in the Overview section to the terminal. When you type only the command, the terminal shows the usage, for example sock.

ESP8266 Wi-Fi support 

To build the MoSh sample with ESP8266 Wi-Fi chip support, use the -DDTC_OVERLAY_FILE=esp_8266_nrf9160ns.overlay and -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-esp-wifi.conf options. For example:

west build -p -b nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns -d build -- -DDTC_OVERLAY_FILE=esp_8266_nrf9160ns.overlay -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-esp-wifi.conf

See Providing CMake options for more instructions on how to add these options.

PPP support 

To build the MoSh sample with PPP/dial up support, use the -DDTC_OVERLAY_FILE=ppp.overlay and -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-ppp.conf options. For example:

west build -p -b nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns -- -DDTC_OVERLAY_FILE=ppp.overlay -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-ppp.conf

After programming the development kit, test it in the Linux environment by performing the following steps:

Connect the development kit to the computer using a USB cable. The development kit is assigned a ttyACM device (Linux).
Open a serial connection to the development kit (/dev/ttyACM2) with a terminal (for example PuTTY).
Reset the development kit.
Observe in the terminal window that the MoSh starts with the PPP support. This is indicated by output similar to the following (there is also a lot of additional information about the LTE connection):
```
Network registration status: searching
Network registration status: Connected - home network
Default PDN is active: starting PPP automatically
PPP: started
mosh:~$
```

Enter command``ppp uartconf`` that results in the following UART configuration:

mosh:~$ ppp uartconf -r
PPP uart configuration:
  baudrate:     921600
  flow control: RTS_CTS
  parity:       none
  data bits:    bits8
  stop bits:    bits1
mosh:~$

In a Linux terminal, enter the following command to start the PPP connection:

$ sudo pppd -detach /dev/ttyACM0 921600 noauth crtscts noccp novj nodeflate nobsdcomp local debug +ipv6 ipv6cp-use-ipaddr usepeerdns noipdefault defaultroute

In a MoSh terminal, observe that the PPP connection is created:

Dial up (IPv6) connection up
Dial up (IPv4) connection up
mosh:~$

Now, you are ready to browse Internet in Linux by using the MoSh PPP dial-up over LTE connection.

Application FOTA support 

To build the MoSh sample with application FOTA support, use the -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-app_fota.conf option. For example:

west build -p -b nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns -d build -- -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-app_fota.conf

LwM2M carrier library support 

To build the MoSh sample with LwM2M carrier library support, use the -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-lwm2m_carrier.conf option. For example:

west build -p -b nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns -d build -- -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-lwm2m_carrier.conf

P-GPS support 

To build the MoSh sample with P-GPS support, use the -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-pgps.conf option. For example:

west build -p -b nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns -d build -- -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-pgps.conf

Cloud 

To build the MoSh sample with cloud connectivity, use the -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-cloud_mqtt.conf option. For example:

west build -p -b nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns -d build -- -DOVERLAY_CONFIG=overlay-cloud_mqtt.conf

References 

nRF9160 Hardware Verification Guidelines - UART interface

Dependencies 

This sample uses the following nRF Connect SDK libraries:

This sample uses the following sdk-nrfxlib libraries:

Modem library