INDI Library v1.8.4 Released

Minor bugfix release with some highlights:

How to connect to INDI server with software sockets

2 weeks 4 days ago

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Willems

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Posts: 4

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How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50653

Hi,

I'm trying to connect to a INDIServer that runs on my Raspberry pi zero W on the default port from software (Swift on Mac OS).
Unfortunately I am not that familiar with socket programming so my question might be somewhat basic.
What kind of socket (or what kind of protocol) do I need to connect to the INDI server. I've tried TCP and HTTP sockets, but they do not seem to work. I get a permission denied error. At first I'm just trying to send <getProperties version="1.7"/> to the server.

I am able to connect to the server from kStars running on my Mac.

Thanks,
Don

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2 weeks 4 days ago

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knro

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Karma: 51

How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50662

Hello Mike,

Welcome to INDI forums. To communicate with INDI server, you just need to communicate with it using TCP/IP over Port 7624 (which is default, but INDI server can be configured to run on a different port). An a quick is to do this. In one terminal, run INDI server:

indiserver -v indi_simulator_telescope

You should get an output like this:

2020-03-12T06:28:20: startup: indiserver -v indi_simulator_telescope 
2020-03-12T06:28:20: Driver indi_simulator_telescope: pid=15638 rfd=3 wfd=6 efd=7
2020-03-12T06:28:20: listening to port 7624 on fd 4
2020-03-12T06:28:20: Driver indi_simulator_telescope: snooping on GPS Simulator.GEOGRAPHIC_COORD
2020-03-12T06:28:20: Driver indi_simulator_telescope: snooping on GPS Simulator.TIME_UTC
2020-03-12T06:28:20: Driver indi_simulator_telescope: snooping on Dome Simulator.DOME_PARK
2020-03-12T06:28:20: Driver indi_simulator_telescope: snooping on Dome Simulator.DOME_SHUTTER

Then on another terminal, telnet to the server:

telnet localhost 7624

Then I typed in this and pressed enter:

<getProperties version='1.7'/>

Then you should see a list of properties back:

jasem@jasem-neon:~$ telnet localhost 7624
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
<getProperties version='1.7'/>
<defSwitchVector device="Telescope Simulator" name="CONNECTION" label="Connection" group="Main Control" state="Idle" perm="rw" rule="OneOfMany" timeout="60" timestamp="2020-03-12T06:29:19">
    <defSwitch name="CONNECT" label="Connect">
Off
    </defSwitch>
    <defSwitch name="DISCONNECT" label="Disconnect">
...etc

Hope this helps!

Jasem Mutlaq
Support INDI & Ekos; Get StellarMate Astrophotography Gadget.
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2 weeks 3 days ago

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Willems

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How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50664

Yes, I was able to do all that. My problem is that I cannot connect using sockets from my own program.
I get a permission denied error back so that might mean that the port is not open. But then why am I able to connect using kStars?
I assume that no authentication is needed?

Thanks

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2 weeks 3 days ago

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knro

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How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50665

No authentication, just a regular network TCP/IP socket. Make sure you are connecting to the correct port (default 7624).

Jasem Mutlaq
Support INDI & Ekos; Get StellarMate Astrophotography Gadget.
How to Submit Logs when you have problems?
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2 weeks 3 days ago

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Willems

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How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50672

I seem to be able to connect with nc:

$ nc pizero.local 7624 -vz
nc -vz pizero.local 7624
nc: connectx to pizero.local port 7624 (tcp) failed: Connection refused
nc: connectx to pizero.local port 7624 (tcp) failed: Connection refused
Connection to pizero.local port 7624 [tcp/indi] succeeded!

As you can see, the connection is first refused twice and succeeds the third time.
If I try to connect from software, the connection gets refused (TCP error 61).

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2 weeks 2 days ago

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knro

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How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50699

Any firewall blocking port 7624 perhaps?

Jasem Mutlaq
Support INDI & Ekos; Get StellarMate Astrophotography Gadget.
How to Submit Logs when you have problems?
Add your observatory info

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2 weeks 2 days ago

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gilesco

Senior Boarder

Posts: 60

How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50702

If on another terminal you run "tcpdump -s0 -w capture.pcap"

Then run your netcat command

Afterwards you can CTRL-C the tcpdump process and you will have a packet capture file to look at.

You can then check the pcap file with something like wireshark.

Out of interest, what if you run netcat with the -4 option?, just thinking it might be resolving pizaro.local with a link local IPv6 address, and indi might only be listening on the IPv4 address.

Alternatively, perhaps just use the IPv4 address directly with netcat?

Clutching at straws, I know.

__
I blog my progress: www.coochey.net

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2 weeks 1 day ago

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Willems

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How to connect to INDI server with software sockets #50713

I've been able to get it working. Unfortunately I don't really know what the problem was. There was a timing issue but I don't think that is the whole story. Anyway, I can now send the <getProperties version="1.7"> string and get the appropriate response back in software.
Thanks for thinking with me.

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How to connect to INDI server with software sockets

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