Configuring Services in KubOS

All Kubos services rely on a configuration file to determine certain runtime settings, referred to as the config.toml file.

By default, this file lives in /home/system/etc/config.toml.

Discovering Config Options

All Kubos core services have a Configuration section in their repective doc page which details the available configuration options.

All hardware services provided by Kubos document their configuration options within their generated doc page.

Common Config Options

All Kubos services will have a [{service}.addr] section.

For example:

[kubos-monitor.addr]
ip = "0.0.0.0"
port = 8006

This section defines the IP address and port to be used for receiving GraphQL requests over HTTP.

Many hardware services will utilize a bus parameter which defines the particular peripheral bus that the subsystem is connected to.

For example:

[mai400-service]
bus = "/dev/ttyS5"

This tells the MAI-400 service that the device is connected to the UART bus ttyS5

Creating Custom Config Options

Custom configuration options may be added to the config.toml file by following the TOML format.

This format is intended to help create a simple, easy-to-read, configuration file.

All options should be placed under the header of the service which will be using them. Sub-headers may be added as desired.

For example:

[my-payload-service]
watchdog-timeout = 60

[my-payload-service.addr]
ip = "0.0.0.0"
port = 8100

[my-payload-service.device]
bus = "/dev/i2c-1"
addr = 60

In this configuration, we are defining several custom options for a hypothetical payload service, my-payload-service:

  • watchdog-timeout defines the interval at which the service should kick the payload’s watchdog

  • [my-payload-service.device] denotes a subsection of options devoted to the payload’s I2C configuration

    • bus is the I2C bus the payload is connected to
    • addr is the decimal value of the payload’s I2C address

Our service can then use these configuration options like so:

Python

from kubos_service.config import Config
import i2c
import threading

# Get the configuration options for the service out of the `config.toml` file
config = Config("my-payload-service")

# Get the watchdog timeout value
timeout = config.raw['watchdog-timeout']

# Start a thread which will kick the watchdog at the given interval
threading.Thread(target=watchdog_kick, args=(timeout,)).start()

# Get the I2C information
bus = config.raw['device']['bus']
addr = config.raw['device']['addr']

# Set up the bus connection (actually only needs the bus number, which is the last character)
i2c = i2c.I2C(bus[:-1])

# Send a command to the device
i2c.write(addr, [0x70])

Rust

use kubos_service::Config;
use std::thread;
use std::time::Duration;

// Get the configuration options for the service out of the `config.toml` file
let config = Config::new("my-payload-service").unwrap();

// Get the watchdog timeout value
let timeout = config
    .get("watchdog-timeout")
    .and_then(|val| val.as_integer())
    .expect("Unable to get timeout value");

// Start a thread which will kick the watchdog at the given interval
thread::spawn(move || loop {
    kick_watchdog();
    thread::sleep(Duration::from_secs(timeout as u64));
});

// Get the I2C information
let device = config.get("device").unwrap();
let bus = device["bus"].as_str().expect("Unable to get I2C bus");
let addr = device["addr"].as_integer().expect("Unable to get I2C address");

// Set up the bus connection
let i2c = rust_i2c::Connection::from_path(&bus, addr as u16);

// Send a command to the device
let command = rust_i2c::Command {
    cmd: 0x70,
    data: vec![],
};
i2c.write(command);

Using Custom Config Files

By default, all services will attempt to read their configuration options from /home/system/etc/config.toml.

A custom file location may be provided by specifying the path in the -c option when starting the service.

For example:

$ /usr/sbin/kubos-monitor-service -c /home/kubos/my-config.toml

Note

When starting a Rust-based service from within the Kubos SDK, the config file should be passed like so:

$ cargo run -- -c /home/kubos/my-config.toml

The -- characters make sure that the following parameters are passed to the underlying program, rather than to cargo.