Internal SSH console

All Unipi devices include a full-featured ARM-based Linux environment, which is accessible via a Secure Shell console after following the steps below. This allows the users of Unipi devices to fully leverage the incredible versatility provided by open-source software packages.

The process of enabling access to it differs slightly between the three generations of Unipi devices and is detailed below for Unipi Axon. The process for Unipi 1.1 and Unipi Neuron is the same as for ordinary Raspberry Pi.

Unipi Axon includes an internal SSH server which is disabled by default and must be enabled according to the instructions in the “Getting Started” leaflet packaged with the device. After the server is enabled it is possible to connect to the device via any SSH client in the local network. This guide is intended to help users who are not otherwise familiar with SSH and is not necessarily the only way of connecting to the device.

The first step for connecting to the Unipi Axon SSH console is to enable remote access to the internal SSH server. The server is enabled via the Unipi Axon service interface; the interface can be accessed by following the steps below:

1. Hold down the small recessed button on top of the Axon device case using a thin-enough tool. The button can be found next to the USB port labels on the upper side of the device.
2. Power up the controller while holding the button down.
3. Wait until the device finishes booting into the Unipi service mode. This is indicated by the two rows of LEDs flashing in an alternating fashion.
4. Use a device with a web browser to connect to the Unipi Axon via Ethernet LAN or Wi-Fi. The process is slightly different between the two options:
   1. Ethernet LAN: The interface will be accessible on IP address 192.168.200.200. The device will also attempt to acquire an additional dynamic IP address via DHCP if DHCP is available.
   2. Wi-Fi: The Unipi Axon service mode will create a Wi-Fi access point with SSID “UNIPICONFIG” and password “unipi.technology”. The interface will be accessible on IP addresses 192.168.200.200 and 192.168.201.1

After accessing the web interface you should see a screen with multiple buttons. To enable the SSH server first press the button with “Enable ssh” in the centre of the screen and then the “Restart System” button in the upper right corner of the screen.

There are many tools which can be used to connect to SSH servers. For this tutorial, we recommend using PuTTY. You can download the PuTTY installer from https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.70/w32/putty-0.70-installer.msi (a third-party link) or many other places on the web.

The next step is to run PuTTY. You should be presented with a relatively complicated interface, however, the only portion which we need to fill in is the “Host Name (or IP address)” field. Type in the IP address of your Unipi device, and then press the “Open” button at the bottom of the PuTTY windows.

You should now see a console window asking for a username and password. Use the username “unipi” and password “unipi.technology”; these may be changed later, but this is outside the scope of this tutorial.

At this point you should see a Linux command prompt with the following format “unipi@[your-device-ID]:” – if so congratulations, you have connected to the internal SSH console successfully!