2.2 Setting the IP Address

The IO-FEP2 permits to change its IP address through its Web-GUI. You need to be logged in as 'admin', then you can change the parameters IP address, subnet mask and standard gateway at the 'Info' page (click to 'Change IP Address' in the IP settings table). This opens a page in the webbrowser which lets you enter the IP address, the subnet mask and the gateway address. Clicking to 'OK' saves the entered values and reboots the IO-FEP2 with the new IP settings.

For the procedure described above you need to know the address of the IO-FEP2 and this address must be in the same subnet as the computer you want to use for this. There will be situations where this is not the case, perhaps you don't even know the address of the IO-FEP2. For this, the IO-FEP2 provides alternative ways to evaluate and to set the device's IP settings without connecting to it:

Evaluating an IO-FEP2's IP Address

If you don't know an IO-FEP2's IP address, you can get this information from the IO-FEP2's USB stick:

1. Ensure that the IO-FEP2 is switched off
2. Remove the USB stick from the IO-FEP2 and plug it into your computer
3. Open (double click) the file 'interfaces.txt'. The file contents should be something like shown below. The lines 'address', 'netmask' and 'gateway' contain the IP settings which actually apply to the IO-FEP2.
4. Unmount the USB stick and plug it back to the IO-FEP2.

Example content of an 'interfaces.txt' file:

auto lo 

iface lo inet loopback  

auto eth0 
allow-hotplug eth0 

iface eth0 inet static  
    address 192.168.0.226
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.0.1
    
hwaddress ether FC:C2:3D:13:ED:32

If the IO-FEP2 is configured for DHCP, the file looks a little different, instead if listing 'address', 'netmask' and 'gateway' there is a single line iface eth0 inet dhcp. In DHCP mode the IO-FEP2 obtains its IP settings from your router.

Please note, that changing this file will not change the device's IP settings. The file 'interfaces.txt' is for information only and created by the IO-FEP2 on each start when it initializes its IP interface.

Setting the IP Address With The USB Stick

The USB stick at the IO-FEP2 can also be used to set the device's IP address. The procedure for this is similar to that one described above for evaluating the actual address, but it uses a different file name and a simpler file format:

1. Ensure that the IO-FEP2 is switched off
2. Remove the USB stick from the IO-FEP2 and plug it into your computer
3. Create a plain text file called 'IPRESCUE.TXT' on the USB stick which contains one line of text with the IP address, netmask and gateway to set, separated from each other by on space character. The line should look like this: 192.168.0.226 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1. In order to configure the IO-FEP2 for DHCP, the line should contain a single wird dhcp.
4. Unmount the USB stick and plug it back to the IO-FEP2.
5. Power on the IO-FEP2, the device boots with the IP settings as defined in the 'IPRESCUE.TXT' file.

The IO-FEP2 automatically removes the 'IPRESCUE.TXT' file from the USB stick after the IP settings have been set. The new IP settings are stored permanently in the IO-FEP2, they however may be changed any time at the Web-GUI or by the procedure described above.