Remote Node Administration
This is an advanced feature intended for experienced users. It’s possible (if not done carefully) to apply settings to a remote node that could cause it to disconnect from the mesh. Network admins are advised to use a test node to trial settings before applying changes to a remote node to prevent this.
This feature allows secure remote administration of Meshtastic nodes over the mesh network.
By default, nodes will only respond to administrative commands via the local USB, Bluetooth, or TCP interfaces. This basic security measure prevents unauthorized access and defines how standard administration and settings changes are managed. The only difference with remote administration is that commands are sent securely as Admin Messages over the mesh.
Prerequisites
For firmware versions 2.5 and later, remote administration is achieved by storing the public key of the local node in one of the Admin Key fields within the remote node’s Security Config. Each remote node can store up to three unique Admin Keys, providing flexibility for managing nodes across the network.
For firmware versions 2.4.x and earlier, this is achieved by creating a secondary channel named admin
with a shared PSK. In this setup, messages exchanged on this channel are encrypted only with the channel’s PSK, allowing any node in the channel to administer others.
This admin
channel method is still supported in firmware versions 2.5 and later, but must be specifically enabled via the "Legacy Admin channel" setting and is only for managing pre-2.5 nodes. A firmware version 2.5 and later node cannot be managed in this way.
Remote Admin is complemented by setting Managed Mode on the remote node, which restricts radio configurations on that node. It is not necessary to set Managed Mode for Remote Admin to function.
Remote Admin Config Client Availability
- Android
- Apple
- CLI
- Web