Register an AWS IoT ExpressLink module to your account

To create an AWS IoT thing and add it to your account you must retrieve the AWS IoT ExpressLink module Thing Name and its corresponding certificate. Follow these steps:

1. Open the AWS IoT console. In the navigation pane choose Manage then choose Things. Choose Create things, select Create single thing, then choose Next.

2. Open the terminal application on your host machine and enter the command:

   AT+CONF? ThingName

   Copy the returned string (a sequence of alphanumeric characters) from the terminal.

3. Return to the AWS IoT console, and on the Specify thing properties page under Thing properties, paste the string you copied from the terminal into the Thing name field. Leave other fields with their default values, then choose Next.

4. In the terminal application, enter the command:

   AT+CONF? Certificate pem

5. Copy the returned string (a longer sequence of alphanumeric symbols), and save it in a text file on your host machine as "ThingName.cert.pem".

6. In the AWS IoT console, on the Configure device certificate page, select Use my certificate, then select CA is not registered with AWS IoT.

7. Under Certificate, choose Choose file. Select the file "ThingName.cert.pem" that you created in a previous step, then choose Open.

8. Under Certificate status, select Active, then choose Next.

9. Under Attach policies to certificate, choose Create policy.

10. Enter a Policy name (for example, "IoTDevPolicy"), then under Policy document select JSON.

11. Copy the the following into the console Policy document:

    { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": "*", "Resource": "*" } ] }

    Warning

    The examples in this document are intended only for development environments. All devices in your fleet must have credentials with privileges that authorize only intended actions on specific resources. The specific permission policies can vary for your use case. Identify the permission policies that best meet your business and security requirements. For more information, see Example IAM identity-based policies and Security Best practices in the IAM Identity and Access Management User Guide.

12. Choose Create. Return to the Attach policies to certificate page and select the policy you just created (for example, "IoTDevPolicy"), then choose Create thing to complete the thing creation.

13. In the AWS IoT console, in the navigation pane, choose Settings. Under Device data endpoint select the Endpoint to make a copy of the endpoint for your account.

14. In the terminal application, type this command using the endpoint you just copied:

    AT+CONF Endpoint=your endpoint string here

Set up for Wi-Fi modules

AWS IoT ExpressLink modules that support Wi-Fi connectivity require access to a local Wi-Fi router in order to connect to the internet. You can enter the required security credentials with the following additional steps:

1. In the terminal application, enter the command:

   AT+CONF SSID=your router ssid 

2. In the terminal application, enter the command:

   AT+CONF Passphrase=your router passphrase

   Note

   Your local router's SSID and passphrase are stored securely inside the AWS IoT ExpressLink module. While the SSID can be retrieved later (for debugging purposes) any attempt to retrieve the Passphrase will return an error.

Completion

Congratulations! You have completed the registration of the evaluation kit as a thing in your AWS IoT account. You will not need to repeat these steps the next time you connect, as the AWS IoT ExpressLink module will remember its configuration and will be ready to connect to your AWS account automatically.