Stuff:

Setup webOS command line interface and connect to a device

Here I go again, new machine, and I need the webOS command line tools installed and I forgot how to do it.

webOS CLI (Command Line Interface) provides a collection of commands used for creating, packaging, installing, and launching web apps in the command line environment. The CLI allows you to develop and test your app without using a specific IDE.

webOS CLI introduction

Install

To install on a mac run the following command. For other operating systems see the CLI installation documentation.

$ npm install -g @webos-tools/cli

Verify the installation. Note the command is ares not webos. That is it, installed and ready to go.

$ ares -V
Version: 3.2.1

ares

Just a note on the name ares, I had no idea why that name is used instead of webos but apparently it is an historical ‘nod’ tracing back to Palm’s development of webOS before it was acquired by HP and later LG. When LG took over webOS, they retained many of the Palm-originated tools and names, especially ares-* commands, which were later extended for TV development. At least that is what AI told me.

Connecting to a device

To connect to a device you first need to install and setup the Developer Mode app on your TV. You can then use the CLI tools to connect to the device.

1. Install Developer Mode app on device

See the documentation for detailed instructions on how to install and set up Developer Mode on your device.

2. Connect to device via CLI

You can find details on how to connect to a device in the documentation but lets step through it here.

$ ares-setup-device

This command outputs the following.

name                deviceinfo                connection  profile  passphrase
------------------  ------------------------  ----------  -------  ----------
emulator (default)  [email protected]:6622  ssh         tv                 

** You can modify the device info in the above list, or add new device.
? Select (Use arrow keys)
❯ add 
  modify 
  set default

Select add and follow the prompts.

Note the important prompts are Device Name and Device IP address.

  • Device Name: this can be anything you like, use what makes sense for you. It might be prudent to keep the name short as it will be used in the CLI commands later. For example, I will use lg32 to denote my 32 inch device. Additional devices might be lg55 and so on
  • Device IP address: you get this via the Developer Mode app on the device which displays the IP Address

For Device Port and ssh user just press enter to accept the defaults.

? Enter Device Name: lg32
? Enter Device IP address: 192.168.0.19
? Enter Device Port: 9922
? Enter ssh user: prisoner
? Enter description: new device description
? Set default ? Yes
? Save ? Yes

After the above prompts are completed you should see the following for example.

name            deviceinfo                  connection  profile  passphrase
--------------  --------------------------  ----------  -------  ----------
lg32 (default)  [email protected]:9922  ssh         tv                 
emulator        [email protected]:6622    ssh         tv                 

** After adding your device, you'll need to get the key file from your webOS TV.
 Follow these steps:
 1. Ensure that the key server button in the Developer Mode app on your webOS TV is enabled.
 2. Run the command "ares-novacom --device lg32 --getkey" to retrieve the key file from your webOS TV.
 3. Enter the passphrase displayed in the Developer Mode app into the prompt.
 For more details, refer to the https://webostv.developer.lge.com/develop/getting-started/developer-mode-app

Note the next steps to get the key file from the device are logged to the console - this is a nice new feature of the CLI tools, I always used to forget this step and have to look it up.

As the instructions state, you need to get the key file from the device. Lets repeat the steps here for clarity.

  1. Key server: Ensure that the key server button in the Developer Mode app on your webOS TV is enabled
  2. ares-novacom: Run the command ares-novacom --device lg32 --getkey to retrieve the key file from your webOS TV
  3. Enter the passphrase displayed in the Developer Mode app into the prompt. Note this is labeled Passphrase in the Developer Mode app and will be something like AEBC72

For example, running the command looks like this.

$ ares-novacom --device lg32 --getkey
SSH Private Key: /Users/<name>/.ssh/lg32_webos
input passphrase:

Once you have input the passphrase you can then check that you have a connection to the TV as follows. Make sure to use the name you used when adding the device, in this case I am using lg32.

$ ares-device --system-info --device lg32

If the connection is successful you should see output similar to the following.

[Info] Set target device : lg32
modelName : 32LQ631C0ZA
sdkVersion : 7.5.0
firmwareVersion : 04.51.05
boardType : K8AP_DVB_EU
otaId : HE_DTV_W22L_AFAAATAA

You can also list the devices you have setup with ares-setup-device --list.

$ ares-setup-device --list
name            deviceinfo                  connection  profile  passphrase
--------------  --------------------------  ----------  -------  ----------
lg32 (default)  [email protected]:9922  ssh         tv       AEBC82    
emulator        [email protected]:6622    ssh         tv

What next?

Package a webOS application and deploy it to a device for testing. If you don’t already have an application to test see the documentation on how to create a sample application and deploy it to a device.

Useful links