Quick Start

This guide is used to complete the initial deployment, logon, and basic inspection of ThingsGatewayRuntime. When using it for the first time, it is recommended to first confirm that all three web management entries are accessible, then enter GatewayRuntime Web to check the gateway's operating status, engineering information, and basic menu permissions.

Current screenshots and configuration instructions are organized according to GatewayRuntime 2.1.22.

This article is intended for on-site personnel experiencing the system for the first time. It only states whether the service is accessible, whether the account can log in, and whether the gateway is running normally; When actually connecting PLCs, instruments, point tables, and upper-level systems, please continue reading the corresponding special topic pages without having to read through all documents page by page.

What are you going to do now?	Keep looking at where
Get the system running first.	Continue reading this article to confirm Studio, GatewayRuntime and Watchdog are three entry points.
Connect PLC, instrument, or sensor	Collection Configurationand configure in the order of channels, devices, and variables.
Verify the register address or write point	Device Debugging, read before write, and confirm on-site safety before writing.
Send data to the host computer, MES, SCADA, or cloud platform	Data Forwarding, first debug on a small scale, then expand the point table.
View alarms, historical data, or runlogs	GatewayRuntime Web Operation Manualand search by function entry.

Services and Access Addresses

ThingsGatewayRuntime consists of three web management entries.

Service	Default address	Purpose
Studio	http://<server-ip>:5100	Project management, runtime management, intranet tunneling broker, and Watchdog connection management
GatewayRuntime	http://<gateway-ip>:6100	Gateway runtime configuration, collection configuration, data forwarding, alarms, logs, and user permissions
Watchdog	http://<gateway-ip>:6200	Gateway process supervision, project package upload, logs, backups, tunnel clients, and runtime parameters

Default account is admin, default password is 111111. Before starting production for the first time, please log in to your corresponding system's account or settings page to change the default password.

The bundled Studio and Watchdog configurations listen on 0.0.0.0 and officially support direct access through the http://<ip>:<port> addresses above. Login and first-time initialization passwords are encrypted with a one-time RSA-OAEP-SHA256 public-key challenge. Standard HTTP pages accessed by IP address do not depend on the browser's SubtleCrypto secure context.

HTTP Security Boundary

Password Challenge only provides extra protection for the password fields used during login and initialization, and cannot replace HTTPS. Bearer tokens, password change requests, engineering packages, backups, and other management data are still not encrypted on regular HTTP links. The isolated industrial LAN can use HTTP IP as required by the site; HTTPS is prioritized for public or trusted networks.

Pre-deployment Check

Checkitems	Requirements
Operating System	Windows 10/11, Windows Server 2016+, mainstream Linux distributions
Runtime	Normal release requires .NET 10 Runtime; AOT release package can run independently
port	acknowledge 5100,6100, 6200 unoccupied and release firewall as needed
Remote Management	Studio acknowledge RemoteManagementEnabled=true; Watchdog also needs RemoteDeploymentEnabled=true. When using a regular HTTP IP, both should ensure AllowInsecureRemoteHttp=true
directory	keep Studio andWatchDog,GatewayApp, Projects, etc. have complete directory structures
permissions	Linux grants executable permissions to executable files; Windows service installation requires administrator privileges

Startup Order

1. Launch ThingsGatewayStudio on the server for project management and remote deployment.
2. Start ThingsGatewayRuntime.Watchdog on the gateway device, which manages the GatewayRuntime process.
3. After Watchdog starts, it checks and starts GatewayRuntime in the GatewayApp according to the configuration instructions.
4. Open your browser and access the web address for Studio, GatewayRuntime, or Watchdog.

Log in to GatewayRuntime

Open http://<gateway-ip>:6100, enter your username and password, and click "Login".

After successful login, you enter the "System Overview" by default, where you can view channels, devices, variables, alarms, system resources, and engineering information.

It is recommended to complete the following checks after the first login.

Steps	Page	Operations
1	System Overview	Confirm whether the number of devices, variables, CPU, memory, and engineering information are normal
2	Collect Configuration	Check whether channels, devices, and variables are loaded and if there are offline devices
3	Data forwarding	Check whether forwarding groups and forwarding targets are enabled, and whether recent active time has been updated
4	System Logs	Check for Exceptions in Backend Logs, Operation Logs, and RPC Logs
5	User Management	Change Default Password and Assign Account Permissions by Role

Log In Studio

Open http://<server-ip>:5100 and sign in with your Studio account. The page automatically retrieves a one-time public-key challenge valid for two minutes, encrypts the password, and then submits it. After login, it uses a JWT Bearer token to access the application APIs.

After logging in, enter the "Overview" to view current running projects, tunnel services, watchdog status, and recent projects.

Common entry points for Studio are as follows.

Page	Purpose
Overview	View running projects, tunnel services, watchdog health
My Projects	New, import, upload, stop running, and download projects from gateways
Intranet traversal	Configure Studio tunnel Broker
Watchdog	Manage Watchdog connections, test status, and upload projects

Log in to Watchdog

Open http://<gateway-ip>:6200 and sign in with your Watchdog account. The page automatically retrieves a one-time public-key challenge and encrypts the password. After login, it uses an opaque Bearer session valid for eight hours. Logging out revokes the current session, and you must sign in again after Watchdog restarts.

After logging in, enter the dashboard to view gateway process status, running parameters, and real-time logs.

Common Watchdog entry points are as follows.

Page	Purpose
Dashboard	View gateway operating status, perform restart, stop, View Logs and Other Operations Actions
Project Management	Upload Project Packages, Application Projects, Download or Delete Projects
View Logs	Query and Export Watchdog Runtime Logs
Backup Management	Creating, Restoring, and Deleting Project Backups
Tunnel Management	Configuring Watchdog Tunnel Client
Settings	Modify Account, Gateway Operation Parameters, Backup Policies, and Security Sources

Windows Service Deployment

Open PowerShell as an administrator and create the service based on the actual path.

sc.exe create "ThingsGateway Watchdog" binPath= "D:\ThingsGateway\WatchDog\ThingsGatewayRuntime.Watchdog.exe" start= auto DisplayName= "ThingsGateway Watchdog Service"
sc.exe create "ThingsGateway Studio" binPath= "D:\ThingsGateway\Studio\ThingsGatewayStudio.exe" start= auto DisplayName= "ThingsGateway Studio Service"

sc.exe start "ThingsGateway Watchdog"
sc.exe start "ThingsGateway Studio"

Linux Service Deployment

Example service file as follows. Please adjust according to the actual directory WorkingDirectory and ExecStart.

[Unit]
Description=ThingsGateway Runtime Watchdog Service
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/opt/ThingsGateway/WatchDog
ExecStart=/opt/ThingsGateway/WatchDog/ThingsGatewayRuntime.Watchdog
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable the service.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable thingsgateway
sudo systemctl start thingsgateway
sudo systemctl status thingsgateway

Studio and Watchdog Login Failure

Issues	Handling Suggestions
localhost can access but device IP cannot	Confirm listening address is 0.0.0.0, remote management switch is enabled, and for normal HTTP, AllowInsecureRemoteHttp=true, and allow port 5100 or 6200.
Page prompts: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'importKey')	The current frontend does not call subtle.importKey. Clear browser and proxy caches, republish the complete static resource, and confirm that the node-forge dynamic resource loaded at login returned 200.
Login prompts that the challenge is invalid or expired	Refresh the login page or resubmit it; the page will get a new challenge; The challenge expires in two minutes and can only be used once.
Watchdog logs in but then returns to the login page	Checks whether the service has just restarted and whether the session has lasted more than eight hours; Log in again to obtain new Bearer Tokens.
Studio shows Watchdog offline	accessing http://<WatchdogIP>:6200 from Studio servers, then checking accounts, remote management switches, firewalls, and Watchdog logs.

Next Step

• Collection Configuration
• Device Debugging
• Data Forwarding
• GatewayRuntime Web Operation Manual
• Studio Web Operation Manual
• Watchdog Web Operation Manual