Preparing to enroll the Mercury controller

2024-08-23Last updated

Before you enroll the Mercury controller on the Synergis™ unit, you must assign a static IP address to the controller.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following:
Mercury Setup and Configuration Guide
Instruction manual for connecting to the web portal of your Mercury controller and setting up its IP address (and other configurations).
Static IP address
Static IP address assigned to the controller by your IT department.
Physical addresses
Each interface panel attached to the same RS-485 port of the same Mercury controller must have a unique physical address (configured on a DIP switch).
Best Practice:
If you have many Mercury controllers to enroll on the same Synergis unit, it is best to enroll them all at the same time. Each controller you add or remove from the Synergis unit causes the unit to restart. While the unit restarts, it’s offline for about 30 seconds.

What you should know

Mercury controllers enrolled on the same Synergis unit cannot be assigned different partitions in Security Center. If you need to assign the controllers to different partitions, enroll them on different Synergis units, and then assign the Synergis units to different partitions.
Note:
The steps and instructions tagged with Hardening are optional, but will protect your system against cyberattacks.

Procedure

  1. On the Mercury controller board, set the DIP switch S1-1 to ON.
    This gives you a five-minute window to sign in using factory default settings.
  2. Sign in to the Mercury controller through its Configuration Manager web page. Use the default IP address (192.168.0.251) and credentials (admin/password). For more information, see the manufacturer’s documentation.
  3. Select Network from the menu, configure the Mercury controller’s IP address, and click Accept.
  4. Select Host Comm from the menu.
  5. In the Host Communication page, configure the following settings, and click Accept.
    Host Communication page of the LP1502 Configuration Manager web page.
    Communication Address
    Set to 0.
    Important:
    Not to be confused with the Channel that must be unique when you enroll the Mercury controller on the Synergis unit.
    Port Number
    The port number used by the Synergis unit to communicate with the Mercury controller (default=3001).
    Authorized IP Address Required
    (Hardening) Select this option, and set Authorized IP address to the IP address of the Synergis unit.
    Data Security
    Set to TLS Required.
    Important:
    If TLS is not selected, the Mercury controller stays offline.
  6. Select Users from the menu, and click New User.
    Creating a user account on the Mercury controller saves you from having to physically access the unit and set the DIP switch S1-1 to ON the next time you modify the controller configuration.
    User Account page of the LP1502 Configuration Manager web page.
  7. (Hardening) On the User Account page, enter the Username and a strong Password, confirm the password, and then click Save.
  8. On the Users page, disable Time Server.
    The Time Server is not required. Synergis™ Softwire monitors and automatically sets the time on the Mercury units.
    Users page of the LP1502 Configuration Manager web page with the Time server option disabled.
  9. (Hardening) On the Users page, disable SNMP Options, and click Submit.
    Users page of the LP1502 Configuration Manager web page with the SNMP option disabled.
  10. Select Apply Settings and click Apply Settings, Reboot.
  11. On the Mercury controller board, set the DIP switch S1-1 to OFF for normal operation.
    This prevents the factory default settings from being used to sign in to the controller.
  12. When prompted to proceed, select I understand and wish to proceed, and then click Yes.

After you finish

Enroll the Mercury controller on the Synergis unit.