Device Registration and Configuration

Device Registration and Configuration

Registration

A new device can easily be added to a site by inputting (or scanning) the serial number and MAC address of the device into the “Add device” form from the Cloud.  

The device’s “site-level configuration inheritance” behavior, mentioned previously must also be selected.

Devices that operate as a backhaul, or any device that the user wishes to be individually configured, should have its site-level configuration inheritance property set to “off”.

Devices that might share common settings with other similar devices, such as the MetroLinq Omni or most Wi-Fi devices, should have “inherit site-level configuration settings” to “on”.  

Configuration on the cloud is very flexible - device-level configuration overrides can easily be setup if the need is to inherit only a subset of site-level settings.


Tip: A device’s serial number and MAC address can be found on its product box, or on the main dashboard page of the local web configuration UI.

Here’s the typical process that occurs after a device is registered:
  • Once a device is added to a site, it goes into the “Pending Registration” state.  At this point, the Cloud is waiting for the device to call in for the first time to fetch the credentials it will use for future communication with the Cloud.  

  • After the device makes its initial connection to the Cloud and completes registration, the Cloud checks to see if the device’s site has the “auto firmware upgrade” setting enabled. If so, it checks the device’s firmware to see if it needs to be upgraded, and if so, it creates an auto firmware upgrade task for the device.

  • After the device is upgraded (or if firmware upgrade is skipped), the device will send up its current configuration to the Cloud.  This generates a “Received Config” task, the details of which can be viewed on the device’s Activity page. The Cloud must collect the device’s initial configuration, as well as firmware version, before it can push any new configurations down to the device.

  • Next, the cloud will merge any site-level configuration settings (assuming inheritance is enabled) with the device’s configuration, and create a “Change Config” task to push the new settings down to the device.   If site-inheritance is enabled, the device’s running configuration will be completely replaced with the configuration seen on the device’s Configuration page on the Cloud.  Any configuration settings changed via the local UI prior to registration (excluding certain wireless client settings) will be wiped once the cloud sends down the device’s new configuration.
After the initial configuration task is completed, the device will be done with all registration-related activities and will commence normal operation.A device’s “Activity” page can be used at any time to see the point at which the device is in the initial registration and/or configuration process. In summary, there are four possible registration states for a device:
  • Unregistered: There is no record of the device in the Cloud database when a device is unregistered.

  • Pending Registration:  The Cloud user has added the device record to a site by serial number and MAC, and the Cloud is waiting for the device to make an initial connection.  At this point, the device has not yet made any contact with the Cloud. If you see a device in this state for a long time, check its internet connection or your upstream firewall settings.

  • Registered:  The device has made initial contact with the Cloud, completed the registration process, and received its credentials which it will use in any further communication with the Cloud.  The “registered” state is the normal operating state of a device on the cloud.

  • Re-registration:  This means the device was previously registered, but is attempting to register again.  The system creates an alert for this situation as it requires the user to login to their Cloud account and choose which actions they want to take – such as to allow the device to connect again, and what to do with the device’s new configuration.  
    Note: you can enable “auto” re-registration from the site properties page so that no manual intervention is required to resolve re-registration alerts.

Configuration

Any time a device’s device-level or site-level configuration is changed, the Cloud must determine which settings should actually be changed and pushed down for a device.

When “site-level configuration inheritance” is enabled for a device, a device's final configuration will be made of merging two different sets of configurations:
  • The common site level configuration settings for that product type, and

  • The device's individual configuration, which includes settings not configurable at the site level, such as advanced radio settings, features unique to a single product, and more importantly, any device-level configuration overrides.
Device-level config setting overrides can be created by changing a setting at the device-level config that’s currently being inherited from the site level.  These can always be reverted at any time by pressing the purple arrow button next to the setting, or by pressing the “Use Site Settings” button.  


You can read more about site-level inheritance and device-level overrides in related articles.

After a user changes configuration for a device, the following will happen:
  • A “Change Config” task will be created detailing exactly which settings are being changed on the device.   This task can be tracked on the device’s Activity page.

  • The Cloud will push the new configuration down to the device, and wait for a config ACK from the device to acknowledge that the new configuration was successful.  

  • If the ACK is received, the task is marked as complete.  If the device loses connectivity after applying the new set of configuration settings, the device will revert to the previous configuration, and send a failure notification to the cloud. This will result in an “out of sync” error.

Configuration Errors and Failures

There are two major errors that may be encountered during the configuration process:
  • Configuration out of sync error: This error occurs when the device reverts a configuration pushed down from the Cloud because it can’t connect to the Cloud again after the change.  This is what “out of sync” means - the device’s running configuration doesn’t match the configuration on the Cloud.
    Resolution: This error can be resolved by changing any incorrect settings in your device’s configuration on the Cloud, and pushing the “Resync” button to send them back down.  Here’s an example scenario of when this would happen: a device is currently operating in Client mode, but is configured to use AP mode from the device’s Configuration page on the Cloud.  After a config push, the device will no longer be able to access the internet or Cloud, until its mode is changed to client from the cloud config

  • Configuration suspended error: You can read in more detail about this error on the related Configuration Suspension FAQ page

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