Grouping devices¶

Devices can be arbitrarily grouped according to a particular use case. A device can be located in multiple groups, and groups themselves can again be part of multiple groups.

IoT Extension distinguishes between top-level groups and subgroups.

Top-level groups are shown in the "Groups" menu in the navigator at top-level. Subgroups are used to further subdivide top-level groups.

Viewing groups¶

To display a list of all groups in the account, click "Groups" in the navigator.

For each group, the name and the number of children is displayed.

Click a group to view its details.

Info Tab:

In the "Info" tab, the following information is provided:

Sub-assets:

In the "Sub-assets" tab you see a list of all devices assigned to the group. For each device, the name and the number of children is displayed.

To assign a device to a group, click "Assign devices" at the right of the top menu bar.

To unassign a device, click the menu icon in a device entry and from the context menu select "Unassign".

Bulk operations:

In the "Bulk operations" tab, bulk operations created for the group can be managed. With bulk operations you can at once execute operations for each device within one group.

Create a new group¶

To create a new group follow these steps:

1. Click the "Plus" button at the right of the top bar, then select "New group" from the menu.
2. In the window that comes up enter a unique group name to identify your group.
3. In the "Device search" field, enter the search criteria for the devices you might want to add to your group (e.g. "ublox"). A list of devices that match your search criteria will be displayed.
4. Checkmark the devices you want to add from the list.
5. Click "Create group with X device(s)" to finally create your new group.

Assign a device to an existing group¶

You can assign devices to an existing group in two ways.

From the device perspective:

1. Select a device from the device list and open it.
2. In the Info tab, scroll down to the "Groups assignment" card. From the drop-down field, select the group you want to assign the device to. You can also directly enter a group name here or you can enter just parts of a name to filter the list for it and only show the matching group names.
3. Click "Assign".

If you search for a group by its name which does not exist yet, a "New" button will appear so that you can create a new group with this name from here and assign the device to that group.

In order to create a new group, the user must have the following permissions:

• ROLE_INVENTORY_CREATE
• ROLE_INVENTORY_ADMIN

From the group perspective:

1. In the navigator, select a group from the Group menu and then open the "Sub-assets" tab. In the "Sub-assets" tab, all devices that are assigned to the respective group are displayed.
2. Click "Assign devices" at the right of the top menu bar. In the upcoming window search for the devices you might want to add to your group (e.g. "ublox"). A list of devices that match your search criteria will be displayed.
3. Checkmark the devices you want to add from the list.
4. Click "Assign X device(s)" to assign the selected devices.

Create a sub-group¶

1. In the navigator, click a group to open it.
2. Click "Add Group" at the right of the top menu bar.
3. In the upcoming window, enter a name for the sub-group and click "Add group".

Edit a group¶

1. In the navigator, click a group to open it.
2. In the Info tab, click "Edit". This allows you to edit the name of the group and to assign user permissions for the group. For further information on permissions, see the Administration Guide.

Using smart groups¶

Smart groups are groups dynamically constructed based on filtering criteria. They have a temporary character because the group members can change constantly. Smart groups do not have fixed member listings. They have fixed criteria instead. This type of group can be used, for example, for bulk upgrades of devices of a certain type to a new software or firmware version.

Smart groups can be created from the device list.

1. To open the device list, click "All devices" in the navigator.
2. Filter the devices in the list to select the desired devices.
3. Click "Create smart group" at the right of the top menu bar.
4. Enter a name for the group and click "Create".

The new group will appear as a top-level group in the "Groups" menu of the navigator. Smart groups can be distinguished by a small cogwheel in the folder icon.

In the "Sub-asset" tab you can adjust your selection and modify the filter settings.

To delete a smart group, click the menu icon and from the context menu select "Delete".