Edge management

Edge management is the part of the ThingsBoard server where you create Edge instances, choose what each Edge receives, and check what was sent to it. Everything on this page is done on the server, under Edge management > Edges, not on the Edge itself.

Devices, assets, entity views, dashboards, device and asset profiles, rule chains, users, and scheduler events can also be created on the Edge. Customers, entity groups, roles, integrations, data converters, and OTA packages are created on the server only. An Edge receives the customer that owns it and the users of the user groups assigned to it. See Customers and users.

1. Go to Edge management > Edges, click Add edge, and select Add new edge.
2. Enter a name and click Add. A dialog with install instructions opens. The commands in it already contain the key and secret of this Edge.
3. To copy the key and secret later, open the Edge and click Copy Edge key and Copy Edge secret. You need them to install the Edge.

The new Edge automatically receives the rule chains that are marked for new Edges. See Rule chains of new Edges.

For installation instructions, see Edge installation.

To install, upgrade and monitor Edge instances from the ThingsBoard UI, including whole fleets at once, use Remote Agent.

An Edge receives only what you assign to it. Click the Edge in the list to open its Details tab. The Manage … buttons on this tab assign entity groups, rule chains, integrations, and scheduler events. Each button opens the list of what the Edge already has:

Button	Description
Manage user groups	User groups. Their users can log in to the Edge.
Manage asset groups	Asset groups
Manage device groups	Device groups
Manage entity view groups	Entity view groups
Manage dashboard groups	Dashboard groups
Manage scheduler events	Scheduler events
Manage rule chains	Rule chain templates. See Rule chain templates.
Manage integrations	Integration templates. See Integrations.

To assign a device group, for example:

1. Go to Edge management > Edges and click the Edge.
2. On the Details tab, click Manage device groups.
3. Click Assign to edge (+), select one or more groups, and click Assign.

The other buttons work the same way. Each assignment is sent to the Edge as a downlink, a message from the server to the Edge. If the Edge is connected, it receives the entities right away. If it is offline, it receives them once the connection is restored.

Open the same list, for example with Manage device groups. In the row of the group, click Unassign entity group from edge and confirm. For rule chains, integrations, and scheduler events, the row action is Unassign from edge.

To remove only one entity from the Edge, remove it from the group on the server instead. The same rule applies: the Edge deletes the entity unless it is also in another group assigned to the Edge.

Every Edge runs one root rule chain, which receives all incoming messages first. A new Edge starts with the template root. To change the root rule chain of one Edge:

1. Open the Edge and click Manage rule chains on its Details tab.
2. In the row of a rule chain that is already assigned to the Edge, click Make rule chain root.

This changes only this Edge. The root rule chain cannot be unassigned. To remove it, make another rule chain the root first.

Go to Edge management > Templates and open the Rule chain tab. Two row actions there control what every new Edge starts with:

• Make rule chain as edge template root: every new Edge receives this rule chain as its root. The Template root column marks it.
• Assign rule chain to edge(s) on creation: every new Edge also receives this rule chain. The Assign to edge column marks these rule chains. To turn this off, click Do not assign rule chain to edge(s) on creation in the same row.

Both settings apply only to Edges created later. Existing Edges are not changed. To update them, use Manage rule chains on each Edge.

Click an Edge in Edge management > Edges to open its details. Besides the Manage … buttons, the Details tab has the following actions:

Action	Description
Open details page	Opens the Edge on its own full page instead of a side panel.
Manage owner and groups	Changes the owner of the Edge, for example to give it to a customer, and the groups it belongs to.
Delete edge	Deletes the Edge. See Delete an Edge.
Copy Edge Id	Copies the ID of the Edge.
Copy Edge key	Copies the Edge key. You need it to install the Edge.
Copy Edge secret	Copies the Edge secret. You need it to install the Edge.
Sync Edge	Sends all assigned entities to the Edge again. See Force synchronization.
Install & Connect Instructions	Shows the commands to install the Edge and connect it to the server. If a newer Edge version is available, this button is replaced by Upgrade Instructions.

The other tabs of the details panel are:

Tab	Contents
Attributes	The latest attributes of the Edge. The server attribute active is true while the Edge is connected; lastConnectTime and lastDisconnectTime show when it last connected and disconnected.
Latest telemetry	The most recent telemetry of the Edge
Alarms	Alarms raised for the Edge itself
Events	Lifecycle and system events of the Edge
Downlinks	Messages the server sent to the Edge. See Downlinks.
Relations	Entities related to the Edge
Audit logs	Actions users performed on the Edge

Downlinks are messages from the server to the Edge, such as entity assignments, configuration changes, and rule chain updates. When an Edge is missing something it should have, open its Downlinks tab to see whether the server sent it and whether the Edge received it.

Each row of the table contains:

Column	Description
Event time	When the downlink was created
Type	The type of entity the message is about, for example a device, an asset, or a rule chain
Event action	What happened to the entity, for example Added, Updated, or Deleted
Entity ID	The ID of the entity
Status	Deployed: the Edge received the message. Pending: the message waits in the queue until the Edge is connected.
Data	Click to see the full message

When the Edge reconnects, it synchronizes on its own. If something is still missing after that, for example after a long outage, start the synchronization manually: open the Edge and click Sync Edge on its Details tab.

Open the Edge, click Delete edge on its Details tab, and confirm.