Asset management

Assets are abstract entities that represent real-world objects — factories, vehicles, warehouses, buildings, and similar — and organize other entities beneath them in a relational hierarchy. Devices report telemetry; assets give that telemetry context by grouping the devices that produce it. Dashboard aliases can then use asset relations to dynamically aggregate data from all related devices in a single widget.

For a general introduction to assets, see Assets.

There are two ways to get an asset onto an Edge instance:

• Create on Edge: Use this when the asset is new and will be managed primarily on Edge. ThingsBoard pushes it to the server automatically.
• Assign from server: Use this when the asset already exists on the server and you want to extend its management to a specific Edge instance.

1. Go to Entities → Assets and click Add (+), then select Add new asset.

2. Enter the asset Name and select an Asset profile.

3. Click Add.

   The asset appears in the list and is pushed to the server automatically once the Edge connection is established.

Relations define the hierarchy between entities. An asset typically acts as the parent that Manages one or more devices. Once the relation is set up, you can use it as a filter in dashboard aliases to display data from all related devices dynamically.

The two key parameters are:

Parameter	Options	Meaning
Direction	From (outbound)	The relation originates from this entity
Direction	To (inbound)	The relation points to this entity
Relation type	Contains	This entity is a part of another
Relation type	Manages	This entity is responsible for another

To add a Manages relation from an asset to a device:

1. Go to Entities → Assets and open the asset.

2. Go to the Relations tab and select Outbound relations — From.

3. Click Add (+), set Relation type to Manages, set To entity type to Device, and select the device from the dropdown.

4. Click Add.

   The relation appears in the Relations tab.

To display telemetry from asset-related devices on a dashboard, use a Relations query alias with the asset as the root entity. For details, see Entity aliases.

Use this flow when the asset already exists on the server and you want to make it available on a specific Edge instance.

1. Log in to your ThingsBoard server and go to Edge management → Instances.
2. Open the Edge instance and click Manage assets.
3. Click Add (+), select the asset from the dropdown, and click Assign.
4. Log in to your Edge instance and go to Entities → Assets to confirm the asset was assigned.

Unassigning removes the asset from the Edge instance but keeps it on the server. All data associated with the asset is preserved on the server.

1. Log in to your ThingsBoard server and go to Edge management → Instances.

2. Open the Edge instance and click Manage assets.

3. Find the asset in the list and click Unassign from edge (×).

   The asset is removed from the Edge instance immediately and remains fully accessible on the server.