Manage an Edge Application

Updated

Introduction

Edge Apps in the Marketplace are fully packaged applications that can be deployed directly to your edge devices to handle specialized tasks such as data analytics, data processing, safety, and more. You can add your own Edge Apps to the Marketplace or you can import Edge Apps available from the Global Edge Apps tab, making it a convenient way to find and implement solutions tailored to your specific use cases.

 

This is a series of articles. You will likely follow them in this order.

  1. Edge Application Overview
  2. Manage an Edge App Image
  3. Manage an Edge Application - You are here!
  4. Deploy an Application Instance

Prerequisites

Add an edge app

Edge apps are described in the Edge Application Overview article, but as a reminder, these are the blueprints for apps that will run on your edge node to handle specialized tasks such as data analytics, data processing, safety, and more. 

You can add edge apps of the following types. 

  • Module App Type
    • Lightweight: Module apps are generally lightweight and optimized for edge environments, allowing for quick startup and minimal resource consumption.
    • Specialized Functions: They are often used for specific tasks, such as data collection, processing, or communication, making them suitable for modular architectures.
    • Usage: When you need lightweight, efficient applications for specific tasks on edge devices, especially in a modular architecture. Modules are particularly useful if you're familiar with the Azure IoT hub. Modules offer a similar experience within the ZEDEDA ecosystem.
  • Container App Type
    • Isolation and Portability: Container apps encapsulate the application and its dependencies in a container, providing a consistent environment across different deployment scenarios.
    • Flexibility: You can easily swap out or scale different containers based on workload requirements.
    • Usage: When you want to leverage containerization for better portability, isolation, and scalability, especially for more complex applications that may require multiple services.
  • Virtual Machine App Type
    • Full OS Environment: VM apps run a complete operating system, providing a more traditional computing environment. This is useful for applications requiring full OS capabilities.
    • Heavyweight: VMs are generally more resource-intensive than modules or containers, as they include the overhead of an entire OS.
    • Legacy Applications: Ideal for legacy applications that require specific operating systems or configurations that cannot be easily containerized.
    • Usage: When you have applications that need a full OS environment, or when dealing with legacy systems that cannot be easily transitioned to container or module formats.

Use the ZEDEDA GUI to create an edge app from scratch

  1. Log in to the ZEDEDA GUI. 
  2. Hover over Marketplace on the left side nav and click on Edge Apps.
  3. Click on +, in the upper right corner, to create a new edge app.
  4. Select an Edge App Type (Container, Virtual Machine, or Modules).
  5. Follow the creation prompts and click the Add button.

Use the ZEDEDA GUI to create an edge app from a manifest

This is only available for the Virtual Machine Edge App Type. You can only use a manifest to create an edge app after you already have a manifest. To export a manifest, an edge app must be present. This means the only way to create an edge app from scratch is through the GUI. After you identify or create an edge app through the GUI, you can export and import an existing manifest to clone it or modify it through the GUI to suit your needs. 

  1. See Use the ZEDEDA CLI to export an existing manifest. 
  2. Log in to the ZEDEDA GUI. 
  3. Hover over Marketplace on the left side nav and click on Edge Apps.
  4. Click on +, in the upper right corner, to create a new edge app.
  5. Select the Virtual Machine Edge App Type.  
  6. After you have exported the manifest from ZCLI, import it by using the json button in the upper right corner of the GUI. 

Use the ZEDEDA CLI to create an edge app from a manifest

You can only create an edge app using ZCLI if you have a manifest. To export a manifest, an edge app must be present. This means the only way to create an edge app from scratch is through the GUI. After you identify or create an edge app through the GUI, you can clone it or modify it through the ZCLI to suit your needs. 

  1. Log in to ZCLI.
  2. Export the manifest file from an existing edge app to clone it or modify it.
  3. zcli edge-app export-manifest EDGE_APP_NAME [--custom-configuration]
    Example
    zcli edge-app export-manifest MY-APPLICACTION-V1
  4. After the file is exported, a folder carrying the name of the application will be created. The "manifest.json" file is inside that folder.
  5. Run the following command in the ZCLI to create the edge app by importing the manifest.json file. 
    zcli edge-app create EDGE_APP_NAME --manifest=/PATH/TO/manifest.json --title="EDGE_APP_TITLE" --description="EDGE_APP_DESCRIPTION"
  6. Run the following command to determine if the edge app has been created successfully.
     
  7. zcli edge-app show EDGE_APP_NAME

Delete an edge app

Use the ZEDEDA GUI 

  1. Log in to the ZEDEDA GUI.
  2. Hover over Marketplace on the left side nav and click on Edge Apps.
  3. Click on the Trash icon, for an Edge App card.
  4. Alternative: Click on the edge app's card, then click on the More icon (three vertical dots) located in the upper right corner, then click Delete.
  5. Click Delete in the confirmation window.

Use the ZEDEDA CLI

  1. Log in to ZCLI.
  2. Run the following command in the ZCLI to delete the edge app. 
    zcli edge-app delete EDGE_APP_NAME

Next steps

This is a series of articles. You will likely follow them in this order.

  1. Edge Application Overview
  2. Manage an Edge App Image
  3. Manage an Edge Application - You are here!
  4. Deploy an Application Instance

 

Was this article helpful?
0 out of 0 found this helpful