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  3. Edge Applications

Create Edge Application Instance on Edge Nodes

Updated

1. Introduction

Edge Application is instantiated on an Edge Node by providing run time characteristics like adapters, networks, and other details, the Edge Node downloads and runs the application. This document shows how to deploy the selected Edge Application on one or more Edge Nodes. When an Edge Application is deployed on an Edge Node, the installed application is an instance of the Edge Application and called an Edge Application Instance.
 

1.1. List View

After you log in to ZedControl:
  • Step 1 > Click on the 'Edge App Instances' (Edge_App_Instances_icon.png) icon from the left navigation.
  • Step 2 > Click on the expand (Expand_Panel_icon.png) icon to view the summary panel.
 
EAM_5_Screen_1.png
 
Summary Panel shows the 'Run State Distribution' and 'Edge App Instances Type Distribution' widgets in the donut and Cards. You can hover around these donuts to get the number in each distribution.
 

1.2. Detail View

  • Step 1 > Click on one of the edge application instances in the list view to show the detailed view of the same.
 
EAM_5_Screen_2.png
 
  • Step 2 > A temporary tab (temp_Edge_App_Instnces_icon.png) is created, navigating you to the detailed view of the selected edge application instance.
 
EAM_5_Screen_3.png
 
The detail view has tertiary navigation with the Status, Basic info, Adapters, Events, and Logs tabs.
 

2. Create (Deploy) Edge Application on Edge Node/s using ZedUI

After you log in to ZedControl, the deploying of an Edge Application can be triggered from one of the four options, available in the left navigation:
 

Option A: Home View

You will see a 'Home' screen that shows multiple widgets. The 'Recommended Actions' widget has a quick access link to the 'Deploy Edge App.' Click on the quick link to trigger the new 'Add Edge App Instance' wizard.
 
EAM_5_Screen_4.png
 

Option B: Edge Application Instances List View

Click on 'Edge App Instances' from the left navigation to go to the already available Edge App Instances list. Click the add (Add_icon.png) icon at the top right corner to trigger the new 'Add Edge App Instance' wizard.
 
EAM_5_Screen_5.png
 

Option C: Marketplace Card View

Click on 'Marketplace' from the left navigation to go to the list of Edge Applications available in your Enterprise. Click on the Deploy (Deploy_icon.png) icon on the Edge App card to trigger the 'Add Edge App Instance' wizard.
 
EAM_5_Screen_6.png
 

Option D: Marketplace Edge Application Detail View

From the 'Marketplace' on the left navigation, click on the edge application card to get a detailed view of that particular edge application.
 
EAM_5_Screen_7.png
 
Click on the 'Deploy Edge App' button on the top right corner to trigger the 'Add Edge App Instance' wizard.
 

3. Steps to Create (Deploy) Single Instance of an Edge Application

The following wizard takes you through a step-by-step process of deploying a single instance of an Edge Application.
  • Step 1 > Select the Edge App and select one Edge Node to deploy the Edge Application. Populate the input field values for the 'Edge App & Edge Nodes' section, as instructed in the table.
 
EAM_5_Screen_9.png
 
Input Field Value

Edge App(*)

Select the Edge App you want to deploy.

Project(*)

Select the Project from the dropdown. The Edge Nodes will be filtered to the selected Project in the table below.

Number of Deployments(*)

Select 'Single' from the dropdown.

Please select an edge node from selected Project (*)

Select the appropriate Edge Node from the table below by clicking the radio button.
 
Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
  • Step 2 > Select the Edge App Instance name and title. Populate the input field values for the 'Edge App Instance Identity' section, as instructed in the table.
 
EAM_5_Screen_10.png
 

Input Field

Value

Name(*)

A unique Name across the Enterprise and cannot be changed.

Title(*)

is user-defined and can be changed.

Description

The detailed explanation of what the Edge App Instance is all about, its purpose, etc.

Enable Logs Access

Check the box to enable logs access.

Staggered Start Delay

You can introduce a delay between the time EVE-OS is ready to process application instance configurations and the time the application is actually started.

Tags

Enter the key and value as required.
 
Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
  • Step 3a > Select the 'Network Instance' from the dropdown list.
 
EAM_5_Screen_11.png
 
  • Step 3b > Select the 'IO Adapter Bundle' from the dropdown list. Populate the input field values for the 'Adapters and Networks' section, as instructed in the table.
 
EAM_5_Screen_11a.png
 

Input Field

Value

Network Instance(*)

Select the Network Instance you want to use for this App Instance. On selection, the details of the selected network instance are shown below.

IO Adapter Bundle(*)

Select the IO Adapter bundle from the dropdown
 
Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
  • Step 4a > Add custom configuration, if required. The fields for custom configuration appear if the application allows any custom configuration. Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
 
EAM_5_Screen_12-a.png
 
  • Step 4b > Add custom configuration by filling in the details of the respective fields as seen. Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
 
EAM_5_Screen_12-b.png
 

Input Field

Value

scope_id(*)

Assigned to a Device Provisioning Service when created by the user and used to uniquely identify the specific provisioning service the device will register through. The service generated the ID scope and is immutable, which guarantees uniqueness.

registration_id(*)

Used to uniquely identify a device registration with the Device Provisioning Service

symmetric_key(*)

It can be used to identify a device based on unique information like the MAC address or a serial number.
 
  • Step 4c > Add custom configuration by filling in the details of the respective fields as seen. Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
 
EAM_5_Screen_12-c.png
 
Note: The custom configuration step is user-driven. The input fields are displayed depending on the type of edge application specifications defined.
  • Step 5 > Review all the selected options and click the 'Deploy' button.
 
EAM_5_Screen_13.png
 
Note: You can choose to return to the previous screen to edit or update.
  • Step 6 > When you click on the 'Deploy' button, the Edge Application is deployed on the selected Edge Node. A notification showing the status of deployment appears in a Toast message, as follows:
Edge App Instance: test10 has been added.
 
EAM_5_Screen_14.png
 
The newly added Edge App Instance appears in the list view. The Edge App Instances are sorted by their names. The colored dot indicates the Run State to the Edge Application Instance name's left. The colored dots with the state is as represented in the table:
 

Legends

Description

Green-Online-legend__1_.png

The Edge Application Instance is working fine.

​Red-Error-legend__1_.png

The Edge Application Instance is stopped.

​Blue-Initialised-legend.png

EVE has received the configuration details of the Edge Application Instance and the process is in progress.

Yellow-Suspect-legend__1_.png

If the ZedControl does not hear from the Edge Application Instance or EVE for 3 minutes, it puts the instance in this state.

​Purple-unknwn-legend.png

ZedControl shows this state in the following two cases:

1) when ZedControl creates metadata of the instance.

2) when EVE reports an invalid state.

​Grey-Other-legend___1_.png

Could be any reason other than the ones described in this table.
 
Single Instance of an Edge Application is deployed.
 
An exit dialogue appears when you click on 'Cancel,' where you can confirm canceling or continuing the process. None of your changes will be saved. However, clicking on 'Continue' will retain the data.
 
EAM_5_Screen_15.png
 

4. Steps to Create (Deploy) Multiple Instances of an Edge Application

The following wizard takes you through a step-by-step process of deploying a single instance of an Edge Application.
  • Step 1 > Select the Edge App and select one Edge Node to deploy the Edge Application. Populate the input field values for the 'Edge App & Edge Nodes' section, as instructed in the table.
 
EAM_5_Screen_16.png
 

Input Field

Value

Edge App(*)

Select the Edge App you want to deploy.

Project(*)

Select the Project from the dropdown. The Edge Nodes will be filtered to the selected Project in the table below.

Number of Deployments(*)

Select 'Multiple' from the dropdown.

Edge Nodes in selected Project (*)

Select all the appropriate Edge Nodes from the table below.
 
Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
  • Step 2 > Select the Edge App Instance name and title. Populate the input field values for the 'Edge App Instance Identity' section, as instructed in the table.
 
EAM_5_Screen_17.png
 

Input Field

Value

Edge App Instance Name Prefix(*)

A unique Name across the Enterprise and cannot be changed.

Edge App Instance Title Prefix(*)

is user-defined and can be changed.

Description

The detailed explanation of what the Edge App Instance is all about, its purpose, etc.

Enable Logs Access

Check the box to enable logs access.

Staggered Start Delay

You can introduce a delay between the time EVE-OS is ready to process application instance configurations and the time the application is actually started.

Tags

Enter the key and value as required.
 
Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
  • Step 3a > Select the 'Network Instance' from the dropdown list.
 
EAM_5_Screen_18.png
 
If the selected Edge App does not require any Network or IO adapter mapping, click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
  • Step 3b > Populate the input field values for the 'Adapters and Networks' section, as instructed in the table.
 
EAM_5_Screen_18a.png
 

Input Field

Value

Network Instance(*)

Select the Network Instance you want to use for this App Instance. On selection, the details of the selected network instance are shown below.

IO Adapter Bundle(*)

Populate the key-value pair for the type of IO adapter displayed.
 
Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
  • Step 4a > Add custom configuration, if required. The fields for custom configuration appear if the application allows any custom configuration. Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
 
EAM_5_Screen_19-a.png
 
  • Step 4b > Add custom configuration by filling in the device provisioning variable fields as seen. Click on the 'Next' button to proceed.
 
EAM_5_Screen_19-b.png
 

Input Field

Value

scope_id(*)

Assigned to a Device Provisioning Service when created by the user and used to uniquely identify the specific provisioning service the device will register through. The service generated the ID scope and is immutable, which guarantees uniqueness.

registration_id(*)

Used to uniquely identify a device registration with the Device Provisioning Service

symmetric_key(*)

It can identify a device based on unique information like the MAC address or a serial number.
 
Note: The custom configuration step is user-driven. The input fields are displayed depending on the type of edge application specifications defined.
  • Step 5 > Review all the selected options and click the 'Deploy' button.
 
EAM_5_Screen_20.png
 
  • Step 6 > A notification showing the status of deployment appears in a Toast message, as follows:
The request to create the Edge App Instance(s) has been submitted.
  • Step 7 > A job indicator (Job_Indicator.png) appears on the left navigation, indicating that the requested job has been started.
 
EAM_5_Screen_21.png
 
  • Step 8 > Click on the Jobs () icon on the left navigation to go to the list of jobs. The update of multiple Edge Application Instances triggers a 'Job,' which can be tracked in the 'Jobs' () section.
  • Step 9 > Click on the job created to see the details in the below panel. The triggered job appears on top of the list.
 
 
Multiple Instances of an edge application are deployed.
 

5. Create (Deploy) Edge Application Instance on single Edge Node using zCLI

To login to ZedControl through zCLI, see here.
 
Use the following command to deploy the Edge Application Instance in ZedControl.
zcli> zcli edge-app-instance create <name> --edge-app=<edge-app-name> --edge-node=<edge-node> [--title=<title>] [--network=<network>... | --network-instance=<network-instance>...] [(--adapter-name=<name> --adapter-type=<type>)...] [--custom-configuration=<cloud-config>]
 
Options:
  • --edge-app=<edge-app-name>—(mandatory)Name of the Edge App
  • --edge-node=<edge-node>—(mandatory)Name of the Edge Node
  • --title=<title>—App instance title
  • --network=<network>... | --network-instance=<network-instance>...—Depending on the type of app instance created, you may have to give the following details. You can attach a network instance to your app as below:
    • --network=environment name:network name:IP Address
    • --network-instance=environment name:network instance name:IP Address
  • --adapter-name=<name> --adapter-type=<type>...—Depending on the type of app instance created, you may have to give the following details.
    • --adapter-name=environment name:adaptor name
    • --adapter-type=This depends on the adapter name specified in the adapter-name option.
 
The following table shows the details:
 
# Adapter name Adapter type
1 Eth or ethernet 1
2 USB 2
3 COM 3
4 Audio 4
5 WLAN 5
6 WWAN 6
7 HDMI 7
8 Other 255
 
  • --custom-configuration=<cloud-config>—It is a .JSON file which has a key-value file.
 
An Instance of an Edge Application is deployed.
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