The 'Devices' page is the first landing page that appears when you open a connection to HOME. 

From here, you can check the status of the network's devices, approve or quarantine physical devices, reboot devices or access more operations that include app management (for HOME Apps), add/remove HOME Passes and create/load snapshots (to perform a device replacement).

Overview

The 'Devices' page lists all of the devices, apps and services that are known to HOME. A device must appear here before it can be configured.

The image below explains the layout and basic operation of the page. More information about how devices are discovered is provided here.

Note that the 'Devices' list includes all of HOME's inventory items, where the type of device, app or service is clearly identified in the Device Type column. While we usually refer to "devices" in this documentation, the same principles of operation apply to all inventory items.

Device Information

The main working area provides information about each device including its label, location, status, etc.

The Label identifies the device (in HOME) and to other network users:

  • Each label must be unique (within the HOME system), and a label must be entered. This field cannot be left blank.
  • For all devices that are automatically detected by HOME, a default label is assigned. For HOME Apps, a unique label must be entered (as part of the create app procedure).
  • Labels can be edited later without affecting the rest of the configuration. This is done from the 'Edit Device' dialog (in the 'Device → General' settings page).

Note that the labels act as navigational links. This means that if you click on a device label, then this opens the 'Device → General' settings page (for the device).

The Location is displayed in HOME and can be used to filter or sort a list:

  • Entering a location is optional. This field can be left blank.
  • Locations can be edited without affecting the rest of the configuration. This is also done from the 'Edit Device' dialog (in the 'Device → General' settings page).

The Status shows the status of the device:

  • For a physical device, the status can be online, offline, quarantined, unlicensed or No HOME Pass.
  • For an app, the status can be online, inactive, unlicensed or No HOME Pass.
  • How to interpret the status (and admissions) is described later.

The Admissions column is relevant for physical devices only, and shows whether the device is fully approved (and part of the operational network) or in some other state (e.g. partially approved or in quarantine). 

  • Note that the admissions service is optional and so, if it is disabled, then the admissions show as "-" for all devices.
  • When the admissions service is enabled, the Approve and Quarantine buttons can be used to manage which devices are part of the operational network. This is described in more detail here.

The Device Type describes the inventory item and can be used for identification purposes. This field is fixed and cannot be edited. If the inventory item is a redundancy group, then the text description is preceded by a group icon.

The Hosted By and Redundancy columns apply if redundancy groups are configured. An example is included here. If you click on a label in these fields, then this opens the ' Device → General ' settings page (for the host device or redundancy group member).

Devices List Operations

The following operations are possible from the 'Devices' page:

  1. Click on the Filters button to apply a filter.
    This can be used to restrict the view and is particularly useful in a large network. See Using Filters.

  2. Click on a column header to sort the list alphabetically. For example, to sort by Label. 
    Each click toggles the sort mode between ascending (A -> Z) and descending (Z -> A). An up or down arrow appears beside the header to indicate the current sort mode.

  3. Use the Status (and Admissions) columns to check the status of a device.
    How to interpret the status (and admissions) is described later in Device Status Meaning.
  4. Click on a device label to open the Device Settings pages (for an individual device).
    From here, you can check and edit a variety of device-specific parameters such as the label and location, initial configuration, IP settings, senders and receivers, and so on.
  5. Click on New App to open the 'New App' dialog (to create a new HOME Apps instance). See Create Apps (in the "HOME Apps User Manual").
  6. Select one or more devices (using the tick boxes in the first column) and choose one of the following operations. Note that, if an operation is not permitted (for the selected device), then it is greyed out and cannot be selected.
    1. Approve - opens the 'Approve Device' dialog (to add a physical device to the operational network).
    2. Quarantine - opens the 'Quarantine Device' dialog (to remove a physical device from the operational network).
    3. Reboot - opens the 'Reboot' dialog (to reboot a device or app).
    4. More - provides access to more operations (from the drop-down menu).
      These include changing the initial configuration, removing devices from HOME, manage HOME Apps, assigning HOME Passes and creating individual device snapshots (to replace a device).

The rest of this chapter provides more information about the various statuses and selected device operations.


Reboot a Device

The Reboot button can be used to remotely reboot a device from the HOME UI. 

Note that, not all devices support this function and so the Reboot option may be greyed out.

Important: The reboot is implemented immediately without any confirmation, and so you should make sure that a device's streams are not in use before using this function.

To proceed with the remote reboot:

  1. From the main 'Devices' list, select a device (or devices) using the selection tick boxes on the left of the table.
    It is possible to select multiple rows to reboot several devices in one operation.
  2. Click on Reboot to reboot the device(s).
  3. While the reboot is in progress, the device will lose its network connection and show as Offline (in the Status column).
  4. Following a successful reboot, the Status should return to Online once the device is connected and powered.

More Operations

The More button opens a drop-down menu where you can access additional options for the selected device. If an option is not supported, then it is greyed out.

Change Device Application or Options

The Change Device Application and Change Device Options can be used to change settings specific to the device.

The same windows can be accessed from the 'Device Details' page (via the General tab). The settings vary depending on the device type.

Remove Device from Home

The Remove Device from Home option opens a pop-up window where you can choose to remove the device from the Home database:

This function should be used with caution as it removes all references to the device ID, but can be useful if you need to remove an obsolete device.

To proceed, follow the on-screen instructions: enter confirm into the text field and then click Remove.

Operations for HOME Apps

The Duplicate, Delete, Start and Stop App options apply to HOME Apps. They can be used to duplicate, delete, start or stop the selected app.

For more information, please see the "HOME Apps User Manual".