Technical Document

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2 Provisioning Guide

Updated: October 19, 2007

NiagaraAX Provisioning Guide
Copyright © 2007 Tridium, Inc.
All rights reserved.
3951 Westerre Pkwy, Suite 350
Richmond
Virginia
23233
U.S.A.

Copyright Notice
The software described herein is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in accordance with the terms of the
agreement.
This document may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium
or machine-readable form without prior written consent from Tridium, Inc.
The confidential information contained in this document is provided solely for use by Tridium employees, licensees, and system
owners; and is not to be released to, or reproduced for, anyone else; neither is it to be used for reproduction of this Control System
or any of its components.
All rights to revise designs described herein are reserved. While every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of this document,
Tridium shall not be held responsible for damages, including consequential damages, arising from the application of the information
contained herein. Information and specifications published here are current as of the date of this publication and are subject to
change without notice.
The release and technology contained herein may be protected by one or more U.S. patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.

Trademark Notices
BACnet and ASHRAE are registered trademarks of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks, and Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, and Internet
Explorer are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Java and other Java-based names are trademarks of Sun Microsystems Inc. and
refer to Sun's family of Java-branded technologies. Mozilla and Firefox are trademarks of the Mozilla Foundation. Echelon, LON,
LonMark, LonTalk, and LonWorks are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation. Tridium, JACE, Niagara Framework,
NiagaraAX and Vykon are registered trademarks, and Workbench, WorkPlaceAX, and AXSupervisor, are trademarks of Tridium Inc.
All other product names and services mentioned in this publication that is known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or
service marks are the property of their respective owners.The software described herein is furnished under a license agreement and
may be used only in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
 CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
About this document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii–v
Provisioning FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii–v
Provisioning terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii–vi
Document Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii–vi

Provisioning Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–1

Provisioning license considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–1
Provisioning software installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–1

Provisioning Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3

Configure the provisioning components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
Add the Provisioning Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
To add the Provisioning Service in the station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
Configure the NiagaraDevice extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
To configure the NiagaraDevice Platform Connection extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
Run provisioning jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–4
Backup all stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–4
To backup all stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–4
Run custom provisioning jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–4

Provisioning Service Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–5

Provisioning overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–5
About the Provisioning Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–6
Provisioning Job Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–6
Job Steps List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–6
Adding Job List Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–6
Removing Job List Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7
Reorder Job List Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7
Stations List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7
Adding Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7
Removing Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7
Reorder Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7
Alarm checkboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8
Run Later notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8
Provisioning Job List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8
Jobs Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–9
Jobs table columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–9
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–9
Job Log notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–10
Provisioning Job View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–11
Job elements (read-only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–11

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

i
Provisioning Guide
 Table of Contents
October 19, 2007

Step summary table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–11

Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–12
Step Log File View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–12
Step elements (read-only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–12
Step log table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–13
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–13
Provisioning Service slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–13
Provisioning Service properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–14
Provisioning Service containers and components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–14
Provisioning Service action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–15
Supervisor Software container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–15
Supervisor Software Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–15
Software tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–16
Details pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–16
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–16
Sync Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–16
Check Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–16
Provisioning Job management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–17
Provisioning Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–17
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–17
Job execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–18
Job log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–18
Station step log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–18
Provisioning job steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–19
Backup Stations step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–19
Copy File step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–19
Install Software step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–20
Reboot step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–22
Upgrade Out-of-date Software step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–22
Provisioning Service Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–22

Provisioning Extension Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–23

Types of provisioning extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–23
Platform Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–24
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–24
Ping action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–24
New station notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–25
Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–25
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–25
Start Backup action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–26
Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–26
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–26
Station Software View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–27
StationProxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–27
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–28
Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–29
Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–29
Provisioning Station Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–30
Station Job List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–30
Step Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–31
Step table columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–31
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4–31

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

ii
Provisioning Guide
Table of Contents
October 19, 2007

Provisioning Plugin Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–33

Plugin Guides Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–33
provisioning-BackupStepRecordView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–33
provisioning-ProvisioningJobBuilder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–33
provisioning-ProvisioningJobList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–34
provisioning-ProvisioningJobView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–34
provisioning-StationSoftwareView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–34
provisioning-ProvisioningStationDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–34
provisioning-StationJobList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–34
provisioning-StationStepRecordView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–34
provisioning-StepLogFileView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–35
provisioning-SupervisorSoftwareManager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–35

Provisioning Component Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37

Component Reference Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37
provisioning-BackupStationExt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37
provisioning-FileCopyStep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–37
provisioning-InstallableSummary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-InstallableSpec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-InstallBySpecStep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-InstallStep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-JobTrigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-PlatformConnection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-ProvisioningBackupStep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-ProvisioningJob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–38
provisioning-ProvisioningService . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–39
provisioning-RebootJobStep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–39
provisioning-SoftwareContainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–39
provisioning-SoftwareStationExt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–39
provisioning-StationPollScheduler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–39
provisioning-StationProxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–39
provisioning-ThreadPoolJobQueue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–39
provisioning-UpgradeOutOfDateStep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–40

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

iii
Provisioning Guide
 Table of Contents
October 19, 2007

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

iv
Provisioning Guide
 CONTENTS

Preface
Note: This document explains provisioning for an AxSupervisor running AX-3.1 or AX-3.2. Starting in AX-3.3,
the provisioning model changed, such that different Niagara modules and components are used in support
of extended features, along with a different station architecture. A separate document describes provi-
sioning starting in AX-3.3. Refer to the Provisioning for Niagara Networks document for complete details.
This preface has the following sections:
• About this document
• Provisioning FAQs
• Provisioning terms
• Document Change Log

About this document

As noted earlier in this Preface, this document applies to provisioning in AX-3.1 and AX-3.2 (that is, prior
to AX-3.3), and has the following main sections:
• Provisioning Installation
Explains the NiagaraAX platform, software, and licensing requirements.
• Provisioning Quick Start
Provides several quick procedures for online AxSupervisor station configuration to add the Provi-
sioning Service, configure provisioning extensions, and begin typical provisioning tasks.
• Provisioning Service Concepts
Provides concepts behind the Provisioning Service in the AxSupervisor, including its special views,
properties, and various container slots. Provisioning jobs and steps are explained.
• Provisioning Extension Concepts
Provides concepts behind other provisioning-related components under the NiagaraNetwork in the
AxSupervisor, including their special views and properties. These components are automatically
created as device extensions under NiagaraStation components.
• Provisioning Plugin Guides
Provides brief summaries of the various provisioning views, each with links back to the more detailed
concepts sections. Entries are used in NiagaraAX context-sensitive help “On View”.
• Provisioning Component Guides
Provides brief summaries of the different provisioning components, most with links back to the
more detailed concepts sections. Entries are used in NiagaraAX context-sensitive help “Guide On
Target”.

Provisioning FAQs
The following are frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the provisioning module in NiagaraAX:
Q: What is meant by provisioning?
A: Provisioning means AxSupervisor automation of various NiagaraAX platform tasks, otherwise
performed manually by a user with Workbench, making platform connections to one or more JACE
hosts. In the case of provisioning, all work is performed by the AxSupervisor station, as jobs. For more
details, see “Provisioning overview” on page 3-5.
Q: Is provisioning available for an AxSupervisor running NiagaraAX build 3.0.x?
A: No, provisioning requires NiagaraAX 3.1 or later on theAxSupervisor. However, you can use it against
JACEs included in the job (represented as NiagaraStations in the AxSupervisor’s NiagaraNetwork)
running earlier (3.0.x) builds, if necessary.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

v
Provisioning Guide
 October 19, 2007

Q: What type of platform tasks can provisioning perform?

A: In AX-3.1 and AX-3.2, provisioning includes the ability to do station backups, install software, and copy
files, among other things. For more specific details, see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19.
Note: Starting in AX-3.3, provisioning added licensing functions and a “Run Robot” step
mechanism, in which you can also automate execution of custom Programs. However, a different
provisioning model is used. See the next question and answer for related details.
Q: If I upgrade my AxSupervisor to AX-3.3, and it is currently running AX-3.1 or AX-3.2 with provi-
sioning, will it be much work to convert its station over to the new provisioning architecture, in order
to make use of the added features (licensing and run robot)?
No, included in the AX-3.3 ProvisioningService is an “Upgrade from Provisioning 3.1” right-click
command, which automates the conversion from the AX-3.1 / AX-3.2 style provisioning database
structure (described in this document) to the newer provisioning database architecture used starting in
AX-3.3. See “Provisioning Service Conversion” on page 3-22. For complete details, refer to the equivalent
document for the AX-3.3 (and later) provisioning model: Provisioning for Niagara Networks.

Provisioning terms
The following list of terms and abbreviations are used when describing provisioning in NiagaraAX, and
are used in this document. For general NiagaraAX terms, see the Glossary in the User Guide. Note that
this glossary may grow over time, or may else simply be eliminated.
job A job is used to manage a task performed by the station. It runs asynchronously in the background,
but provides user visibility. Provisioning is done entirely with jobs. Apart from the Provisioning Service,
other station services and drivers also perform jobs, all of which can be viewed in the station’s JobService.
However, unlike other jobs, all provisioning jobs are persistent across a station restart. Also, the Provi-
sioning Service provides specialized views for building and administering provisioning jobs.
platform snapshot A “snapshot” of installed software on a remote host running a station, which gets
built/updated when you access the “Software” extension under a NiagaraStation component. This snap-
shot is used by the Provisioning Service when performing queries and installation of software.
software registry Used to describe the catalog of available software installable files, such as modules
(.jars) or Niagara distribution files (.dists) under the !sw directory of a NiagaraAX workstation or AxSu-
pervisor.

Document Change Log

Updates (changes/additions) to this NiagaraAX Provisioning Guide document are listed below.
• Updated: October 19, 2007
Applied “new look” formatting to print (PDF) version of this document, reducing total page count
yet adding “sidehead” white space to most pages (useful for note taking on printed pages). Added
several notes in this Preface referring to a different Provisioning for Niagara Networks document
about the changed provisioning model starting in AX-3.3, noting that this document is specific to
provisioning in AX-3.1 and AX-3.2. Related to this is a new section “Provisioning Service Conver-
sion” on page 3-22. An “About this document” section was also added to this Preface.
• Publication: July 11, 2006
Minor edits from another content review, including changes in the “Provisioning Installation” sec-
tion, the quick-start procedure “Configure the NiagaraDevice extensions” and the “Provisioning
overview”. Removed sections about the Software station extension’s “platform snapshot” (as a com-
ponent), along with its “Daemon Platform View”—this reflects changes in the provisioning module
(these items were removed from a station’s component space).
• Draft: June 13, 2006
Numerous minor edits, mostly reflecting a content review by the principal developer.
• Draft: June 2, 2006
(Initial preliminary document)

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

vi
Provisioning Guide
 CHAPTER 1
Provisioning Installation
To use Provisioning, your must have a NiagaraAX-3.1 or later AxSupervisor. By default, your AxSuper-
visor PC host is licensed with the feature “provisioning”. See the next section “Provisioning license
considerations” for further details.
Note: Your AxSupervisor must be running AX-3.1 or later, however, any subordinate JACEs can be running any
NiagaraAX release level.
JACEs do not require the provisioning module, nor do they require a license feature for provisioning.
The following sections provide details about Provisioning licensing and software installation:
• Provisioning license considerations
• Provisioning software installation

Provisioning license considerations

Only an AX-3.1 or later AxSupervisor can be (or needs to be) licensed for provisioning, with an entry
similar to below in its Vykon.license (Tridium license) file:
<feature name="provisioning"
expiration="2008-05-19"
parts="ENG-WORKSTATION"/>
If this feature is missing or becomes expired, the station’s Provisioning Service will have a fault status,
as will all provisioning-related extensions for NiagaraStations under its NiagaraNetwork.

Provisioning software installation

In AX-3.1 and AX-3.2, provisioning software is contained entirely in the provisioning module (provi-
sioning.jar) installed in the modules folder of the AxSupervisor PC.
After starting the AxSupervisor station, simply open the provisioning palette, and copy or drag the
Provisioning Service into the Services folder of the AxSupervisor’s station.
Note: Basic configuration procedures and a few global provisioning tasks are covered in the next section, “Provi-
sioning Quick Start”.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

1–1
Provisioning Guide
 Chapter 1 – Provisioning Installation
October 19, 2007

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

1-2
Provisioning Guide
 CHAPTER 2
Provisioning Quick Start
This section provides a collection of procedures to configure the Provisioning Service and related device
extensions under the NiagaraNetwork, and to begin performing basic provisioning—including the most
typical first usage. These are the main subsections:
• Configure the provisioning components
• Run provisioning jobs

Configure the provisioning components

To configure the Provisioning components, perform the following main tasks:
• Add the Provisioning Service
• Configure the NiagaraDevice extensions

Add the Provisioning Service

To add the Provisioning Service in the station
Use the following procedure to add the Provisioning Service under the AxSupervisor station’s Services
container.
Step 1 In Workbench, open the AxSupervisor station.
Step 2 Expand its Config space to reveal its Services folder.
Step 3 Open the provisioning palette in the Workbench palette side bar (see “Using the palette side bar” in
the User Guide for general details).
Step 4 From the provisioning palette, drag the ProvisioningService onto the station’s Services folder. In the
popup Name dialog, you can rename the service—or, simply use the default name.
Step 5 Click OK to add the ProvisioningService to the station.
You should have a ProvisioningService named “ProvisioningService” (or whatever you named it), under
your Services folder.
Note: You do not need the provisioning palette for any other configuration tasks.
You may wish to configure the alarm-related properties in the Provisioning Service to specify a particular
alarm class, or other alarm source info. See “Provisioning Service properties” on page 3-14.

Configure the NiagaraDevice extensions

When you add the Provisioning Service in an AxSupervisor station, every existing NiagaraStation device
(under its NiagaraNetwork) automatically has four new device extensions created. See “Types of provi-
sioning extensions” on page 4-23 for more details.
In addition, as you add more NiagaraStations, they too will have these extensions (see “New station notes”
on page 4-25). In order for provisioning to work with the hosts running these stations, you need to enter
some property values in one of these extensions.

To configure the NiagaraDevice Platform Connection extensions

For each NiagaraStation device in the AxSupervisor station, you must enter the corresponding platform
daemon credentials of its host. The simplest way to do this is by using the NiagaraNetwork’s Station
Manager view, as follows:
Step 1 In the Nav tree, expand Config, Drivers then double-click NiagaraNetwork.
The Station Manager view appears, listing all stations.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

2–3
Provisioning Guide
Run provisioning jobs Chapter 2 – Provisioning Quick Start
Backup all stations October 19, 2007

Step 2 Double-click the name of a station to open its Edit dialog.

The last three “Platform” fields are for editing that station’s Platform Connection extension properties,
namely for platform User, Password, and Port.
Step 3 Enter its platform connection credentials (User name and Password), and if using a non-default port
address, change from the default (standard) port 3011 to the port number used.
Note: These should be the same credentials and port you use when you open a platform connection directly to
this remote (JACE) host.
Step 4 Click the OK button.
Upon the next monitor ping of that host’s platform daemon, its “Station Run State” should change from
Unknown to Running.
Repeat this procedure for each NiagaraStation listed in the Station Manager view.
Note: If using the identical platform credentials and port numbers in multiple (or even all) hosts running each
station, you can select multiple stations (rows) in the Station Manager to do this edit (right-click and
select Edit with multiple stations highlighted).

Run provisioning jobs

After you Configure the provisioning components, you can run provisioning jobs.
• Backup all stations
• Run custom provisioning jobs

Backup all stations

To backup all stations
Use the following procedure to immediately backup all stations.
Step 1 In Workbench, open the AxSupervisor station.
Step 2 Expand its Config space to reveal its Services folder, and expand to see all services.
Step 3 Right-click the Provisioning Service and select Actions > Start Backup.
For more details, see “Provisioning Service action” on page 3-15.
Note: You can also configure the “Backup Schedule” child of the Provisioning Service to perform a global backup
of all stations at some pre-determined time(s), including some repeating interval. For more details, see
“Provisioning Service containers and components” on page 3-14.

Run custom provisioning jobs

Using the Provisioning Job Builder (default view of the Provisioning Service) you can run any sequence
of provisioning steps needed against one or more stations in the NiagaraNetwork of the AxSupervisor.
For related details, see the “Provisioning Job Builder” on page 3-6, and “Provisioning job steps” on page
3-19.
For example, you may wish to run the following “two-step” job for all stations, after you have a new
NiagaraAX build installed on your AxSupervisor:
• first step: Backup Stations step
• second step: Upgrade Out-of-date Software step

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

2-4
Provisioning Guide
 CHAPTER 3
Provisioning Service Concepts
This section describes provisioning concepts, as well as the Provisioning Service component, which
holds all AxSupervisor-wide provisioning configuration settings. These are the main subsections:
• Provisioning overview
• About the Provisioning Service
• Provisioning Job Builder
• Provisioning Job List
• Provisioning Job View
• Step Log File View
• Supervisor Software container
• Supervisor Software Manager
• Provisioning Job management

Provisioning overview
Provisioning applies only to an AxSupervisor station. It provides automation of platform tasks to remote
(JACE) hosts in the station’s NiagaraNetwork. It is important to note that the AxSupervisor station does
these platform tasks (modeled in the station as provisioning jobs). Outside of provisioning, you must
perform similar tasks using (full) Workbench, making individual platform connections directly to remote
JACE hosts, then using the appropriate platform views.
Note: For details about the platform user interface, see “Platform overview” in the NiagaraAX Platform Guide.
Provisioning provides some advantages over “direct” platform connections, for example:
• When provisioning, you need only one station connection—to the AxSupervisor, and no other con-
nections (platform or otherwise!).
Note: From the AxSupervisor, you must be able to open a platform connection to each subordinate
JACE. However, this ability is used by the AxSupervisor station in provisioning.
This means you can do provisioning from anywhere you can open the AxSupervisor station...even
using Web Workbench! (ordinary platform tasks cannot be done using Web Workbench.)
• Provisioning allows the same series of platform tasks (executed as the job’s steps), to be executed to
any number of target JACE hosts. Job steps execute sequentially on one host, then are repeated on
the next host, until all specified hosts are done—or, just to a single JACE, if specified. This ability is
useful when performing the same platform tasks with multiple JACEs, such as a job-wide software
upgrade, or a periodic backup of all hosts’ station configuration.
• You can specify any provisioning job to run (queue) later at some predetermined time, or run at
some repeating interval—including unattended if desired. Typically, this applies to backups. Or, you
can specify a provisioning job to run immediately. A provisioning alarm class allows alarms to be
generated if a provisioning job fails, or is canceled. If desired, you can also configure for alarms to be
issued upon successful competition of provisioning jobs.
• By default, provisioning provides persistent storage of all jobs on the AxSupervisor, including all sta-
tistics associated each job and step (creating user, begin and end job times, step details, log output,
and so on). In the case of station backups, any saved .dist file can also be restored directly from that
provisioning step history—the restore is done by a command, and executed as another provisioning
job.
• Provisioning configuration in the AxSupervisor station is done in two different places:
• Provisioning Service, in the station’s Services folder, described next, see “About the Provision-
ing Service” on page 3-6.
• NiagaraStation provisioning (device) extensions, under each station modeled in Drivers, Niaga-
raNetwork. See “Provisioning Extension Concepts” on page 4-23.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3–5
Provisioning Guide
About the Provisioning Service Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Job Steps List October 19, 2007

About the Provisioning Service

The Provisioning Service is the hub of the provisioning. The following subsections provide related
details:
• Views: Provisioning Job Builder and Provisioning Job List are both views.
• Slots: Provisioning Service properties, Provisioning Service containers and components, and Provi-
sioning Service action are slots on the Provisioning Service.
Note: Starting in AX-3.3, the Provisioning Service has a “self-termination” upgrade command that converts to
the newer provisioning model. See “Provisioning Service Conversion” on page 3-22 for details.

Provisioning Job Builder

The default view on the Provisioning Service, you start here to create and launch a provisioning job. As
shown in Figure 3-1, this view has two main list areas: Job Steps List and Stations List. There are also
alarm checkboxes and buttons.

Figure 3-1 Provisioning Job Builder is default view of ProvisioningService

Alarm Checkboxes

Job Steps List

Stations List

Buttons

Job Steps List

This top area of the Provisioning Job Builder shows a one-line summary for each step to be performed in
the job. To specify a job, add one or more steps. As needed, you can also remove and reorder steps (when
the job runs, steps execute in the top-to-bottom order).
Adding Job List Steps
Add a provisioning job step by using any of the following methods:
• Click the “+” (add) button below the list, and choose the step type from the New Job Step popup
menu (see Figure 3-2). For details about step types, see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19.
• Right-click in the Jobs Steps List, select Add, and choose the step type from the popup menu.
• From the provisioning palette, drag one of the “JobSteps” items into the Job Steps List.
• Drag a file from Workbench’s Nav tree into the Job Steps List (implicit Copy File step).
• Drag a software item (module or dist) from Workbench’s Nav tree that appears under the Provision-
ing Service’s “Software” container, into the Job Steps List (implicit Install Software step).

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-6
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Provisioning Job Builder
October 19, 2007 Stations List

Figure 3-2 New Job Step popup menu

Removing Job List Steps

Remove a provisioning job step using either of these two methods:
• Click to select the step, then click the “X” (remove) button below the list.
• Right-click the step, and select Remove from the popup menu.
Reorder Job List Steps
Reorder a selected job step by clicking the (up) or (down) arrow button at the bottom of the list. Or, right-
click a job step and select Move Up or Move Down, as needed.
Note: Job steps are executed in the same top-to-bottom order as defined in the Job Steps List.

Stations List
This lower area of the Provisioning Job Builder lists all the stations to be processed by the job—note this
means each station processes all steps in the job. Only stations in the AxSupervisor’s NiagaraNetwork can
be added. For any job, you add one or more stations, and you can also remove and reorder stations
(stations are processed in a top-to-bottom order).
Adding Stations
Add a station to a provisioning job by doing any of the following:
• Click the “+” (add) button below the list, and choose the station(s) in thee Add Station popup
dialog (see Figure 3-3). A Check All button allows you to choose all stations.
• Right-click in the Stations List, select Add, and choose the station(s) in the popup menu.
• In the Nav tree, drag a station from under the NiagaraNetwork into the Stations List.

Figure 3-3 Add Station dialog

Removing Stations
Remove a station from a provisioning job using either of these two methods:
• Click to select the station, then click the “X” (remove) button below the list.
• Right-click the station, then select Remove from the popup menu.
Reorder Stations
Reorder a selected station by clicking the (up) or (down) arrow button at the bottom of the list. Or, right-
click a station and select Move Up or Move Down, as needed.
Note: Stations are processed in the same top-to-bottom order as defined in the Stations List.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-7
Provisioning Guide
Provisioning Job List Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Alarm checkboxes October 19, 2007

Alarm checkboxes
The two checkboxes at the top of the Provisioning Job Builder determine if alarms are to be issued by the
Provisioning Service for this provisioning job, and under what circumstances. Alarms use the alarm class
specified in the property sheet of the Provisioning Service.
• generate an alarm when any step fails or is canceled — if checked, an alarm
is raised whenever a job step fails or is canceled.
• generate an alarm when a job completes successfully — if checked, an alarm is
raised whenever a job completes with no step failures.
Note: Checkbox settings apply to the provisioning job being built, and do not affect other provisioning jobs that
may exist (either set to run later, or already queued to run now).

Buttons
Run buttons along the bottom of the Provisioning Job Builder become enabled when there is at least one
job step in the Job Steps List and one station in the Stations List. When you are finished building a provi-
sioning job, you click one.
• Run Later — click to designate a later time when you want this job to run. A popup dialog appears
for your to enter this (see Figure 3-4). See “Run Later notes” for more details.
• Run Now — click to dispatch the job to the provisioning job queue for immediate execution. The
Workbench view automatically changes to the Provisioning Job View.
Note: The Refresh button is always enabled, note that it removes all entries from both lists.

Figure 3-4 Schedule Execution dialog

Run Later notes

When you use the Provisioning Job Builder to define a provisioning job to run later, a “JobTrigger” object
gets added to the Provisioning Service’s “Pending Jobs” folder, and is named “pendingJobn”. As shown in
Figure 3-5, your view automatically changes to the JobTrigger’s property sheet.

Figure 3-5 JobTrigger property sheet

The JobTrigger contains a job labeled “Job Prototype” (its state is “Unknown” while waiting to be queued),
plus a TriggerSchedule, configured with your single defined time, and pre-linked as needed. As shown in
Figure 3-5, your view automatically changes to the JobTrigger’s property sheet.
If you want to further modify the job execution time, simply click the Schedule object—this produces the
Trigger Scheduler view, in which you can set additional times, or some periodic frequency if needed.
Note: If needed, you can delete any JobTrigger from the Pending Jobs folder to prevent it from being queued to run.

Provisioning Job List

Another view on the Provisioning Service, access it via the service’s view selector (Figure 3-6), or by right-
clicking the service and selecting Views > Provisioning Job List.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-8
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Provisioning Job List
October 19, 2007 Jobs Table

As shown in Figure 3-6, this view has one list area: Jobs Table, with buttons at the bottom.

Figure 3-6 Provisioning Job List is another view of ProvisioningService

Jobs Table
This main area of the Provisioning Job List shows a supervisor-wide list of provisioning jobs that have
been sent to run, are running, or are have completed. Note that “pending jobs” do not appear until the
linked trigger schedule actually fires.
This jobs table differs from the one in the JobServiceManager view on the station’s JobService in the
following ways:
• This table shows all provisioning jobs, whereas the Job Service Manager table shows only 10 jobs
maximum (of various types, and not just provisioning jobs).
• Jobs persist (remain) following a station restart, whereas all jobs are cleared under the JobService.
• More information shows in this table, with columns for start time, end time, and so on.
• You can double-click any job row to view its Job Log, a series of log messages about the job stored
in its job log file (same as using the View Log button at the bottom of the view).
• You can right-click a job for a popup menu—providing same functions as buttons (at view bottom).
Jobs table columns
Jobs table columns in the Provisioning Job List include the following:
• Start — time the job was queued.
• End — time the job terminated (successfully, failed, or canceled).
• User — station user that requested the job.
• Status — the status of the jobs, as one of the following:
• Unknown — job is pending execution, because all threads in the job queue are in use.
• Running — job is executing.
• Canceling — request to cancel the job was sent, but has not been processed yet, and the job
is still executing.
• Success — job finished successfully, with all steps completed for all stations.
• Canceled — job was canceled before it completed, and is no longer running.
• Failed — at least one step failed in one station; job is no longer running.
The status column ends with a “>>” (Details) and “X” (Dispose) button for each job, these function
the same as the Job Summary and Dispose buttons at the bottom of this view.

Buttons
Most buttons near the bottom of the Provisioning Job List become enabled when you have a job row
selected in the Jobs Table. Buttons are described as follows:
• New Job — (always enabled) Click to switch the view to the Provisioning Job Builder.
• View Log — For a popup Job Log dialog, showing log messages output by the selected job. See
“Job Log notes” for more details.
• Job Summary — To change to the Provisioning Job View, to display the selected job in detail.
• Cancel — Enabled only if selected job has Running status. If clicked, the job is notified it should
cancel when safe to do so. Note that not all job steps can be canceled.
• Dispose — For a confirmation dialog to delete the selected job(s), including all associated job files

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-9
Provisioning Guide
Provisioning Job List Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Buttons October 19, 2007

(Figure 3-7).

Figure 3-7 Dispose Job Confirmation

If you confirm to dispose:

• Job(s) is deleted from the JobService (if still there, not rolled off as 11th job, or station restart).
• All associated job files are deleted, including the job log file, station step log files, and other files
if applicable. Note for a backup job, this includes deleting the backup .dist file(s).
• Job(s) is removed from the Jobs Table in the service’s Provisioning Job List.
Note: You can use the Dispose button with multiple selected jobs, if needed.
Job Log notes
The popup Job Log table shows you a running log of messages output with the execution of the job. As
shown in Figure 3-8, each row includes a column for status, timestamp, message, and details.

Figure 3-8 Job Log dialog example

Note: New log messages do not appear dynamically in this dialog—to see newer messages you must reopen the
Job Log.
To see more details (if available) on any row, double-click it for a Job Details popup dialog, as shown
in Figure 3-9.

Figure 3-9 Log Details example from Job Log

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-10
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Provisioning Job View
October 19, 2007 Job elements (read-only)

Provisioning Job View

The Provisioning Job View (Figure 3-10) shows details for a single job execution. It is the default view for
provisioning job objects and provisioning job files (.pjob extension). You see this view after setting a job
to “Run Now” in the Provisioning Job Builder, or by clicking the “>>” (Details) button in the Provisioning
Job List, or by clicking the Job Details button from the Step Log File View.

Figure 3-10 Provisioning Job View lists steps in one job.

As shown in Figure 3-10, from top-to-bottom this view has three areas:
• Job elements (read-only)
• Step summary table
• Buttons

Job elements (read-only)

The four read-only elements at the top of the Provisioning Job View include the following:
• User — Station user that submitted the provisioning job.
• Started — Date/time when the job was submitted to the job queue.
• Ended — Date/time when the job stopped running, or blank if it is still running (or has never started).
• State — Current or final state of the job, as one of the following:.
• Unknown — job is pending execution, because all threads in the job queue are in use.
• Running — job is executing.
• Canceling — request to cancel the job was sent, but has not been processed yet, and the job
is still executing.
• Success — job finished successfully, with all steps completed for all stations.
• Canceled — job was canceled before it completed, and is no longer running.
• Failed — at least one step failed in one station; job is no longer running.

Step summary table

This main area of the Provisioning Job View shows a summary for each step in the job that has ever
started processing for a station (in other words, no rows appear for steps that have not yet started, or were
skipped because prior steps either failed or were canceled).
Columns in the step summary table include the following:
• Station — the station the step is (or has) processed.
• Step — type of provisioning job step (see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19).
• Started — time the step started processing for this station.
• Ended — time the step finished, or blank if the step is still running.
• State — the state of the steps, as one of the following:
• Running — step is executing.
• Canceling — request to cancel the step was sent, but job has not processed this yet, and the
step is still executing.
• Success — step finished successfully, and is no longer running.
• Canceled — job was canceled before it completed, and is no longer running.
• Failed — the step failed and is no longer running.
The State column ends with a “>>” (Step Details) button for each step. If clicked, this changes the
view to the Step Log File View, showing all log messages on this single step.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-11
Provisioning Guide
Step Log File View Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Buttons October 19, 2007

Buttons
Buttons at the bottom of the Provisioning Job View are described as follows:
• View Log — (always enabled) Click for a popup Job Log dialog showing log messages output by
the job. See “Job Log notes” on page 3-10 for more details.
• Job List — (always enabled) Click to go “up a level” to the Provisioning Job List.
• Cancel — Enabled only if job is running. Clicking notifies the job to cancel when safe to do so.
• Dispose — Enabled if job is finished. Click for a confirmation dialog to delete the selected job(s),
including all associated job files (Figure 3-7).

Figure 3-11 Dispose Job Confirmation

If you confirm to dispose:

• The job is deleted from the JobService (if still there, not rolled off as 11th job, or station restart).
• All associated job files are deleted, including the job log file, station step log files, and other files
if applicable. Note for a backup job, this includes deleting the backup .dist file(s).
• The job is removed from the Jobs Table in the service’s Provisioning Job View.

Step Log File View

The Step Log File View (Figure 3-12) shows details for one provisioning job step executed against a single
station. It is the default view for a station step log file (.pstp extension). Typically, you see this view by
clicking the “>>” (Details) button on a step in the Provisioning Job View, or a step in the Station Log
Manager View.

Figure 3-12 Step Log File View lists details on one step for a station.

As shown in Figure 3-12, from top-to-bottom this view has three areas:
• Step elements (read-only)
• Step log table
• Buttons

Step elements (read-only)

Read-only elements at the top of the Step Log File View include the following:
• Station — Station the step is (or has) processed.
• Description — Type of provisioning step (Backup Stations, File Copy, Install Software, etc.).
• Started — Date/time the step started processing.
• Ended — Date/time the step finished, or blank if it is still running.
• State — Current or final state of the step, as one of the following:.
• Running — step is executing.
• Canceling — request to cancel the step was sent, but has not been processed yet, and the job
is still executing.
• Success — step finished successfully, and is no longer running.
• Canceled — job was canceled before it completed, and is no longer running.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-12
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Provisioning Service slots
October 19, 2007 Step log table

• Failed — the step failed and is no longer running.

• File (only if a Backup Stations step) — File path and name on AxSupervisor for the saved backup
.dist file. Uses convention:
^provisioning/stationData/stationName/backups/backup_stationName_yymmdd_hhmm.dist

Step log table

This main area of the Step Log File View shows the log items written during the step execution.
Columns in the step log table include the following:
• Status — Status of the step processing when the log message was written, for example: Message,
Success, or Failed.
• Timestamp — Date/time when the log message was written.
• Message — The actual log message.
• Details — Any additional details (or the beginning of such details).
Note: Double-click any step log message to see additional details, if any (see Figure 3-13). For
example, an error message may include a “stack trace” in the details.

Figure 3-13 Log Details dialog on message in step log

Buttons
Buttons at the bottom of the Step Log File View are described as follows:
• Job Summary — (always enabled) Click to go “up a level” to the Provisioning Job View.
• Refresh Log — Enabled only if job is running. Clicking reloads the information from the job
(available because this view cannot get new log entries as they are written on the AxSupervisor).
• Restore — Enabled if it was a Backup Stations step, and it completed successfully. Click for a con-
firmation dialog to install the station from the backup .dist saved in this job step (Figure 3-14).

Figure 3-14 Restore Station Confirmation

Note: Read the Restore Station confirmation carefully. There is no “undo” after restoring a
station backup.
If you confirm to restore:
• A provisioning job is queued to install the backup .dist.
• The view changes to the Provisioning Job View for the new (install backup) job.

Provisioning Service slots

The Provisioning Service has a number of frozen slots, both container slots (some with special views) as
well as a few simple properties. Access them through the service’s property sheet (Figure 3-15).

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-13
Provisioning Guide
Provisioning Service slots Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Provisioning Service properties October 19, 2007

Figure 3-15 Provisioning Service property sheet

See the following sections for more details:

• Provisioning Service properties
• Provisioning Service containers and components
• Provisioning Service action

Provisioning Service properties

Simple properties of the Provisioning Service (Figure 3-15) are described as follows:
• Enabled — If set to false, provisioning activity cannot occur, and provisioning-related extensions
in NiagaraStations are set to disabled.
• Status — Is either fault if provisioning is not licensed, disabled if Enabled property is false,
and in all other cases is ok.
• Fault Cause — Text explanation for why service is in fault.
• Alarm Class — Alarm class in the station’s AlarmService to be used for alarms when provisioning
jobs fail and/or complete (as set in the job builder). See “Alarm checkboxes” on page 3-8.

Provisioning Service containers and components

As shown in Figure 3-15, the Provisioning Service contains these other frozen child components:
• Backup Schedule — A standard TriggerSchedule with its trigger output pre-linked to the ser-
vice’s “Start Backup” action, which when invoked performs a backup of all stations. This is just a con-
venience, such that you can set a regular schedule for a backup of all stations at the same time. Simply
double-click it for its Trigger Scheduler view.
Note: If you prefer for scheduled backups of stations to occur at different times, you can create
separate TriggerShedules and link them to the “Start Backup” action of the appropriate “Backup”
extension under different NiagaraStations.
• Software — Software Container that summarizes software versions available on the AxSupervisor
to be installed into stations. For more details, see “Supervisor Software container” on page 3-15 and
“Supervisor Software Manager” on page 3-15.
• Job Queue — (Thread Pool Job Queue) Manages the submission of provisioning jobs by using a
thread pool, to ensure the AxSupervisor’s CPU and network resources are not overtaxed by concur-
rent sessions. A single property, Max Threads, defaults to one (1). No special views or other features
are provided.
Note: Only after determining the station has available resource overhead, should Max Threads be
adjusted up to 2. Otherwise, other tasks performed by the station may be affected.
• Pending Jobs — A standard folder expressly used to store provisioning jobs to be “run later”, set
when using the Provisioning Job Builder. For more details, see “Run Later notes” on page 3-8.
• Poll Scheduler — The Station Poll Scheduler controls the polling of the StationProxy exten-
sions by the Provisioning Service. This poll scheduler operates as in most driver networks. See
“About poll components” in the User Guide for general information. Polling only happens for station
proxy objects that are subscribed (linked somewhere, or being viewed or charted, etc.).
Note: Often, you can leave poll configuration at defaults. Alternately, assign the Poll Frequency
property in the StationProxy extensions (NiagaraStation provisioning extensions) differently than the
default “Normal.”

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-14
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Supervisor Software container
October 19, 2007 Provisioning Service action

Provisioning Service action

As shown in Figure 3-16, the Provisioning Service has a single Start Backup action.

Figure 3-16 Start Backup action of Provisioning Service

When invoked, a provisioning job to backup every NiagaraStation (providing its Backup extension is
enabled) is immediately submitted to the provisioning job queue.
Note that invoking this action is equivalent to doing the following:
• Going to the Provisioning Job Builder view of the Provisioning Service.
• Adding a Backup Stations step in the view’s Job Steps List.
• Adding all stations in the view’s Stations List.
• In the buttons area, clicking Run Now.

Supervisor Software container

The Software container under the Provisioning Service provides a “window” into the AxSupervisor’s
software registry (installable software files stored under its !sw directory), and is populated by compo-
nents that represent these files. When the service starts (station startup), it starts a thread that scans the
software registry and populates this container. The Software container also listens for software files that
are added to the registry after the initial scan.
Direct children of the Software container are summary objects (InstallableSummary components) for
named, typed software files (for example, file type module named “baja”). For each summary object, there
is a specification object (InstallableSpec components) for each version in the registry.
Apart from these summary children, the Software container has but a single frozen property: “loaded”, a
boolean slot indicating whether the startup thread has finished scanning the registry (by default, this
property is hidden).
Your key interface to the Software container is its default view: the Supervisor Software Manager.

Supervisor Software Manager

The default view of the Software container under the Provisioning Service is the Supervisor
Software Manager (Figure 3-17).

Figure 3-17 Supervisor Software Manager is default view of Software container

This view provides the following:

• Visibility into the software registry on the AxSupervisor.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-15
Provisioning Guide
Supervisor Software Manager Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Software tree October 19, 2007

• Ability to add software files in the software registry on the AxSupervisor.

• Ability to compare software versions against stations under the AxSupervisor’s NiagaraNetwork.
Parts of this view include the Software tree pane, Details pane, and bottom-located buttons.

Software tree
This left pane of the Supervisor Software Manager shows all child nodes, where each root node repre-
sents a software file’s name, and its children represent the versions of the software file in the registry. You
can drop a module or distribution file from Workbench’s Nav tree into this software tree.
If it is an acceptable file (that is readable and correctly formatted), its version will be checked against the
software database of the AxSupervisor. If not a duplicate, it is transferred to the AxSupervisor and
becomes registered in its software database.

Details pane
This right pane of the Supervisor Software Manager shows details about any version node selected in the
Software tree, including file name, size, description, version, and all dependencies.

Buttons
Buttons near the bottom of the Supervisor Software Manager are described as follows:
• Sync Workbench— (always enabled) Available to update the AxSupervisor’s software database to
include all installable files in your Workbench’s software database (under its !sw directory). See the
next section “Sync Workbench”.
• Add File — (always enabled) For the standard File Chooser dialog, in which you can navigate
to the location of the software file for a module or distribution file.
• Check Stations — enabled when you have a software node selected in the Software tree.
Sync Workbench
When you click this in the Supervisor Software Manager, the comparison between the different software
databases is made.
• If the AxSupervisor already has all the software installable files that your Workbench environment
has, a popup dialog informs you that the “provisioning software is up to date” (Figure 3-18).

Figure 3-18 Up to Date dialog from Sync Workbench

• If your Workbench environment has installable files that the AxSupervisor does not, an Add Soft-
ware popup dialog lists these files, and asks if you wish to transfer them to the AxSupervisor, as
shown in Figure 3-19. You can select Yes (to transfer) or No to cancel, as desired.

Figure 3-19 Add Software dialog from Sync Workbench

Check Stations
When you click this in the Supervisor Software Manager, the selected version (or latest version, if a root
node is selected) is compared against the “platform snapshot” in each of the NiagaraStation’s Software
station extensions.
A dialog is then displayed for that module, as shown in Figure 3-20.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-16
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Provisioning Job management
October 19, 2007 Provisioning Job

Figure 3-20 Example dialog for installable from Check Stations function

This dialog shows a table with rows for each enabled NiagaraStation, displaying the version of the
software in its platform snapshot (viewable in its Software extension).
The last column in the table shows the status of the platform snapshot for each station, which can have
one of the following values:
• Up to Date — station version is equal to or greater than the software file in the AxSupervisor.
• Out of Date — AxSupervisor software file version is greater than the version installed on the sta-
tion’s host.
• Not Installed — this software file is not installed on the station’s host.
• No Snapshot — No platform snapshot has been taken for this station, so there is no basis for com-
parison.
• Bad Remote File — Station’s host has a version that is corrupt or otherwise unusable.
Buttons in this dialog provide added functionality.
Buttons As shown in Figure 3-20, buttons in the dialog produced by Check Stations are as follows:
• Select Out of Date — Selects each of the rows (stations) with an “Out of Date” status.
• Update Snapshot — Queries the platform daemon for each of the hosts running the selected sta-
tions, and builds a “snapshot” of installed software (useful for any with status “No Snapshot”).
• Create Job — Closes this dialog, and changes the view to the Provisioning Job Builder.
• Cancel — Closes this dialog, and takes no other action.

Provisioning Job management

Provisioning uses jobs as the method for doing most of its software installation and backup tasks. A
combination of objects, both components and files, is used to model provisioning jobs, and their
contained steps. These sections describe those objects and their relationship to each other.
• Provisioning Job
• Job log file
• Station step log file

Provisioning Job
A Provisioning Job (in this document, just job) is a schedulable component that specifies a specific set of
steps to be performed on a given list of stations. You assemble a job using the Provisioning Job Builder,
or one is automatically made if you invoke the Provisioning Service action Start Backup.
Although a job is a component with a property sheet, you typically interact with a job as a row entry in
the Provisioning Job List table, or in the job’s default view, Provisioning Job View.
Further details are in the following subsections:
• Properties
• Job execution
Properties
Important properties of a Provisioning Job are as follows:
• Job State — Like all NiagaraAX jobs, a provisioning job has a state property representing the
overall job state. State remains as “Unknown” until the job is submitted to the job queue, and the
queue has a thread to run it. Thus, you can safely interpret “Unknown” as “Pending.” Once the job
actually starts running in a thread, its state changes to “Running,” with other possible values being
Canceling, Canceled, Success, Failed.
Additionally, each station in the job has its own “Station State”— see property below (note this also
defaults to “Unknown” for a station that has not yet started processing the job).

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-17
Provisioning Guide
Provisioning Job management Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Job log file October 19, 2007

• Alert On Step Failure — If true, an alarm is issued for every step/station combination that
fails or gets canceled.
• Alert On Job Success — If true, an alarm is issued when the job terminates successfully.
• Station State— Folder containing slots named after stations, each has a value that is a state ob-
ject for that station (Unknown, Running, Canceling, Canceled, Success, Failed).
• Submit User — Name of the station user who submitted the provisioning job.
Note: Configuration of the “Alert On” properties for any provisioning job are determined by the settings of the
alarm checkboxes in the Provisioning Job Builder when it was set to run.
Job execution
Just prior to execution, some steps in a Provisioning Job are combined. Currently, the only steps that are
combined are “Install Software,” “Copy File,” and “Upgrade Out-of-date Software” steps that are adjacent
to each other. Combining steps avoids duplication of dependency-checking with a station, and minimizes
the number of reboots required.
Upon execution, the job works through its list of stations in sequence, and for each station it executes its
steps in sequence. When the job reaches a station in the list, its station state becomes “Running”. If any
of the steps fail, the station’s state becomes “Failed,” and no additional steps are run for that station, and
the job continues with the next station in the list.
If every step succeeds for a station, its station state becomes “Success.” If the job is canceled during a
station step, its station state, the station state of all following stations, and the job state all become
“Canceled.”
When all steps are complete for all stations without canceling, and all steps completed successfully, the
job state is “Success.” However, if even one step failed, the job state will be “Failed”.

Job log file

A job log file is a .bog archive of a single completed Provisioning Job. Job log files are always written
under the AxSupervisor’s station directory using the following convention:
^provisioning/jobLog/timestamp.pjob
where timestamp is the job’s start time, formatted as YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.sss
Figure 3-22 shows a number of job log files listed in Windows Explorer.

Figure 3-21 Example of stored job log files

Station step log file

A station step log file is a .bog archive of a single step execution in a Provisioning Job, against a single
station. Station step log files are always written under the AxSupervisor’s station directory using the
following convention:
^provisioning/stationData/stationName/jobLog/typeStep/timestamp.pstp
where
• stationName is the name of the station processed in the step
• typeStep is the type of provisioning step
• timestamp is the job’s start time, formatted as YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.sss
Figure 3-22 shows a number of station step log files listed in Windows Explorer.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-18
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Provisioning Job management
October 19, 2007 Provisioning job steps

Figure 3-22 Example of stored station step log files

The default view for a station step log file is the Step Log File View.

Provisioning job steps

As a component, a Provisioning Job contains one or more component steps. Typically, you add steps in
the Job Steps List of the Provisioning Job Builder view. After any step completes, you can view details on
it by accessing the Step Log File View.
The different types of provisioning steps you can include in a provisioning job include the following:
• Backup Stations step
• Copy File step
• Install Software step
• Reboot step
• Upgrade Out-of-date Software step

Backup Stations step

The Backup Stations step (ProvisioningBackupStep), as part of a Provisioning Job, makes an online
backup for each specified station (providing station is running), or if a specified station is not running, an
offline backup. It is available in the New Job Step menu (Figure 3-2 on page 7) and the provisioning
palette. Also, it is automatically added when you invoke the Provisioning Service action Start Backup.
In either case, the backup dist file for each station is stored on the AxSupervisor, using the following
convention:
^provisioning/stationData/stationName/backups/
backup_stationName_timestamp.dist
where
• stationName is the name of the station processed in the step
• timestamp is the job’s start time, formatted as YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.sss

Copy File step

The Copy File step (FileCopyStep), as part of a Provisioning Job, copies a single file to a given location on
the target JACE. It is available in the New Job Step menu (Figure 3-2 on page 7), and in the provi-
sioning palette. When you add this step, the standard File Chooser dialog appears—use it to specify
the source file on your PC. Figure 3-23 shows an example of a .px file being selected.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-19
Provisioning Guide
Provisioning Job management Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Install Software step October 19, 2007

Figure 3-23 Select source file using File Chooser

After selecting a local source file, a Destination dialog prompts you for the target destination to copy
this file to, as shown in Figure 3-24.

Figure 3-24 Select target Destination

If the file you are copying is under your “Sys Home” (“!”), the default target destination is the same as
your local source PC—otherwise, the default destination is the “Station Home”, or “^”. Also, note that
this destination folder applies to all stations in the job. You may need to edit destination, as shown done
in Figure 3-25.

Figure 3-25 Edited target Destination

Here, the destination was changed to start with the “station root” absolute (^) versus the previous “system
root” absolute (!).
Note: The destination string must always begin with the character for either the system-home relative (!) or the
station-home relative (^). No means is provided to modify any files outside of the Niagara release directory
on any target JACE hosts.
When the job is scheduled or run, unless the file being copied is local to the AxSupervisor (i.e. you are
using Workbench on the AxSupervisor), a temporary copy of the file is made there. This temporary file
is cleaned up once the job completes.
Upon execution, file copy steps are combined with other file copy steps, install software steps, or upgrade
out-of-date software steps in order to run more efficiently.

Install Software step

The Install Software step (InstallBySpecStep), as part of a Provisioning Job, installs a versioned software
file to the target JACE host(s), from the AxSupervisor’s software database (files under its !sw folder). The
Install Software step is available in the New Job Step menu (Figure 3-2 on page 7), and in the provi-
sioning palette.
Note: If using a remote Workbench PC to connect to the AxSupervisor station, and you copy/drag a (local)
software file into the Job Steps List pane from the Nav tree, the service automatically checks to see if that
software file/version already exists on the AxSupervisor. If not, it is immediately downloaded to (and regis-
tered with) the AxSupervisor, in the background.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-20
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts Provisioning Job management
October 19, 2007 Install Software step

If adding this step in the Provisioning Job Builder using the (add) button, an Install Software
dialog appears (Figure 3-26), in which you select the software module or .dist file to install.

Figure 3-26 Install Software dialog

Select an item by expanding to see its version, then click that software file, then OK (Figure 3-27).

Figure 3-27 Expanding item to select software file by version

Note that when you drag a software item from the service’s Software container, and more than one
version (file) for that item is in the AxSupervisor’s software database, a popup dialog prompts you to
select the version (Figure 3-28).

Figure 3-28 Select dialog from dragging item with multiple versions

Once added, the Install Software step appears in the job steps list pane. If the software has dependencies
on module that are not yet installed on a particular JACE host, and those modules are in the AxSuper-
visor’s software registry, those modules will be automatically included in the processing of that host
(station), in order to satisfy dependencies.
Note: It is your (provisioning user’s) responsibility to ensure that platform dependencies of the software are met
by the JACE hosts running the target stations. For example, it is permissible to have a job with an install
software step that includes stations running on different platform types, say JACE-545s and JACE-403s.
However, if a step installs a distribution file specific to a JACE-403, note that the dependency check will fail
on the JACE-545s, and no software will be installed on them.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-21
Provisioning Guide
Provisioning Service Conversion Chapter 3 – Provisioning Service Concepts
Reboot step October 19, 2007

When the job executes, install software steps are combined with other software install steps, copy file
steps, and upgrade out-of-date-software steps to run more efficiently.
Note: A slightly different step (InstallStep) is created when you copy/drag a “backup .dist” file into the Job Steps
List pane—a backup .dist is not a “versioned” install (nor is it a Copy File step).

Reboot step
The Reboot step (RebootJobStep), as part of a Provisioning Job, reboots each station’s host, then waits
until its Niagara platform daemon comes back up and is available for connections again. It is available in
the New Job Step menu (Figure 3-2 on page 7) and the provisioning palette.
Usage is expected to be infrequent, perhaps as a temporary measure for some misbehaving third-party
software module. This job step will fail if a station’s Software device extension is disabled or in fault.

Upgrade Out-of-date Software step

The Upgrade Out-of-date Software step (UpgradeOutOfDateStep), as part of a Provisioning Job,
compares the versions of software installed on the station’s host with the latest versions of the same
software in the AxSupervisor’s software database. Any software found with a higher version on the
AxSupervisor is then installed to the station. This step is available in the New Job Step menu
(Figure 3-2 on page 7).
Note: Although not typical, please note that the latest version of any software module found under the AxSuper-
visor’s software database (under !sw) is always installed by this step, even if the AxSupervisor itself is using
an earlier installed version (as found in its !modules directory). Normally, the AxSupervisor has the latest
versions of software modules installed, so this distinction is moot.
When the job executes, upgrade out-of-date-software steps are combined with other software install
steps and copy file steps, to run more efficiently.

Provisioning Service Conversion

Starting in AX-3.3, the preferred NiagaraAX provisioning model changed to use a “network extension”
method, such that the “hub” of provisioning in an AxSupervisor station is no longer its Provisioning
Service. In fact, the new model eliminates the Provisioning Service, using instead a “Provision-
ingExt” (extension) under the NiagaraNetwork in the AxSupervisor, as well as a new “Batch Job
Service”. Other features were added, increasing the range of available provisioning tasks. Refer to the
document Provisioning for Niagara Networks for more details.
Although an AxSupervisor (configured for provisioning) that is subsequently upgraded to AX-3.3 can
continue to use the older Provisioning Service-based model, it is expected that conversion to the newer
model will be desired, due to the increased flexibility. In anticipation of this, a built-in conversion utility
(as right-click command in Workbench) was added to the AX-3.3 Provisioning Service. See Figure 3-29.

Figure 3-29 Right-click command on AX-3.3and later ProvisioningService provides Conversion utility

Note: Before issuing this command, please refer to the Provisioning for Niagara Networks document for further
details and notes. This command can only be issued once, as it “self-removes” the service.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

3-22
Provisioning Guide
 CHAPTER 4
Provisioning Extension Concepts
This section explains components that are automatically created by the Provisioning Service under a
different area of the AxSupervisor station (apart from the station’s Services folder). These compo-
nents are special “device extensions” created under each of the NiagaraStation devices contained in its
NiagaraNetwork. Some have special views, also described in this section.
Along with the Provisioning Service and its children (see “Provisioning Service Concepts” on page 3-5)
all components are required to be present (and enabled) for full provisioning support.
These are the main subsections:
• Types of provisioning extensions
• Platform Connection extension
• Backup extension
• Software extension, and its Station Software View
• StationProxy extension, and its views Provisioning Station Director and Station Job List

Types of provisioning extensions

When you add the Provisioning Service into a licensed AxSupervisor’s station, four different device
extensions are automatically created under each NiagaraStation component, as shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1 Provisioning extensions added to NiagaraStation device

Provisioning
Extensions

These device extensions are in addition to the standard Points, Histories, Alarms, and
Schedules extensions that exist for any NiagaraStation device.
Note: These provisioning extensions are also automatically added when you add a new station under the Niaga-
raNetwork in the AxSupervisor station (providing it has the Provisioning Service).
The four provisioning extension types are:
• Platform Connection — manages the platform connection between the AxSupervisor and the re-
mote JACE running the station.
• Backup — enables the AxSupervisor to make backups of the station.
• Software — holds a “snapshot” of the current software versions installed on the JACE host.
• StationProxy — polls the station for system statistics.
Although automatically created, you must (minimally) configure some properties in the Platform
Connection provisioning extension.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4–23
Provisioning Guide
Platform Connection Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts
Properties October 19, 2007

Platform Connection
The Platform Connection (PlatformConnection component), among the provisioning extensions,
specifies the HTTP port and credentials for the AxSupervisor to use for making a platform connection
to each host represented by a NiagaraStation. Platform connections are used in all provisioning jobs, and
in the polling performed by the Provisioning Service.
In order for provisioning to work for any station, you must specify both its platform port and platform
credentials in each newly-created Platform Connection extension. You can do this in its property sheet,
as shown in Figure 4-2 (no “special” views exist for this extension).

Figure 4-2 Platform Connection property sheet

The following sections provide more details:

• Properties
• Ping action
• New station notes

Properties
Properties of a Platform Connection provisioning extension are described as follows:
• Status — Current status of extension, where value is ok, disabled, or fault.
The platform connection will be in fault if any of the following occurs:
• AxSupervisor has no Provisioning Service (for example, it has been deleted).
• AxSupervisor is not licensed for Provisioning Service.
• NiagaraStation is in fault.
• The station’s platform daemon rejects the platform connection’s credentials.
The extension will be disabled if the Provisioning Service is disabled.
• Fault Cause — If in fault, gives brief text explanation.
• Port — Port on which the platform daemon in the station’s host (JACE) is listening, where the default
port is 3011. If this port was changed in commissioning, you must match it here.
(Shows as “Platform Port” in Add dialog when in the Station Manager view and adding a new
station, see “New station notes”, also in the similar Edit dialog).
• Credentials — Credentials used for a platform connection to the JACE running the station, where
you enter a Username and Password.
(Credentials show as “Platform User” and “Platform Password” in the Add dialog when working in
the Station Manager view, see “New station notes”, also in the similar Edit dialog).
• Health — Contains information about the success or failure of the last pings, and is similar to the
standard “Health” slot in most driver networks.
• Alarm Source Info — Specifies how and if alarms are to be generated as a result of ping monitor fail-
ures, similar to the standard “Alarm Source Info” slot in most driver networks.

Ping action
A single “Ping” action is available on the Platform Connection, to immediately force a short message to
the host’s platform daemon. Its “Health” property updates with ping results. You can issue this action
after entering port and credentials properties, to test their validity.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-24
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts Backup
October 19, 2007 New station notes

New station notes

As shown in Figure 4-3, when working in the AxSupervisor’s NiagaraNetwork to add a new station, the
Add dialog automatically includes three provisioning-related properties (providing that the AxSuper-
visor is running the Provisioning Service).

Figure 4-3 Add dialog for new NiagaraStation (in NiagaraNetwork)

These properties are at the bottom of the Add (or Edit) dialog for a NiagaraStation, all starting with
“Platform.” They are for the Port and Credentials properties in the Platform Connection extension. These
three properties do not appear in these dialogs when working in the NiagaraNetwork of any JACE station,
or if an AxSupervisor is not running (or licensed for) the Provisioning Service.
If you want to perform provisioning on the station, be sure to put proper values in these platform fields.

Backup
The Backup extension (BackupStationExt component), among the provisioning extensions, permits
Backup Stations steps in provisioning jobs to be processed for a station running on this host. By default,
this extension is enabled, to allow backups from the Provisioning Service. Figure 4-2 shows the properties
for the stations Backup extension (no “special” views exist for this component).

Figure 4-4 Backup Station Ext property sheet

Properties
Properties of the Backup station provisioning extension are described as follows:
• Enabled — Defaults to true, set to false if you wish to prevent Backup Stations steps to process
against this station in any provisioning jobs.
• Status — Current status of extension, where value is ok, disabled, or fault.
The platform connection will be in fault if any of the following occurs:
• AxSupervisor has no Provisioning Service (for example, it has been deleted).
• AxSupervisor is not licensed for Provisioning Service.
• NiagaraStation is in fault.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-25
Provisioning Guide
Software Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts
Start Backup action October 19, 2007

• Host’s platform daemon rejects the platform connection’s credentials.

The extension is disabled if its Enabled property is set to false, or if the Provisioning Service
is disabled.
• Fault Cause — If in fault, gives brief text explanation.
In addition, there is a single Start Backup action.

Start Backup action

Each Backup station provisioning extension provides its own Start Backup action, which when
invoked immediately submits a provisioning job that contains a single Backup Stations step against this
station.
Note: If needed, you can add and link a TriggerSchedule output to this action, to provide specific time(s) or
interval for backing up this particular station. Note that a “global” (backup all stations) TriggerSchedule
already exists by default—see “Provisioning Service containers and components” on page 3-14.

Software
The Software extension (SoftwareStationExt component), among the provisioning extensions, permits
any of the following steps in provisioning jobs to be processed for a station running on this host: Install
Software step, Upgrade Out-of-date Software step, Copy File step, Reboot step.
By default, this extension is enabled, to allow these provisioning steps for the station. Figure 4-5 shows
the property sheet for the station’s Software extension. Note that other functions are also provided by this
extension, using its default Station Software View (a special view).

Figure 4-5 Software Station Ext property sheet

See the following sections for more details:

• Properties
• Station Software View

Properties
Properties of the Software station provisioning extension are described as follows:
• Enabled — Defaults to true, set to false if you wish to prevent steps listed above to process
against this station in any provisioning jobs. Also, note this must be true to use the Station Software
View, or use the Supervisor Software Manager with this station.
• Status — Current status of extension, where value is ok, disabled, or fault.
The platform connection will be in fault if any of the following occurs:
• AxSupervisor has no Provisioning Service (for example, it has been deleted).
• AxSupervisor is not licensed for Provisioning Service.
• NiagaraStation is in fault.
• Host’s platform daemon rejects the platform connection’s credentials.
The extension will be disabled if its Enabled property is set to false, or if the Provisioning Ser-
vice is disabled.
• Fault Cause — If in fault, gives brief text explanation.
• Last Update — Date/timestamp of when a “platform snapshot” was last updated (is “null” if a plat-
form snapshot has never occurred).

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-26
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts Station Software View
October 19, 2007 Properties

Station Software View

The Station Software View is the default view on the Software provisioning extension of a Niaga-
raStation. As shown in Figure 4-6, this view closely resembles the “Software Manager” view available
in a direct platform connection to a host.

Figure 4-6 Station Software View is default view on Software provisioning extension

Note: Refer to the “Software Manager” section in the NiagaraAX Platform Guide for descriptions of most
elements in this view. Only elements that differ from that view are explained here.
Whenever you access this view, a “snapshot” is taken of that NiagaraStation’s installed software, and this
view’s table reflects its current software configuration. Other differences from the Software Manager
view in a direct platform connection are summarized as follows:
• Where the Software Manager has table columns “Installed Version” and “Available Version”
that represent the station’s and Workbench’s versions of each software item, the Station Soft-
ware View has equivalent columns “Station Version” and “Provisioning Version”.
• Instead of a Commit button that starts the software installation by running it in Workbench, there
is an Execute Job button, to submit the installation as a Provisioning Job in the AxSupervisor
station. When you click Execute Job, the view changes to Provisioning Job View.

StationProxy
The StationProxy extension (StationProxy component), among the provisioning extensions, provides
platform administration functions like those available when you open a direct platform connection in
Workbench, using the Station Director and Platform Administration views. It also
provides a number of actions for station control functions.
By default, this extension is enabled, to allow polling from the Provisioning Service for values of the
extension’s properties. Figure 4-7 shows the property sheet for the station’s StationProxy extension. Note
that other special views are provided, including the default view (Provisioning Station Director) as well
as a Station Job List.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-27
Provisioning Guide
StationProxy Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts
Properties October 19, 2007

Figure 4-7 StationProxy property sheet

The following sections provide more details:

• Properties
• Actions
• Views

Properties
Properties of the StationProxy are described as follows:
• Enabled — Defaults to true, set to false if you wish to prevent polling by the Provisioning Service.
Note that Enabled must be true in order to use the special views on the Station Proxy extension,
namely the Provisioning Station Director and the Station Job List.
• Status — Current status of extension, where value is ok, disabled, or fault.
The platform connection will be in fault if any of the following occurs:
• AxSupervisor has no Provisioning Service (for example, it has been deleted).
• AxSupervisor is not licensed for Provisioning Service.
• NiagaraStation is in fault.
• Host’s platform daemon rejects the platform connection’s credentials.
The extension will be disabled if its Enabled property is set to false, or if the Provisioning Ser-
vice is disabled.
• Poll Frequency — Corresponds to the Poll Scheduler in the Provisioning Service, as part of its
monitor “ping” mechanism (a ping of the platform daemon in the host running each station). See the
section “Provisioning Service containers and components” on page 3-14 for related details.
Note: Remaining properties described below are read-only, and reflect various items about the
platform.
• Is Restart Enabled — If true, the station can be restarted without a reboot of its host platform (such
as with Win32-based platforms).
• Is Reboot Enabled — If true, the host’s platform daemon is capable of (and allows) rebooting of the
host.
• Is Auto Start — If true, the station is restarted automatically after the host is rebooted.
• Is Auto Restart — If true, the host is restarted (or rebooted if “Is Restart Enabled”=false) when-
ever the station terminates with a failure exit code.
• Station Status — Reflects one of the following values:
• Idle — Station is not currently running, and can be started without a reboot.
• Starting — Station process is running, but has not completed its startup sequence.
• Running — Station is running.
• Stopping — Station is in process of shutting down, but its process is still alive.
• Halted — Station is not currently running, and the host must be rebooted before it can start.
• Unknown — StationProxy has status disabled or fault, and so station status is unknown.
Status is also unknown if the station is unreachable, or if a poll has not happened yet.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-28
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts StationProxy
October 19, 2007 Actions

• Is Accepting Messages — If false (unlikely), thread dumps, station saves, and graceful shutdown
is not possible using the platform daemon.
• Log Buffer Size — Size (in bytes) of the buffer used by the platform daemon to hold the console out-
put.
• Log Buffer File Size — Maximum size of the console.txt file (in bytes) that the platform daemon
saves console output to, when the station stops.
• Num Cpus— Number of CPUs on the host running the station.
• Current Cpu Usage — Percentage of time the CPU(s) have been in use in the last second.
• Overall Cpu Usage — Percentage of time the CPU(s) have been in use since the platform daemon
started.
• Total Physical Memory — Total KB of physical RAM on the station’s host.
• Free Physical Memory — KB of available physical RAM on the station’s host.
• File System Attributes — Free space statistics for each file system on station’s host.
In addition to these properties, the StationProxy extension has a number of Actions.

Actions
As shown in Figure 4-8, each StationProxy provisioning extension provides a number of actions, available
as right-click commands.

Figure 4-8 Action menu for StationProxy extension

Many of these actions are also available in the Provisioning Station Director view, as well as in views using
a direct platform connection. When invoked, each action performs as follows:
• Poll — Causes AxSupervisor to poll the host’s platform daemon for current data.
• Dump Threads — AxSupervisor requests that the station send a thread dump to its console output.
• Save Station— AxSupervisor requests that the station save its current state to its own (local) con-
fig.bog file.
• Stop Station — AxSupervisor requests that the station shuts down gracefully.
• Start Station — (applicable only if current station status is idle). AxSupervisor requests the platform
daemon to start the station.
• Kill Station — AxSupervisor requests for the station to terminate immediately, without graceful
shutdown.
• Restart Station — Depending on “Is Restart Enabled” value, causes one of the following:
• If “Is Restart Enabled” is false — Station’s host is rebooted.
• If “Is Restart Enabled” is true — Station is stopped gracefully, then restarted again.
• Reboot Host — Depending on “Is Reboot Enabled” value, causes one of the following:
• If “Is Reboot Enabled” is false — Nothing happens.
• If “Is Reboot Enabled” is true — AxSupervisor requests for the platform daemon to shut down
gracefully, then reboot the host.

Views
Each StationProxy provisioning extension has two special views, summarized as follows:
• Provisioning Station Director — The default view for the StationProxy extension, this view closely
resembles the “Station Director” view in a direct platform connection.
• Station Job List — Provides a list summarizing provisioning job steps that have been executed
against this particular station, with additional details available.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-29
Provisioning Guide
Provisioning Station Director Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts
Views October 19, 2007

Provisioning Station Director

The Provisioning Station Director is the default view on the StationProxy provisioning
extension of a NiagaraStation. As shown in Figure 4-9, this view closely resembles the “Station Director”
view available in a direct platform connection to a host.

Figure 4-9 Provisioning Station Director is default view on StationProxy extension

Note: Refer to the “Application Director” section in the NiagaraAX Platform Guide for descriptions of most
elements in this view. Only elements that differ from that view are explained here.
Differences from the Station Director view are summarized as follows:
• Since the Provisioning Station Director only shows information for one station, it does
not show the station name and status within a table (at the top of the view), but instead shows this
data at the top using simple text labels.
• Where the Station Director updates the “Auto-Start” and “Restart on Failure” settings imme-
diately when changed, the Provisioning Station Director works more like a normal view, meaning
you must click the Save button after making any changes.
• Although the appearances of the two views are similar, their implementations are different. The
Station Director connects the Workbench view directly to the station’s platform daemon, and
is best for extended troubleshooting. Whereas, the Provisioning Station Director uses the
AxSupervisor station as an intermediary, and as a result is not as responsive, and is less efficient (uses
additional AxSupervisor resources).

Station Job List

Another view on the StationProxy extension, access it via the view selector (Figure 4-10), or by right-
clicking the extension and selecting Views > Station Job List.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-30
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts Station Job List
October 19, 2007 Step Table

Figure 4-10 Station Job List is available view on StationProxy extension

The main elements in this view are the Step Table, and the buttons near the bottom.

Step Table
This main area of the Station Job List view shows a row for each step that has been executed against the
station. Note that no record is available for a step’s execution unless it has started. For this reason, the
following steps do not appear in this view:
• steps for jobs not yet started.
• steps for jobs that are running, but are still running prior steps.
• steps that come after any earlier steps (for any station) that were canceled.
• steps that would have executed after another step, but the other step failed for this station.
Note: Because of this, the Station Job List is not the appropriate view to find the answer for questions like “why
did the backup scheduled for Tuesday on this station not run?”. For this type of information, you should
look in the Provisioning Job List of the Provisioning Service.
The step table includes columns for various data. You can do any of the following within the table:
• Click the “>>” (Details) button to the right of the status for any step to view its Step Log File
View (same as using the Step Details button at the bottom of the view).
• Double-click any step row to view its Job Log, a series of log messages about the step stored in its
job log file (same as using the View Log button at the bottom of the view).
• Right-click a step for a popup menu, providing same functions as buttons (at bottom of view).
Step table columns
Step table columns in the Station Job List include the following:
• Job Step — the type of job step, such as “Backup Stations” and so on (for more details, see “Pro-
visioning job steps” on page 3-19).
• Start — time the step started executing for the station.
• End — time the step completed for the station.
• Status — the status of the step for the station (note that the overall status for the job, and the status
value for the step in other stations, may be different) as one of the following:
• Running — step is executing.
• Canceling — request to cancel the step was sent, but has not been processed yet, and the step
is still executing.
• Success — step finished successfully, and is no longer running.
• Canceled — step was canceled before it completed, and is no longer running.
• Failed — the step failed and is no longer running.
The status column ends with a “>>” (Details) button for each job, this function the same as the Step
Details button at the bottom of this view.

Buttons
Buttons near the bottom of the Station Job List become enabled when you have a step row selected in the
Step Table. Buttons are described as follows:

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-31
Provisioning Guide
Station Job List Chapter 4 – Provisioning Extension Concepts
Buttons October 19, 2007

• View Log — For a popup Job Log dialog, showing log messages output when executing this step
in the job. For more details, see “Job Log notes” on page 3-10.
• Step Detail — Switches the view to the Step Log File View. For more details, see “Step
Log File View” on page 3-12.
• Job Summary — To change to the Provisioning Job View (for the job that contained this
step). For more details, see the “Provisioning Job View” on page 3-11.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

4-32
Provisioning Guide
 CHAPTER 5
Provisioning Plugin Guides
Plugins (views) provide visualizations of components, as listed in the Plugin Guides Summary.

Plugin Guides Summary

There are many ways to view plugins. One way is directly in the tree. In addition, you can right-click on
an item and select one of its views. You can access documentation on a view by selecting Help > On
View (F1) from the menu, or pressing F1 while the view is open.
Provisioning includes the following views, summarized alphabetically:
• Backup Step Record View
• Provisioning Job Builder
• Provisioning Job List
• Provisioning Job View
• Station Software View
• Provisioning Station Director
• Station Job List
• Station Step Record View
• Step Log File View
• Supervisor Software Manager

provisioning-BackupStepRecordView
This view shows the details for a Backup Stations step executed against a single station, while that
step is still running. Typically, you see this from either the Provisioning Job View or the Station Job
List when you click the “>>” button on a running step.
The view provides a summary table showing log messages that occurred during step execution. You can
double-click rows to show additional Log Details, if any. For more details, see “Step Log File View”
on page 3-12.
Note: If the job step type was something other than Backup Stations, and that step is still running, you see a
slightly different view, the Station Step Record View. In either case, once the step is finished, neither view is
accessible—they are replaced by the Step Log File View.

provisioning-ProvisioningJobBuilder
The Provisioning Job Builder view is the default view for the Provisioning Service. You use it to
specify which steps are to be performed in a provisioning job, and for which stations. Once you fully
specify a job, you can then submit it for immediate execution, or schedule it to run later.
Access this view by simply double-clicking the Provisioning Service, or by right-clicking and selecting
Views > Provisioning Job Builder. For more details, see “Provisioning Job Builder” on page
3-6.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

5–33
Provisioning Guide
provisioning-ProvisioningJobList Chapter 5 – Provisioning Plugin Guides
October 19, 2007

provisioning-ProvisioningJobList
The Provisioning Job List view is an available view for the Provisioning Service. It provides a Super-
visor-wide table-based history of provisioning jobs and their results. Included for each job is a Job
Log, available as a popup dialog via double-clicking a job row, and a Job Details view, accessed by clicking
the “>>” button next to its status descriptor.
Access this view by right-clicking and selecting Views > Provisioning Job List, or selecting it
from the service’s view selector. For more details, see “Provisioning Job List” on page 3-8.

provisioning-ProvisioningJobView
The Provisioning Job View shows the details for a single job execution. It is the default view for any
ProvisioningJob, as well as any provisioning job file (.pjob extension). From the Provisioning Job
Builder, you change to this view when you specify a job to Run Now. You also see this view when in the
Provisioning Job List and you click the “>>” button on any job row, or from the Step Log File View when
you click Job Summary.
The view provides a summary table showing each step in the job, for each station. Controls allow you to
view a job log, cancel an uncompleted job, or dispose of a completed job. For more details, see “Provi-
sioning Job View” on page 3-11.

provisioning-StationSoftwareView
Station Software View is the default view of the SoftwareStationExt under a NiagaraStation device.
It closely resembles the Software Manager view available in a platform connection. When this view
loads, a “snapshot” of installed software is automatically updated, so that the table reflects the station’s
current state.
For more details, see “Station Software View” on page 4-27.

provisioning-ProvisioningStationDirector
The Provisioning Station Director is the default view of the StationProxy extension under a Niaga-
raStation device. It closely resembles the Station Director view available in a platform connection,
where station output can be observed, and other station control is available.
Although the two views operate similarly, the Provisioning Station Director is slightly less responsive, as
it connects through the AxSupervisor station as an intermediary (versus a direct platform connection, as
used by the Station Director).
For more details, see “Provisioning Station Director” on page 4-30.

provisioning-StationJobList
The Station Job List view is available for the StationProxy extension under a NiagaraStation device.
It shows a list of provisioning job steps that were executed against this specific station. Included for
each job step is a Job Log, available as a popup dialog via double-clicking a job row, and a Step Log File
View, accessed either by clicking the “>>” button next to its status descriptor, or by clicking the Step
Details button.
Access this view by right-clicking the StationProxy extension and selecting Views > Station Job
List, or by selecting it from the extension’s view selector.
For more details, see “Station Job List” on page 4-30.

provisioning-StationStepRecordView
This view shows the details for a provisioning job step executed against a single station, while that
step is still running. Typically, you see this from either the Provisioning Job View or the Station Job
List when you click the “>>” button on a running step.
The view provides a summary table showing log messages that occurred during step execution. You can
double-click rows to show additional Log Details, if any. For more details, see “Step Log File View”
on page 3-12.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

5-34
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 5 – Provisioning Plugin Guides provisioning-StepLogFileView
October 19, 2007

Note: If the job step was Backup Station, that step is still running, you see a slightly different view, the Backup
Step Record View. In either case, once the step is finished, neither view is accessible—they are replaced by
the Step Log File View.

provisioning-StepLogFileView
This view shows the details for a provisioning job step executed (and completed) against a single
station, and is the default view for any station step log file (.pstp extension). Typically, you see this
from either the Provisioning Job View or the Station Job List when you click the “>>” button on any
completed step.
The view provides a summary table showing log messages that occurred during step execution. You can
double-click rows to show additional Log Details, if any. For more details, see “Step Log File View”
on page 3-12.
Note: If the job step was Backup Station, and it executed successfully, a Restore button is available. This
allows you to restore the station using the .dist file saved from this provisioning job. If you answer Yes to the
confirmation dialog (no undo), an install backup job is immediately executed by the service, and the view
changes to the Provisioning Job View for that job.

provisioning-SupervisorSoftwareManager
The Supervisor Software Manager is the default view on the SoftwareContainer of the Provisioning
Service. It lists all InstallableSummary components, representing the installable software items
under the !sw directory on the AxSupervisor, with each expandable to show InstallableSpecs. Controls at
the bottom provide different software management functions.
For more details, see “Supervisor Software Manager” on page 3-15.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

5-35
Provisioning Guide
provisioning-SupervisorSoftwareManager Chapter 5 – Provisioning Plugin Guides
October 19, 2007

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

5-36
Provisioning Guide
 CHAPTER 6
Provisioning Component Guides
This Component Reference Summary provides summary descriptions of Provisioning components.

Component Reference Summary

Summary information is provided on these components in the provisioning module, listed by alpha-
betical order:
• BackupStationExt
• FileCopyStep
• InstallableSummary
• InstallableSpec
• InstallBySpecStep
• InstallStep
• JobTrigger
• PlatformConnection
• ProvisioningBackupStep
• ProvisioningJob
• ProvisioningService
• RebootJobStep
• SoftwareContainer
• SoftwareStationExt
• Station Poll Scheduler
• StationProxy
• ThreadPoolJobQueue
• UpgradeOutOfDateStep

provisioning-BackupStationExt
The BackupStationExt (Backup) is one of four device extensions automatically added to every
NiagaraStation under the Supervisor’s NiagaraNetwork, providing that the station has (and is
licensed for) the Provisioning Service. Other NiagaraStation provisioning extensions are the Platform-
Connection, SoftwareStationExt, and StationProxy.
For more details, see “Provisioning Extension Concepts” on page 4-23, and “Backup” on page 4-25.

provisioning-FileCopyStep
CopyFile steps can be added in the top (Job Step) pane of the Provisioning Job Builder, when speci-
fying a provisioning job. This produces the standard File Chooser dialog, in which you specify the
local file to copy. After selecting a local source file, a Destination dialog lets you specify a system-home-
relative or station-home-relative path, to which the file is copied to (in all specified stations). Note that
other types of provisioning steps can be also be added.
For more details, see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19, and “Copy File step” on page 3-19.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

6–37
Provisioning Guide
provisioning-InstallableSummary Chapter 6 – Provisioning Component Guides
October 19, 2007

provisioning-InstallableSummary
Installable Summaries represent software files under the !sw directory of the AxSupervisor host.
Each contains one or more specification objects for each version in the software registry, represented
as InstallableSpec components. For more details, see “Supervisor Software container” on page 3-15.

provisioning-InstallableSpec
Installable Specs are children of InstallableSummary components, as the lowest level component
under the SoftwareContainer of the Provisioning Service. Installable Specs are version-specific, and
describe the installable software item, including version number, dependencies, and other data. For more
details, see “Supervisor Software container” on page 3-15.

provisioning-InstallBySpecStep
InstallSoftware steps can be added in the top (Job Step) pane of the Provisioning Job Builder, when
specifying a provisioning job. When adding a software item (module or dist), you must specify a
specific version. Note that other types of provisioning steps can be also be added.
For more details, see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19, and “Install Software step” on page 3-20.

provisioning-InstallStep
Install backupdist steps are created when you copy an existing backup .dist file into the top (Job
Step) pane the Provisioning Job Builder. This is different from a “version-specific” install step
(InstallBySpecStep) produced by either the “Install Software” step selection (where you must select a
particular version), or by copying a specific (versioned) module or .dist file into the Job Step pane.

provisioning-JobTrigger
A JobTrigger is the container for a provisioning job set to “run later,” and resides under the “Pending
Jobs” slot of the Provisioning Service. It contains a ProvisioningJob and a TriggerSchedule
component, already linked to the JobTrigger for future execution. A single property: Clean Up, deter-
mines whether the JobTrigger is removed from the Pending Jobs folder after all specified run times. For
more details, see “Run Later notes” on page 3-8.

provisioning-PlatformConnection
The PlatformConnection is one of four device extensions automatically added to every NiagaraSt-
ation under the Supervisor’s NiagaraNetwork, providing that the station has (and is licensed for) the
Provisioning Service. Other NiagaraStation provisioning extensions are the BackupStationExt, Softwar-
eStationExt, and StationProxy.
For more details, see “Provisioning Extension Concepts” on page 4-23, and “Platform Connection” on
page 4-24.

provisioning-ProvisioningBackupStep
BackupStation steps can be added in the top (Job Step) pane of the Provisioning Job Builder, when
specifying a provisioning job. When executed, this step makes an online backup for each specified
station (providing station is running), or if a specified station is not running, an offline backup. In either
case, the backup dist file for each station is stored on the AxSupervisor. Note that other types of provi-
sioning steps can be also be added.
For more details, see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19, and “Backup Stations step” on page 3-19.

provisioning-ProvisioningJob
A ProvisioningJob specifies a list of stations and a list of steps to be performed on each station in the
list. A job may be assembled using the Provisioning Job Manager view, or may be automatically
created as a result of invoking a “startBackup” action on the Provisioning Service. The default view of a
ProvisioningJob is the Provisioning Job View.
For more details, see“Provisioning Job” on page 3-17.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

6-38
Provisioning Guide
Chapter 6 – Provisioning Component Guides provisioning-ProvisioningService
October 19, 2007

provisioning-ProvisioningService
The Provisioning Service performs all provisioning tasks in the AxSupervisor station, executed as
jobs. It contains frozen slots that serve different functions, and has special views (apart from standard
component views). The default view is the Provisioning Job Builder, and a Provisioning Job List view is
also available.
For more details, see “About the Provisioning Service” on page 3-6.
Note: Starting in AX-3.3, the Provisioning Service has an “Upgrade to Provisioning 3.3” right-click command that
converts the entire provisioning model over to the newer “network extension-based” architecture, explained
in a separate document NiagaraAX Provisioning for Niagara Networks. See “Provisioning Service
Conversion” on page 3-22 for related details.

provisioning-RebootJobStep
RebootStations step can be added in the top (Job Step) pane of the Provisioning Job Builder, when
specifying a provisioning job. This results in platform (host) reboot of hosts running the specified
stations. Note that other types of provisioning steps can be also be added.
For more details, see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19, and “Reboot step” on page 3-22.

provisioning-SoftwareContainer
The Software Container (Software) under the Provisioning Service provides visibility into the
AxSupervisor’s software registry (the installable software files stored under the !sw directory).
Children in this container are summary objects for named, typed, software files—for example, modules
and platform distributions, represented as InstallableSummary components. The default view is the
Supervisor Software Manager.
For more details, see “Supervisor Software container” on page 3-15.

provisioning-SoftwareStationExt
The SoftwareStationExt (Software) is one of four device extensions automatically added to every
NiagaraStation under the Supervisor’s NiagaraNetwork, providing that the station has (and is
licensed for) the Provisioning Service. Other NiagaraStation provisioning extensions are the BackupSta-
tionExt, PlatformConnection, and StationProxy. The default view is the Station Software View.
For more details, see “Provisioning Extension Concepts” on page 4-23, and “Software” on page 4-26.

provisioning-StationPollScheduler
The Station Poll Scheduler controls the polling of StationProxy extensions by the Provisioning
Service. As a container slot under the service, the poll scheduler operates as in most driver networks.
See “About poll components” in the User Guide for general information. Polling only happens for Station-
Proxy extensions that are subscribed (linked somewhere, or being viewed or charted, etc.).
Note: Often, you can leave configuration at defaults. Or if needed, assign the Poll Frequency property of Station-
Proxy slots (NiagaraStation provisioning extensions) differently than the default “Normal.”

provisioning-StationProxy
The StationProxy is one of four device extensions automatically added to every NiagaraStation
under the Supervisor’s NiagaraNetwork, providing that the station has (and is licensed for) the Provi-
sioning Service. Other NiagaraStation provisioning extensions are the BackupStationExt, PlatformCon-
nection, and SoftwareStationExt.
For more details, see “Provisioning Extension Concepts” on page 4-23, and “StationProxy” on page 4-27.

provisioning-ThreadPoolJobQueue
The Thread Pool Job Queue is a frozen container slot under the Provisioning Service. Its only
property, Max Threads, specifies the maximum number of concurrent provisioning jobs that can be
performed by the AxSupervisor. By default, this is one (1), and is typically left at default, as provisioning
threads can be resource intensive in a Supervisor station.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

6-39
Provisioning Guide
provisioning-UpgradeOutOfDateStep Chapter 6 – Provisioning Component Guides
October 19, 2007

Note: Only after determining the station has available resource overhead, should Max Threads be adjusted up
to 2 or beyond. Otherwise, other tasks performed by the station may be affected.

provisioning-UpgradeOutOfDateStep
UpgradeOutOfDate step can be added in the top (Job Step) pane of the Provisioning Job Builder,
when specifying a provisioning job. When processed, the versions of software on the target station’s
host(s) are compared with the latest versions of the same software in the AxSupervisor’s software
database. If any newer versions are found, they are installed to the target station’s host(s). Note that other
types of provisioning steps can be also be added.
For more details, see “Provisioning job steps” on page 3-19, and “Upgrade Out-of-date Software step” on
page 3-22.

NiagaraAX-3.1 & 3.2

6-40
Provisioning Guide