Import IDM Models and Assets

The IDM Model and Asset Import Utility page is available only to Administrators of the Axeda® Platform. It allows an administrator to import Device Types (Models), Assets (Devices), and certain types of Properties (as Data Items or Model Properties) to the Axeda Platform with as few steps as possible.

Step 1. Create the Export Files

Log in to your IDM Axeda® Platform as a "Super Administrator" and locate the area where you can create export files for Device Types (Models), Devices (Assets), and Users. Note that Axeda Platform can import only the Device Types and Devices that are exported from an IDM Platform.
Use the Export feature to create XML files for your Device Types and their Properties and also to create XML files for your Devices and their Properties and extended properties. If you do not need the Device Type Properties at the Model level in Axeda Platform, you can export just the Devices to an XML file. The Model/Device Type is part of the Devices information and will be in the XML file. However, the Properties of the Device Types will not be in the XML file.
Store the files on your local computer.

An XML file containing exported Device Types is named <admin_login>_devicetypes.xml, where admin_login is the Super Administrator login for your IDM system. For example, qssadmin_devicetypes.xml. Similarly, an XML file containing exported Devices would be named <admin_login>_devices.xml

Step 2. Import the Device Types, Devices, and Properties

Log in as an administrator of the Axeda Platform.
To access the Import Utility page, enter (copy and paste) the following URL in the address field of your browser:

https://<server_IP_address>/drm/actions/admin/idm/import-file

where <server_IP_address> is the IP address of the computer that is hosting your Platform

When the IDM Model and Asset Import Utility page appears, click Browse to locate the file to import on your computer.
Once the file name appears in the Import File Name field, click Submit. The Import Results page appears, with a bar showing the progress of the import. The import can take a while, especially if you have many assets, as this example shows.

Once the import process completes, the results of the import are displayed in the Import Results field. During this process, the Platform automatically determines if the file contains asset data or model data. In addition, the Platform determines if the model or asset already exists. If you are re-importing an existing asset or model, the process does not generate an error message nor does it fail. However, if you select an invalid file (for example, an HTML file or an XML file that contains invalid tags), the server presents an error message and the import fails.

Once the process completes, review the information displayed in the Import Results field. In addition, go to the Axeda® Configuration application and display the View and manage assets (the home page for the Configuration application) and the View and manage models pages to make sure that the information has been imported correctly.

How IDM Information Maps to Information in Axeda Platform

The following table shows how IDM information for Device Types is mapped to corresponding items in the Axeda Platform:

This IDM information for a Device Type	In Axeda Platform becomes	Notes
From Properties tab
Device Type	Model
Device	Asset
Device Type Property used as a Device Property	Data Item	Values for data items (properties) are NOT imported.
Device Type Property used for Registration	Model Property	Also displayed in the Properties module on the Asset dashboard of all assets of the model (Device Type)
Device Type Property used as Command Argument	Ignored	Not translated
Data Type for a Property/Data Item: Integer or Double	Analog data type	Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications have only Analog, Digital, and String data types
Data Type for a Property/Data Item: String, nmtoken	String data type
Access: Read	Read only	Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications have only Read only and Writable access
Access: Write, Read/Write	Writable
Monitor - MinValue, MaxValue	Ignored	Not translated
Diagnostics/Control - minValue, maxValue	Ignored
Meter/Usage: RolloverValue	Ignored
From Commands tab
DiagnosticsCommand(Shutdown/softRestart)	Ignored
From TotalAccess tab
TotalAccess Connection	Ignored	Use the TotalAccess configuration page in the Model wizard of the Configuration application to set up the TotalAccess connections for assets of a model (.Model Wizard Connection Bindings).
From Rules tab
Rules	Ignored	Use the Expression Rules pages of the Configuration application to set up rules for your IDM assets (or to add them to existing expression rules in your Axeda Platform).

For Devices, the Device Properties are imported as Data Items for the model; no values are imported for the Device Properties. Once you have imported Device Types and Devices; when an asset sends in a value for data item, users can see that data item value in the Data Items module on the Asset dashboard of the Axeda® Service application. For extended properties (that are not available to the model, just to an asset), the property becomes a Model property. The Model has the property definition and the asset for which the property was imported has the value for the property. This handling of the extended property is similar to the IDM handling when the extended property is defined in the qsaconfig.xml file of the IDM Agent.

As long as the Device Address information is valid and contains a street address (Address 1) and a City, the Address information for a Device in the IDM system becomes the Organization and Location shown for the asset in the Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications. Invalid addresses are ignored; if an Address does not have Address 1 or a City, it is treated as invalid. When an invalid address (or no address) is detected, the Platform assigns the Default Organization and Default Location to the asset.

Important! Current groups and device-to-group associations are NOT imported. The Axeda Platform creates a Default Model Asset Group for each Device Type and assigns the related Devices to that Asset Group when it creates the Models from the Device Types. Other than that, you can add new Asset Groups for the IDM assets or add the IDM assets to any of your existing Asset Groups.