Configure download action

Download actions (Category: Software management actions) enable the Axeda® Platform to transfer files to a selected asset. When the rule associated with this action type evaluates to true, the Platform downloads the file(s) defined by this action to the related asset. This action uses the functionality of a Download instruction created for a package created within the Software Management application.

Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications supports large file transfers, where "large" means that the files are larger than 2GB in size. By default Axeda Agents compress files before uploading them and the Platform compresses files before downloading them. When configuring and Upload or Download action, you can enable or disable the default compression step. For example, if you know that a file is already compressed, then disabling compression can reduce the load on the CPU. In addition, you must disable compression for files larger than 8GB or results may be unpredictable. When compression is disabled, you can transfer only one file at a time.

During installation, your Platform administrator may have set limits for file size. By default, if the size of a file exceeds 2GB, compression is automatically disabled.

Procedures from this page

From this page, you can configure or modify a download action, depending upon the action category selected.

Important! If you create a compressed archive for downloading to an Axeda Agent, make sure that you use the GNU tar utility. Otherwise, the Agent cannot extract the files from the archive. The GNU tar utility ships with Linux and is also available in Cygwin for Windows (http://www.cygwin.com). For information about the GNU tar utility refer to http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/.

To configure Download actions

1.       If you are creating a new action, click Browse in the File field. The Open File dialog box for your computer appears.

If, instead, you are editing an existing Download action, click Change File and select a new file if needed.

2.       Locate and select the file that you want to download.

3.       Once the file name appears in the File field, click Upload. A progress bar shows the status of the upload, and the message, File Uploaded Successfully, appears when the upload is completed. If an error occurs during the upload, the Platform displays one of the following error messages:

Network error occurred - This message appears when the network is disconnected during the file upload. If a percentage of the file is uploaded when the interruption occurs, the remaining portion of the file should be uploaded when the network is restored within a specified time period (configured by your Platform administrator). If the network is not restored with the specified time period, then this message appears. You must start the upload all over again.

Server is not available - This message appears if the Platform is stopped during the file upload.

Unknown error occurred - This message appears for all other types of errors.

Now you are ready to add the to the script definition.

4.       Destination

Specify the location on the asset where you want to download the file. Refer to the notes for your Agent:

Axeda Gateway and Axeda Connector Agents
Axeda IDM Agents
AWP Agents

Note: The File and Destination fields accept any path and file names; there is no error checking on these strings.

5.       Path is relative to the asset's home directory

Refer to the notes for your Agent:

Axeda Gateway and Axeda Connector Agents
Axeda IDM Agents
AWP Agents

6.       This file is a .tar.gz archive; unpack it in the given directory after downloading:

Refer to the notes for your Agent:

Axeda Gateway and Axeda Connector Agents
Axeda IDM Agents
AWP Agents

7.       Do not compress this file before downloading (this setting may be overridden based on file size):

Refer to the notes for your Agent:

Axeda Gateway and Axeda Connector Agents
Axeda IDM Agents
AWP Agents

Note: This option is not available if you have selected the previous option (which specifies that the file is a compressed file).

8.       This file is an executable or script; run it after downloading.

This option does not apply to Axeda IDM Agents or AWP Agents.

For the Axeda Gateway or Connector Agents, you can download a script for the Agent to run. For example, you may want to run a script that backs up the existing Agent before sending an upgrade package. You create a separate package that downloads the script and select this option to run the script. Then you can add a package dependency to the upgrade package that checks whether the backup package has been deployed and run.

9.       Overwrite existing files when this file is downloaded to the given directory (or if the file is an archive, when the archive is unpacked).

This option is supported by all Axeda Agents (Gateway, Connector, IDM, and AWP).

If the download is for an asset running an Axeda IDM Agent, you MUST select this option if you want to overwrite an existing file. If you do not select this option and the file exists on the asset, then the download results in an error because the IDM Agent does not have the capability to back up files.

For Axeda Gateway and Connector Agents, if you leave the default setting (do not overwrite), then the agent creates a copy of the file in a directory on the asset called axedabackup, using the name of the file. If you subsequently download another version, the agent will overwrite the original backup copy.

10.    If you want to restart the Axeda Gateway or Connector Agent after the download, select Soft Restart. This will restart the loadable project components only; the Agent (executable program) continues running. This option is not supported by Axeda IDM Agents or AWP Agents.

Notes: If, when the action is run, it does not complete successfully, any files already downloaded are removed from the asset and the files to download remain intact in the Platform.

If modifying an existing Configure download action, you cannot edit the following values for an existing Download action:

   Filename
   Setting for unpacking .tar .gz archives

If you need to change the file specified in a Download action, create a
Download action for that file.

11.    When you are finished, click Next to select the user groups with edit permissions for this action. If you click Finish, the action confirmation page appears. If you click Cancel and continue canceling, all information configured in this wizard is removed.

Tips

o        In the Axeda® Service application, Asset dashboard Rules module, you can view and enable or disable the rules configured for a specific asset.

o        The Service application, Asset dashboard Audit log module, shows a log of activity for the selected asset, including registration, actions run, alarms acknowledged, statuses, usage value setting, and more. Also, if you have privileges to the Administration application, you can search the Audit log for asset, Platform, and user activity.

o        In the Software Management application, you can find assets from which files have been uploaded and view the uploaded files using the Files From Assets page.