Registering Devices to VHQ

The following steps have to be performed to register a device in VHQ:

1. Boarding Device Details: Provide the device details, which include Device Model Number (like MX925), Device Serial Number and the location in the VHQ hierarchy where this device should be located. This can be done from the VHQ GUI from the "Add Devices" screen. It is also possible for the VHQ Server to automatically get this information when the VHQ Agent in a device communicates for the first time with the VHQ Server, and based on the device IP address the server can automatically place a device in a specific location in the VHQ hierarchy. Once this step is completed, the device will be in "Pending Registration" state.
2. Successful Key Exchange: The VHQ Agent in a device performs the "key exchange" operation during its first communication session with the VHQ Server. Once this operation is successfully completed, the device will be in "Active" state. However, if a device is automatically boarded in VHQ and if the VHQ Server is unable to determine the exact location where the device can be placed in the VHQ hierarchy, then the VHQ Server sets the status of the device to "Pending Hierarchy Assignment" and assigns it to the root node of the hierarchy. In this case, a VHQ user has to manually assign the hierarchy for the device from the VHQ GUI, then the device status will automatically change from "Pending Hierarchy Assignment" to “Active”.

Device Heartbeats

The device performs generic heartbeats in which the Terminal Agent accesses the VHQ Server to ask for updates and exchange of information. The VHQ Server qualifies the heartbeat to be one of three types based on specific conditions and sends the appropriate Management Plan. A Management Plan is a task list of user configurable actions for the device to perform. This task list can include a request for diagnostic data, logs or event details to be uploaded to the VHQ Server, files to be downloaded from the server, or actions (reboot, delete files, and the like) to be performed on the device. 

Heartbeat Types

• Registration: If the first contact is from the device to the VHQ Server, it will be treated as a Registration heartbeat.
• Alive: Any heartbeat occurring outside the device maintenance window is considered an “I’m alive” heartbeat and logged as such in the VHQ Server.
• Maintenance: A heartbeat that falls within the device maintenance window is treated as a Maintenance heartbeat. The VHQ Server responds by evaluating if software or content updates are available and sends a Management Plan to the device accordingly.

The “HeartbeatFreq” parameter is used to specify the frequency (value in seconds) at which the VHQ Agent should send a heartbeat message to the VHQ Server. For example, if the VHQ Agent should send a heartbeat message, once every hour (3600 seconds), then the parameter “HeartbeatFreq“ should be set to a value of 3600. The minimum recommended value for the “HeartbeatFreq” parameter is 900 seconds, which is 15 minutes. If the value of the “HeartbeatFreq” parameter is not explicitly specified, then the VHQ Agent will use the default value of 3600 seconds (60 minutes). If the requirement is to have the VHQ Agent communicate with the VHQ Server, at least once a day, then you need to ensure that the value of the “HeartbeatFreq” parameter is NOT set to a value greater than 86400 seconds, which is 24 hours.

Since the communication sessions between the VHQ Agent in a device and the VHQ Server are initiated by the VHQ Agent at the frequency specified for sending the heartbeat messages, you need to select a value for the “HeartbeatFreq” parameter that will ensure that the VHQ Agent is communicating as often as you need it to communicate with the VHQ Server, so that it can quickly be notified by the VHQ Server about any actions that the server wants the VHQ Agent to perform in the given devices.