What do I need to do in order to get my module white-listed for Ignition Edge?

Module Development
1

Hi all,

so now finally my first module is in the module-showcase and ready for sales.

However I currently have two potential customers that would like to purchase a license, if it was able to run on Edge.

What do I need to do in order to get that white-listed?

As far as I understood there is no real technical difference between a module for normal and edge deployments, but the whitelisting from IA.

Should I have these interested parties contact IA as proof? I assume they won't do it publicly ... NDA and such :-/

Chris

2

"Whitelisting" means having IA sales inject your license details directly into the Edge platform license--no secondary key. You will have to:

  1. Get IA sales to review your company and your module for suitability for Edge (basically, trusted to not provide any bypasses to the Edge platform limitations), and then

  2. Have IA sales process licenses for you. Your clients will have to provide a list of their Edge license keys to update.

  3. Sell enough to be annoying so they make an API for this (haven't yet).

3

What do you mean "no secondary keys"? Currently my drivers rely on keys that I transport using the IA licensing mechanism split up into 8 parameter entries for each key. Is that ok or is that considered bad? You don't need any "additional license file" it's all handled via the Ignition licensing mechanism.

4

For standard and cloud editions, 3rd parties create a 6-character (permanent) or 8-character (leased) license key and populate it with one or more module IDs. The module IDs can have key-value string pairs to trigger module optional behaviors. Such licenses are activated on a gateway using the normal licensing page and are independent of the actual platform license. They show up alongside the platform license as a secondary license.

Edge doesn't support secondary licenses. You have to inject the module ID and any parameters into the existing Edge 6- or 8-character platform license. 3rd parties cannot do this via API.

It sounds like you are using parameters to carry custom license information. That will have to be injected into existing Edge licenses.

5

Hmmm ... ok ... I think I'll have to investigate on how I can do that ... Because I'm integrating individual drivers in my ignition modules so the drivers themselves are protected and I'm only using the IA licensing as a vehicle for delivery.

In my system I have quite a number of bells and whistles, that I can't map to simply 6 or 8 characters.

Do you have any documentation pointers for me to chew through?

6

The 6- or 8-character keys are randomly generated by IA. They are associated with the details in IA's license servers.

Most modules don't take parameters. Just a maximum major version for which the license is valid. Each distinct installable module should have unique module ID (usually the outer java package name for the main code). Use string key-value pairs to enable premium options. (I only do this for my EtherNet/IP driver.)

7

Yeah ... I know ... I built my own system for generating the normal licenses that uses the IA API as I wasn't very happy with the Designer option and the Web-Version (It felt like none got me 100% of the way) ... but you mention, that you can set key-value pairs on a module Id to pass module specific settings ... that's what I'm using ... in the Designer frontend it's listed as "parameters". Is it ok to use these?

8

Yes. Note that a few parameter keys are recognized by the platform if you use them:

  • backup set to a zero (false) or one (true). Enforces validity only on a redundant backup if true.

  • expires set to a date string. I use yyyy-MM-dd format. Other formats might work. Module license activation ends on the given date.

9

They are "driver-ads-0" to "driver-ads-8" ... I wouldn't expect any collisions :wink: But seems I picked the right mechanism. Now I would need to know how to pass these to the sales guys for integration into the licenses they generate.

10

I just email my sales contact with instructions.

11

Hehe .. ok ... good to know ... lucky IA is not a German company ... then it would be a FAX :wink:

Thanks for your insights ... seems as if indeed I would already be set to go without any modification.

So guess I should contact my contact person and ask them to review my company and product.

Thanks ... you're really filling your tab of beers I have to buy you once we meet in person :wink: