Overview
The Radix Device Management Platform allows you to create a repository of commands and device configurations. You can create and/or store software packages, scripts, device settings, workflows of commands, and more. Once you create items in these repositories and store them in the Radix Device Management system, you can retrieve them later from the Library options in the sidebar menu and apply them to selected devices elsewhere in the Radix Device Management interface.
Accessing the Repository Items
When you open the Radix Device Management Platform, take note of the Library options in the sidebar menu.
Library Options in the sidebar menu
The Library Options are divided into three categories:
- - Deployment: These are commands that you can configure and send to batches of devices as you enroll them. Options include installing apps, sending messages, running scripts, and updating firmware.
- - Configuration: These are commands that control device settings and which apps can be run on remote devices, as well as setting up a content management system to be displayed.
- - Automation: These are options that allow you to run sequences of commands according to a defined time-based or location-based trigger.
Deployment Menu
Apps (Packages)
This allows you to upload a software package from a URL, a file on your computer, or a package from the Google Play Store. (The user of the device may have to complete the installation.)
Messaging (Advanced messaging)
This option sends a text message with an image to a device. The message may be a “Welcome” message, a holiday greeting, or an emergency alert. In the example below, the advanced message is a map of a hotel, indicating the possible exit routes in the event of a fire.
The Messaging command works together with the Assets command, where you can add an asset, such as an image or audio file, to a message to be deployed on a device. You may upload an audio file or record one using the Radix Device Management interface. In the example below, the image asset can inform pupils in an elementary school to go to their bus.
Commands & Scripts (Remote Execute)
This allows you to create a command-line command or script and send it to a device. The script can be for a Windows or Android device. In the example below, the command will perform a 30-second countdown along with displaying an hourglass icon.
OTA
This enables an Android device to receive and install updates to its operating system or apps, or to dispatch an image of an operating system to a device.
OTA Update Engine
This option provides an alternate method of performing an over-the-air update to an Android device’s operating system or apps. The OTA Update Engine option is for devices running Android 8.0 or newer and that employ the A/B partition updater.
Files
This option allows you to assign specific files to be sent to devices. The files can be from a computer or from a URL. In the example below, it sends an Android installation package from a URL to a Lenovo Tab P11 device.
Smart Recovery
This allows you to run the Radix Smart Recovery program on a remote Windows device. It allows you to restore a device’s system configuration and settings to the latest system snapshot or factory settings.
Smart Recovery comes in three versions:
- - LITE This lets you restore a Windows computer back to a baseline point.
- - DUO This lets you restore a Windows computer either to a baseline point or another dynamic point that you can define.
- - PRO This allows you to restore a Windows computer to more snapshots of the system than just a baseline or a dynamic point.
The example below uses Smart Recovery Duo and will change the settings on the Windows device from an automatic restore to a manual restore.
Configuration Menu
Device Settings
This option allows the Radix Device Management user to create a configuration of device settings that can be saved and applied to a fleet of devices at once. The settings could include selecting a type of keyboard, enabling or disabling a screen saver, configuring a printer, or performing a reset on the device. In our example below, the device setting will turn off a CVTE screen on a certain schedule:
Block Lists (Policies)
This option allows you to create and apply a software policy to a device, blocking certain apps or software packages that either cause performance problems or security problems. After selecting the operating system (Android, iOS, MacOS, Windows, and ChromeOS), you then specify which apps to block and how to activate the policy. For example, here is a repository item that will block access to CNN on the remote devices:
Kiosk
This option allows you to set up a device to be used as a display in a kiosk, such as in a storefront or hotel. You select particular apps that you want to be part of the kiosk display, as well as an appropriate background. In the Kiosk setting in the example below, intended for use in a Sheraton hotel, the device will be limited to four functions: calculator, calendar, business calendar, and the X-plore file manager.
Views
The Views repository option allows you to create a specialized Kiosk option where you choose allowed apps and access to a single URL on the remote device.
Android for Work
This allows you to create a list of the approved apps and software policies that you can apply to your Android devices that are enrolled in the Android For Work (Android Enterprise) program. You can select public apps, private apps, and install a blocking policy to allow or block certain apps on remote devices.
Automation Menu
Workflow
This allows you to create a series of commands to a device to be executed sequentially. For example, sending the workflow below for checking out of a hotel will:
1. Clear the app data on the remote device in the hotel,
2. Adjust the device settings, and
3. Send you a message that the Android device is ready for use for the next person checking into the hotel.
Schedule & Trigger
This allows you to create a command to be sent to a device, along with a trigger for when to implement the command. The trigger can be timing, geofencing, a Wi-Fi signal, or upon startup of the device. The example below will restart a Windows device at a certain time.
Using Repository Items
You can create and store repository items using the Library options in the sidebar menu. However, to actually implement these repository items, you will have to use an alternate method:
Method One: Using the Device Dashboard
1. Open the Radix Device Management Platform and click on the Devices icon in the sidebar menu.
2. In the Devices Table that opens, find the device to which you wish to employ the Repository option. You can use the Search Bar to narrow down the possibilities.
3. Click on the row of the device to open the Device Dashboard.
4. In the Device Dashboard, click on the Repositories actions tile.
5. Select the Repository item that you would like to employ.
Method Two: From the Bulk Actions Button:
1. Click on the Devices icon in the sidebar menu to open the Devices Table.
2. From the list, select the device for which you want to employ a Repository item by checking its checkbox in the far-left column.
3. Click on the Bulk Actions button and find the Repository item in the drop-down menu.
Note: This method has the advantage of allowing you to check the checkboxes on several devices and then employ the Repository action on all of the devices at once.
Method Three: From the Device’s Device Actions menu:
1. Click on the Devices icon in the sidebar menu to open the Devices Table.
2. From the list, find the device for which you want to apply the Repository option. You can use the Search bar at the top of the list.
3. Click on the three-dot (kebab) Device Actions menu in the far-right column of the device.
4. Select the desired Repository optionfrom the drop-down list of commands. In the example below, we selected the Kiosk Mode option from Configure>Kiosk Mode.
Accessing Repository Items
Here is a summary of where to find the Repository items in the Bulk Actions and three-dot “Device Actions” drop-down menus:
Category |
Item |
Drop-down Menu |
| Deployment | Apps | App Management>Install App |
| Messaging | Deploy>Messaging | |
| Commands & Scripts | Deploy>Commands & Scripts | |
| OTA | Deploy>OTA | |
| OTA Update Engine | Deploy>OTA Update Engine | |
| Files | Deploy>Files | |
| Smart Recovery | Deploy>Smart Recovery | |
| Configuration | Device Settings | Configure>Device Settings |
| Block Lists | Configure>Block Lists | |
| Kiosk | Configure>Kiosk Mode | |
| Views | Configure>Views | |
| Android for Work | N/A | |
| Automation | Workflow | Automate>Workflows |
| Schedule & Trigger | Automate>Schedule & Trigger |