Skip to content

Upload Device Applications to IEM

This page describes the available methods for uploading Device Applications to your IEM.

Depending on the upload method, an application is handled as a hub application or a custom application.

Upload methods

The following upload methods are available:

Method Behavior
Copy from IE Hub to IEM Device Applications downloaded from IE Hub are managed as hub applications.
  • Downloaded applications are immediately published and visible and installable for all IEM users.
  • Only the latest version is displayed to all IEM users by default.
  • Administrators can make older versions available through the Device Applications details page.
  • Update available labels are displayed for devices with another version installed.
Upload via IEM UI The +Add application button on the Device Application overview page enables direct uploads in the UI.
  • Applications uploaded through this method are immediately visible and installable for all IEM users.
  • Uploaded applications follow the same behavior as hub applications.
Upload via IE App Publisher For details, see the Developer documentation.
  • Uploaded applications are initially visible only to the uploader.
  • The owner can share applications with other IEM users or publish a specific version to make it visible for all IEM users.
Upload via Industrial Edge Control (IECTL) For details, see the Developer documentation.
Upload via Mendix on Edge For details, see the User Journey documentation.
Upload via IEM API For details, see the Industrial Edge Management V2 APIs.

NOTICE

For all methods besides 'Copy from IE Hub to IEM' the import of device applications has to be enabled within the Helm deployment of the IEM using: --set global.disableAppImportForDevice=false. Also the user performing the action requires the appimporter role of the ie-management client.

Upload of Application Configurations

When uploading Device Applications to the IEM, it is important to understand how application configurations are handled across application versions.

Configuration Scope

  • Application configurations are mapped to the application itself, not to a specific application version.
  • Configurations are shared across all versions of the same Device Application within the IEM.

As a result, uploading a new application version does not automatically create or duplicate configurations for that version.

Behavior on Uploading a New Application Version

When a new version of an existing application is uploaded to the IEM, the IEM compares configuration files based on configuration metadata, not file content.

During this process, the IEM checks for the following:

  • New configuration files.
  • Removed configuration files.

The comparison is performed using the following metadata attributes:

  • Configuration file name.
  • Configuration description.
  • Configuration path.

If a configuration file is added or removed based on these attributes, the change is reflected in the IEM.

Detecting content changes

The IEM does not validate or compare the content of configuration files. This has the following implications:

  • If a configuration file’s metadata remains unchanged (same name, description, and path), but its content is modified, → the IEM cannot detect the change.
  • In this case, the updated configuration content is not synchronized and will not trigger any update indication.

To ensure configuration changes are applied when the content changes, update the configuration metadata, for example the name or description.

NOTICE

When maintaining configurations across multiple application versions, always ensure that relevant configuration changes are reflected in the configuration metadata so the IEM can correctly recognize and apply them.