Onboarding an Edge Gateway

Onboarding connects a physical device to the VION platform. The process is guided through the Dashboard onboarding wizard and involves running a provisioning script on the device via SSH.

Overview

Step 1: Start the Wizard

In the Dashboard, start the onboarding process. You'll be asked to:

1. Select a use case — Energy Management, Building Automation, or Empty Project
2. Create a project — provide a company name and project name
3. Choose gateway type — Simulation (no hardware needed) or Own Hardware

If you select Own Hardware, the wizard continues with device setup.

Step 2: Prepare the Device

Before running the provisioning script, make sure your device:

• Has a fresh, up-to-date OS installed (e.g., Raspberry Pi OS)
• Is connected to the internet
• Has SSH access enabled

Connect to your device via SSH:

ssh user@<device-ip>

Step 3: Run the Provisioning Script

The Dashboard displays two commands. Copy and run them on the device:

Download the script:

curl -X 'GET' '<url-shown-in-dashboard>' \
  -H 'accept: */*' > installEdgeGateway.sh

INFO

The script URL is unique to your environment. Always use the exact URL shown in the Dashboard — do not copy it from this documentation.

Run the script:

chmod +x installEdgeGateway.sh && sudo ./installEdgeGateway.sh

The script is interactive and will prompt you through each step. It installs and configures:

Component	Purpose
Mender client	Over-the-air (OTA) software updates
Step CLI	Device certificate management (mTLS)
Docker & Docker Compose	Container runtime for VION services
Mender update modules	Script and Docker Compose update support

Step 4: Enter the Device ID

At the end of the script, a Device ID is displayed on the terminal:

NEW device id! Please enter it in the ui!

aB3xK-Ym9pQ-Rz7wL-nhpClient

Copy this ID and enter it in the Dashboard wizard.

WARNING

The Device ID is generated once per device. If the script detects an existing ID (from a previous run), it will stop to prevent duplicate registrations.

Step 5: Certificate Provisioning

After you enter the Device ID, the script automatically:

1. Downloads the VION root CA certificate
2. Generates an EC P-384 key pair on the device
3. Creates a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
4. Sends the CSR to the VION CA for signing
5. Receives and stores the signed device certificate

This establishes mutual TLS (mTLS) between the device and the VION Cloud — the device proves its identity on every connection.

Step 6: Software Deployment

Once the device is registered, the Dashboard triggers the initial software deployment. The wizard shows the progress as each component is deployed:

• Infrastructure modules — base system configuration
• Infrastructure Docker — container runtime setup
• Software bundle — VION runtime components (Dale, Mesh, monitoring agents)

Deployment is handled by Mender and typically takes 2–5 minutes. The Dashboard polls every 15 seconds and updates the status in real time.

TIP

If deployment fails, click Retry in the wizard. Common issues are covered in Troubleshooting.

What Happens After Onboarding

Once the gateway shows as connected:

• The Dale runtime is running and ready to execute logic blocks
• The Mesh gateway is connected to the VION Cloud via MQTT over TLS
• Telemetry is flowing to the observability stack
• You can deploy logic block libraries and configure logic in the Dashboard