Device Groups Overview – Create Dynamic and Static Groups

There is one default device group for all of your devices. 

A Dynamic Device Group will allow devices that are added or removed from your account to join the group or leave the group automatically. A Dynamic Device group can be set to pull in devices based on a set of criteria. It is good practice to use Tags to label and organize your devices. The tags you apply will be very effective in creating and managing device groups. If devices are added in the future that match the criteria, they will automatically be added to the group.

A Static Device Group is a group of devices that you determine which devices to be included. Once the group is defined, it cannot be changed. This group can also be based on a variety of criteria to populate the group, but it will not automatically update and pull new devices that might meet that criteria in the future.

Let’s look at a situation in which you might use device groups. For example, if you have deployed devices to a specific region, a “Region 1” tag might be appropriate. Creating a Device Group that pulls using the “Region 1” tag will allow you to quickly target those devices for sending commands like a Restart or Lock command. It will also allow for easier management of the Apps that are on those devices. You can schedule commands and actions like Installing an App or Profile for your Device Groups.

CREATING A DYNAMIC DEVICE GROUP

Dynamic device groups are groups of devices whose membership changes when new devices, which meet the group criteria you have defined, are added to your account or when devices are deleted or change their designation.

Firstly, you will need to go into the Device Groups tab within your Moki Control browser window. From there, select the New Device Group button.

A dynamic list is a list of devices determined by search filters.  You can select filters via the text fields on the left, such as OS, apps, and whether the device is checked-in or not. When your list is refined to your requirements,  give it a name and save the group. Any new devices that fit the criteria for this group will be added automatically.

FILTERS

Moki has provided specialized operators for creating effective filters both in the device list view and in the device group configuration interface. There are operators for integer based data and string-based data. This is particularly important if you are using a Moki SDK enabled application that passes data to and from devices.

• Integer operators
  • = : Matches all values equal to your value and returns those devices.
  • < : Matches all values less than to your value and returns those devices.
  • <= : Matches all values less than or equal to your value and returns those devices.
  • > : Matches all values greater than your value and returns those devices.
  • >= : Matches all values greater than or equal to your value and returns those devices.
  • != : Matches all values not equal to your value and returns those devices.
  • EXISTS: provides boolean operations to test if a custom data element is present regardless of values.
  • NOT EXISTS: provides boolean operations to test if a custom data element is not present.
• Text operators
  • = : matches text exactly and returns devices with that text.
  • EXISTS: provides boolean operations to test if a custom data element is present regardless of values.
  • NOT EXISTS: provides boolean operations to test if a custom data element is not present.

• Users can select to have filtering between categories as AND or OR, as well as choose filtering behavior within each category as AND or OR.
  • In order to select the filtering as AND or OR between different categories, users can use the toggle at the top labeled “Condition between filters:
    • 
  • In order to select the filtering as AND or OR within a given category, users can use the toggle above each filter dropdown:
    • 

CREATING A STATIC DEVICE GROUP

Static Device Groups are device groups whose member devices are selected at group creation. Once the group is created, devices cannot be added to it.

Before you begin, you will need to go into the Device Groups tab within your Moki Control browser window. From there, select the New Device Group button.

Select each device that will be part of your device group from the list provided. This list can be modified through the use of filters, allowing you to refine the list of devices that are selected. When you have completed your list, give it a name and select save.

Now that you have a device group created, you are ready to schedule and execute an action sequence. Click here to learn how to do that.