Bridges

Owned by Chris Clark
Last updated: Oct 16, 2019
8 min read


Bridges represent a connection from the UDM Pro server, cloud-based or on your own network, to the devices that you manage. Additionally, they provide a local repository for the data and software that your devices use. Instead of retrieving data from a cloud-based repository, local data storage allows network speed access for the devices that you manage instead of the possible inconsistencies in latency and speed that the Internet can introduce.

Adding Bridges

Unlike other components in UDM Pro, Bridges are not added by using the user interface. Bridges are added by installing the UDM Pro Bridge software on a server on your local network. When installed, the bridge software registers with the target UDM Pro server.
The bridge, once registered with the UDM Pro server, cannot have a dialog with the command and control portion of UDM Pro until the UDM Pro administrator approves the bridge. This is a security measure, preventing rogue bridges (or computers that look like bridges) from accessing your system. Once approved, devices that connect to the bridge are can receive data and report back information to UDM Pro.
To add a bridge, do the following. (Complete details are presented in the accompanying Installation Guide.)

  1. On the server that will serve as a provisioning bridge, launch the UDM Pro Bridge installer as an administrator. On the Welcome dialog, click Next.
  2. In the dialog "Select Installation folder", accept the default location (C:\Program Files\Event Zero\UDM Pro Bridge) for the bridge files. Alternatively, Browse and select or type a location that you want to install the files to. Click Next.
  3. In the dialog Settings, enter the https uniform resource locator (URL) for your UDM Pro tenant (cloud-based) or server (on-premises).
  4. Click Install to begin the installation of the bridge. 
  5. When finished, click Finish on the Completed screen.

Approve Bridges

Installing the UDM Pro Bridge software on your local server registers the bridge with UDM Pro. You, as an Administrator on UDM Pro, must approve the bridge to allow it to communicate and establish a full dialog with the application. To approve a bridge, do the following.

  1. In UDM Pro, select Bridges from the sidebar.
  2. On the Bridges dialog page, scroll through the list or filter the list of registered bridges. Look for the name of the newly registered bridge or look for bridges that have a status of "Bridge awaiting approval", indicated by a yellow triangle.
  3. Under Actions, click the Approve bridge for provisioning iconon the right.
  4. On the Confirmation dialog, click Approve or click Cancel to discard your changes.
  5. Successful approval of the bridge will result in the yellow triangle changing to a green check mark.

Manage Bridges

To view details on the status of a bridge and configure what a bridge will offer to connected devices, locate the bridge in the list of bridges and select the bridge by clicking the link.

Bridge Detail

Bridge Detail displays information about the bridge and a text field to add notes for this bridge. Details for the bridge:

  • Bridge Name – A read-only field indicating the name that the bridge registered as. This is the hostname of the server as it is registered
  • Note – A text field allowing the UDM Pro administrator to add notes to the bridge entry
  • Devices Connected – The number of devices that have registered with this bridge
  • First Seen – The amount of time that has passed since this bridge was first seen, typically when the bridge registered with UDM Pro
  • Last Seen – The amount of time since the bridge last communicated with UDM Pro. Bridges communicate and query with UDM Pro occasionally to receive updates and new software or configurations assigned to it. An extended period since 'Last Seen' suggests that there is a possible problem with the bridge or the network that the bridge is on.
  • Alert time for a device not being seen - Toggle to enable the Time Threshold Option
  • Time threshold - This option appears when the Alert time is turned on.
    • Set the days and hours to be exceeded before a device attached to the bridge is highlighted in the last seen column. For example
  • Tag Enabled - If the tag is enabled the tag priority order option is enabled. When the tag is enabled it is positioned in the last priority number position.
  • Tag priority order - The position number of the Tag. Clicking on the Tag order pops up a menu showing all the tags and you can drag and drop to change the priority order.
  • Bridge Log Level - this is used for diagnostic by Enoten personnel

Details on troubleshooting a bridge that might be experiencing problems can be found in the Appendix of this guide.
Any changes, additions or deletions in this section requires you to save your changes by clicking Save in the upper right or Cancel to discard your changes (handy if you find you've made a mistake or have made changes to the wrong section). A pop-up on the bottom of the screen will confirm the save was committed, and clicking Cancel will warn that you will discard your changes. Click Proceed to continue with the cancel, or click Cancel to confirm that you did not intend to Cancel.


Bridge Settings

Bridge setting displays information on settings for a bridge.

Bridge authentication

By default UDM Pro bridges do not require the devices connecting to authenticate. For additional security you may want a device to logon to the bridge the default values for a Polycom device are PLcmSpIp. As this authentication is well-known, we would recommend you set your own username and password. You can tell the devices the credentials to use by placing the username and password in the DHCP option 160/161 URL http://username:password@bridgefqdn.com.

Devices connected to this Bridge

This section of the Bridge information is read-only and displays all devices that have registered with this bridge.
Devices are listed by media access control (MAC) address, IP Address, Model, Software (version), Approved, Last Seen.

You can select Reboot All to reboot all the devices on the bridge.

The filter button allows you to search for devices

You can click on the MAC address to view information about this device.
You can click on the Model to view information about this device model.
Actions are listed on the right side for each device. Actions that you can take on a given device:

  • Reboot a Device – clicking the icon (a power symbol) for Reboot Device sends a reboot command to the device listed
  • Prevent a Device from Provisioning – clicking the icon (a refresh icon with a slash through it) Prevent a Device from Provisioning removes the ability of the listed device from requesting provisioning from the bridge. Note that this does not remove the current configuration from the device, but it will not receive any updates to software or configuration that Approved devices would receive

Any changes, additions or deletions in this section requires you to save your changes by clicking Save in the upper right or Cancel to discard your changes (handy if you find you've made a mistake or have made changes to the wrong section). A pop-up on the bottom of the screen will confirm the save was committed, and clicking Cancel will warn that you will discard your changes. Click Proceed to continue with the cancel, or click Cancel to confirm that you did not intend to Cancel.

Device Profiles

In Device Profiles, you view existing Device Profiles assigned to the bridge for use by devices connected. Columns in Device Profiles are Name, Attributes (number), and Tags (number). You Add a device profile to the Device Profiles section by clicking Add.
When you click Add, you select one or more previously configured Device Profiles from a pick list of device profiles.
To remove a Device Profile from the bridge, click Delete (a trash can icon) to remove the device profile.
You can filter device profiles by clicking Filter and typing the name of a device profile or attributes used in the device profile.

Any changes, additions or deletions in this section requires you to save your changes by clicking Save in the upper right or Cancel to discard your changes (handy if you find you've made a mistake or have made changes to the wrong section). A pop-up on the bottom of the screen will confirm the save was committed, and clicking Cancel will warn that you will discard your changes. Click Proceed to continue with the cancel, or click Cancel to confirm that you did not intend to Cancel.

Software

The software section of the bridge configuration assigns software to the bridge for provisioning. Columns in Software are Name, Version and File Size. Click Add in the Software section to add a software package.
When you click Add, you select one or more previously uploaded software packages from a pick list of available software packages. Click Apply to add the software packages to your bridge.
To remove a software package from the bridge, click Delete (a trash can icon) to remove the software package.
You can filter software by clicking Filter and typing the name of a software package, version or file size of the software package.

Any changes, additions or deletions in this section requires you to save your changes by clicking Save in the upper right, or Cancel to discard your changes (handy if you find you've made a mistake or have made changes to the wrong section). A pop-up on the bottom of the screen will confirm the save was committed, and clicking Cancel will warn that you will discard your changes. Click Proceed to continue with the cancel, or click Cancel to confirm that you did not intend to Cancel.

Speed Dials

The speed dials section of the bridge configuration assigns speed dials to the bridge for provisioning. Columns in Speed Dials are Name, Entries (number), and Tags (number). Click Add in the Speed Dials section to add a speed dial set.

When you click Add, you select one or more previously created speed dial sets from a pick list of available speed dials. Click Apply to add the speed dial(s) to your bridge.

To remove a speed dial set from the bridge, click Delete (a trash can icon) to remove the speed dial entry.

You can filter speed dials by clicking Filter and typing the name of a speed dial name.

Any changes, additions or deletions in this section requires you to save your changes by clicking Save in the upper right, or Cancel to discard your changes (handy if you find you've made a mistake or have made changes to the wrong section). A pop-up on the bottom of the screen will confirm the save was committed, and clicking Cancel will warn that you will discard your changes. Click Proceed to continue with the cancel, or click Cancel to confirm that you did not intend to Cancel.

Live Log

The Live Log displays recent messages received from the bridge.

Deleting Bridges

While functionally you can delete a bridge by clicking the Delete icon, the recommended process is a two-step procedure. To delete a bridge, you do the following.

  1. Click the Prevent bridge from provisioning icon associated with the bridge you intend to delete. This action stops the bridge from responding to all devices associated with this bridge.

    Note! If you need to remove the server from service temporarily and intend to return it to service but are not changing servers, you would use Prevent bridge from provisioning to prevent it from responding to devices. You then can maintain the server and later click Approve bridge for provisioning to return it to service and managing devices.

  2. Give the bridge five minutes to quiesce and finish any outstanding operations that might be in queue.
  3. Click Delete (trash can icon) to remove the bridge from the Bridges listing.
  4. The server where the UDM Provisioning Bridge software is installed is now available to have the bridge software removed and the server repurposed or retired.