ThingsPro Proxy User Manual
Version 4.1, July 2022

www.moxa.com/products© 2022 Moxa Inc. All rights reserved.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual
The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in accordancewith the terms of that agreement.

Copyright Notice© 2022 Moxa Inc. All rights reserved.

Trademarks
The MOXA logo is a registered trademark of Moxa Inc.
All other trademarks or registered marks in this manual belong to their respective manufacturers.

Disclaimer••••Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment
on the part of Moxa.
Moxa provides this document as is, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including,but not limited to, its particular purpose. Moxa reserves the right to make improvements and/orchanges to this manual, or to the products and/or the programs described in this manual, at any time.
Information provided in this manual is intended to be accurate and reliable. However, Moxa assumes noresponsibility for its use, or for any infringements on the rights of third parties that may result from itsuse.
This product might include unintentional technical or typographical errors. Changes are periodicallymade to the information herein to correct such errors, and these changes are incorporated into neweditions of the publication.

Technical Support Contact Informationwww.moxa.com/support

Table of Contents
1.
2.

3.

4.

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4
Installation Guide ........................................................................................................................... 5
Installing ThingsPro Proxy ................................................................................................................. 5
Prerequisites ............................................................................................................................ 5
Installation .............................................................................................................................. 7
Configuring ThingsPro Proxy ......................................................................................................... 11
Configuring ThingsPro Proxy ............................................................................................................. 11Creating a Provisioning Plan ....................................................................................................... 11
Provisioning Devices ................................................................................................................. 19
Checking for Updates................................................................................................................ 21
Known Issues and Limitations ....................................................................................................... 23

1. Introduction

ThingsPro Proxy (TPP) is a Windows-based provisioning tool for batch configuring Moxa IIoT gateways
according to specific provisioning plans (hereinafter referred to as “plans”). The provisioning plans include
details such as device configuration, cloud-enrollment information, and security settings. The ThingsPro
Proxy plans allow field operators to quickly configure/enroll Moxa devices without requiring domain
knowledge and without having to go through complex steps, thereby reducing the cost of operation. The
device provisioning tasks can be linked to a plan for quick and effortless provisioning.
ThingsPro Proxy can be download from the Moxa website and installed in a Windows 10 environment.
Version 3.0 of this user manual is based on ThingsPro Proxy v1.3.0.
ThingsPro Proxy leverages the ThingsPro Edge software installed on Moxa devices to provision the devices.
ThingsPro Proxy and ThingsPro Edge together provide your devices with an IIoT gateway solution that
includes streamlined data transportation from the endpoint to the cloud. Therefore, to provision Moxa
devices via ThingsPro Proxy, you will need to install ThingsPro Edge (TPE) on the devices.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual42. Installation Guide

In this chapter, we describe how to install the ThingsPro Proxy tool.

Installing ThingsPro ProxyPrerequisites
1.

PC with Windows 10 OS and Google Chrome browser.
 Windows 10 version 1809 or later
 Google Chrome 86.0.4240.183 (64 bit) or later

2.

Enable the Link-local IPv6 address on the PC.
To enable the Link-local IPv6 address, do the following:a. In the Windows Search box, enter view network connections and click Open.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual5b. Select the network adapter that will be used to discover Moxa devices, right-click the network
adapter, and select Properties.

c. Select the Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) option.

NOTE
Ensure that the service port 5001 (local host) is available for the ThingsPro Proxy web server.
3.

Click OK to apply the changes.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

6Installation
To install the ThingsPro Proxy App, do the following:
1.

Download and run the ThingsPro Proxy installation file ThingsProProxySetup-x.x.x-yyyymmdd.

2.

Click Next.

3.

Select the I accept the agreement option and click Next.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual7

4.

Specify the folder to install ThingsPro Proxy in and click Next.

5.

Specify the folder to create the ThingsPro Proxy shortcut in and click Next.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

8

6.

Click Install.

NOTE
A command line console window (Windows cmd) will open during the installation process. DO NOT closethe cmd window.

7.

After the installation process is complete, click Finish.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual98.

Launch the ThingsPro Proxy App.
A webpage with privacy-related warnings will open.

9.

Click Advanced.

10. Click Proceed to localhost (unsafe).

NOTEThingsPro Proxy utilizes HTTPS to communicate with the web server. The Chrome browser will display awarning because the unsigned certificate used is flagged as a security issue.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual10

3. Configuring ThingsPro Proxy

This chapter describes how to create a provisioning plan in ThingsPro Proxy and provision devices using theplan.

Configuring ThingsPro Proxy
You will require at least one provisioning plan in ThingsPro Proxy before you can provision devices.

Creating a Provisioning Plan
A wizard will guide you through the process of creating a provisioning plan, which includes software
upgrade, configuration import, cloud enrollment, and security settings. You can also view the settings before
finalizing the plan.
To create a provisioning plan, do the following:
1.

Click on the Create Provisioning Plan link.

2.

Select the target device model and click START.

3.

Specify the ThingsPro Edge (TPE) Installation settings and click NEXT.
a. Enable/disable the TPE installation settings using the Add ThingsPro Edge installation settings
to plan slider.
b. Select a mode.
i.

Download over-the-air: Specify a version of ThingsPro Edge or select the latest version.

ii.

Upload from my local drive: Upload a ThingsPro Edge file that you want to install.

NOTEThe AIG series devices come with ThingsPro Edge preinstalled. Hence, the installation step is disabled forthese models

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

11

4.

Specify the software upgrade settings and click NEXT.
a. Enable/disable software upgrade using the Add software upgrade pack to plan slider.
b. If you have enabled software upgrade, choose a method to upgrade the software pack—Auto or
manual—and browse to the folder path or specify a cloud URL.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

12

5.

To import a configuration file, enable the Add configuration settings to plan slider, browse to thefile, and specify the associated Password. Click NEXT.

6.

(optional) In the Cloud Enrollment page, click Manage and select Edit to change the settings.
To add more cloud services, click + Add another.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual13

a. Azure IoT Device/ Azure IoT Edgei.

Enter the Connection String and click VERIFY & SAVE.

ii.

If you want to edit the Connection String, click EDIT.
The Device ID is auto generated by using the serial number of the device and authenticated via
a symmetric key.

b. Azure DPS
i.

Enter the Connection String and click VERIFY & SAVE.

ii.

If you want to edit the Connection String, click EDIT and enter the ID Scope.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

14

The Device ID is auto generated using the serial number of the device and authenticated via asymmetric key.

iii.

(optional) Select The provisioning device is an IoT Edge-capable device.

iv.

Select an Assign Policy.

v.

Enter the name of the IoT Hubs.

vi.

Select a Re-provisioning policy.

vii.

(optional) Customize the Initial Device Twin State.

viii. Click NEXT.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual15

c. Moxa DLM Servicei.

Select the service type Moxa DLM Service.

ii.

Enter an Email (account) and Password.

iii.

Select a project name to register devices.

iv.

Click NEXT.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual16

d. AWS IoT Corei.

7.

Enter the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key and click VERIFY & SAVE.

ii.

If you want to edit the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key, click EDIT.

iii.

The Thing Name is auto generated by using the serial number of the device.

(optional) You can disable a provisioning service to prevent devices from being discovered or modify thecurrent password. Click NEXT to apply the changes.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual178.

(optional) You can upload Linux command scripts and deploy them to targeted devices.
The supported file formats include tar.gz, bash, binary, executables, and Python3 package.

NOTE
You must include the following command in the Linux command file to request an authentication token for
the ThingsPro Edge API.

curl https://127.0.0.1:8443/api/v1/auth9.

Specify a plan name, assign a password, and click CREATE.
The password is used to encrypt the plan and then decrypt it before importing the plan.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual1810. Click DOWNLOAD & FINISH to download the plan.
The plan will be downloaded as a *.zip file.

NOTEThingsPro Proxy uses plans to provision devices. Plans can be stored in a secure location and used in the
different workplaces where ThingsPro Proxy is installed.

Provisioning Devices
There are two ways to provision devices: Targeted Provisioning and On-air Provisioning.
Targeted
Provisioning
On-airProvisioning

You can specify a batch of devices for provisioning based on the device model,
firmware version, ThingsPro Edge version, and communication interfaces.
ThingsPro Proxy will automatically scan all compatible devices in LAN and batch
deploy the configuration based on the specified plan.

NOTE
ThingsPro Proxy relies on the UDP port 40404 for scanning devices in the same network. Be sure to add
UDP port 40404 to the firewall allowed list for proper device discovery.
To provision devices, do the following:1.

After you have created a provisioning plan, click on the Provisioning link.

2.

Choose the mode of provisioning: Targeted Provisioning or On-air Provisioning.

3.

(optional) Edit the default credential to discover your devices.

Devices will be accessed using their default credentials (Account: admin; Password: admin@123).
You can click EDIT in the Device Access section to change the default credentials so that the devices
whose default credentials have been changed can be discovered.
4.

Select devices to discover or press SCAN to re-scan the LAN for devices.

5.

Click NEXT.

6.

Select the provisioning plan file.
 New plan file: Select this option to browse to a file in a local computer.
 Recent plan files: Choose from an existing plan and enter the associated password.

7.

Click UPLOAD.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

19

8.

Click NEXT.

9.

Click APPLY.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

20

NOTE
For ThingsPro Proxy to be able to discover devices correctly, the Ethernet interfaces should have a proper
IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway configured. We recommended enabling a DHCP server toallocate IP addresses to devices instead of assigning them manually.

NOTE
Before running the provisioning plan, ThingsPro Proxy will synchronize your server time on to the devices.

Checking for Updates
You can configure ThingsPro Proxy to update automatically. To configure auto-update, do the following:
1.

Go to the About page.

2.

Click MANAGE and select Check for updates.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual

21

3.

If a new version is available, the information will be presented. Click INSTALL to install the new version
as needed.

4.

(optional) Automatic check for updates is disabled by default. You can select the Edit update setting
option under MANAGE to enable this service.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual22

4. Known Issues and Limitations

1.

ThingsPro Proxy v1.x.x does not support running multiple plans simultaneously.

2.

A connection failed message is displayed if the Ethernet interfaces are not able to get an IP address
assigned after ThingsPro Edge is installed. The LAN1 interface of ThingsPro Edge is DHCP enabled bydefault and this error results in the ThingsPro Proxy not being able to access ThingsPro Edge.

NOTE
If devices are discovered via Wi-Fi (Client mode), they cannot be provisioned (grayed-out in the searchresults).
3.

DO NOT insert SIM cards before the provisioning process is complete.

4.

ThingsPro Edge has about 15 minutes to provisioning a device after it is powered on.
Before starting the provisioning process, ensure that the ThingsPro Proxy tool is ready, andthe devices are powered on.

5.

The time taken to install ThingsPro Edge (TPE) is subject to the capacity of the devices. For example, it
might take around 30 minutes to install TPE on a UC-8100A-ME-T Series device.

6.

If the TPP web GUI is disconnected for an extended period and does not reconnect, you can stop andrestart the service.
Click on the Windows Start button and select the ThingsPro Proxy folder. Click Stop ThingsPro Proxy
Service and then Start ThingsPro Proxy Service to relaunch the TPP service.

7.

Devices newly registered with AWS IoT Core sometimes require a reboot to be available.

ThingsPro Proxy User Manual23