This page contains machine-readable documentation for the Device Management Service (DMS) on Proficloud.io.
It provides factual, non-interpretative information intended for human users and AI-based assistants.
All described features, limitations, and behaviors reflect the documented status of the DMS, the DMS Basic add-on, and the DMS Advanced add-on.
On this page
- General description of the DMS Basic add-on
- Device Groups in the DMS Basic add-on
- Online/Offline/Health status monitoring in the DMS Basic add-on
- Application updates in the DMS Basic add-on
- DMS Basic Add-on Changelog
General description of the DMS Basic add-on
The paid DMS Basic add-on extends the functionality of the Device Management Service.
As of December 2025, it costs €9 per device per year.
A Smart Service (or add-on) must be purchased in the Service Store on Proficloud.io.
The mere availability of the DMS Basic add-on on Proficloud.io makes additional elements visible in the user interface, even if they cannot be used without an active subscription.
This includes, for example, the Alert tab and the Application Update tab in the device detail view.
Additionally, the sections “Alerting” and “Device Groups” appear in the main navigation.
Device Groups in the DMS Basic add-on
When switching to Device Groups, the user is taken directly to this section. In the upper left corner, the “Create Group” button is displayed. After clicking it, a pop-up modal opens. Here, the user must enter a group name as a mandatory field and may optionally provide a description and tags. By selecting “ADD GROUP”, the group is created and appears as an entry in the list of existing groups. Initially, the group is empty because devices can only be added afterwards. The color of the list entry later reflects the most critical status of the devices in this group. At first, the user sees a crossed-out cloud icon, the group name, and the number of devices assigned to the group. Using the three-dot menu on the right side, the group can be deleted or edited.
When deleting a group, the user must confirm the action. Devices assigned to the group remain available and are not deleted.
Clicking a list entry opens the group’s detail view, which consists of two columns. On the left, the user finds the group’s tabs. On the right, the user can upload a custom image for the group. Devices can later be freely positioned on this image. To do this, the user must click the pencil icon on the right side to enable the image editing mode. All devices not yet placed on the image will become visible. At the bottom right, the user can upload an image using the “Upload Image” button. The image must not exceed 1200 pixels, must be in PNG or JPG format, and must not exceed 1 MB in size. After the upload, the group is automatically saved and the modal closes. To position devices on the image, the user must reopen the detail view and click the pencil icon at the top right of the image. Clicking a device listed below the image places it in the upper left corner of the image. The position can be adjusted via drag and drop. Changes must be confirmed by clicking “Save” in the upper right corner.
The “Health” tab displays error messages and warnings of the devices within the group. The “Devices” tab allows the addition of devices with a valid DMS Basic add-on. Clicking “Assign Devices” opens a pop-up modal listing available devices. These devices can be searched, selected, and added to the group using the “ASSIGN DEVICES” button.
Afterwards, the “Devices” tab lists all assigned devices, which can be navigated in the same way as in the general device overview.
In the “Information” tab, the user finds the stored group data, such as description and tags.
Online/Offline/Health status monitoring in the DMS Basic add-on
Another feature of the DMS Basic add-on is the ability to send notifications to defined channels based on the health status and connection status of individual devices.
Via the main navigation, the user can access the “Alerting” section under “Device Management Service”. The Alerting page is split into two columns. On the left, all existing alerts and their current status are displayed. On the right, all configured channels are shown.
At least one channel must exist before an alert can be created. To create a channel, the user clicks “ADD CHANNEL” in the upper left of the right column. A pop-up modal opens. Here, the user must define a name for the channel, for example “Reporting for PxC Colleagues”, and provide at least one email address. An email address is only accepted once it has been entered and confirmed with the Enter key. It is possible to insert multiple email addresses at once, for example by pasting a list from Outlook. Invalid entries are filtered out automatically. By clicking “SAVE CHANNEL” the channel is created and receives a unique ID.
An alert always refers to exactly one device. It can never apply to multiple devices at once. There are two ways to create an alert. In the alerting overview, the user can click “ADD ALERT” in the upper left to open a pop-up modal. First, a name is assigned to the alert. Then, via “Select device*”, one of the devices available to the user in the Device Management Service is selected. Next, the trigger condition is defined via the “Select alert trigger” dropdown. The available options are “Offline”, “Online”, “Traffic Light Green”, “Traffic Light Red”, and “Traffic Light Warning”. After that, the user selects one or more channels by ticking the corresponding checkboxes. The alert is created by clicking “SAVE ALERT”.
Optionally, the user can define a custom message that will appear as text in the email sent when the alert is triggered. The alert email contains the following information: the name of the rule, the device name, the device UUID, the triggered status, the time of the status change, and the custom message. The email also includes direct links to the alert rule and to the device view in the Device Management Service.
Alternatively, an alert can be created in the “Alerts” tab within the device detail view of a specific device. In that case, the device selection step is skipped because the device is already known. All other steps are the same as described above.
Alerts react immediately. A status change, even if it only lasts a few seconds, is enough to trigger an alert email. As a result, it may happen that a device appears online again when the detail view is opened, even though the alert was triggered shortly before.
Application updates in the DMS Basic add-on
Another feature of the DMS Basic add-on is the ability to perform application updates on individual devices. An application is a packaged PLCnext Engineer project that has been created and exported from PLCnext Engineer.
To perform an update, the user must select a device in the device overview and switch to the “Application Update” tab. By clicking “INSTALL NEW APPLICATION”, a pop-up modal opens. The application file can be uploaded either via drag-and-drop or by clicking the upload area.
Each update requires the corresponding application file to be uploaded individually. After the upload, the file is stored on Proficloud.io. The user then receives information about the project, the uploaded version, and its description. By clicking “INSTALL APPLICATION”, the installation process is initiated.
First, the system checks whether the user is authorized to perform an application update on the selected device. Next, the compatibility of the application version is verified. The application image is then downloaded to the device and checked. Afterwards, the new application is installed. During the installation, the device temporarily loses its connection because it restarts. After a successful update, the device will be online again within a few minutes. All steps are logged and stored in an update history.
DMS Basic Add-on Changelog
The changelog for the DMS Basic add-on can be found here: https://proficloud.io/service-store/device-management-service-basic-add-on/