ZEBRA RFID Reader Management Software Instructions

ZEBRA RFID Reader Management Software

Product Usage Instructions

Installation Guide

The MotionWorks Enterprise (MWE) RFID Reader Management (RM) 1.0.5 installation package can be used for a fresh installation or to upgrade from MWE RFID RM 1.0.4. Refer to the MotionWorks Enterprise RFID Reader Management Installation Guide for detailed installation and upgrade instructions.

FAQ

• Q: Can the software be used to upgrade from older versions?
  • A: Yes, the software can be used to upgrade from previous versions as specified in the installation guide.
• Q: Are there any known bugs in version 1.0.5?
  • A: No, there are no bug fixes mentioned in the release notes for version 1.0.5.
• Q: What should be done if an error message is displayed during installation or upgrade?
  • A: Refer to the installation guide for troubleshooting steps or contact customer support for assistance.

Introduction

This document summarizes the following software releases:

Release History

Version 1.0.5

The MotionWorks Enterprise (MWE) RFID Reader Management (RM) 1.0.5 installation package can be used to perform a fresh installation or to upgrade from MWE RFID RM 1.0.4. See the MotionWorks Enterprise RFID Reader Management Installation Guide for detailed installation and upgrade instructions.

Release Date

• March 2024

Features

• Updated reader configuration input validation now allows configuring new tagMetadata fields on the reader from RM 1.0.5. The standard GUI config screens are not updated to provide specific input prompts for these settings, but can be using the JSON format config file import via the User Defined mode screens. When using a JSON config file to send settings to the reader, you can include a different reader mode such as “Inventory” or “Simple” within the file, even though the ability to import, edit, and send the files is only found in the User Defined mode screens. The new reader tagMetadata fields now configurable include “EPC”, “TID”, “USER”, “MAC”, “HOSTNAME”. See the online IoT Connector developer documentation for more information on the specific content and usage of these elements.

Bug Fixes

• None

Known Issues

• ATR configuration is not yet completely optimized, which may cause slight confusion when viewing device configurations. For example, FX readers have multiple antennas to configure but ATRs do not, and instead use beam and beam pattern configuration. This version may display inapplicable device configuration options when configuring ATR7000 readers. In most cases inputs are limited to reduce error, but all details to configure ATRs have not been added.
• Scheduling management tasks is available via the API, but not yet via UI.
• In the Reader Management UI, the Edit Device window in the Infrastructure > Devices report indicates that the default settings for Data Batching and Retention Time are -1. Attempting to initialize a reader running firmware 3.24.48 with these default values causes the initialization to fail. Change the values for Data Batching and Retention Time to 0 before initializing a reader running this firmware.

Version 1.0.4

The MotionWorks Enterprise (MWE) RFID Reader Management (RM) 1.0.4 installation package can be used to perform a fresh installation or to upgrade from MWE RFID RM 1.0.3. See the MotionWorks Enterprise RFID Reader Management Installation Guide for detailed installation and upgrade instructions.

Release Date

• January 2024

Features

• Improved performance when adding/importing thousands of readers.
• When attempting to set the Operation Mode RSSI filter in the Reader Management UI or in the API to an invalid value, an error message is displayed or returned. Note that the RSSI filter is currently supported for reader FX9600 only.

Bug Fixes

When closing the RFID Initializer tool included with the previous RFID RM 1.0.3 release, a process continues to run in the background which created issues upon tool re-launch. For example, the tool displayed no list of devices. This is corrected in 1.0.4. Be sure to use RFID Initializer tool version 1.0.4.x with the MWE RFID Reader Management 1.0.4 release.

Known Issues

• ATR configuration is not yet completely optimized, which may cause slight confusion when viewing device configurations. For example, FX readers have multiple antennas to configure but ATRs do not, and instead use beam and beam pattern configuration. This version may display inapplicable device configuration options when configuring ATR7000 readers. In most cases inputs are limited to reduce error, but all details to configure ATRs have not been added.
• Scheduling management tasks is available via the API, but not yet via UI.
• In the Reader Management UI, the Edit Device window in the Infrastructure > Devices report indicates that the default settings for Data Batching and Retention Time are -1. Attempting to initialize a reader running firmware 3.24.48 with these default values causes the initialization to fail. Change the values for Data Batching and Retention Time to 0 before initializing a reader running this firmware.

Version 1.0.3

The MotionWorks Enterprise (MWE) RFID Reader Management (RM) 1.0.3 installation package can be used to perform a fresh installation or to upgrade from MWE RFID RM 1.0.2. See the MotionWorks Enterprise RFID Reader Management Installation Guide for detailed installation and upgrade instructions.

Release Date

• August 2023

Features

• Additional Operating System Support. The following operating systems are now supported:
  • CentOS 7
  • RedHat 8
  • RedHat 9
  • Ubuntu 22.04
• Support for Zebra Monitoring Via OpsRamp. Support for configuring Zebra Monitoring via OpsRamp is included in the installer.

Bug Fixes

• None

Known Issues

• ATR configuration is not yet completely optimized, which may cause slight confusion when viewing device configurations. For example, FX readers have multiple antennas to configure but ATRs do not, and instead use beam and beam pattern configuration. This version may display inapplicable device configuration options when configuring ATR7000 readers. In most cases inputs are limited to reduce error, but all details to configure ATRs have not been added.
• Scheduling management tasks is available via the API, but not yet via UI.
• Performance at high scale (thousands of readers, users, and simultaneous requests) is still being optimized. In a few cases, response time may be slower than expected.
• The 93.21.11 firmware version can only be used to downgrade a 3.21.X version and should not be used with MWE RFID RM as the final version of reader firmware. The 93.21.11 version will not connect to the MWE server, so the reader may disconnect from the MWE server until the firmware is updated to a supported version.

Version 1.0.2

The MotionWorks Enterprise (MWE) RFID Reader Management (RM) 1.0.2 installation package can be used to perform a fresh installation or to upgrade from MWE RFID RM 1.0.1. See the MotionWorks Enterprise RFID Reader Management Installation Guide for detailed installation and upgrade instructions.

Release Date

• December 2022

Features

• Hostname Validation
  • Validation checks have been added to the hostname field for devices. If an FX reader hostname is not an IP address, the hostname must contain the substring FX7500, FX9600, or ATR7000 (case insensitive).
• Improved Field Validation
• Tag ID Filter field is limited to 62 hex characters.
• Tag ID Filter number of digits must be even.
• The RSSI value range for FX9600 readers must be between -26 and -128.
• Reporting Interval for Inventory Mode must be more than 0.
• Start Trigger value for GPI Port in Portal Mode must be numeric and has a maximum value of 2.
• Stop Trigger value in Portal Mode must be numeric and limited to 15 characters.

Bug Fixes

• Corrected an issue where the email text for an open alert was the same as that of an alert closed.
• Added the ability for the Add User dialog box to be dragged under Users and Associated Groups.
• When navigating to the Users and Associated Groups page, the full path displays at the top of the page.
• Modified error message to “Name or file may be missing” when attempting to upload a site map with the Name field empty.
• The Password field on the Login page clears if the password entered is incorrect.
• Corrected an issue where the filter values entered on the Devices screen overlapped and were illegible.
• When no map is selected, the Config buttons are grayed out.
• Removed the Last Updated field from the View Details screen for devices.
• Corrected the spelling of Open System Alerts when displaying the path on the user interface (UI).
• When configuring devices using the JSON file option in the User Defined mode, the Match and Operation fields are now disabled.
• The Tag Metadata drop-down box closes when the user scrolls the window up or down.
• Corrected the spelling of “longitude” when entering an invalid location for an added Site, for example if the location is empty.
• Made errors reported via the UI more readable for users.
• Added email address validations.
• The Alerts dialog box now remains modal until the user closes it.
• The Firmware Upgrade dialog box remains modal until the user closes it.
• When switching between Devices and Services to avoid setting an email address for the wrong group if the user switches groups before saving the address, email fields exit edit mode.
• Corrected an issue where a dashboard admin could not view the dashboard if that was the only permission assigned to the user.
• Duplicate email addresses in an email group for Alert configuration are not allowed. Each email address must be unique per group; however, the same email address can be used in separate groups.
• In an Alert configuration, a duplicate External URL is not allowed.
• Corrected an error that could prevent using the user interface to edit a device added via an API.
• Corrected an erroneous path displayed on the UI for Infrastructure/Devices/Certificates.
• If a site contains maps, the maps must be deleted before deleting the site.
• Corrected an issue where an Internal Server Error displayed when a user record was updated via the API using only the username field.
• Corrected an issue where disconnection alerts were continuously sent if a running devices’ hostname was changed, and then restored to the correct hostname.
• When configuring a device, the Transmit Power slider bar now has a range between 0 and 36.
• Updated the user interface to ensure template names are unique.
• When possible, the firmware version displays in the Devices grid even if device’s Current State is Failure.
• Corrected an issue where there was an option to remove a fourth column that was unnamed from the Firmware page.
• Corrected an issue where it was not possible to add a device if the template used was set to Custom Mode and Radio Stop Condition was set.
• The Configuration State field was removed from the View Details pane on Devices as it was not used.
• All unsaved checked boxes are cleared whenever a user navigates away from a page and returns.
• Added more field validations to the device registry Task APIs.
• Reworked periodic task support into the Scheduler.
• Rectified a warning message on the UI when choosing to delete a single device using the devices’ 3-dot menu. Also rectified a message when using the multi-device 3-dot menu to delete a single device.
• Corrected an issue where devices could disappear from the map if the focus remained in a position box for the device, and then the user attempted to move the device on the map.
• Corrected the inability to set the map name on the Edit Device screen.
• Improved the alert rule to report container down alerts.
• Rectified antenna ports displaying “unknown” if the device was added using a template.
• Device deletion is now allowed regardless of whether it is assigned to a site/map.
• During a batch import, a template configuration is applied to the device if one is used.
• Corrected initialization failure issue when initializing multiple devices from the UI.
• Corrected errors when devices were continuously added, initialized, and then deleted.
• Corrected an issue where a pop-up error occasionally appears stating “An invalid response was received from the upstream server.”
• Rectified spellings in the UI.

Known Issues

• ATR configuration is not yet completely optimized, which may cause slight confusion when viewing device configurations. For example, FX readers have multiple antennas to configure but ATRs do not, and instead use beam and beam pattern configuration. This version may display inapplicable device configuration options when configuring ATR7000 readers. In most cases inputs are limited to reduce error, but all details to configure ATRs have not been added.
• Scheduling management tasks in the future or at a certain time is not yet supported.
• Performance at high scale (thousands of readers, users, and simultaneous requests) is still being optimized. In a few cases, response time may be slower than expected.
• The 93.21.11 firmware version can only be used to downgrade a 3.21.X version and should not be used with MWE RFID RM as the final version of reader firmware. The 93.21.11 version will not connect to the MWE server, so the reader may disconnect from the MWE server until the firmware is updated to a supported version.

Version 1.0.1

See the MotionWorks Enterprise RFID Reader Management Installation Guide for requirements and instructions on installing the software.

Release Date

• September 2022

Features

• See the MotionWorks Enterprise RFID Reader Management User Guide for functionality and features.

Known Issues

• ATR configuration is not yet completely optimized, which may cause slight confusion when viewing device configurations. For example, FX readers have multiple antennas to configure but ATRs do not, and instead use beam and beam pattern configuration. This version may display inapplicable device configuration options when configuring ATR7000 readers. In most cases inputs are limited to reduce error, but all details to configure ATRs have not been added.
• Scheduling management tasks in the future or at a certain time is not yet supported.
• In some cases, user input validation is inconsistent. To support both API users and browser UI users, as well as future configuration task scheduling, user input validation happens at the central server and the managed device, instead of in the web browser. This can cause confusion when a user successfully sends an incorrect configuration. In some cases, the device can catch an error in the configuration and reject the input after the device registry accepts the configuration task request. When this happens users may receive a “Success” response to the configuration task request but still see the device in a failed or other non-operating status if the Device rejects the configuration requested as invalid. Zebra is working to improve the message flow back from the device to the users in future versions.
• Performance on a high scale (thousands of readers, users, and simultaneous requests) is still being optimized. In some cases, response times may be slower than expected.
• Access permission requires further improvement. Dashboard access is determined by the user login and password. However, separate read-write-edit permissions for third-party tools used to build the Dashboards is not yet restricted based on the specific role-based permissions configured in Reader Management permission groups.

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