We create custom balena images (static IPs make this necessary).
We test that they work and trigger an initial image download by connecting them to a network. (While we could use the balena CLI to add the image to the image we really want to test that a device works before shipping it.)
We ship them to the site.
It can take days to weeks until our shipped devices are turned online. That causes a lot of our devices to appear “offline” in the balena Dashboard. While this is correct, it looks like our fleet is broken.
It would be awesome if you could add a “provisioned”, “inital” or “shipping” state one can assign manually that is set to “online” as soon as the connects the next time. That way we can add alerting around “offline” devices.
Please advise if there already is a better way of achieving this.
Thanks for reaching out with the Product Feedback. We have two possible solutions for you on this request.
First, you can actually set devices to “Inactive” in this situation, when you know that a device will be sitting on shelf, at a customer location, or otherwise not ready to use. This will prevent them appearing as “Offline”, and will bring you some clarity in your dashboard. Once plugged in, the device will simply transition to “Online”. This method may even end up saving you some money, as there is a one-time charge for the deactivation, but the monthly recurring billing charges do not occur until the device does get plugged in and comes online. More information on this topic is located here: https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/manage/billing/#inactive-devices
A second option, that might also work for you, is to “Tag” devices will some terminology referring to their “Not In Use” status, then create a View that filters out those devices. The only downside to this method is that you will need to manually remove the device Tag once it does eventually get plugged in and come online. Info on this process is located here: https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/manage/filters-tags/