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Physical SIM Activation Guide

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Written by Asha Latha Amara
Updated yesterday

Activating a physical SIM requires inserting the SIM card into a device and configuring it within the Celona Orchestrator. This process registers the SIM on your private network, enabling the device to connect securely and start data sessions. Once configured, the device’s state will update within the Orchestrator, reflecting whether it is active, inactive, or offline. For detailed steps on setting up physical SIMs, see the configuration instructions below.

Note: For the customers who require grant authorization for certain devices to be able to join the network only during certain time period, there is an option available to set up the “Activation Window” for a device. This feature can be used for the business cases like managing temporary visitors, enabling access for the maintenance crew, and other scenarios. Note that this is an optional field – if left blank, then the eSIM will be activated without the limitation on a specific time period.

Activation window start timer (for physical and esims) when selected from UI will always be set now+5 mins if now < selected time < now+5 mins. For e.g. if current time is 10:00 PM and user selects the start time as anything between 10:00 to 10:05 PM then start time will be set to 10:05 PM

Physical SIM Activation - via Orchestrator UI

To activate Physical SIMs:

  1. Access SIMs & Devices

    1. Click SIMs & Devices from the side navigation menu.

    2. Select the Summary tab at the top of the page to view the full device inventory.

  2. Click the Activate button on the Physical SIMs card.

  3. In the Activation table that shows up, you can configure the following fields:

    1. Name: Enter a custom name in the text box for easy identification.

    2. Static IP Address: Enter a static IP if needed.

    3. * Device Profile (Mandatory Field): This field assigns each device to a specific profile, previously known as a "Device Group." The preset value will be "default" unless specified otherwise.(Refer to the updated Device Profiles documentation.)

    4. * Authorized Sites (Mandatory Field): Select the sites where devices should be authorized from the dropdown list. There are three possible selections for a user to make -

      1. All sites in org: When the user selects this option, activation applies to all current sites (and by extension, all Edge Clusters) any future sites or edge clusters that the customer may add to the organization.
        ​Note: Please do not select this option if the user does not want the device activated in future sites/edge clusters.

      2. Specific Sites: This option allows the user to select targeted sites for activation.
        ​Note: If the user wants the device activated in all future sites, select the Select all option in Specific Sites.

      3. None: If the user selects None, the activation workflow cannot be completed.
        ​Note: Please note that if “None“ is selected for an activated device, the device will be deactivated.

  4. (Optional) Activation Window: Fill in the Start and End dates and press Apply. Device will only be able to attach to the network during specified period.

  1. SIM Lock: Select Enabled or Disabled from the drop-down list to protect the device from unauthorized network access for stolen or lost devices.
    There are two ways to enable this feature:

    1. SIM Lock to specific IMEI: Select Enabled and provide the IMEI of the device the user wants to pair

    2. SIM Lock upon first attach: Alternatively, simply enable the feature and leave the “Expected IMEI” input field empty, and the Edge will automatically learn the device IMEI upon first attach

    3. ​NOTE: The SIM Lock upon first attach option is only available if the participating edge cluster is version 2308.edge.0.3 or higher.

  2. Users can activate multiple devices simultaneously by selecting the checkbox for the intended devices, configuring the intended column headers and then clicking on the ACTIVATE button (shown in the screenshot above).

  3. You can also activate SIMs by clicking the Edit(pencil) icon on the table of provisioned SIMs and configuring the fields mentioned above.

Deactivate a Device - via Orchestrator UI

There are three ways to deactivate the device:

  1. Select devices using the checkboxes in the first column, and click the “Deactivate” button above the table.


    1. OR

  2. Click the kebab-menu at the end of the row, and choose “Deactivate” from the menu.

    1. OR

  3. Click the Edit (pencil) icon in the table header, update “Authorized Sites” to “None” for the devices to be deactivated, and click “Update.”

Reactivate a Device - via Orchestrator UI

There are three ways to reactivate a device:

  1. Select devices using the checkboxes in the first column, and click the “Reactivate” button above the table, update “Authorized Sites“ from the table and click “Activate“ on the bottom right of the page.
    OR

  2. Click the kebab-menu at the end of the row, choose “Reactivate” from the menu, update “Authorized Sites“ from the table and click “Activate“ on the bottom right of the page.
    OR

  3. Click the Edit (pencil) icon in the table header, update “Authorized Sites” for the devices to be reactivated, and click “Update” on the bottom right of the page.

Change Activation Window

1. Click “Edit Table” in the devices summary view.

2. Update Activation Window values for the specific device to the new dates and click Apply.

Activating or updating physical SIMs - via APIs

API Endpoint: /v1/api/cfgm/update-devices

The following device properties can be updated using above API:

  • Device Name

  • Device Activation or Reactivation

  • Device Profile assignment

  • SIM Lock

  • Device Static IP address

  • Device Deactivation

CSV API Endpoint: /v1/api/cfgm/update-devices-csv

This API accepts a CSV file containing device information and below specified attributes/cells.

CSV File Format

  1. The first row must specify the names of the attributes to be updated

  2. The attribute names are case-sensitive

  3. The attribute names can be in any order

  4. A cell should be left blank if that field should not be updated

  5. A cell value having double quotes ("") is treated as empty value and that field will not be updated

  6. Attributes/Cells:

    • iccid: This attribute is mandatory if there are any updates intended for this device.

    • name: Name of the device, optional attribute

    • device_group_name: Name of the device profile (formerly, device group) the device belongs to. Specify 'default' (all lowercase, no quotes) for the default device profile.

    • authorized_edge_clusters_type: one of the following values:

      • ALL

      • LIST

    • authorized_edge_clusters: a pipe-separated (|) list of edge-cluster IDs. For example: ec-id1|ec-id2. Must be specified only if authorized_edge_clusters_typeis LIST.

    • sim_lock_enabled: SIM lock configuration for the device. true to enable, any other values will be considered as false and disable SIM lock.

    • sim_lock_policy: If sim lock is enabled, one of the following two policies must be specified:

      • ONATTACH

      • IMEIMAPPING

    • sim_lock_expected_imei: 15-digit IMEI number must be specified if sim_lock_policy is IMEIMAPPING.

    • static_ipaddress: Static IP address for the device.

    • (Optional) Activation Window: Please enter the desired time range including Start and End dates. Start Time and End Time are two separate columns in the csv and expected in epoch time format.

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