Functionalities

Core Features

Host Enrollment and Trust

The Gateway can generate a platform-specific setup bundle for a host. The Host Client uses the included enrollment information to appear as pending in the Gateway. A Gateway administrator must review and approve the host before it becomes trusted.

Administrators can revoke a trusted host from the status interface. Revocation ends the active connection and removes its current Gateway runtime and tag projection. Re-enrollment after a terminal trust state does not have a guided self-service workflow in the current release.

Host and Process Monitoring

A connected, trusted Host Client reports:

heartbeat and connection state;
CPU, memory, swap, and uptime observations;
disk, network, and component inventory; and
observations about the Host Client process.

The Gateway displays current information and projects it into the module's managed tag provider. Some detailed values depend on what the host operating system can report.

Opt-In File and Directory Access

File access is granted through explicit mappings. A mapping can be read-only or read-write and can cover a selected path with either limited or recursive scope.

Within an active mapping, supported operations include:

reading file content;
listing immediate files in a directory;
creating and updating files;
moving files; and
permanently deleting files.

Write, move, and delete behavior requires appropriate read-write permission. Moving a file requires authorization for both the source and destination. Create and move operations do not replace an existing destination.

The Host Client also reports events for approved filesystem locations, including create, modify, delete, rename, error, permission-denied, and read lifecycle events.

Serial-Port Integration

The Host Client can discover local serial ports, but the Gateway sees and operates only ports covered by active host-side mappings. Authorized serial resources can expose:

availability and connection state;
user-configurable communication settings;
connect, disconnect, and apply actions;
inbound and outbound byte or text data; and
recent communication history.

Read-write permission is required to send serial output. Operators should verify the reported device state after applying configuration or sending commands.

Gateway-Initiated Permission Requests

A Gateway administrator can request a file, directory, or serial mapping for a connected host. A successful request means that the request reached the Host Client; it does not mean access has been granted.

The host operator reviews the request in the Host Client and chooses Approve permission or Decline. The decision reaches the Gateway when the Host Client service is running and connected.

Gateway Status, Activity, and Commands

The Gateway provides:

summary counts and per-host status;
host approval and revocation actions;
last reported permission information;
recent in-memory activity;
refresh and file-read command controls; and
recent acknowledgements and file-transfer results.

Command dispatch and command completion are separate. A successful submission indicates acceptance for processing; users must inspect acknowledgements or transfer status to confirm the final result.

Installer Distribution

The HostAgent Installers page provides:

Download Setup Bundle for normal enrollment; and
Download Installer Only for obtaining the Host Client without enrollment configuration.

The setup bundle contains a live enrollment credential and must be protected during distribution.

Ignition Integration

Managed Tags

The pfce_host_agents provider publishes summary status and per-host information. It includes connection, trust, telemetry, permission, approved file-action, and approved serial information.

Most tag values are read-only. Writable values are available only where an active mapping and the target operation permit them.

Public Scripting

The intentional system.hostagent.file scripting namespace supports approved file operations from Gateway, Vision, and Designer scopes.

Gateway Web Interface

The module contributes Gateway pages for status, installers, and settings.

Operational Behavior

Opening the Host Client does not start communication. The operator must select Start gateway service.
While that service remains active, the Host Client retries ordinary connection failures.
Serial connections close when the Host Client session ends and are reconsidered after reconnection.
Fresh telemetry, permissions, filesystem, and serial state are sent after reconnect.
Trust and selected configuration persist, but recent activity, acknowledgements, transfers, and most live status are held in memory at the Gateway.
A Gateway or module restart therefore requires connected hosts to repopulate live state.
File deletion is permanent and has no module-provided recycle bin or undo.
The Gateway Cancel action does not interrupt an already executing synchronous command.

Last updated: August 20, 2026