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v5.33
operator
manufacturer
Last updated on

USB Configuration

The Charge Controller can be configured or reconfigured using a USB flash drive. This allows for quick deployment of predefined settings, as well as transferring configurations between devices in the field.

There are two main use cases:

Configuring a Controller via USB:
Settings are exported from an existing Controller (via UI or SSH) and saved to a USB stick. These can then be edited and re-imported onto the same or a different Controller using the sw_config folder.

Copying Configuration Between Controllers:
A Controller's configuration can be extracted onto a USB stick and then applied to other Controllers — with important limitations regarding device-specific parameters.

1. USB Stick Features​

To automatically configure the Controller using a USB flash drive, the USB Config Update function under SYSTEM > USB Security must be enabled in the Operator Menu.

The simplest method is to extract log files from a properly configured Charge Controller using the user interface or SSH. These settings will appear as individual files in the persistency folder.

  1. To change them, you edit the files in the persistency folder with a text editor. A list of all the parameters and their setting range, you can find under DOCUMENTATION > OCPP Keys on the user interface.
  1. Save all modified parameters or files in a newly created folder named sw_config in the root directory of the USB stick.
info

Only parameters that do not correspond to the Controller's basic settings are saved.
Do not edit the second line. The versioning code must remain unchanged.

  1. Delete all other files and folders on the stick except the password file.
  1. When you plug the stick into the Controller to be configured, the Controller will automatically adopt all the parameters from the sw_config folder and overwrite the old settings. After rebooting the Controller, you can remove the stick.
Do not transfer the following configuration files, as they are specific to each Charge Controller. Ignoring this will lead to configuration errors and disruption of service.
  • ActuatorType_vehicleif
  • ChargePointUUID_ocpp
  • CurrentMonth_dl
  • DataConsumptionLastMonth_dl
  • DataConsumption_dl
  • HeartBeatInterval_ocpp
  • MeterSerial_meter
  • SIMCardPinNumber_modem
  • SchukoNumberContactorCycles_vehicleif
  • SysTime_mon
  • Type2NumberContactorCycles_vehicleif
  • AdcCpCalibrationCfg_vehicleif
  • ebee.sql
  • all .csv files

2. Copy configurations from one Charge Controller to another​

1. Format a USB stick in FAT32 formatting

  1. Plug in the USB stick into the computer
  2. Right-click on the USB drive and select format
  3. Select FAT32 as file system and format the USB stick

2. Create password file

  1. Create a text file in the root folder and name it: “USB_PASSWORD”
  2. Use a text editor to enter the manufacturer/operator password in the file. Save it.
  3. Remove the “.txt” ending of the file

3. Create config files

  1. Create a text file in the root folder and name it: “FIELD_ENGINEER”
  2. Remove the “.txt” ending of the file

4. Plug the USB Stick into the Charge Controller

  1. Plug the USB Stick into the USB port of the Charge Controller
  2. The Controller will start flashing all three LEDs
  3. Wait 2 minutes until the “Ready LED” flashes once a second

5. Unplug the USB stick

  1. Unplug the USB stick and put it into the USB port of the computer
  2. Now you can find the folder "persistency" on the USB stick

6. Prepare configuration files to copy the configuration the additional Charge Controllers

  1. Persistency files contain the current configuration
  2. Rename the "persistency" folder to “sw_config” folder
  3. Only keep the “sw_config” folder and USB password file on the USB stick
Make sure that the following files are NOT in the "sw_config" folder
  • ActuatorType_vehicleif
  • ChargePointUUID_ocpp
  • CurrentMonth_dl
  • DataConsumptionLastMonth_dl
  • DataConsumption_dl
  • HeartBeatInterval_ocpp
  • MeterSerial_meter
  • SIMCardPinNumber_modem
  • SchukoNumberContactorCycles_vehicleif
  • SysTime_mon
  • Type2NumberContactorCycles_vehicleif
  • AdcCpCalibrationCfg_vehicleif
  • ebee.sql
  • .csv files

7. Copy configuration on additional Charge Controllers

  1. Insert the USB stick into the USB port of a Charge Controller
  2. Within a few seconds the configuration will be copied to the Charge Controller